Hemmings Muscle Machines June 2017

“But there are aspects of car learning that don’t come easy, no matter what we read or observe. These are the areas that can be seen as the black arts.” It’s kind of a shame that the basic education system in this country tends to leave many of us with a distaste for formal learning. I recognize that this isn’t universally true, but I think plenty of us experience a certain unpleasant feeling when the thought of entering a classroom is suggested. Admit it — you’re not really excited about the idea. I know plenty of people who did well in school and went on to have successful careers as a result, but even lots of them will bristle a bit at the thought of further lectures, study time and…

THE PROMISE OF YEAR-ROUND MUSCLE MOTORING What happened to us? Snow-belt Americans used to be perfectly willing to forge out into the snow with only the rear wheels providing traction, spinning a pair of snow tires that hadn’t evolved since about 1950. No high-performance winter rubber, no traction control, and for the vast majority of us, no all-wheel drive (AWD). It’s just what we did each winter. Somewhere along the way, we lost a bit of our sense of automotive adventure, and AWD has become a mandate in many households that experience frozen climes for part of the year. The resulting sacrifices rear up whenever considering the next new car. Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers and pretty much any of the other neat V-8-powered rear-drive modern muscle cars all get knocked off…

RICHARD PETTY PRESENTED WITH ROBERT E. PETERSEN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Racing drivers aren’t generally household names in the U.S., but Richard Petty is surely an exception to this rule. Petty is known simply as “The King” to his legions of fans, and no NASCAR driver has ever won more races, more Daytona 500s or more events in a single season (27, in 1967). On March 27, Petty was presented with the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala dinner held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. In the words of the Petersen Museum’s executive director, Terry Karges, “Stock car racing is one of the most uniquely American forms of motorsport and nobody casts as big of a shadow in that world as Richard Petty. His larger-than-life…

CARROLL SHELBY: A COLLECTION OF MY FAVORITE RACING PHOTOS Art Evans and Carroll Shelby • CarTech • www.cartechbooks.com 1-800-551-4754 • $34.95 plus $6.95 s&h It would not be an overestimation to say that there are dozens of books touching in some way on the life and work of the famed race driver, automotive designer and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby, so when another crossed our desk we wondered what it could possibly have to add? Turns out, the answer is pictures. Lots and lots of wonderful pictures. Toward the end of his life, Shelby became interested in creating a memoir and enlisted the help of racer, motorsports writer and friend Art Evans, but Shelby’s failing eyesight made working with text difficult. That’s when they hit on the idea of, in Evans’ words,…

Woodward Avenue wasn’t the only cruising hotspot in the Detroit area back in the Sixties and Seventies. There were scenes all over the metro area, with Gratiot Avenue on the east side rivaling famed Woodward in the breadth and depth of iron on the street. They motored between sites such as the Jupiter Drive-In and ubiquitous Big Boy restaurant. Enthusiasts across the country knew the name Gratiot for the pioneering mail-order speed shop Gratiot Auto Supply, which famously employed Linda Vaughn in national print ads and local TV spots. It got its start along the avenue, with a huge showroom full of parts in Detroit that grew into several stores throughout the area. A young Bob Kessler was one of Gratiot Avenue’s regulars in the late Sixties and made the…

SPECIFICATIONS PRICE Base price . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,016 Price as profiled . . . . . . . . $4,155 Options on car profiled**. . SS 427 Performance Package, $422.35; Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission, $221.80; Positraction rear axle, $42.15; 3.07:1 performance axle ratio, $2.15; power steering, $105.35; tinted windshield, $42.15; Strato-Bucket front seats with center console, $168.55; head restraints, $16.90; vinyl roof covering, $100.10; AM radio (no price listed). ENGINE Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chevrolet Mark IV “big-block” V-8, cast-iron block with two-bolt main-bearing caps and cast-iron “oval-port” heads Displacement . . . . . . . . . . 427 cubic inches Bore x stroke…