Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i Hemmings Classic Car

1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport 877-343-2276 • WWW.AUTOMODELLO.COM $299.95 (STANDARD EDITION); $365.95 (TRIBUTE EDITION); $449.95 (HOMAGE EDITION); $465.95 (ENTHUSIASTS EDITION) It was two years after Buick’s Riviera was put into production that this classically styled coupe received a facelift that would bring it into line with the vision imagined by GM Vice President of Design Bill Mitchell. The hidden headlamps that made his personal 1963 Riviera-based “Silver Arrow I” show car so fetching were now available to all Riviera buyers. 1965 would also mark the introduction of the ultimate Riviera, the 360-horsepower Gran Sport. The artists at Automodello can be justifiably proud of their GM-licensed 1:24-scale resin model, which replicates the 1965 Riviera’s crisp contours beautifully. In typical Automodello practice, this model has no opening panels, and features raised windows on…

The creative genius of car enthusiasts and the cold calculations of businessmen are the age-old yin and yang of the automobile industry. Think of the car enthusiast as an artist, driven to create the purest expression of his or her vision in steel, glass, and rubber — regardless of expense. The businessmen are there to make sure that the unfettered vision doesn’t bankrupt the company. Both the artist and his or her fans may decry the artificial limitation on mechanical genius, but the graveyard of the car business is littered with nameplates that went too far, too fast, and were unable to sustain themselves. By the time he was approached to append his appellation to the eponymous company in 1921, Eddie Rickenbacker’s car-enthusiast credentials were already well-established: He first rose…

The Pontiac Motor Division wasn’t enthusiastic about the prospect of joining the F-body program in the mid-1960s. In fact, General Manager John Z. DeLorean and his staff were busy trying to advance the affordable XP-833 two-seat V-8 sports car for production, but General Motors management wouldn’t approve it. A forward-thinking four-seat sporty personal-sized XP-798 (aka Scorpion and Banshee) had also been cultivated, but the powers that be weren’t about to green-light it, either. A few lesser-known Pontiac proposals were presented as well, but the corporation instead became adamant that PMD produce a version of Chevrolet’s Camaro. From a business perspective, adding a second F-body would aid in recouping the program’s tooling costs more quickly, and, of course, development costs would be substantially less (the same reasons why so much was…

Nostalgia often drives us to own a specific collector car or truck. Or, for Bill Wise, a vintage van. From his youth, the North Adams, Massachusetts, resident fondly remembers the 1962 Corvair Greenbrier his father purchased. “It was the only car he bought new, and when I got my driver’s license my parents gifted it to me as my first car. The Chevrolet was already a bit rusty by then, but we did some basic work on it so that I could use it. There were a lot of great memories associated with the Greenbrier,” explained Bill. Flash forward to the Fall of 2004. Bill had previously restored a 1962 Corvair Monza Convertible and was scanning the internet looking for another project. By chance, he stumbled upon a listing for…

IN THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF MY life, I developed a strong association with Hudsons, arguably the greatest American postwar automobiles ever built. During that time, I had many experiences, but none more memorable than those spent in or around the Hudsons in my family. My first recollection is of riding in my dad’s 1941 Super Six Hudson during World War II. Dad needed a solid, reliable car because his sales job required traveling daily within a 50-mile radius of Reading, Pennsylvania. At the age of four, I realized that the Hudson was something special — soft foam seats, a good radio, and red lights that blinked off when the engine started. After the war, Dad had company cars, and the 1941 Hudson became our family car. Hudsons were in our…

Hilton Head Happenings THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND MOTORING FESTIVAL AND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE KICKS off with the Savannah Speed Classic October 27-29 in Savannah, Georgia, and culminates with the Concours d’Elegance November 3-5 at the Port Royal Golf Club, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; only 30 miles separate these two events. Featured marque at the concours will be Cadillac, and among the more than 20 classes to be judged will be three special Cadillac classes: Cadillac Classics, Cadillac Production 1949-1962, and Cadillac Production 1963-1973. In addition, some significant Cadillacs will be included in the celebration such as the Cadillac Cyclone, 1908 Cadillac Model T Touring, 1934 Cadillac Victoria Convertible Coupe, and 1955 Cadillac St. Moritz. Tickets are now available online, including multi-day passes for both festivals at a discounted rate.…

Florida Carlisle CARLISLE EVENTS HEADS SOUTH IN NOVEMBER TO SET THEIR SIGHTS ON THE SUNSHINE STATE AS the Fall Florida AutoFest takes place in Lakeland November 9-12. During the weekend event, Carlisle will feature their onsite auction on the 10th and 11th. More than 400 cars are expected to cross the block in Carlisle’s final auction of the year. The auction is scheduled to take place from 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and consignments are still being accepted. Visit www.carlisleevents.com for a full schedule and local accommodations. Denver Dealings MECUM CONCLUDED A SUCCESSFUL auction in Denver this past July with nearly 700 cars up for sale. The results of the weekend saw a 62-percent sell-through with more than $10 million in sales. One particular sale that caught our eye was…

One warm summer evening this past July, I was driving down scenic route 186 in Somers, Connecticut, enjoying the outstanding at-ease ride of the 1960 Buick Electra that I was behind the wheel of. General Motors cars of this era have a certain unmistakable driving characteristic that makes operating them a very memorable experience. They also have a distinctive interior aroma that, for me, instantly brings back a flood of wonderful childhood memories. I’m a longtime admirer of Buick’s styling for the 1960 model year, so this was certainly going to be an unforgettable event. Owner Danny Plotkin, of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, had thrown me the keys and said, “You really have to drive this Buick to see exactly what it’s all about.” And so I was. My time behind…

