Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

“ The speedometer didn’t work, but the Sun tach on the steering column did, so that’s what I referenced most of the time.” A few weeks ago I found myself on a road trip that traced a route I hadn’t travelled in many years. Though some of the scenery and interchanges had changed a bit, I still felt like I could have made it back to my old college town blindfolded, such was my level of familiarity with these roads at one time. This time out I was wheeling the late-model family hauler, breezing down the road in relative quiet and comfort, my greatest concern that the modern wagon master not creep up to 80 MPH without my knowledge — the troopers are still tucking in behind bridge abutments and…

SOX & MARTIN Jim Schild • www.coastal181.com • $34.95 Have you noticed that we’ve been experiencing a boomlet in good-quality drag racing history books over about the past six months or so? Here’s the latest entry, the first book ever done solely on the great heritage of those Plymouth wizards from the Tarheel State, Sox & Martin. The author is a recognized expert on Chrysler racing and performance, and given that fact, we were expecting something really good here. We weren’t disappointed. Published by CarTech, the narrative encompasses 176 pages, a story that begins when a young Ronnie Sox, demonstrating preternatural ability with a shifter already, starts street racing around his native Burlington, North Carolina, and gets to the strip and blows the guts out of the family Plymouth.…

Given everything else that was happening in 1973, the transmogrification of the first Ford Mustang should have been seen as a given. Not to wax overly philosophical about it, but the honest situation was that in the 1970s, we suddenly found ourselves living in a period of maddeningly diminished expectations. Altamont and Tate/LaBianca had already taken place. The war in Vietnam was gobbling national resources enough to tip the economy into a stubborn recession. A presidency was a year away from being toppled. Then, in October of 1973, Egyptian-led forces launched a lightning strike against Israeli targets, but ended up with a humiliating defeat. The Arab oil sheiks did a tit-for-tat by turning off the spigots. Although American auto buyers had been increasingly swinging toward smaller cars, Detroit was caught…

With all the history and mythology surrounding the muscle car era, it’s hard to comprehend that it lasted a comparatively short time — just about a decade or so. The starting point is a little fuzzy, depending on whether you stretch back to the 409 Chevys and Super Duty Pontiacs, but it was the wildly successful introduction of the 1964 GTO that’s generally credited with launching the muscle car craze. It’s also difficult to believe that the granddaddy of the movement went out with a whimper rather than a bang 10 years after it became a certified cultural phenomenon. It simply wasn’t immune to the tumult of the early 1970s, driven down by external and internal forces. The external forces are well-known, as a confluence of new federal vehicle safety…

ENGINE The Challenger Rallye Package — technically an option to the base Challenger — came with a two-barrel 318. Those still yearning for power and performance went straight for the optional four-barrel 340 in ’73, which was replaced in ’74 by the four-barrel 360. BRAKES Listed as optional equipment for several years, hydraulic front disc brakes — measuring just over 11 inches — finally became standard equipment by 1973, complemented by rear drums. Power assist for the system was still optional. TRANSMISSION In spite of the dramatic power reduction witnessed in Challengers between 1971 and ’72, Dodge still provided buyers with a choice of a standard three-speed manual or optional four-speed. Likewise, the TorqueFlite automatic was an available option. INTERIOR Although the Challenger Rallye conjured visions of the all-but-bygone days…

The Formula was named Samarkand because a number of boats and other properties in my family were so named. My mother, in particular, greatly admired the sound of the name. In fact, Samarkand is the second largest city in Uzbekistan and is located in the province of Samarqand. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West. I was about 38 years old when I bought the Formula. After all these years, outwardly, I’m in about as good a shape as the car is. Inside, however, my pistons, rings and other parts are worn just like most other old cars.…

SHORT ON MUSCLE, LONG ON AFFECTION The Corvair may not be considered by many as a muscle car, but it did have its own place in the early Muscle Car era. The earlier “Spyder” and later “Corsa” caught many eyes, including mine. I am currently the proud owner of a 1965 Corsa convertible. The Evening Orchid color is somewhat rare based on the fact that it was only offered in 1965. It has the four-carburetor (140-hp) engine, four-speed transmission, Positraction, special performance suspension, quick-ratio steering box, telescopic steering wheel, simulated wire wheels and AM/FM radio — all within a numbers-matching car. I have added 14-inch wheels to help handling. I have owned several muscle cars over the years, including a Mustang, a Challenger and a Corvette. Without question, though, this…

