Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2018 i Hemmings Classic Car

Bonhams Results BONHAMS WRAPPED UP ANOTHER AUCTION AT THE SIMEONE FOUNDATION AUTOMOTIVE Museum this past October and saw over $2.8 million in car sales with a sell-through rate above 80 percent. A nice find was this 1963 Corvette roadster. This iconic “Fuelie” was only three owners from new, finished in Sebring Silver, and well optioned with the M-20 four-speed transmission, L84 360-horsepower fuel-injected engine with solid-lifter cam, 4.11 Positive Traction rear axle, and J65 metallic brakes. This nice Sting Ray sold at a final bid of $82,500 including premium. Visit www.bonhams.com for a full list of results. Oklahoma Thunder LEAKE AUCTION COMPANY RETURNS TO Oklahoma City February 23-24 at the Bennett Event Center in the State Fair Park. Last year’s auction saw total sales over $10.4 million, with a 79-percent…

When Edsel was introduced as a new Ford division for 1958, there was some confusion as to where it was to fit in. Ford division was creeping upward, thanks to the 1957-introduced Fairlane 500, and Mercury was extending downward with its Medalist series. Lincoln had ceded the up-market realm to Cadillac, preferring to compete with Chrysler and Buick. The Continental experiment, intended to fill the gap above Lincoln, had proved short-lived after Ford Motor Company became a publically traded entity. All of those factors combined to mean that the divisional gap perceived by Ford product planners in the late 1940s had essentially evaporated by the time the new division bowed. Toss in pale build quality, thanks to assembly lines shared with Ford and Mercury cars, and a nationwide recession that…

Pontiac’s Le Mans nameplate was already established when the all-new perimeter-frame General Motors A-body intermediates replaced the smaller unitized-construction Y-bodies for 1964. Bucket seats, emblems, and trim updates added sporty appeal to the Le Mans over the entry-level Tempest or Tempest Custom. Having debuted in 1963, the 326-cu.in. V-8 continued as the optional engine for the Le Mans in 1964. Retaining the same exterior dimensions as the 389 V-8, and trimming weight through the use of thin-wall casting techniques made the 326 efficient and less costly to manufacture than an all-new engine design. It was offered as a regular-fuel, two-barrel engine or as a premium-fuel, four-barrel, dual-exhaust H.O. That same year, Pontiac sidestepped a GM edict that limited the largest engine size to 330 cubic inches in its intermediate cars…

“Growing up in the Sixties, I loved cars. I always leaned towards the Chrysler products, in part because of their performance and styling, predominantly the Dodges,” Wayne Johnson says. “When the redesigned 1968 bodies came out, they really caught my attention. I was 21 at the time, was gainfully employed, and needed a much more reliable car, so I went to Cavallaro Motors in Ansonia, thinking then was as good a time as any to buy a new car.” A Connecticut native then living in Shelton, Wayne had travelled to the Dodge dealership to purchase, not surprisingly, a Super Bee convertible. Unbeknownst to him, the $2,555 entry-level muscle car — in base trim — was only available as a two-door coupe. It was unwelcome news; however, realizing Wayne was a…

IN 1963, WINTER IN SOUTH KOREA continued into late March, so it was still cold when I arrived at my new duty station, the 37th Ordnance Company of the Eighth Army, United States Army, Republic of Korea. I had been in the Army six months, three for basic training and three for advanced training as a “Fuel and Electrical Systems Specialist, Wheel and Track Vehicles.” Advanced training, at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, had been a lark since I had already spent many hours at my Uncle Billy’s gas station. The 37th had two basic missions: In time of conflict, they went to the field to provide recovery-and-repair support for the combat soldiers’ vehicles; in time of peace, they were a repair-and-restoration service for the M37 ¾-ton multipurpose vehicle…