“Taking inspiration from the Lincoln Continental— acknowledged to be the most beautiful car of its day—to design a car that will be the most distinguished car in the world.” Such was the design brief Ford set in motion in the early 1950s, its goal to supplant Cadillac as the maker of the finest American cars, and, indeed, to take on the finest automobiles from the rest of the world, as well. With Henry Ford II in firm control of the family business in the 1950s, the company began an audacious expansion, adding two new divisions, including the ill-fated Edsel. “The Deuce,” as Henry Ford’s grandson was known, even took the Ford Motor Company public, raising the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to make the projects happen. Henry II put…

The Greenbrier was my fifth restoration, so the process was not unfamiliar to me. The toughest part was having to fabricate so many parts. There was one section that took me 16 hours to complete. You have to be patient and not work beyond your abilities, which should be a key thought going into any project. Overall, this was a 10-year effort — there was a spell where it wasn’t high on my priority list — however the outcome was worth it. Sure, there are subtle differences I incorporated, but I really wanted to mimic the original 1962 model I had. I could not be more pleased with the outcome.…

IT WAS 1984, I HAD JUST GRADUATED from college with a degree in communications and was working in the newsroom of a local radio station in Dubuque, Iowa. With a three-year-old son and another baby on the way, I was looking for a better job, that paid more than minimum wage, to support my growing family. I spotted a classified ad for a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership looking to hire a salesman, and went in for an interview. I was somewhat familiar with Tegeler’s Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep as my dad usually bought Chrysler products, and we had shopped for cars there. The dealership was located in downtown Dubuque, which was the older part of town when most new car dealerships were building new facilities in the growing west end of the city. The 70-year-old…

The 1960 Buick has always been on my must-own list, but I didn’t want to pay for a convertible, and most non-convertible examples are the lesser LeSabre. Low mileage and original Electra models, even with four doors, are hard to find. While 1960 may have been the height of GM divisional sovereignty, I’d argue that while Cadillac enjoyed the most styling independence, it was Buick that appeared to have the most latitude in engineering exclusivity. Consider, for example, the following items that were exclusive to the 1960 Buick: full-perimeter frame with K-section front engine and transmission cradle; Buick-designed and manufactured Twin Turbine automatic; torque-tube driveline bolting the transmission and rear axle together, eliminating axle windup; 12-inch finned, aluminum front brakes with 218.03 square inches total lining area; accelerator pedal starter…

It’s the flashy ones that everyone idolizes, the fire breathers and the one-of-ones. But in the Corvette world, as in all the collector-car hobby, those rare and powerful examples are not what most people bought off the showroom floor, drove daily, and made fun memories with. When it was new, the 1971 Corvette convertible on these pages was a low-production car with a strong V-8, but it was like thousands of other 1971 soft-top ’Vettes. Today, considering this car’s healthy use, its unrestored and unmodified condition is what makes it a rarity, worthy of veneration. Chevrolet priced the Corvette convertible a bit less than the Sport Coupe in those days, its MSRP of $5,259 being roughly equivalent to $31,810 today, and despite being a relative bargain, this body style was…

Through seven decades of continual production and technical development, the Corvette has represented the aspirations of millions of sports-car enthusiasts. As it’s connected with, and adjacent to, this car’s sole assembly plant, the National Corvette Museum offers a uniquely engaging, ongoing historical celebration that evolves along with the car itself. Bowling Green, Kentucky, has been the home of Corvette assembly since 1981. Located between Louisville and Nashville, it was home to a defunct Chrysler air conditioning-unit plant that would double in size once GM purchased and modernized it. And it would benefit from a growing belief amongst Corvette faithful that a not-for-profit foundation should be created to gather and preserve historic materials and, perhaps, to form the basis for a museum. As explained on the National Corvette Museum’s website, the…

1974 Pontiacs GRAND PRIX PONTIAC’S CLASSIC LUXURY SPORT Grand Prix has a reputation for being a car that’s uncompromised . . . strictly first class. Any way you look at it, the 1974 Grand Prix’s styling carries out the classic image. The Wide-Track ride is no compromise, either. Grand Prix is a magnificent road car. A 400-cubic-inch engine provides the kind of Pontiac performance that has helped make Grand Prix famous. There’s a great option you can order for Grand Prix. It’s called “SJ.” And it includes: A maintenance-free battery, unitized ignition, pin striping, a 455 V-8, a rally gauge cluster, steel-belted radials and more. Kind of our ultimate ultimate. 1974 Grand Prix. The classic example of our way with cars. VENTURA PONTIAC’S LOW-PRICED COMPACT CAR Starting now, there’s a…

THE CHEVROLET FLEETLINE AEROSEDAN CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE MARKET WITH production likely to exceed 200,000 units this year. The sleek, sloped rear gives the Aerosedan a dynamic look yet still provides plenty of headroom and comfort for rear passengers. This staple of the Chevrolet lineup is also quite affordable, starting at $1,434. FORD HOLDS THE LINE ON PRICING, UNLIKE many other manufacturers who have seen an increase this year. The Super De Luxe convertible is back at $1,740, same as 1947, and available with the 100-hp 239-cu.in. V-8. This year will feature a shortened run of Ford production, as the Blue Oval will be back with an all-new design as the decade comes to a close. And be on the lookout for the new F-series trucks, which will be available…