Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Hemmings Classic Car

SoCal Success MECUM HELD ITS ANAHEIM 2016 AUCTION this past November 17-19 and saw an impressive $11 million in sales with 308 cars finding new owners. Among those cars was this 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible, which sold for $110,000. One of 1,800 produced in 1957, the original numbers-matching Cadillac was finished in burgundy with a black vinyl top and matching leather interior. To see the complete listing of all the cars that crossed the block, go to: www.mecum.com. Amelia Auctions IF YOU WERE UNABLE TO MAKE IT to Scottsdale this January, Amelia Island, Florida, offers an impressive array of auctions during the Concours d’Elegance weekend held March 9-12. Five different auction houses are now scheduled this year, with the type of cars ranging from high-end collectibles to nice daily…

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE AMERICAN CIVILIAN workforce during the years that encompassed World War II has been thoroughly documented. We all salute the memory of Rosie the Riveter in the West Coast shipyards of Henry J. Kaiser during the war years. In the auto industry, scores upon scores of women toiled in the assembly plants once they were converted to war production; the men who’d held the jobs were off fighting in two theaters of combat. Few probably know, however, that many women also worked in automotive styling studios, helping to plan the first postwar cars that would come to the public after peace was achieved. At the Ford Motor Company, the lead stylist Joe Oros was married to Betty Thatcher, who had been a prewar designer at…

I’ve waited nearly six decades to own a 1957 Buick, and it has quickly proven to be one of the absolute best cars I have ever owned. Not only do I think it’s one of the most beautiful automobiles ever built, but to my eyes, it’s the best-looking car from the ’50s. This Special is so enjoyable to drive, thanks to its smooth-as-silk engine and Dynaflow transmission, that I add about 3,000 miles to its odometer every year. Weather permitting, I drive it practically every week. It receives lots of attention wherever I take it, no doubt because of its black-and-white color combination and chrome spokes, which blend together so well.…

The American station wagon once roamed this land in vast numbers, but is almost extinct, having become threatened by the rise of the minivan and SUV in the 1980s and 1990s. This endangered species will never completely disappear, thanks to the preservation efforts of enthusiasts like Carlos and Kathy Heiligmann, who purchased their Pontiac Le Mans Safari brand new in 1978, and have faithfully maintained it in its original form, ever since. General Motors had redesigned its intermediate line for that year, with the Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac Le Mans, Oldsmobile Cutlass and Buick Century sharing the smaller, more space-efficient, A-body platform. It was a 1978 Malibu wagon, driven as a company car, that got Carlos’s attention. “We had a Vega at that time,” he recalls. “It had no power, acted…

It takes dedication to hold onto anything for 25 years, especially something as large as a car, and especially when that car is in pieces. Lots of old cars in that situation never see the road again. Although she was raised in a family business that combined a parts store and a machine shop, Lisa McDonald did not come to antique cars that way. Instead, it was her experiences in high-school marching band that introduced her to old vehicles, thanks to spending so much time in parades. Lisa’s interest in old cars drew in her father, Gary Simmons, and together they co-own a pair of Model T Fords. Her collection has also grown over the years to encompass a 1955 Ford F-100, a 1956 Hiawatha camper trailer, a 1968 Ford…

By the end of World War II, Dodge had supplied some 400,000 trucks to the U.S. military. But with the surrender of Japan, a number of uncompleted contracts were cancelled and the reconversion to peacetime production began. Dodge’s 1946 line of civilian trucks was announced in December 1945. Customers were literally standing in line awaiting their chance to buy, at long last, the new trucks they needed so badly. There was no time to develop new models for the postwar market. Nor, for that matter, was there a need for anything different than the prewar trucks. Given the tremendous demand for new vehicles at that time, Dodge, like its various competitors, would have been foolish to invest money in developing a new line. So it is hardly surprising that the…

Working Class Heroes AMERICA’S CAR MUSEUM has opened its Tools of the Trade—Powering the Working Class exhibit, which pays homage to America’s work trucks and includes 15 vintage vehicles ranging from paddy wagons, grocer’s trucks, delivery vehicles and more. Exemplifying the changing sizes, shapes and configurations needed to usher in new economies and industries, the eclectic range includes a 1942 GMC one-ton stake-side truck (pictured) and features other working vehicles from 1907 to 1956. Supplementing the vehicle display will be an exhibit wall with informative video monitors. Few museums feature commercial trucks, so be sure to check out the LeMay America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, and visit its site at americascarmuseum.org. Chevy Sooner Scramble THE VINTAGE CHEVROLET CLUB OF America has its Northeast Oklahoma 20th Anniversary National Southern Spring…

