Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

“ I got out of the hole with no real wheel spin to speak of — a welcome surprise —and let the car do the rest. ” As I rolled up to the staging beams, I found the setting pleasantly familiar. It had been far too long since I’d lined up on a proper quarter-mile strip, and I was almost relieved to discover that it still felt somewhat routine when I finally did. Light the first bulbs to pre-stage, then hold it for a second — take a breath — now ease into the second set. I staged as shallow as I could, trying to leave some margin for error, since I thought it likely I’d jump the gun. But, on the last yellow, I hit it and the red…

1968 DODGE CHARGER R/T American Muscle • www.autoworldstore.com • $94.99 Limited-edition models from big die-cast providers are anything but the norm. This one, in large 1/18th scale, replicates the Bronze Poly car that appeared on the cover of HMM in September 2005. Its production run is limited to 1,002 examples. We obviously loved the real article enough to put it out front in the magazine, and we’re exceedingly happy with Auto World’s work to include the cover car in its American Muscle collection. The doors latch positively with, lo, believable hidden hinges. Under the hood, there’s a quality replica of the real honcho’s 426 Hemi, but moreover, there’s a lot of detail that pops up at you, including full latching hardware for the hood and realistic scissors hinges, not…

Jeff Bourcier revs up his mega-cube Pontiac, yanking a tire in his 1974 Firebird Formula. He lost to Dave Dudek in the F.A.S.T. Quick 4, but ran his quickest ET of the weekend at 11.20 at 122.58. Bryan Doyle spent four years building this Challenger R/T to run in F.A.S.T. He was hoping for low 12s in his first race, but far exceeded his expectations with a solid 11.97 at 118.80 MPH. Lift Off: Mike Leyes of New Castle, Indiana, lights up the tires on his rare 1969½ A12 Road Runner 440-6. He qualified at 12.85 at 108.51, but lost his F/S shootout to Paul Aragona’s 1974 Trans Am. When Kent Gardner’s great grandmother bought this Lime Mist 1971 Skylark, little did she know 45 years later it would be…

Understanding tire-size codes has vexed car owners for years — even those of us who are self-proclaimed car enthusiasts. Modern “P-metric” passenger car tires have been around since the 1980s, and when you understand what the letters and numbers mean, they’re easy to read. Here’s a basic example: P285/45R17. The “P” corresponds with a tire for passenger cars and the “285” is the tire width: 285mm. The “45” is the aspect ratio, which is the relationship of the sidewall height to the tire’s width. In other words, it means the sidewall’s height is 45 percent of the tire’s width. The “R” is the speed rating for the tire, and the “17” is the wheel diameter. Simple, right? There wasn’t as much information on earlier tires. Alphanumeric-coded tires were introduced in…

SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Block type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ford FE-based “SOHC” V-8, cast-iron block Cylinder heads . . . . . . . . . . Ford single overhead camshaft, cast iron Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . 427 cubic inches Bore x stroke. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.23 inches x 3.78 inches Compression ratio . . . . . . . . 12.0:1 (currently 11.0:1) Pistons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forged aluminum Connecting rods . . . . . . . . . Ford 427 Le Mans-type, forged steel Crankshaft. . . . .…

In 1987, my older broth- er, Karl, bought a 1965 GTO. He drove it through high school, storing the car during the Illinois winters. I wanted that car from the moment memories began to first establish themselves in my mind. I remember hearing the wound-out four-speed coming from nearly a mile away with one old blown-out Thrush muffler and the remaining glass-pack. Karl eventually went off to college, and the old Goat sat and weathered outside on the family farm for nearly 10 years. People would often stop and ask my father if he would sell it, but he always said “No.” He must have known deep inside how much the GTO meant to me. Karl is 11 years older than me, so I grew up appreciating the GTO from…

AFTER 25 YEARS, DODGE PULLS THE PLUG (A SECOND TIME) ON VIPER It began as a design exercise by Chrys- ler’s Advance Design Studios in 1988, and would have ended there if not for Bob Lutz’s crazy idea to build a Shelby Cobra for the modern age. Put into production for the 1992 model year, the Dodge (and later SRT) Viper soldiered on, gaining a coupe and adding horsepower, until its first execution in July of 2010. Reborn for the 2013 model year, the much-improved Viper failed to charm consumers, and a quarter-century after its debut, Dodge has once again announced the end of Viper production, this time in 2017. The Viper has long been proof that “because you can” is sometimes sufficient justification for building a halo sports car.…

