Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Hemmings Classic Car

Auburn AUCTIONS AMERICA FINISHED ITS ANNUAL AUBURN, INDIANA, auction August 31-September 4, with a 79 percent sell-through and a total haul of more than $21.5 million. The auction coincided with the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival, and over 840 vehicles crossed the block over the four-day selling period. Two Duesenbergs led the way with a 1931 Model J Convertible Sedan selling for $880,000 and a 1933 Model Sunroof Berline by Franay hammering home at $715,000. The top-selling non-ACD car was this 1931 Cadillac V-12 Convertible Coupe (above). The restored car was a CCCA 100-point winner and it’s unknown how many are left today, but this was one of just 362 built back in 1931. It sold for an impressive $368,500. For more details go to www.auctionsamerica.com. Motor City Results LEAKE AUCTION COMPANY’S INAUGURAL…

During the late 1950s, General Motors was at the top of its game with some of the most distinctive body designs the automotive industry had ever seen. Perhaps the most distinctive exterior shape was the “flattop,” a truly outstanding sedan design that lasted for just five years of production. Pontiac referred to its flattop models as the Vista Hardtop. During the five years that the Vista Hardtop was offered, the 1962-model year version was the most conservative in its shape. It had a far less dramatic profile as it was the only variation that wasn’t what is commonly referred to as a flattop, yet it was still part of the Vista Hardtop styling theme. Although the Grand Prix and Tempest were the two models that were not available in a…

Model year 1932 was a rough one for Detroit. From an all-time high in 1929, sales had slipped calamitously. In an effort to shore up sales, automakers pumped up the style quotient.The result was some of the most beautiful and collectible automobiles ever produced — even amongst the lowest-price makes. Especially Chevrolet. The 1932 Chevrolet is perhaps the quintessential 1932 model. With its ladder frame and solid axles on parallel leaf springs front and rear, the 1932 Chevrolet was not much different under the skin from the 1931 or even the 1929 model for that matter, but the somewhat utilitarian styling of previous years had been spruced up into a veritable baby Cadillac. Wire-spoke wheels, first optional in 1930 and standard from 1931, were now reduced to 18-inch diameter and…

It’s easy to toss around words like “genius” when talking about people who’ve achieved a measure of fame, but it often results in over-inflating one’s importance. After all, many, if not most, people described as geniuses are merely “very talented” or “highly-accomplished.” But how to describe a man who oversaw creation of the iconic Ford Anglia and the GT40 sports car? Who engineered the Presidential limousine to withstand small arms, gas and ballistic attacks? And reengineered Jeep, created the Eagle four-wheel drive car, and launched a new SCCA racing division complete with its own purpose-built race car? Calling Roy Lunn anything but a genius would be an understatement. Born in Surrey, England in 1925, Lunn was a fourteen-year-old engineering student at London’s Kingston Technical School when World War II broke…

THE 1970S WERE A LAUGH RIOT FOR U.S. automakers. The American car buyer became familiar with terms like “badge-engineering,” “rebates” and “downsizing.” While General Motors took the lead in downsizing its full-size fleet for the 1977 model year, the other two members of the Big Three held onto their full-size dinosaurs — to a limited degree — through 1978. Both Chrysler and Ford introduced new full-size cars the following year. The new full-size Chryslers were attractive cars with carryover styling elements that were built on their midsize platform (look for them in a future Detroit Underdogs), while the offerings from Ford and Mercury were introduced on the all-new Panther platform. The design department at Ford had taken a liking to very square lines, first evidenced in the Fairmont/Zephyr twins and…

I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL in 1953 and had a job assisting the service manager of our local Ford dealership, even getting to drive the wrecker at times, which was a real thrill for me. As the 1954 models were introduced I was “promoted” to salesman. Naturally I began contacting all my relatives and friends in hopes of selling them a car… any car… preferably a new one. We had a sharp red convertible, white interior, on the showroom floor and one of my “buddies” was real hot to have it. His dad had previously bought him several good used cars, so it was reasonable to think he would spring for a new one. It was going to be a “straight sale,” no trade in, so I went to my…