Ford Motor Company may have done more to foster American hot rodding during the infancy of that movement than any other manufacturer. Though the practice of “hopping up” cars for increased performance started long before Ford’s original V-8 existed, once the ’32 models debuted with the now-famous “flathead,” the automotive landscape was forever changed. However, in spite of the flathead’s popularity and the affinity most enthusiasts had for Henry’s products going into the 1950s, they were not as quick to take to Ford’s flathead replacement, the overhead-valve “Y-block” that was introduced for 1954. While gearheads were looking skeptically at the new engine’s “monkey-motion” pushrod valvetrain, Chevrolet rolled out its new V-8, and soon managed to steal much of the thunder from Dearborn’s efforts. The Y-block would continue into the 1960s,…

HMM PRODUCT TEST: SONIC TOOLS The name might not be familiar to you — yet — but Sonic Tools is trying to revolutionize the way we buy tools and outfit our shops. With a 40-year history based in the Netherlands, Sonic has developed a following with automotive technicians based on its tool storage systems. Designed to allow a mechanic to quickly and efficiently find the tool he needs, Sonic’s sets can be purchased by the drawer to fit into its mobile toolboxes and other storage systems. The tool sets ship in labeled, laser-cut foam to fit precisely in Sonic’s drawers and can be combined in a wide variety to suit a mechanic’s specific needs. The tools are also sold individually, of course. Forgoing the typical truck sales that most professional…

THE NUMBERS TOTAL SALES: $3,984,712 TOP MUSCLE CAR SALES: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette coupe: $77,000 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air: $56,000 UPCOMING AUCTIONS BY SILVER DATE: July 2-3, 2016 LOCATION: Jackson Hole, Wyoming DATE: July 9, 2016 LOCATION: Spokane, Washington CONTACT: www.silverauctions.com LEGEND CONDITION: 1=Excellent; 2=Very Good; 3=Average; 4=Poor; 5=Major Project RESERVE: Minimum price owner will accept TOP BID: The highest offer made (but vehicle did not sell) SELLING PRICE: What the vehicle sold for (not including an 8 percent buyer’s premium) AVERAGE SELLING PRICE: Average market value of vehicles in similar condition If you find yourself put off by the auction news out of Arizona due to the six- and seven-figure prices or the full-on carnival-like atmosphere and insanity of the bigger events, then perhaps you need to get out of…

FORD GALAXIE FRONT ROTOR COMPATIBILITY Q:I own a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 base model with the 6.4 liter V-8, and I am looking for front brake rotors with the hub and bearing built into the rotor. Do you know if other model years will fit my car? At some point, someone exchanged the original rotor with a hub bearing unit. I would appreciate your help. “Precious 61” Via email A: For 1968, Ford full-size front rotors were a one-year-only item and had no attached hub or bearings. They were designed to be switched onto the existing hub and wheel bearings by pressing out the old wheel studs and reinstalling using new studs. The spindle is tapered and uses a 1 1/4-inch inside-diameter inner tapered bearing and a 3/4-inch inside-diameter outer…

“ This was the turf that produced legendary street racers like Brooklyn Heavy and Ronnie Lyles ...” Hello, Hem- mings Nation. I’m tapping out these lines from our world headquarters in Bennington, Vermont, right where the Green Mountain State triangulates with neighboring New York and Massachusetts. It’s a great place to work, albeit in a location that can present its challenges, especially during a harsh winter. All of us in Editorial are getting amped for prime time, shooting time, when we aim our collective DSLRs at cool cars of the past when they emerge from hibernation. Cars conjoin us both as a staff, and as representatives of our readership. We want to give you the best magazine on American high-performance cars in the world. That’s our only goal. We strive…

DRIVEN: 2016 DODGE CHALLENGER 392 SCAT PACK SHAKER We’ve given the Challenger a lot of stick for being a pretend pony car: It’s got the shape and the power, but, good heavens, it’s a big ol’ 4,200-plus-pound chunk of car. More Clydesdale than pony. And yet, recently, after a week in a Plum Crazy Challenger 392 Hemi Scat Pack Shaker, we have had cause to reevaluate our feelings. What caused this soul-searching? The new Mustang. After our week in the ’16 GT/CS (Production Line, HMM #152, April 2016), we were left disconsolate. Is this what performance was now? Did the market demand such a level of comfort to go along with its power? On the heels of the GT/CS’s return, we got to spend a week in the Plum Crazy…

