Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i Hemmings Classic Car

“What I like most about the look of early ’40s cars is the simplicity of their shape.” If you think you need to own a lavish Auburn, a high-end Duesenberg, or a V-16 Cadillac to enjoy the old-car experience to the fullest, you’re not only mistaken, but you are missing out on some of the best cars to ever roll off a Detroit assembly line. While many of us fantasize about owning a coachbuilt Classic such as a Darrin-bodied Packard, or an equally rare high-performance muscle car like a Super Duty Pontiac Catalina, the truth remains that most old cars, regardless of their pedigree, will provide a level of fun and excitement to satisfy even the most jaded of aspirations. Take the 1942 Hudson that’s featured elsewhere in this issue.…

“Some folks call it America’s first compact car, but that’s really not accurate because the King Midget is much too small to be considered a compact...” Most old-car enthusiasts are familiar with the King Midget, that tiny little two-seater that’s hardly bigger than a garden tractor and uses basically the same engine. Folks smile when they see a King Midget. They’re fun little critters, weird in a nice way, and their owners are a happy, loyal bunch. But something I think we all sort of misunderstood about the King Midget is its position in automotive history. I’m including myself in that statement, because in the past I’ve described the King as a spiritual successor to the cycle cars that were a short-lived fad from about 1910 to 1926. While…

“Car colors in the mid-1920s took their inspiration from nature, at least that’s what advertisements proclaimed.” I taught art for nearly 40 years and, as a result, I have a fair collection of pre-World War II paperwork and images, so on occasion I get asked about what colors would look proper on cars of the 1914-’42 era. My color-reference material consists of two Murphy Varnish Company color samples and manual books, dated 1921 and 1924, a car-color cardboard sample dated 1907 from Valentine & Co., and a similar card issued by Locomobile, circa 1920. In addition, I have a box of 2 1/ 2 x 4 3/ 4 - inch color-sample chips issued by the Acme White Lead and Color Works for its Proxlin color-matching system, which covers the years…

MY FIRST “REAL” JOB WAS AT A Texaco gas station in Westminster, California, in 1963. I was just 16 and car obsessed, and the opportunity to earn a paycheck by working on and around automobiles instead of mowing lawns or delivering papers seemed about the coolest thing ever. I was “the man who wears the star,” and wore my green Texaco uniform with pride both on and off the job. None of us had the “traffic cop” style hats or bow ties seen in the Texaco advertisements, but I did get one of those snappy Eisenhower jackets, and we were required to use a special belt with a cover over the buckle to batteries, but no Slurpees, magazines, or beef jerky, and the road maps and air were free. Our…

January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit might as well have been called the “North American International Pickup and SUV Show.” The trend among the various new-vehicle announcements was unmistakable: Automakers are abandoning traditional family sedans as buyers’ tastes have swung toward trucks — particularly high-riding, all-wheel-drive crossovers. As students of automotive history, we know that these vehicles are really nothing new. They’re station wagons — complete with passenger-car underpinnings — pumped up to look like truck-based utilities, then given rugged-sounding names. So long Country Squire and Kingswood. Hello Explorer and Traverse. These part-car, part-truck rigs are an offshoot of the widespread gentrification of trucks that has been going on for years, and touched every facet of the market. For better or worse (as well as for richer or…

Great Race Cities THE 2018 GREAT RACE WILL BEGIN JUNE 23 in Buffalo, New York, and meander its way through upstate New York, northern New England, New Brunswick, and finally conclude in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 1. The journey will cover more than 2,200 miles with overnight and lunch stops in 16 different cities. The race is open to all collectible 1972 and older cars and trucks, and will feature five different divisions based on experience from Grand Champion to X-Cup, which is reserved for college and high school teams. If you’re planning on being near one of the scheduled stops and want to see all of these wonderful cars, be sure to visit www.greatrace.com for location details and more information. Lincolns in Florida THE 2018 EASTERN NATIONAL LINCOLN…

Looking Backward 760-799-9795 • WWW.WAGONBOOK.COM  • $24.95 While minivans became America’s de-facto family-movers in the 1990s, followed by rugged-looking utility vehicles in the 2000s, there has always been a small segment of the enthusiast population that never outgrew its appreciation for the traditional station wagons that were once ubiquitous on our roads. Two of those enthusiasts — photographer John Jordan and author Will Bodine — have collaborated to offer an appealing tribute to this largely postwar phenomenon in this self-published book, subtitled, “America’s Love Affair with the Station Wagon” (ISBN 978-0-692-59420-9). This body style evolved from its utilitarian prewar roots to cover every stratum of the car market, from the cheap compacts to full-sized luxury wagons. This 132-page softcover highlights that range using 26 American wagons built between 1941 and 1992,…