“Mr. Cannonball” Brock Yates, 1933-2016 EDITOR, SCREENWRITER AND CANNONBALLER BROCK YATES PASSED AWAY October 5, 2016 at the age of 82 from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. The former Navy officer authored books on topics ranging from Harley-Davidson to the Indianapolis 500. Best known as the executive editor of Car and Driver magazine for nearly four decades, Yates was also an on-air analyst for televised automobile races in the 1980s. In defiance of the highway safety standards of the 1970s, Yates and some friends hatched an idea for a no-rules cross-country race. The result was the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, with the first official running taking place in November of 1972. Brock and Dan Gurney won the race in a Ferrari Daytona. Brock later raced…

General Motors was on the forefront of roof and cabin technology for decades: witness the Turret-Top of 1934, encasing the whole roof in steel; or the pillarless hardtops of 1949. For 1959, GM would take the next step toward letting the outside in, and would introduce its short-lived, now-legendary flattop roofline across all five of its American car lines. Some point to designer Bud Sagano’s roof treatment on the 1955 Pontiac Strato Star show car for the 1955 GM Motorama as a starting point for the flattop, although on the show car the rear quarter windows wrap around the back of the car as slender C-pillars ride inboard of the shapely rear quarters. Rumor has it that Harley Earl had originally wanted the roofs to be made of stainless steel,…

For all of its daring technology, the Chevrolet Corvair comes across immediately as friendly and benign. Every collector who owns one of these charmingly different little automobiles is playing a role in the long-running drama of the Corvair’s redemption, a process that’s been going on for nearly 50 years now, since the last production examples were pieced together in 1969. One of those voices belongs to an affable gent named Dave McMillan, who owns the 1964 Corvair Monza sedan that you see here. As Corvairs go, it’s an example of a moderately equipped family car, aimed largely at a buyer seeking lower-cost mobility with a few frills thrown into the mixture, and the last of GM’s flattop sedan body style. Spend a little time in the driver’s seat and you’ll…

On the surface, Richard Amuso is just like any other collector-car enthusiast. With his heart set on owning a specific make, he spent time methodically seeking an example for sale. Unlike most other collectors, the Staten Island, New York, resident took a far different acquisition path. “In 2012 I was actively searching for a Detroit Electric. They’re unique and that’s what attracted me to them,” Richard told us. “You hardly ever see them come up for sale, so I searched automotive museums that had a presence on the internet and started calling them to see if they had one and would be willing to sell it.” It was an unorthodox approach. Conversations with the staffs of museums whose collections included an example always concluded with the same result: not…

IT WAS JANUARY 1961, I’D TAKEN A 30-percent pay cut to start my dream job with the Ford Motor Company in the Sales Division at the then-new Pico Rivera Plant in the East Los Angeles area of Southern California. The Sales Division had offices in the plant that assembled full-size cars such as Fairlanes and Galaxies. About 10 of us started in what was a management training program in the various departments within Sales, i.e.: Order Processing, Finance, Parts, or Service. These jobs all led to “Travelers” jobs where you called on the district’s Ford dealers representing Ford for your department of Sales, and with those jobs came a new Ford company car (at least one every year) to make those calls. My tongue hung out at the thought of…

Has it really been 40 years since Elvis last left the building, space shuttle Enterprise first soared, Reggie Jackson slugged three consecutive home runs in game six of the World Series and Burt Reynolds fish-tailed that black Trans Am across drive-in movie screens everywhere? Gen Xers born in 1977 now have kids in college and no longer think of Seattle as ground zero for grunge rock, but as the homeport for Alaska-bound cruise ships. Meanwhile, many American cars built in 1977 (with the possible exception of black Trans Ams) are still locked somewhere in that limbo between collectible and used — never quite catching fire with enthusiasts like the cars of 1957 and ’67. The trucks of 1977? There were well over a million built — all with bomb-proof drivetrains…

Bluega INSPIRED BY THE GO FAST NASH SUBMARINE CAR (see Lost & Found, HCC #145), reader John Corey sent along a photo of the 1950 Hudson Commodore that his son, Ethan, similarly modified for the Enchanted City Steampunk Festival in Troy, New York. “Notably, the dorsal fin was linked to the steering so it moved as a rudder!” John wrote. “The periscope was omitted due only to a shortage of dry ice to make it ‘steam.’” Other vehicles that participated in the festival include a Viking golf cart, a pedal-cranked Strandbeest-ish walker, a pulse jet-powered locomotive and a diwheel. Piperbaker Custom DESPITE HORDES OF AMATEUR and professional automotive archaeologists scouring every barn and garage across America, there remain a good number of unique cars either still…