In a nutshell, Buick’s Special was an entry-level model, built for those who had yearned for the comfort, reliability and styling the GM division was known for, but at a more affordable price. But the Special was far more than a dressed-up economy car. To fully understand its significance, we should begin our journey in 1929. Buick had just introduced its redesigned models, and though bolstered by mechanical improvements, styling adversely stole the spotlight. It was hard to miss the body’s belt-line bulge, and the cars were quickly dubbed the “pregnant Buicks.” Enthusiasm slackened, and total sales dropped from 229,229 in 1928 to 178,911. Stylists provided some visual relief a year later, but the stock market crash didn’t help. Nor did the ill-timed Marquette. Sales slipped again. Over the next…

SPECIFICATIONS PROS & CONS + Striking style + Plenty of power + Ultra-smooth ride – Name lacks respect – A bit slow off the line – Few reproduction parts WHAT TO PAY LOW $10,000 – 25,000 AVERAGE $40,000 – 60,000 HIGH $75,000 – 90,000 CLUB CORNER BUICK CLUB OF AMERICA P.O. Box 360775 Columbus, Ohio 43236 614-472-3939 www.buickclub.org Dues: $50 Membership: 8,000 ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA 501 W. Governor Road P.O. Box 417 Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033 717-534-1910 www.aaca.org Dues: $35/year Membership: 60,000…

Long before building cars, Studebaker cemented its reputation by building rugged carriages. But its honest, reliable and durable automobiles set it apart from the rest of the mid-priced crowd during all of its years building cars. Their broad and deep appeal only served to enhance that reputation. Their innovations and solid engineering never wavered. And that’s exactly the sort of reputation Studebaker built over its more than 100 years in business. Fast forward to the 1925 model year, and the Big Six Duplex-Phaeton. This commanding automobile offered the company’s longest wheelbase, at 127 inches, accommodating a wide range of models and including no fewer than eight different body styles. Officially the EP model, the Big Six lineup also included two Sheriff models, one a five-passenger Duplex-Phaeton that rode on the…

When this car first appeared before a shocked public, there was only one known way to make a car — especially a racing car — aerodynamically sound. Basically, you made it skinny. In most cases, the engine was a narrow upright inline arrangement, so you made everything around it equally narrow, and then squeezed the driver in behind it. It was a great formula for speed that bore success for a lot of years. But now, we’re talking about the flawed brilliance of Harry Armenius Miller, the Wisconsin-born designer of both engines and complete cars, for which the norm was never remotely good enough. Miller was making the bulk of his money in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles during World War I by making specialized carburetors at his factory…

I enjoy the late ’20s/early ’30s vintage and was looking for a car with more than two-passenger capacity to allow family to join me on outings. The roomy back seat gives space to take family and friends along and the six-cylinder gives it more power for touring. I like the distinctive style and the nostalgia. You see this car coming down the road and you know it’s unique. Heads turn. I’ve tried to keep it as original as possible, but still have a car roadworthy for out-of-town excursions. As a finishing touch, Lisa’s “better half,” Ronnie Speakman, was able to locate a replacement for one of the missing bumperettes in the rear (another casualty of multiple moves). The swap-meet find could stand a re-plating, Lisa says, but it’s just fine…

AFTER GRADUATING FROM NORTH Carolina State College in 1961 with a degree in mechanical engineering, I went to work for Chevrolet Engineering in Warren, Michigan. They put me into a two-year training program that was to familiarize me with several of Chevrolet’s manufacturing operations. My first three-month assignment was in the test lab at the engineering center where I was given a box of electrical parts, a blueprint and was told to build a test fixture for measuring oscillation frequencies for crankshaft dampers. I was a mechanical engineering graduate, but what the heck did I know about building electrical stuff? But build it I did, and the darn thing worked! My next assignment was running heavy truck steering knuckle fatigue tests on a Sonntag machine, and writing reports as failures…

Inside the firehouse, they called them the big sticks. They were two-section wooden aerial ladders, capable of reaching the upper stories of buildings in the pre-skyscraper era, raised by counteracting metal springs. If you were hanging from an upper-story window with flames licking behind you, this is what you wanted to see clattering down the street to your rescue. The spring-raised aerial, drawn by draft horses, was a technology that could trace its roots back into the later 1800s. Only it was an imperfect setup. That largely had to do with the horses less than the ladder truck. Horses, and their stalls, took up a lot of space in the firehouse and caring for them — which meant mucking out the stalls — was a disfavored duty generally left to…