Once upon a time, it was just a car. Outside the Muscle Machines bubble, where power and performance today compete with rarity and auction sales values in some sort of game of one-upmanship, there was a time when cars were just cars — a way to get from point A to point B. The style and the speed that dictated the impact of your arrival was something else altogether, but it was all too common to move on to something new — and often at least perceived as better — after a couple of years of seat time. Trading up was no big deal. Craig Fackler bought his car, this car, his first new car, before he even had need of a car: He was in…

During Detroit’s near decade-long supercar dominance, there were some breeds that achieved legendary status virtually overnight. Dodge’s Charger Daytona was one of them. Created out of a need for speed on NASCAR’s fastest high-banked tracks, it recaptured both wins and showroom sales from Ford. But that’s an over-simplified story. There was much more to it. Dodge had actually started the effort with the Charger 500, announced on July 18, 1968, which was to be “available in production during the latter part of September,” according to the Dodge Product Information Bulletin #1. The 500 featured a flush-mounted grille and a special rear greenhouse plug-and-window design, which created a true fastback silhouette. Street versions—released to appease those all-important homologation rules—also came with a special tail stripe, heavy-duty suspension, either a four-speed manual…

Hard to believe, but it’s time again to reflect on a year’s worth of featured muscle machines as we present our finalists for Muscle Machine of the Year 2016. Once again, we had a bumper crop of cars to select from, making the process of narrowing the field down to just 13 cars something of a challenge. The task isn’t simply about arriving at that final figure by selecting nice cars — we strive to present a balanced docket of choices, spanning the various makes, models and body styles normally covered in these pages. Plus, we like to mix in the occasional race car; “Day Two” period piece; a later-model performance car, perhaps from the ’80s; and maybe a modified muscle car when it seems to make sense (we’ve got…

ENGINE The standard four-barrel 325-hp 389-cu.in engine powered 24,205 ’64 GTOs. A 348-hp Tri-Power engine was the performance option. Installed in 8,245 GTOs, it featured a trio of Rochester two-barrel carburetors, specific intake manifold and individual air cleaners. BRAKES The 9.5-inch drum brakes were criticized for being too small and fade-prone for the powerful GTO. Optional metallic brake linings helped address the fade issue, but they increased pedal effort when cold and sometimes squeaked. Power assist was optional. TRANSMISSION Standard was a three-speed manual with a wide- and close-ratio four-speed optional. Hurst floor-shifters were paired with manual transmissions. The extra-cost column-shift two-speed automatic was floor-shifted when the optional console was ordered. INTERIOR Pleated Morrokide upholstery covered the bucket seats and side panels. An engine-turned instrument panel applique surrounded the speedometer…

“Ron Debler was in the U.S. Mail, lined up here against the Super-Wedge at Irwindale Raceway in 1973. Looking at this, it could have been a Super Stock Association race. There was a guy named Vaughn Curry, a Mopar guy, who lived in Nashville and moved out here to Southern California in the Seventies. Living in Nashville, he could go class racing four or five times a week within a couple of hours’ drive with all the match racing they did in the South. When he moved here, other than the Winternationals and five or six NHRA points races a year, there was no class racing. So he organized the Southern California Super Stock Association, which ran events at Irwindale, Santa Maria and several other tracks. They put on a…

“More than 40 years after the fact, I can still feel the emotion the big-block car stirred but can no longer feel that thing underneath me.” 1 973: the odd- even day oil embargo was doing its best to consternate everyone, but you know hot rodders are gonna hot rod regardless, and one of the most aggressive conversion houses was Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance, hard by Sunrise Highway in Baldwin, Long Island. After nearly a decade of building an army of big-block soldiers (Corvettes, Chevelles, Camaros and Novas), there was one source yet to be tapped: the hapless, heinous Vega. Extant for nearly four years, there were plenty of chain-whipped H-bodies around with their leaky four-bangers hanging out. Rosen said that the big-block idea wasn’t completely his. “Ever since we’d…

It’s sure got that innocent, “Who, me?” look to it. Pie-pan hubcaps, blackwalls and light blue paint indicate an automobile that’s capable of nothing more nefarious than maybe trimming the yellow light at an intersection. We, of course, know better. This is the kind of Ford Fairlane that Joe Friday might have driven in 1967 if he was on the other side of the law. Despite appearances, it’s one hellacious ride, stuffed to the gunwales with 427 cubic inches’ worth of “cammer” engine, the Ford FE-based SOHC V-8, a purely race-bred animal that was banned by NASCAR and then found its way between the frame tubes of Top Fuel dragsters and early Funny Cars. Nothing like this belonged in the engine bay of a 1967 Fairlane, unless it was destined…