‘‘I buy when other people are sell- ing,” said oil baron J. Paul Getty. But what happens if you have a ready customer and you don’t want to sell? You’ve heard the stories a thousand times, about how in the late ’60s it was ridiculously easy for anyone to slide into their local Chevy dealer and order a factory-authorized chunk of violence with only paper-route money and pocket lint. If some young punk with Sunoco 260 in his veins wanted to upgrade his cologne from Aqua Velva to F70-14 and invest in 396 cubic inches of terror to make his girlfriend squeal in concert with the tires, what dealer in their right mind would stop him and refuse a $4,000 payday? Well, one unnamed Chevy dealer near Galesburg, Illinois, must…

I’m 40 years old now, which means that this car has been in our family for virtually my entire existence. It’s a family member, too. This one has seen the births of our children, vacations, proms, special occasions for the entire family going back 40 years. My Dad bought it with the idea of having a second car for vacations and so forth. We’ve always tried to keep it in great condition because, with so few of these Cobra IIs around, and very few reproduction parts available, it would be difficult to restore one that needed a lot of parts. We only drive it about 100 miles a year, mainly to car shows in the summer. My favorite moment? Watching my son and his date leaving for the prom in…

Gordon Rojewski has his wife, Liz, to thank for pushing him into building his uniquely patina-attired pro-touring 1967 Camaro. They’d been driving a late-model car on the Hot Rod Power Tour, and while theirs was no slouch, it just didn’t have the draw or character of the vintage muscle cars, hot rods and classic trucks on the drive. “Maybe you should build an old car,” she opined. As any married car enthusiast knows, such a comment was all but notarized and could be immediately interpreted as iron-clad approval and legally binding permission to buy a project car. Gordon wasted little timing in doing so. Always a fan of first-gen Camaros, he aimed his focus there — and it had to be a 1967 or ’69 model. The 1969 attraction was…

Are you still a weekend warrior if you drive your car in anger just one weekend a year? For certain segments of the hobby, the answer is a resounding YES. Eli English, owner and operator of Traditional Speed and Custom, and his wife, Lisa, of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, are dedicated devotees of traditional hot rodding, especially as it is practiced at The Race of Gentlemen, now headed for its fifth running on June 4th and 5th, 2016. TROG, as the event is frequently known, is held each year on an Atlantic beachfront in Wildwood, New Jersey. This year, its promoters, Mel Stultz and Bobby Green, have expanded the racing to both coasts, with a second event planned for Pismo, California, on October 15th and 16th, 2016. Second event notwithstanding, for…

EPA REMOVES RACECAR LANGUAGE FROM GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATION In the same statement, the Environ- mental Protection Agency promised to rescind contentious language that motorsports enthusiasts say targeted them, reiterated that removing emissions equipment remains illegal, and said that they’re not going to crack down on individual racers. “EPA supports motorsports and its contributions to the American economy,” the agency wrote in a statement on its website. “EPA’s focus is not on vehicles built or used exclusively for racing, but on companies that … make and sell products that disable pollution controls on motor vehicles used on public roads. These unlawful defeat devices pump dangerous and illegal pollution into the air we breathe.” The language at the heart of the controversy, which the EPA inserted into regulations concerning emissions from medium-…

I’ve been a Pontiac enthusiast since I can remember, with my first car being a ’70 Formula 400 Firebird purchased in 1973, when I was 18, followed by a ’70 GTO Judge that I still own. I also owned a Brewster Green, four-speed 1973 Super Duty Trans Am, which I sold shortly before the opportunity to buy this car came up. I had never considered a ’74 GTO, but this one was a truly unique car, and with the approval of my wife, Diane, I pulled the trigger on buying it. I haven’t regretted it one bit, because it doesn’t have to be the fastest GTO ever built to be fun. It’s a great-driving, rare car that gets plenty of attention.…

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Enrico A. (Rick) Stein Jr. of Port Washington, New York, was into racing — motorcycles, powerboats, cars . If it was fast, he was interested. In fact, he set records with his powerboat team, some of which still stand. He owned various muscle cars, including one of the 20 ’67 L88 Corvettes — for just four days — until he realized his 6-foot, 8-inch, 280-pound frame couldn’t fit in and drive it comfortably. From 1968 to 1972, he enjoyed competing in road rallies and concours shows with his BMW 2002, but even after modifying it, he felt it was underpowered. When the 2002 tii debuted, he wanted one, but was turned off by its exorbitant price. Returning to his muscle car roots, he recalled…