Stateline Somethingorother BACK IN THE MID-1990s, Steven Christensen stopped along Woodswether Road in Kansas City, Missouri, just shy of the state line with Kansas, to shoot some photos of a dozen or so cars that had sat in the same fenced-off lot at least since the early 1980s. “I passed this area on multiple occasions, but could never find any information on the owner of the lot or how to contact him,” Steven wrote. “It was apparent that whoever he was, he had a soft spot for collectible cars.” And whoever he was, he wasn’t just collecting willy-nilly. In the lot he had a 1957 Ford retractable, a 1963 Riviera and a mid-year Corvette. But he also had an odd little homebuilt roadster with a swingset rollbar and a tri-fin…

Chevy Gauges Classic Instruments introduces the Bell Era III Package, a near-stock gauge cluster that is a direct-fit for your 1955-’56 Chevrolet. It features a built-in ECM signal filter switch, turn signals, high-beam headlamps and a single-connector wiring harness for ease of installation. A new feature for added versatility and convenience is a fuel sender selector switch that allows for compatibility with any fuel resistance range by way of a simple switch set up during installation. The cluster is ready to install, including glass lens, in an existing housing, bezel not included. Four colors are available: black, white, gray and tan, with matching clocks and an optional gear selector with or without overdrive. Cost: $975 (gear selector not included); $250 (gear selector). CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS 800-575-0461 WWW.CLASSICINSTRUMENTS.COM Deluxe Grease Gun AMSOIL’s…

Every car line has a base model that is lowest in price in order to help attract buyers to the brand. For Buick buyers, that entry-level model has long been known as the Special. Apart from some differences in exterior trim, and three ventiports instead of four, the 1957 Special looked just like the more expensive Century, Super and Roadmaster. It rode on the same type of chassis, had the same suspension and brakes, and was powered by the same V-8 engine. The ad copy in its 1957 brochure states: “Newest sensation for the budget-minded … the bedrock-priced Buick Special for 1957.” And it was. To further entice buyers to consider the Special convertible instead of the other, less-powerful models of its competition, the brochure goes on to say: “For…

Dearborn’s entry in the thrifty full-size sedan market for 1963 was the new Ford 300. Competing with Chevrolet’s Biscayne and Plymouth’s Savoy, the dealer brochure said the Ford was,“priced to ‘outvalue’ every other full-size car in the low-priced field!” Galaxie powertrains and options could be added at extra cost, however. Though popular for fleet sales, the 300 was also marketed to budget-conscious families, business professionals and anyone who desired practicality along with the space that a full-size car could provide. Its two-door and four-door sedan shared the 119-inch wheelbase and the revised-for-1963 body design of the higher-line Galaxie, sans its frills like fender-top ornaments and bright moldings for the body sides and drip rails. Diamond Lustre Enamel exterior paint in multiple solid color choices and two-tone combinations was offered, and…

Revell soon carved out a niche for itself in the world of unassembled plastic model kits. When we were too young to drive, and car magazines weren’t enough to sate our automotive hunger, who among us failed to delve into the technical wonder of a Revell model kit? The labyrinthine array of parts... They couldn’t possibly all go together and make a car, could they? With patience, they could and did. With practice, paint techniques improved, or fewer glue spots appeared on the windshield, or you discovered materials that could work as detailing (flocking for interiors? Sewing thread for spark plug wires?). More than a few hands-on mechanics and car fans got their mechanical interests fired up with a tube of glue, a paint brush and some imagination. Revell is…

All progress is change. Only by change do man and the factors of his civilization move from the lower to the higher state; from the cruder to the finer development. Our Chrysler engineers devote their lives to study, to analysis, to experimentation. And of this constant searching and trying come the knowledge, conviction and decision that lead to progress. In announcing the New Imperial Straight Eight, we now register our most important change and progress – all designed, all worked for, all created to give the world better and more satisfying transportation. In our progress there is no departure from fundamental principles. To maintain public approbation, we must give always finer, more dependable, more dynamic car performance – must offer always greater value, as well as cars better suited to…

FORD HAS OVER 100,000 CARS IN USE TODAY, AND THE MODEL T CAN BE FOUND everywhere in the civilized world. With over 4,000 dealerships in the USA and Canada, you can expect prompt service and assistance. The five-passenger touring car pictured features detachable doors and a four-cylinder engine with 20 horsepower. The Model T comes with brass windshield frame, oil lamps, gas lamps, generator, horn and tools. It starts at an affordable $690. THE SECOND running of the Indianapolis 500 takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is won by Joe Dawson and Don Herr in a National car. AFTER OVER A YEAR OF PRESS,THE NEW CHEVROLET FOUR-DOOR TOURING CAR is now available. Built on a 120-inch-wheelbase chassis, the car is powered by a six-cylinder 30hp engine. Standard equipment…