OCTANE CONFUSION Q:I bought an unrestored 1962 409/409 back in December. I have had the engine completely worked over with all new parts to near OE specifications, but with a 0.060-inch over-bore. Pistons are 11:1 and are exactly like the OE. I have done research all over the web on what octane I will need, but I cannot find any definitive answer: 93 Shell pump (with ethanol), 100LL, 100LL 50/50 with 93 pump, or 93 pump with an octane booster? Obviously, I do not want to damage the motor. The avgas is at the local airport. What are your thoughts? Dave Umstead Via email A: The octane requirement will all depend on how the engine is tuned for spark advance and air/fuel ratio along with how it is going to…

It is 1 p.m. on Sunday, halfway through the last day of The Race of Gentlemen on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, and Kevin Carlson and I are stuck in the sun-seared parking lot of the convention center a half-mile down the road with an ignition system that won’t fire. Getting to this point has been an epic journey that included a 24-hour thrash to tear down and rebuild the engine and transmission of the Sassafras Special, Kevin’s modified hot rod he built of Ford Model A, B and T parts (see HMN July 2016). Unfortunately, the rhythmic clattering of iron that prompted the do-over is still present — now thought to be caused by worn or broken teeth in the differential, the sound of which is being telegraphed…

CHEVROLET BRAWN AT AUCTIONS AMERICA SANTA MONICA June 25 and 26 saw the return of Auctions America to Santa Monica, California, where the Indiana-based auction company drummed up $14.2-million in sales over the weekend. Included in the many lots that changed hands that weekend were more than a few performance cars from the Chevrolet brand. Especially eye catching were the number of first-generation Corvettes present. The C1 offerings at Santa Monica included everything from the rare V-8-equipped 1955, which melded the original, Jaguar-influenced body with the hot new 265-cu.in. engine, finally giving the sports car power worthy of its looks, to a fuel-injected 1962, which featured the final year of the original solid-axle chassis along with the new 327-cu.in. small-block, the only year an engine larger than 283-cu.in. was available…

5.0 LITER H.O. INSTALL INTO CLASSIC FORD PICKUP Q: My father and I are restoring a 1954 F-100. Among the many upgrades, we are installing a 5.0 H.O. from a 1994 Mustang with its AOD-E transmission. Since there are more questions than you would have time or space to answer, do you have a recommendation for a manual or book or link? Thanks for any help you can provide. Doug Van Engen Via email A: We would not recommend you use the AOD-E transmission for any engine rated higher than 375 hp. If your 5.0 H.O. is rated higher than that, we would recommend you seek out a later model of this same transmission, the 4R70W, which can handle engines with up to 500 hp. The 4R70W has a higher…

September 28-October 2 Fall Carlisle Carlisle, Pennsylvania . . . . . . . 717-243-7855 October 1 Annual Carolina Chevelle Show Charlotte, North Carolina . . . . 919-818-6982 October 1-2 Michigan Antique Festivals Davisburg, Michigan . . . . . . . . 989-687-9001 October 2 Fall Bonanza Swap Meet Randolph, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-553-8745 October 2 Rte. 66 Raceway Swap & Car Show Joliet, Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-478-3633 October 2 Sumter Swap Meet Bushnell, Florida . . . . . . . . . . . 727-848-7171 October 5-8 AACA Fall Eastern Meet Hershey, Pennsylvania . . . . . . .717-534-1910 October 6-8 Mecum Auction…

“ Correctly putting your car away for that long winter’s nap can prevent several unnecessary surprises come spring.” Let’s see, 13 years equals approximately 4,745 days of muscle car fun and enjoyment, as well as 156 of these columns. The October 2003 issue was the first published of a new magazine called Hemmings Muscle Machines. I was invited by an old friend and then editor, Rich Lentinello, to write a monthly column, and I thought, “Why not?” I had founded Guide to Muscle Cars at Argus Publishers in the mid-Eighties and then edited Musclecar Classics at Petersen Publishing for a few years, so I had some knowledge of the subject. I would have never imagined I’d still be doing it 13 years later. Many automotive magazines never make that illustrious…

1954 CARRERA PANAMERICANA WINNER COMES TO LINCOLN MOTOR CAR HERITAGE MUSEUM Intended to publicize the completion of the Pan-American Highway through Mexico, the Carrera Panamericana was a grueling multi-day race that stretched for 2,000-plus miles across all types of terrain. Ferrari ultimately dominated the sports car class, but American manufacturer Lincoln ruled the stock car class, winning the event from 1952-1954. Today, just one of the original “road race Lincolns,” owned by the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, is known to exist, and it will be making a special appearance at the Lincoln Motor Car Heritage Museum, on the Gilmore Car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, Michigan, through September 15. To prepare Lincoln Capri number 149 for the rigors of competition, the 317.5-cu.in. V-8 was blueprinted, while dual shocks…

