Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i Hemmings Classic Car

Auburn Rising AUCTIONS AMERICA wrapped up its May event at the Auburn Auction Park in Auburn, Indiana, with total sales of $7.2 million, an increase of 40 percent from the 2015 sale that saw an 80 percent sell-through rate. Fittingly, one of the jewels of this auction was the 1936 Auburn 852 Supercharged Phaeton Sedan, which was a top-five sale changing hands for $90,750. ACD certified, the Auburn is confirmed to have its original engine, frame, drivetrain and suspension, as well as original body. You can view the results at www.auctionsamerica.com and see the cars to be sold at the upcoming Labor Day sale scheduled to take place September 1-4 at the same location. Leake Heads to Detroit THE LEAKE AUCTION COMPANY is known for its sales in Dallas, Oklahoma…

William Clay Ford Sr. was settling into his new position heading up Ford’s Special Product Operations in the summer of 1952, but the idea of developing a new Continental had occupied his mind for the previous two years. Comprised of stylists and engineers, this new group explored the viability of bringing a new Continental to market. Developed from concepts that Edsel Ford (William’s father) had gathered for building his personal car while on a European trip, the first Continental wasn’t originally conceived as a production model. Once it became one, it still was never intended as a profit center. Instead, the Continentals of 1940 to 1942 (25 were built in 1939) and 1946 to 1948 were halo vehicles that had added prestige to Lincoln and its parent company, Ford. They…

Sometimes the biggest ideas in America’s automotive history come in small packages from surprising companies. The first to build compact economy cars were such noteworthy visionaries as Bantam, Keller, Playboy and Crosley, the latter of which began producing vehicles in late 1938 as 1939 models. First to incorporate slab-sided styling? Crosley, on May 9, 1946. First to issue a sport utility vehicle? Crosley, in late 1947. First all-steel station wagon? Again, Crosley. First domestic company to install four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes as standard equipment? You guessed it — Crosley; May 1949. Get the idea? So it should be no surprise that Crosley was also the first to reintroduce the American sports car to the postwar market — not Chevrolet. Say it ain’t so? On July 13, 1949, the Crosley Hotshot…

Based on what’s generally known about American consumers, we might want to ask: What on earth was Sir Herbert Austin thinking when he decided to introduce the Austin Seven small car to America? After all, the tiny Seven had been designed for the narrow streets and low speeds of his native Great Britain, not the wide boulevards and vast expanses of North America. The baby Austin seemed as out of place here as a chili dog on Queen Victoria’s lunch plate. Sir Herbert was already a successful English automaker when he decided to design an inexpensive small car that could lure thousands of his countrymen off their beloved motorcycles and into car ownership. The Seven, introduced in 1922, was meant to be comfortable for two passengers while providing a little…

I WAS HIRED AT THE GENERAL Motors assembly plant in Framingham, Massachusetts, on Halloween, 1972, as a line worker in the body shop for the second shift. This plant built mid-size Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs. My introduction to the assembly line was to be placed into a five-foot-deep pit with a huge spot welder and a pneumatic body sealer gun. I had to apply the body sealer to the quarter panel lip, clamp on an outer wheelhouse, and then maneuver the spot welder to apply between 20-25 spot welds. The spot welder threw sparks everywhere, and despite wearing protective coveralls and gloves, I was burned on almost every car. The line moved at 60 cars per hour, and I was to perform my duties on every station wagon and four-door…

Was there anything on wheels — or skis — a Model T couldn’t do? By the end of the 1910s, the Model T could lay claim to not only putting the world on wheels by providing a rugged, inexpensive car that any middle-class family could afford; it could also stake a claim for providing farmers, manufacturers, service people and merchants of all kinds with reliable transportation for their goods as well. The ubiquity of the Model T supported a vast aftermarket business that saw converted vehicles and an astonishing variety of accessories available. Sure, there were ambulances, farm trucks, custom-bodied hearses and even tracked vehicles with skis in place of the front wheels for snow work. But what about an airplane starter? One of the more ingenious conversions that filled…

