Hemmings Classic Car September 2023

“The notion of students managing a good old-fashioned Saturday morning car show during the school year is hardly a new thing.” MYTHS HAVE A TERRIBLE habit of becoming mistaken for reality. Examples are bountiful, like that of film comedian W.C. Fields, who was said to have hidden a vast fortune under countless false names around the world—not true. A penny dropped from the top of the Eiffel Tower, or the Empire State Building, could kill someone—also not true. Field mice prefer cheese and houseflies live only 24 hours. You guessed it—neither is a factual statement. Add to that the still-common myth regarding the next generation’s little or no interest in vintage vehicles. Dispelling such theoretical notions is not an easy feat, despite ample evidence to the contrary. A relevant instance:…

LORE SURROUNDING this car holds that when teenaged Winslow Pierce (scion of a wealthy Long Island family and a future engineer) started modifying his 1908 Ford Model S, circa 1912, he was also given the family’s Stevens-Duryea as a parts donor, and that the front axle and four-cylinder engine from the Stevens-Duryea ended up in the Model S. A good story, but it doesn’t fit with the equally interesting realities present on the car. “There are no Stevens-Duryea parts present,” current owner Clayton Paddison of Vancouver, Washington, says. The car hasn’t had any engine since sometime in the 1950s, and the front suspension’s origins are somewhat murky—though they’re definitely not Ford, as the Model S used transverse leaf springs just like the Model T, and every other Ford car…

John T. Houlihan GM Stylist GM Tech Center Warren, Michigan, July 1968 “Young people can’t afford a B-body wagon, and even an A-body wagon is a bit pricey. Young families need the space and capacity of a wagon.” IN JULY OF 1968, I was in my third year as an exterior designer for General Motors, working in the Styling Department at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. GM Styling was recognized as the pinnacle of American automotive design, and I somehow managed to escape the draft and land this prestigious job right out of college. My best friend and college roommate, less fortunate than I, entered the Navy upon graduation and had just been reassigned to a destroyer off the coast of Vietnam. Prior to departing, he flew in…

AS A CLASSIC CAR SUBSCRIBER since 2004, I wanted to compliment you on the April 2023 issue. It came yesterday and when I finish it again tonight, I’ll pass it on to a Model T guy who is not yet a subscriber, who will in return pass it to another early car lover. This is the best issue in many years with a cover that drew me into reading it cover-to-cover before breakfast. Matthew Litwin’s editorial on the Sympathetic Restoration was spot on. Then the story on the Hemmings 1940 Buick convertible sedan drew me in, too. It was photographed next to Hemmings’ 1936 Dodge panel truck that was driven by Justus Taylor in several of the 11 Great American Races I participated in. Subsequently, my wife and I visited…

1948 FORD F1 The honest character of Ford’s postwar F1 pickup has broad appeal, as this restored example proved. Coming out of long-term ownership, the 1/2-ton was said to be a rust-free West Coast truck with minimally blemished red paint dating to 2004. The varnished bed floor looked great from both sides, and the simple interior was equally well-presented, save for a missing wiper knob on the dashboard. The flathead straight-six under the hood worked in conjunction with the manual transmission, although an oil leak was noted at their seam. Reproduction Coker bias-ply tires completed the F1’s period look. This pickup hammered in the heart of its value range, and the result was good for all parties. Reserve: $32,000 Selling Price: $38,850 Recent Market Range: $29,000-$44,800 1967 DATSUN 1600 ROADSTER…

Unusual stories pertaining to vintage vehicle ownership are plentiful, but just when you think you’ve heard them all, another materializes in spectacular fashion. For instance, Steven Cognata has had a lifelong attachment to this stunning 1968 Mercury Cougar, which, as strange as it sounds, started prenatally for the owner. Few can boast a relationship with a car that is longer than his actual years on this earth, but somehow this auto aficionado can, so we will let Steve explain the story. “The Cougar and I were born from the same ether. As my then-18-year-old sister, Patti, placed her order for this car with Darby Lincoln-Mercury in Staten Island, New York, my mother announced that she was pregnant with me. I was born in November 1967 and the Cougar was ‘delivered’…