Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

It’s a dream most of us have, isn’t it? The gift of a brand-new car of our choice, free and clear. The gift of power, style, and speed. The gift of mobility. The gift of freedom. Now imagine that the parent providing this gift is an insurance adjuster, someone who has seen firsthand how insurance rates for teenagers driving muscle cars skyrocketed to the point where they helped drive the genre into a decades-long hibernation. V-8 engines, bright paint colors, snazzy wheels — these things seemed to inevitably lead to mischief, theft, crashes, loss. Whether a decades-distant observer or a kid who’s in the thick of the decision-making process back in the day, it’s easy to see things going in one of two unhappy directions—your name on the title of…

“The hot one’s even hotter!” exclaimed Chevrolet advertising for 1956. Previously sedate and pedestrian, for 1955 Chevrolet had overnight transformed its handsome coupes, sedans, and convertibles into something to be coveted by the young and the young at heart. At the core of that transformation was a 265-cu.in., Turbo-Fire V-8, the start of a legacy that continues to today. For ’55, Chevrolet dubbed its new eight-cylinder cars “The Hot One,” and for ’56 the automaker trumpeted additional horsepower, including a 240-hp, dual-quad engine, with the above line. So, what did the company say for 1957, when the legendary, fuel-injected, 283-hp 283-cu.in. engine came out? “Sweet, Smooth, and Sassy.” That almost anticlimactic tag line makes sense from a certain perspective, however. Despite the marketing pull of performance, most buyers of Chevrolets…

In the Sixties, back when young people used to buy cars, American automakers went out of their way to make and market cars just for the youth set. Ford, of course, hit a grand slam with the 1964 introduction of the Mustang, Plymouth offered the Barracuda at the same time, and GM showed up a couple of years later with the F-body fraternal twins in the form of the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird. AMC, known as a maker of conservative, if efficient, designs came a bit late to the pony car game with the Javelin’s introduction in late 1967. But with the early 1968 debut of the sporty two-seat AMX, AMC showed the rest of the industry that it could compete on its own terms just as well as…

The pony-car market had moved quickly —almost too quickly—in the second half of the 1960s. The success of Ford’s Mustang sucked all of the air out of the room, leaving little for Chrysler, which had just launched its Valiant-based Barracuda mere weeks before the Ford’s public debut. They were built to the same formula: A chassis borrowed from the compact line, long hood, sporty looks, and the ability to build it how you liked, from mayonnaise-mild to ghost pepper-hot. While the Mustang bolted from the gate, the Barracuda suffered the fate of being considered a pretty Valiant—tarted-up compact. As Mustang grew in both sales and size over time, with ever-larger engine options under the hood, Chrysler engineers felt restricted by their A-body. It was tough enough getting a big-block 383…

HMM PRODUCT TEST: POR-15 DETAIL PAINT Lots of parts and pieces on old cars left the factory in a bare-metal finish, though they usually didn’t maintain that factory-fresh look for long as oxidation soon set to work. Often, those original metal finishes are replicated with paint during restorations or refurbishments, though many of the products that provide those finishes don’t hold up to the steady punishment that comes with being attached to an automobile that is actually driven. Most enthusiasts are at least somewhat familiar with POR-15 and its original Rust Preventative Coating, a durable substance that applies like paint, but bonds to metal that has rusted or otherwise “seasoned” to stop further corrosion. The company has many other products, including a line of Detail Paint aerosols offered in three…

June 1-3 Ford Nationals Carlisle, Pennsylvania . . . . . . . 717-243-7855 June 3 Sumter Swap Meet Bushnell, Florida . . . . . . . . . . . 727-848-7171 June 7 Hemmings Cruise-In Bennington, Vermont . . . . . . . 800-227-4373 June 8-9 Mecum Auctions Denver, Colorado . . . . . . . . . . 262-275-5050 June 8-10 Leake Auction Tulsa, Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . 918-254-7077 June 8-10 Russo and Steele Auction Newport Beach, California . . . 602-252-2697 June 10 Tri Chevy Association Swap Meet Peotone, Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . 630-200-0755 June 12-16 Petit Jean Show and Swap Meet Morrilton, Arkansas. . . . .…