In the mid-1970s, factory performance was poking along in the slow lane, but pop culture still had its pedal to the metal. Unrest in the Middle East combined with stagflation, surging insurance rates, and stricter government emissions regulations in the U.S. were like the four horsemen of the muscle-car apocalypse. Journalist Murilee Martin coined the now much-used phrase “malaise era” to describe cars built during this time. The term is a reference to President Jimmy Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech in 1979, or the “malaise speech” as it came to be known. While the themes of President Carter’s speech were actually popular with many Americans — sacrificing for the greater good, making do with less, etc. — for car enthusiasts, this was like the nation’s dad chiding us for staying…

Happy Days Are Here Again THIS YEAR MARKS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VINTAGE CHEVROLET CLUB OF America’s Happy Days tour. Hosted by the Blue Ridge Region and based out of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, the April 29 through May 3 event will take participants in their 1955-’93 Chevy and GMC vehicles around the Blue Ridge Mountains, and will include Southwest Virginia and visits to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mt. Airy is Andy Griffith’s hometown, so there will be trips to the Snappy Lunch Diner, Floyd’s Barbershop, Andy’s boyhood home, and the Andy Griffith Museum. For more information about Happy Days X, contact Tom Inman at 276-694-3800 or 57tdinman@embarqmail.com. CCCA Events THE CLASSIC CAR CLUB OF AMERICA has finalized its…

License Plate Toppers 800-336-2453 • WOLFDEVILSKULL.COM $19.95 EACH, PLUS $3.50 SHIPPING; $55 FOR ALL THREE, WITH FREE SHIPPING Inspired by the popular vintage “kitty kat” license-plate toppers beloved in the hot-rod and classic-car community, these new, creative, and characterful plate toppers are sure to turn heads and inspire comments. Marketed as “Coolest Badass Toppers,” these sturdy tin pieces sport colorful fine-finish lithograph printing, and feature one or more mechanical moving eyes, plus a mechanical moving tongue (Wolf) or cigar (Devil and Skull). They’re delivered in envelopes bearing vivid, full-sized graphic renditions of the characters within, and the Wolf, Devil, or Skull can also be attached to an inside window using the included suction cup. Draw a crowd at your next car show or cruise night with these toppers, and make your…

REPRINTED FROM SPECIAL INTEREST AUTOS #1 — OCTOBER 1970 With the first Edsel in metal, one of the five designers responsible for its styling sat down and spontaneously put together a scrapbook. This was mid-1958. The designer has asked to remain anonymous. His scrapbook covers too many pages to reprint here in toto, but he’s allowed us to reproduce highlights. The scrapbook begins: “June 7, 1954, a styling team was formed to undertake the conception of an entirely new automobile.” Now this is a rare privilege indeed in a company as well established as the Ford Motor Co. Here would be a car with no past history and no precedents. This proved both an advantage and a tremendous challenge. “Within several weeks our new studio organization…

While on my way to Lake George, New York, to take part in the Hemmings Concours, I made a slight detour and stopped in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, to attend a Corvair show. It wasn’t just any Corvair show though, it was the much-anticipated gathering at the headquarters of Clark’s Corvair Parts, which is located right on the scenic Mohawk Trail. Hosted by the Bay State Corvair Club of Massachusetts every two years, this was its 13th Fall Classic show. It was held on Saturday, September 16, under warm, sunny skies, which no doubt contributed to this year’s record-breaking attendance of 104 Corvairs. There were Corvairs from throughout New England and the Northeast, Long Island, Canada, and as far away as Virginia. Be it authentic or modified, original or restored, every…

The popularity of automobiles of American manufacture in Europe started to increase rapidly after the 1914-1918 Great War. However, trade agreements and sanctions, along with high import tariffs, affected American cars going to Europe, just as it affected European cars coming to the USA. One way to lessen the import duty was to have a factory manufacture American cars in Europe. The company that was most prolific at this was Ford, which had large plants in England and Germany. Canada was considered part of the British Empire, and American makes of cars that had production facilities there had lower tariffs imposed upon them than those produced in and directly imported from the U.S. The two most important companies that took advantage of this were Buick and Packard. Perhaps the easiest…