2017 Great Race THIS YEAR’S GREAT RACE TOOK PLACE June 18-26, and ran from San Rafael, California, to Moline, Illinois, but it’s never too early to prepare for the 2017 event, which will begin in Jacksonville, Florida. This annual time-speed-distance rally will work its way from Florida up along parts of the old original Dixie Highway through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan where the race will end in Traverse City. The event is slated to take place from June 24-July 2, with the schedule of lunch and overnight stops yet to be determined. The nine-day, 2,100-mile route is expected to see over 100 collector cars with teams from every corner of the U.S. as well as Canada, England, Germany and Japan driving automobiles dating back as far as 1916.…

Barrel Back 800-423-5525 WWW.CALCARCOVER.COM $545.99 Sometimes you encounter something clever and ponder, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” It took some creativity and a bit of engineering to turn a well-used oil drum into a sturdy and comfortable armchair, perfect for a garage or den, and the credit goes to Drum Works Furniture (www.drumworksfurniture.com), the North Carolina company that transforms industrial drums into practical seating. These 55-gallon drums are thoroughly cleaned before being powder-coated in bright, durable colors, fitted with removable seat cushions (under which is storage space) and accented with vintage-petroliana logos. Available are a California Car Cover-exclusive red Flying A seat with Sunbrella indoor-outdoor upholstery, a green Sinclair Dino Gasoline seat with Nautolex marine-grade vinyl cushions, and yellow Roar with Gilmore and Polly Gas seats with Nautolex…

When a car company signs up for Pace Car duty for the Indianapolis 500, it is also contracted to supply “Festival” cars — a quantity of cars for track officials and other local dignitaries to run around town in through the month of May. The fully lettered-up models act as promotion for the big race. The day of the event will see them circle the track with a parade of local luminaries — politicians, celebrities and the like — sitting atop the parade boot, but for the rest of the month, their presence is a perk for connected Indy A-listers. Generally, the Festival Cars are replicas of the Pace Cars themselves. But not always. In 1974, Oldsmobile had the honor of pacing the Indy 500 for the third time in…

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD LENTINELLO Long-term storage has its shortcomings. Although an automobile may be safely stored out of the elements, protected from the harsh cold, corrosive rain and the damaging rays of the sun, that doesn’t mean that it’s immune to other problems that long-standing inactivity causes. So, just what’s involved when you want to get an old car running again after it has been dormant for 10 years? While there are several ways to go about the rejuvenation process, we spoke with the staff of the Elliott Museum to discover just what was involved when they recently brought back to life a car in their collection. The museum is located on Hutchinson Island in Stuart, Florida, and is well known among Ford Model A enthusiasts as being…

“We’re not just doing consignments, we’re working with the seller or the family to make the auction all about them, building the marketing around them.” It isn’t supposed to happen this way. You understand, of course, that an automotive auction featuring collector cars is supposed to be all about unbridled excitement, pomp, hurrahing the crowd, as cars pass beneath neon and halogen lights that reflect their paint like tumbling gemstones. It’s all about the spectacle, as camera booms sweep over the auctioneers while they jazz the crowd. A car auction is supposed to be an event, and as a rule, they deliver. There’s always excitement in the air when dollars turn into dreams. Some dreams are more vivid than most, and that is where Yvette VanDer-Brink comes in. At many…

IN A 6-3 DECISION, the Supreme Court upholds sobriety checkpoints as constitutional. The Chevrolet Beretta returns and introduces the new GTZ coupe with a high-powered Quad Four dual-overhead-cam engine. The aerodynamic Beretta also boasts a lower coefficient of drag than a Porsche 944. Also look for the soon-to-be-made Convertible Beretta as the Pace Car at this year’s Indianapolis 500. The GTZ is available for $13,750. CHRYSLER’S IMPERIAL is back and is the top full-size model in Chrysler’s lineup. The luxurious Imperial features ample cabin room, Mark Cross Ultrasoft leather interior and eight-way power front seats. With a new 3.3-Liter V-6 and Ultradrive four-speed electronically controlled automatic transaxle, it’s the pinnacle of technology. The Imperial is available now for $24,995. MERCURY RETURNS AND OFFERS something for every type of buyer. If…

