Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i Hemmings Classic Car

A few years before the muscle car era officially kicked off, the Big Three auto manufacturers in Detroit were already competing in the horsepower wars. The full-size cars of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s brought along large-displacement engines that rocked the automotive world with stout compression ratios, solid-lift camshafts and multiple carburetors. The example shown here is a 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air, which is actually one of Chevy’s lower trim models, compared to the highly-optioned Impala. These stripped-down cars were often equipped with six-cylinder engines, but a select few left the factory with Chevrolet’s top-performing engine, the illustrious 409. This beautifully restored 1962 Bel Air bubbletop features a set of 14-inch OE steel wheels, which are painted body color and equipped with original dog dish caps. The tires come…

WE RECENTLY HEARD FROM RONALD HEILMAN OF LEWISBURG, Tennessee, who took a liking to the Executive Flagship (see HCC, September 2021) as a teenager reading Popular Science, and whose abiding interest in house trailers led him to take jobs selling and even designing house trailers as early as age 13. Though he did spot the Executive Flagship on the road in Florida in 1955 or so, he had a more personal encounter with mobile home tycoon William MacDonald’s grand vision a decade later, when he came across it in a storage yard in St. Petersburg, Florida. “It was in deplorable condition,” he said. “It was mostly a shell of its former self. The roof leaked and ruined the floors. The interior walls were gone, and the kitchen was scrapped.” Yet it…

As announced in December of 1956 and available by March of 1957, the Cadillac Series 70 Eldorado Brougham was designed by Ed Glowacke, who was part of Harley Earl’s design studio at General Motors. Arguably the most beautiful and most sought-after Cadillac ever built, the Eldorado Brougham was Cadillac’s response to Ford Motor Company’s Continental Mark II. The prototype Brougham was a hand-built, true pillarless four-door hardtop that first debuted as a featured show car in the GM Motorama for 1955. Derived from the ultra-luxurious Park Avenue and Orleans show cars of 1953-’54, the Brougham was stunning with its brushed-stainless-steel roof. Other exterior ornamentation included polished stainless-steel lower rear quarter panels with full rocker sills, and rectangular-shaped side body coves cut into the front and rear doors, with horizontal wind-splits…

GAA CLASSIC CARS AUCTION HELD ITS THIRD SALE OF THE YEAR AT ITS FACILITY IN GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, ON JULY 22-24. UNLIKE ITS previous event, the midsummer auction has been a regular part of its annual calendar. As such, the July sale served up—by our count—613 vintage and contemporary collectible vehicles, for onsite and remote bidders alike, during the three-day event. GAA sold 550 lots to new owners, which equated to an 89.7-percent sell-through rate and a collective take of nearly $17.7 million (all listed sale prices include a buyer’s premium). After the last lot crossed the block, sitting at the top of the overall sales list was an incredibly restored 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 that achieved a sale price of $250,000. It was followed by a 1958 Chevrolet…

"There was something special going on during that period of the mid-to-late ’50s…" A Brief Moment in Design I can still remember the day our neighbors brought home their “new” car. Really, it was new only to their household, and was in fact many years beyond the showroom by that point. It was a 1956 Chevy Bel Air, but we were standing in 1974. I was a young kid then, still years from being able to drive but already infatuated with cars, and any time someone I knew was acquiring a different vehicle, I was anxious to check it out — it didn’t matter what it was. But when the ’56 Chevy arrived next door, I was enthralled. The son in that family was my age, and my best friend…

5-6 • AMC Reunion Henderson, Nevada 702-688-2073 • snamc.amcrc.com 5-7 • Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance Hilton Head, South Carolina 843-785-7469 • hhiconcours.com 7 • Sumter Swap Meet Bushnell, Florida 727-848-7171 • floridaswapmeets.com 13 • Springfield Swap Meet & Car Show Springfield, Ohio 937-376-0111 • ohioswapmeet.com 19-21 • Moultrie Automotive Swap Meet Moultrie, Georgia 229-896-2150 • moultrieswapmeet.com 20 • MAFCA Indoor Swap Meet Albany, Oregon • 541-928-1218 • mafca.com 25-28 • Turkey Run Daytona Beach, Florida 386-767-9070 • turkeyrun.com Please note that these events are active as of press time despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend you verify the status before making plans to attend.…

"The ’56 was a true, get-in-and-go gem that never whimpered during startup or struggled up a steep grade…" My Time with Beverly Although my vintage vehicle immersion commenced before I was out of diapers, the opportunity to become a card-carrying member in the vast club of ownership didn’t occur until late in my 24th year. At that point, I was hooked on the notion of buying an early Fifties Buick, preferably a Roadmaster. And so, when the very ’52 I grew up with became available, I snagged it in a flash. Within a month, Dad and I had plans to attend our first spring swap meet at Carlisle. That trip yielded a sizable take in spare parts and resources, the latter including knowledgeable people in specialized fields, several of whom…