Powerful Penlight Flashlights are an important and useful tool when working on your car or diagnosing a problem. Coast Products offers a variety of penlights, and the company’s new HP3R model provides 245 lumens of focusable light on the high setting and 26 lumens on the low, casts a beam up to 305 feet and will last for 1½ to 6 hours. A mere 1.8 ounces and only 5.8 inches in length, it will easily fit into your pocket, ready to throw light in hard-to-reach places. It’s powered by a Lithium rechargeable or two AA alkaline batteries (included). Cost: $94.99. COAST PRODUCTS 800-426-5858 COASTPORTLAND.COM Sullied to Spotless Tub O’ Towels gives you a solution to cleaning up after a long productive day in the shop. The towel wipes…

Not a division known for resting on its laurels, Oldsmobile updated the styling of its one-year-old 1959 body.The wide-set quad headlamps gave way to a more conventional look for 1960, where the parking lamp/turn signals were relocated from between each set of headlamps to the outer edges of the revised front bumper’s air intake, and their wraparound design increased side visibility. Rocket crests were now positioned between the headlamps on Super 88s and Ninety-Eights, and the grille was comprised of multiple sets of floating chromed dashes in groups of three. “Convenience-contoured” front fenders and the hood were new. The body sides were re-sculpted and featured revised character lines and trim, and the fins of 1959 were flattened for 1960 creating the “Clean-Sweep” rear deck. Taillamps mirrored the shape of the…

For nearly a quarter of a century Pratt, Pratt-Elkhart and Elcar automobiles were sold all across America, earning a well-deserved reputation for quality and style. Yet today the brands are practically unknown. Like many early automakers, the company that produced Pratt and Elcar got its start as a maker of horse-drawn vehicles. Founder Frederick Pratt and his son William were in the hardware business in Elkhart, Indiana, when they decided in 1873 to branch out into buggy manufacturing. The venture proved so successful that they sold the hardware store to devote their efforts full-time to making vehicles. Within eight years, the company boasted a new three-story factory and 80 workers on the payroll. The Pratts bragged that the company was America’s largest buggy manufacturer selling direct to customers, because they…

1935 Pierce-Arrow THE NAME PIERCE-ARROW IS AS IMPERISHABLE AS THE PRIDE OF OWNING ONE Since the dawn of the Twentieth Century, the name Pierce-Arrow has symbolized high attainment in the art of building motor cars. And its name is as imperishable as the pride of owning one . . . for it is a singular truth that that pride endures forever. No greater or more lasting reward than this attends the possession of a car of such distinguished ancestry. It is one which cannot be measured in dollars; yet is as real and as tangible as the rewards which all of the finer possessions of life so richly yield. In down trends or up, the desire for the finest always persists; only the ability to satisfy it fluctuates. Pierce-Arrow serves…

STATISTICS FROM the American Automobile Association claim there are now over 200,000 miles of main highways in the U.S., and New York’s Columbus Circle has the record for the most traffic per hour during rush hours. THE NEW HUDSON SUPER SIX is back with style, comfort and beauty. The deeper frame, redesigned springs and new cross members assure greater rigidity while maintaining sturdy design. The Super Six engine is capable of great performance and endurance as evidenced by the record-setting trek from San Francisco to New York. The new Hudson comes in several body styles and is available for as low as $1,975. THE MODEL T IS NOW EQUIPPED WITH A battery and electric starter, which is standard for all closed models. Ford has maintained the car’s basic design save…

Young kids find all kinds of ways to have fun, often involving a stick and a ball. Stan Holtzman grabbed a primitive camera when he was 12 and instead of taking ordinary snapshots, he headed from his Los Angeles, California, home east to Montebello, where a huge stockyard and meat-packing district was located. His brother, Barry, told us that Stan virtually lived at the meat complex. His thing was photographing trucks. By the thousands. From all over the Western United States. And then hopping rides on them with owner-operators who took him all over the country. It was a long journey that lasted until 2005, when Stan suddenly passed away from a heart attack. In the interim, he worked at downtown parking enforcement for the Los Angeles Police Department and…