Transparent Torino BURIED IN THE DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY’S online digital collections — specifically in its National Automotive History Collection — reside plenty of photographs of Ford Torinos, and among them a handful of photos of a 1971 Ford Torino with transparent panels fitted throughout its body. According to the caption, the photos were taken for advertising purposes for Ford Motor Company, and indeed we see toward the end of the 1971 Torino brochure one of the photos used to illustrate several Torino features, including its ventilation system. Curious that Ford would go through the expense of building a Torino with such cutouts rather than assigning the idea to an illustrator. Of course, had Ford assigned it to an illustrator, we wouldn’t be wondering if Ford kept the car or if…

Ratchet Up GearWrench offers two new multi-function ratchets to make work in your shop go a lot smoother. The ratchets are available in 5.75-inch and 12-inch sizes with slim-line heads allowing for access in tight spaces. They will fit comfortably in your hand, yet give you enough torque and access to hard-to-reach fasteners. Each end has a locking flex head for greater control allowing you to stay on the fastener. The ¼-inch drive incorporates a quick-release design to easily let users to change sockets up to ½ inch. Cost: $56.29 (5.75-inch); $66.59 (12-inch). GEARWRENCH 800-621-8814 WWW.GEARWRENCH.COM Blue Oval Bumper Brackets Mac’s has parts for all eras of Ford cars and trucks, and now they’ve added bumper brackets for 1940 passenger cars and 1940-’41 pickups to their catalog. The stainless-steel brackets…

Stylistically, early sedans are largely fungible. It’s in their mechanical attributes where they stand apart. Hudson’s six-cylinder engine was always a step beyond the industry standard. When first introduced, the “Super Six” was balanced for high-speed running. Later, when the companion Essex brand dropped its F-head four-cylinder for a flathead-six, the Super Six gained an F-head for itself. In 1927, that six was a technological marvel more than equal to anything in its price range. That sophistication and its attendant power is why Dave Lanning of Englewood, Florida, sought out the well-preserved example you see on these pages. “These were the Chrysler Hemis of their day, and just as complicated and expensive to build,” Dave proudly tells us regarding the engine’s intake-over-exhaust cylinder head design. “It’s not real fast because…

      It’s never good when you learn that the collector car you’re driving has been slowly disassembling itself, providing only subtle hints until, one day, something terribly odd strikes you. For André Fitzback, a mechanic living in St. Hyacinthe in the Quebec province of Canada, the moment he knew something was askew with his 1953 Pontiac Pathfinder De Luxe occurred in 2006. “I really started to notice that whenever I made a turn, everything was moving on the car; I mean everything—the doors, the steering column and even the glass. It was a really weird experience,” said André in Part I of his restoration saga that appeared in last month’s issue of HCC. To summarize that installment, after André purchased the Pontiac in 1995 and made it mechanically sound, the…

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A “CAR GUY.” I can remember sitting on the front steps of our house in Davenport, Iowa, on West Locust Street at about age five identifying makes of cars that went down the street. Dad would often be sitting beside me and would gently correct my mistakes. He would tell of automobiles like the Auburn, the Velie (manufactured just across the river in East Moline, Illinois) and the magnificent Duesenberg. He recounted tales of cars that were no longer manufactured but were still held in high esteem. He explained to me that the term “it’s a duesy” was a reference to the great automobile. Although I’m a Ford guy, in my early years my family was strictly a Chevrolet clan. My dad acquired the first car…

The insects deep in the Pacific jungle buzzed loudly when Norman Soden finally regained consciousness. He was on his second stint in the U.S. Army, having first been drafted in the late 1930s after he’d spent his life on the Soden family corn and soybean farm in Wisner, Nebraska, a small city in Cuming County, maybe 90 miles southwest of Omaha. Norman had been born there in 1915 and started driving trucks for a local hauler when he was 16 years old. By 1933, as the Depression set in, he began skinning rigs up Highway 275 to the big city, hitting what was then known as the Omaha Livestock Market. Then, as now, Nebraska’s biggest and most cosmopolitan city was a meat-packing town at heart, with major presences by Armour,…