I READ WITH GREAT INTEREST YOUR story on the Soap Box Derby in HCC #161. I was part of this story in 1948-’50, and still have my race car just as it ran its last race. I won the $50 prize of Stanley hand tools, which I used to build my home in 1960 and still use to this day, [in addition to] a small vise and travel alarm clock, which I won for the best upholstered car in 1948-’49. It was great fun for a kid growing up in a small village in upstate New York where there wasn’t a whole lot to do during the summer. Our local newspaper, the Hudson Register-Star, and Wilson Chevrolet in Hudson co-sponsored the event, and placed an ad in the paper in…

1922 Duesenberg In presenting the “Duesenberg Straight-8” to the public, the Company pledges itself to furnish only a car “BUILT TO OUTCLASS, OUTRUN AND OUTLAST ANY CAR ON THE ROAD.” The “Duesenberg Straight-8” is the culmination of over twenty years’ effort of its creator, Fred S. Duesenberg, to whom, more than to any other, belongs the honor of producing a motor car that for speed, endurance and infinite attention to detail has proved its superiority throughout the world. Experimental models have been punished without mercy, covering distance equal to at least ten years of average driving, and not until they had emerged from these tests successfully, were they deemed fit to offer to the buying public. Features that impress the owner are numerous. Among them are: The extraordinary flexibility of…

BUICK’S FOUR- AND SIX-CYLINDER models are available in eight different body styles to meet the needs of every situation. Each Buick provides a surplus of power, passenger comfort, and extreme efficiency. With nearly 20 years of experience, you know what to expect from the dependable Buick. The two-door roadster and four-door touring start as low as $795. FORD IS BACK, AND THE MODEL T is as popular as ever, with five different body styles on offer. Each Ford is splendidly upholstered with whipcord cloth, and cabins seal out the elements, providing you with a comfortable ride. Of course, dependability, durability, flexibility, and ease of maintenance are also back at an ever-more affordable price. Should you need an endorsement, ask one of the more than two-million Ford owners currently on the…

My cousin Jimmy and I were car guys from an early age. Jimmy had actually acquired every issue of Hot Rod magazine from its beginning in 1948. We lived a few blocks from each other, and spent a lot of time together in the early ’50s lying on the floor in Jimmy’s living room watching wrestling, midget races, and destruction derby on their black-and-white 10-inch TV while thumbing through dog-eared past issues of Hot Rod and old J.C. Whitney and Western Auto catalogs, and fantasizing about what we would do to our cars when we were old enough to have them. Jimmy’s father, my Uncle Frank, believed that television was the work of the devil, so he did not allow us to watch it except for the above mentioned shows,…

Start it Up NOCO • 800-456-6626 • WWW.NO.CO If you need a small yet powerful battery charger, the G15000 from NOCO is it. It’s a multi-purpose 15-amp charger capable of charging 12- and 24-volt lead-acid batteries as well as lithium-ion batteries. It features a built-in desulfator that will rejuvenate sulfated batteries and features a powerful “JumpCharge” start mode for dead batteries. The small and efficient unit also features reverse polarity protection and is spark proof. NOCO offers a full line of chargers and jump starters; visit their website for the one that’s perfect for your needs. Cost: $199.95 (pictured); $37.95-$249.95 (multi-charging product line). Cool Controls VINTAGE AIR • 800-862-6658 • WWW.VINTAGEAIR.COM Vintage Air announces the release of new Generation IV Ellipse control panels as part of their aftermarket air conditioning systems. Available…

Back in the day, when working your way up the divisional ladder of the Big Three, you announced your success by the make of car you drove, which is why the car that truly defined personal luxury in the 1970s was an unexpected and surprising star. I recently observed a discussion on what was the first muscle car, so I must be insane to ask what was the first personal luxury car; therefore, I won’t. But if I did (I can’t help myself), I imagine the 1939-’41 Lincoln Continental would rank up there, even though cars for the discerning well-heeled consumer had been produced since an engine was first mounted under a carriage. After the War, others would dip their toes in the personal luxury pool, such as the 1953…

IN THE SPIRIT OF FULL DISCLOSURE, I must admit that I owned two Plymouth Horizons, and I would own one again in a New York minute. Of all the cars I bought new, the Horizon was the only one about which our friendly, family-owned Merrimack Motors Chrysler-Plymouth dealer said, “These are fun-to-drive cars,” and he was right. They are fun to drive. Introduced on December 5, 1977, after a development timeline that was shortened from 48 months to 30, the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon were America’s first foray into transverse-mounted, front-wheel-drive, sub-compact sedans. They bore a resemblance to the VW Rabbit and, to save development costs, were powered by a VW-sourced 1.7-liter OHC four-cylinder engine with some modifications by our friends at Mopar, including the addition of the lean-burn…