The only time I almost made a mistake occurred in 1984 at a car show in Lancaster. We had just finished judging on a particularly hot day when a couple walked up to my wife and me and asked if the Daytona was mine. I said “yes,” and they asked if I was interested in selling it. At the time I still had a GTX and a Challenger, so I didn’t think I was too attached to the Daytona, so I replied, “For the right price I would.” They asked, and I came back with $25,000 — a ridiculous price back then. They said they just might be back, but fortunately for me they never did return. My wife commented almost immediately that I would not have been fit to…

Wayne Davis has been an avowed restorer, builder, owner and all-around advocate of AMC muscle cars most of his life. But post retirement, Wayne planned to sell off a car or two and not tackle any new major projects. Well, the best laid plans and all that. We’ll let Wayne describe how he nevertheless came to own and completely renovate this month’s immaculate 1970 AMX feature car: “It was probably six or seven years ago, when the owner I bought this car from contacted me and asked me if I would tune it for him and rebuild the carburetor, which I did,” Wayne said. “Well, he contacted me again about a year and a half ago and said he was thinking of selling it. I didn’t remember the car that…

COUGAR QUERY I have been a subscriber to HMM since I read a copy of your magazine, issue #38, November 2006. Starting on page 40 of that issue, you had an article about a 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 GTE with a 428 Cobra Jet engine, in Cardinal Red. Except for the interior, it was exactly like the one I bought in June 1968 (mine had red leather interior). Backing up, I bought my first car when I was 19 in 1964. I was looking at a 1955 T-Bird that the used car dealer wanted $1,100 for, and a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, for which he was asking $900. I bought the ’57 Chevy and, after about a year, pulled the 283 out and bored it out to 302, upgrading…

The pro-touring trend has been with us for over a decade now, involving updated muscle-era cars that turn and stop as well as they accelerate. We tend to shy away from heavy alterations to vintage tin, but not all cars of the ’60s and ’70s must remain factory stock, right? Take, for example, the 1968-’74 GM X-bodies—Nova, Ventura, Buick Apollo and Olds Omega. Sure, there was the Nova SS and Yenko Deuce, and then the ’74 GTO and the even less common ’74 Apollo-based GSX, but apart from those models, that range of compact coupes and sedans hasn’t got much in the way of performance pedigree. Plus, their market values still make them reasonably affordable, so if you’re looking for a muscle-era subject to transform into a contemporary corner carver,…

HMM PRODUCT TEST: MEGUIAR’S QUIK INTERIOR DETAILER WIPES For years, we resisted using anything on our cars that came in the form of wipes — they can’t be taken seriously, right? Great for a roadside rib joint, not sufficient for car stuff. But then, some experience with a popular household cleaner briefly offered in wipe form started to change our minds after using it on auto interiors. When those wipes were discontinued, we were left hanging — what to do? It only made sense to try a wipe that was dedicated to auto interiors, and Meguiar’s had exactly that. We’ve had good luck with the company’s products before, so it was worth a try. We weren’t disappointed — the wipes were tougher than we’d anticipated, and could actually withstand some…

THE NUMBERS TOTAL SALES: $26,000,000 TOP MUSCLE CAR SALE: 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 $624,800 UPCOMING AUCTIONS BY BARRETT-JACKSON DATE: October 13-15, 2016 LOCATION: Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas CONTACT: www.barrett-jackson.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 AVERAGE SELLING PRICE: Average market value of vehicles in similar condition By all accounts, Barrett-Jackson’s inaugural Northeast auction at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, proved a marked success. The Arizona-based auction company reported its “first double sellout in company history.” And by double sellout, they meant 90,000 people visited the auction, either at the tents and parking garage outside where the cars were…

OCTOBER 2-3 Morphy Auctions Automobilia, Petroliana & Automobiles Denver, Pennsylvania • 877-968-8880 www.morphyauctions.com 3 Bonhams Preserving the Automobile Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 212-644-9001 • www.bonhams.com 6-7 RM Sotheby’s Hershey, Pennsylvania • 519-352-4575 www.rmsothebys.com 6-8 Mecum Chicago Schaumburg, Illinois • 262-275-5050 www.mecum.com 6-8 Vicari Auction Biloxi, Mississippi • 504-264-2277 vicariauction.com 8 Silver Auctions Portland/Vancouver Fall Auction Vancouver, Washington • 800-255-4485 www.silverauctions.com 13-15 Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas, Nevada • 480-421-6694 www.barrett-jackson.com 14-15 The Branson Collector Car Auction Branson, Missouri • 800-335-3063 www.bransonauction.com Check dates with auction houses before traveling…