“These were your typical short-track Late Model Sportsmen cars back in 1978, both of them General Motors X-bodies, of which the Chevrolet Nova was the most popular. This race was the Southern 200 at Nashville on October 1, which was followed that same night by a race called the World Open 500, an open-competition 500-lap-per that was organized and promoted by Marty Robbins, the country star and frequent NASCAR competitor. There’s a great backstory to this photo. Harry Gant in the 77 car won this race, then turned around and drove the same car in the 500-lap race that night. He finished that race four laps down, so he completed 696 out of a possible 700 laps in a single day. On his bumper here is the great Butch Lindley,…

“When we pulled in, those people out there treated us like we were the Rolling Stones.” Where it per- tains to racing and touring, I’ve said it before, it was the greatest time of my life. It was an innocent time in drag racing, even though people occasionally got hurt. There were Top Fuel dragsters all over the place because practically anybody, or any group of guys, could afford to run them. It was nothing to tow into a place like Union Grove, Wisconsin, and find 20 to 30 fuel dragsters there waiting to race. We went to these races to get paid, just so we could get to the next track. Those were a lot of miles every year; I’d say 30,000 to 40,000 annually. We just kept on…

IGNITION COIL OVERHEATING Q: Greetings! I enjoy reading your column every month and the magazine in general. I would like to get your advice regarding using a Mallory distributor (model MAA-4762801) with vacuum advance in my 1967 Chevy Camaro RS with the 250-cu.in. inline-six engine. I have used the Mallory distributor since January 2016 and experienced ignition coil overheating. The engine is hard to start, and you have to cool down the ignition coil before the engine will run. I was wondering if the ignition coil I am using, the Mallory canister style (model 29216), is not compatible with the above mentioned MAA-4762801 Mallory distributor and MAA-700 ballast resistor? What seems to be the problem with this set-up? Please recommend a compatible ignition coil I could buy that would work…

My stepdad came into my life when I was 14 years old. His name was Dan, and he had three daughters and no sons — yet. I knew he was into cars and had restored a few classics because I had seen trophies at his house. He had won some classes for a 1958 Bel Air he had once restored. I was also into cars and motorcycles, and my bedroom was wallpapered ceiling-to-floor with bike brochures from all the local motorcycle dealerships, and cutouts from my car magazine subscriptions at the time. This common interest was an opportunity for us to bond. I had built and restored several bicycles, and he noticed my interest in the process and the result. He married my mother right before my 16th birthday, and…

LEAKE REACHES $4.1M AT DALLAS Leake Auction Company held its Dallas Sale in Dallas Market Hall, April 15, 16 and 17, ringing up $4.1 million in total sales with 293 of the 497 vehicles presented selling. The top seller was a well-executed 1954 Chevrolet Corvette roadster that coupled a restored appearance with late-model Corvette engine and chassis. The new/old ’Vette sold for $96,800, with the buyer’s premium included. Other top sellers included a 1968 Ford Shelby G.T. 350 sporting a “date code correct” 4V 302 that brought $91,300. The Shelby ragtop also boasted a four-speed, factory air (one of only 33 convertibles equipped with both the four-speed and air), power steering, power disc brakes, a tilt-away steering wheel, AM/FM radio, clock, 8,000-RPM tachometer, power top and shoulder harnesses front and…

July 2-3 Silver Auctions Jackson Hole, Wyoming. . . . .800-255-4485 July 7-9 Iola Car Show & Swap Meet Iola, Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . .715-445-4000 July 8 Hemmings Cruise-In / National Collector Car Appreciation Day Bennington, Vermont . . . . . . . 800-227-4373 July 8-9 Mecum Auctions Denver, Colorado . . . . . . . . . . 262-275-5050 July 10 Hi Performance Swap Meet Long Beach, California. . . . . . 800-762-9785 July 12-16 Pontiac National Convention Bettendorf, Iowa. . . . . . . . . . .877-368-3454 July 14-16 AACA Central Division Meet North Mankato, Minnesota. . . .717-534-1910 July 15-17 Chrysler Nationals Carlisle, Pennsylvania. . . . . . . 717-243-7855 July 21 Hemmings…