The period following World War II was an amazing time of optimism and prosperity in the U.S., with industry booming and technology advancing rapidly. Meanwhile, Americans were feeling good about life in the free world and many were flush with cash thanks to the strong job market. This all meshed to create a perfect storm of consumer demand that was advancing beyond the need to obtain products that hadn’t been readily available during the war—now, people were buying to satisfy desire as much as need. The domestic automakers were perfectly poised to satisfy that demand, coming off of war contracts that had been followed by frenzied car sales after years of halted automobile production. The war had also pushed the development of technology, and style was once again a primary…

You know the refrain: When the top goes down the price goes up! It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Still, if you want that open-air experience, take a look at the early ’50s — a largely forgotten era between the recycled prewar designs of 1946-’48 and the fin-and-chrome-bedecked insolent chariots of 1957-’59. The folks who were supposed to feel nostalgic for those cars never really seemed to drive prices up very far, and now that they’ve largely aged out of the market, cars of the 1949-’54 period especially have become ever more attainable. Even within that era, the savvy shopper will forget the Ford and Chevrolet products. While they were produced in great numbers, affordable examples have gotten hard to find. Instead, it’s worth looking at the middle-priced segment, which…

"The LRVs were all open roadsters, with what looked like cheap aluminum lawn chairs for seats." Out of this World I have never really been excited about electric cars, but there is one that debuted 50 years ago last month that I would love to restore, or just drive as is. Only four were ever built, and one of those was cannibalized for spare parts. They look like big, two-passenger go-karts, but they took 17 months and cost millions to build, and they were only driven about 18 miles each, on average, before they were abandoned. They ran great when parked, but two of them were damaged during their brief service lives. I am talking about the Moon Buggies. No, not dune buggies, but Moon Buggies. And no, I have…

Cottonwood Tour will take place November 7-13 in Arizona. The tour will welcome classics to the area with stops that include the Grand Canyon, Bearizona wildlife area, and Planes of Fame Air Museum. Other planned visits are to Fort Verde, the Arizona Copper Art Museum, Montezuma Castle National Monument, and the Clemenceau Heritage Museum, as well as a trip to the old town of Jerome. The scenic tours will include a drive through Sedona’s Red Rock country, including the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Registration is still available and open to VMCCA-recognized vehicles 25 years old or older; no replicas or highly modified cars allowed. For more about the tour and the club, visit vmcca.org.…

New Boards for Old Fords BOB DRAKE REPRODUCTIONS • 800-221-3673 • BOBDRAKE.COM • $1,549.75 Worn and damaged running boards can be a problem as your prewar Ford approaches the century mark. If it’s time to replace them, these new vulcanized boards for the 1939 De Luxe and 1940 cars will look like new. The strong replacements are authentic in every way, with vulcanized rubber-to-steel just like those from the factory. The parts don’t have hard vinyl or plastic composite like other reproductions, and the new boards are sturdy and tough with sharp, crisp detail. They’re made to fit like the originals and there are no irregularities in the edges or excess material to deal with during installation. Inquire about p/n 91A-16450/1-BD for more information. Bolt Brightening GOLAT TAYLOR TOOLS •…

"When the chips were down, John Willys simply refused to give up." Learning From Willys Some years ago, I wrote a book on the history of the Willys-Overland company, the only one that, I think, has ever been written. It was a difficult book to write because during the ups and downs of Willys’ existence, most of its historical records were blown to the four winds. It took years to gather all the information I needed. One thing I don’t feel that I put enough focus on is how Willys was able to grow from a tiny company that was literally one day away from bankruptcy into the second largest automaker in the world. It was an amazing transformation that took place over just a few short years. It’s something…

When a car has been in your household longer than you’ve been alive, it says a couple of things—both about the car, and about your household. It says that car means something to the owner. It means that memories were made in that car. It says that sentiment outweighs the inconvenience of moving a non-running hulk from place to place across the decades as it awaits its turn for rejuvenation. Such is the case with Randy Holmes’ award-winning Flame Red ’57 Ford Custom — one of 65 built with the Phase 1, McCullough-supercharged 312-cube V-8 below the hood. You’d think that such a machine would have been spirited away to the parts department to have headers and gears installed, a dealer’s name painted on the doors, and sent off to…

THE AUGUST EDITION OF RM SOTHEBY’S online-only “Open Roads” auction finished with a sell through of 90 percent, while a total of more than $1.7 million in sales was realized. The auction showed positive signs of gains, with first-time bidders comprising 34 percent of the eligible buyers. Among the cars to change hands were a 1959 Edsel Corsair convertible. It was fitted with the Teletouch three-speed automatic transmission, which was mated to the 361-cu.in. V-8. The Platinum Gray Metallic finish was complemented by black vinyl bolsters, silver vinyl inserts, and white vinyl accents. The vinyl-covered top and boot were complete, and inside, the Edsel had standard factory features including front foam seat cushions, carpeting, electric clock, cigarette lighter, front and rear ashtrays, and original armrests. When the bidding ended, the Corsair…