Throughout its thirteen years of manufacturing quality automobiles, Plymouth has pioneered in the low-price field many of the important advancements which today all buyers demand. Plymouth led the way with high-compression engines. . . steel bodies. . . hydraulic brakes! And year after year Plymouth has given the buyers of low-priced cars many more of the quality engineering features usually found only in high-priced cars. Because of the present requirements of the National Defense program, fewer cars of this Plymouth model will be produced, but the value and quality for which Plymouth has been famous throughout the years is at a new high. From this standpoint of style and appearance, of power and performance, of economy and long life, of safety and…

RE: Lost Kitty CONCEPT-CAR ENTHUSIAST MARTY MARTINO FILLED IN A LITTLE BIT OF THE HISTORY of Ford’s 1962 Cougar concept. He writes: “When I first went to Southern California (1970), one of the first places I checked out was George Barris’s shop. On the west side of his shop were two cars that I had never seen before. I was intrigued as I figured they were some kind of vintage dream cars and they had Ford badging. Both were in shabby abandoned condition. “Years later I learned that both were built by Ford’s Special Vehicles Department. They were designed and built around 1953-’54 as test mules for various features as opposed to total design concepts like most other dream cars. “The car that really caught my eye was the D-523,…

“PEOPLE WITH CARS ARE SO LAZY they don’t want to get out of them to eat.” That was the guiding sentiment when Dallas businessman Jesse Kirby approached physician Reuben Jackson about investing in an idea he had for a new kind of restaurant. Kirby had made his reputation selling candy and tobacco at his mercantile business on South Akard Street; Jackson had made his money as a surgeon. The collaboration produced a modest, clapboard-covered box at the intersection of Chalk Hill Road and the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike (now Interstate 30) in Dallas’s Oak Cliff neighborhood, about one-fifth the way to Fort Worth. “Kirby’s Pig Stand,” as the barbecue joint was billed, was unique not so much for the Tennessee-style chopped pork sandwiches it served in the heart of beef-brisket country,…

Most of us aren’t wise to the world when we’re 15 years old, and we don’t make decisions with the power to alter the course of our lives. Some that age are mature enough to have a vision, a plan, and a passion — say, working on a vintage automobile — that can set them up for the decades of enjoyment that come from owning such a treasure. The special car on these pages was brought back to life by its youthful owner half a century ago, and that same owner continues to drive and share it to this day. In the late 1960s, the Ford Model A was the most popular car to buy if you wanted a usable prewar classic. This was what Bob Bujak’s friend purchased in…

Studebaker advertised its station wagons for the 1956 model year as the cars for everyone: “Whether you’re off to work or play…whatever hat it calls for…the great big way to go to it is in one of the new Studebaker station wagons! Blue jeans and Sunday best, graduation gowns and bathing suits are all equally at home in these comfortable, easy-riding, solidly-built beauties.” Though 1956 ultimately proved an ominous year for the Studebaker-Packard Corporation, what with tumbling sales figures and the final shutdown of the Packard plant in Detroit and the West Coast Studebaker assembly line in California, the cars themselves still had their fans. Dave Romani’s father bought a new Studebaker Pelham wagon in 1956. He and his family loved the simple, straightforward two-door wagon, even if the Connecticut…

I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD WHEN MY Uncle Max went to Flatbush Chevrolet on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, to buy his first new car. It was on March 6, 1957. I clearly remember walking into the dealership with him as he held my left hand. There were a few different 1957 models displayed on the old wooden parquet showroom floor. My uncle leaned over towards me and pointed to a Bel Air sedan and asked me if I liked it. All I remember saying was; “Yeah, it’s black.” In retrospect, I wished I could’ve tried to push him towards a two-door or even a four-door hardtop, but my uncle and my father always preferred a sedan because they felt the center post offered more protection in a rollover.…