EVEN THE KING HAS TO DOWNSIZE: PETTY SELLING PART OF HIS COLLECTION Sooner or later, even The King runs out of room for old race cars and memorabilia, which is why Richard Petty has turned to Julien’s Auctions for help in reducing the clutter. On May 12, Petty will be offering everything from drivers’ suits to a selection of vehicles at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Among the race cars to be offered is a 1974 Dodge Charger, a body style that carried The King to 31 victories from 1974-’77, including his fifth win in the Daytona 500. Julien’s is predicting a selling price between $400,000 and $600,000 for the Charger, one of Petty’s most recognizable car bodies, though in the absence of a specific…

The hanging or bow-style headliners found in most muscle car-era cars — and GM’s A-bodies, in particular — are a throwback to the old-school days of automotive assembly. They’re more than a little complicated in their design and fitment, whereas today’s vehicles generally have an upholstered board that’s cheaper to produce and much easier to install. In fact, when you remove and replace one of the bow-style headliners, it’s difficult to imagine how it was done quickly and accurately on the assembly line. And let’s be honest: They weren’t all perfect when they rolled out of the factory. Wrinkles, especially around the sail-panel area between the quarter windows and rear window, were a fact of life, as the material required stretching and adhesive to achieve the smooth, taut appearance. There…

I come from a Ford family from way back. I grew up hearing stories about my uncle’s Mustang and Cougar race cars back in the ’60s. Later, I caught the muscle car bug when my uncle gave me a ride in my cousin’s ’70 Mach 1. Somewhere along the way, I bucked the Ford trend and became a Pontiac guy. I blame the Monkees comeback of the mid-’80s and their custom GTO-based Monkeemobile. I loved the legend and story behind the GTO, as well as the groundbreaking style and the marketing behind the car. As I neared driving age, I knew I had to have one. So, after searching around, in 1991, when I was a junior in high school, my father and I bought a 1968 GTO coupe in…

SPRINGTIME HEATS UP IN FLORIDA Technically, the second weekend in March is not yet springtime, but try telling that to the folks visiting Florida. The second of the three big annual auction weeks (Scottsdale, Arizona, in January and Monterey, California, in August being the other two) took place in conjunction with the Amelia Island Concours. While these auctions typically focus on European sports cars and classics, we still spotted quite a few noteworthy muscle cars at Amelia Island. Though U.K.-based, Bonhams still has quite the presence in the U.S., with several sales held throughout the year. Bonhams also usually has a very interesting mix of cars at wildly varying price points. Its Amelia Island sale did not disappoint in that regard, with a variety of new and vintage muscle cars…

One of the best-styled American performance cars from the early 1970s was the second-generation Camaro. From its Ferrari-inspired egg-crate grille pointing forward in a very prominent form, to the short, sloping fastback-shaped rear that makes the car look like it’s at speed even when it is standing still, the Camaro, courtesy of the stylists at Chevrolet, has one of the most inspiring sporty exterior designs that has ever been applied to a mass-produced automobile. Their combination of menacing good looks and encouraging road-handling characteristics made them coveted by Chevy and muscle-car fans everywhere; even sports-car guys lusted after them. During those first four years of the second-generation model’s production, buyers snapped up 404,933 Camaros. The Z28 was always the ultimate iteration, with some 27,744 having been built during the 1970-’73…

Over the past 20 years or so, it has become quite common to see complete late-model drivetrains swapped into classic vehicles, often with electronic controls intact. While GM’s LS-series engines have been wildly popular for such transplants, the Mopar camp has been coming on strong of late. With 15 years’ worth of third-generation Hemi engine production out there combined with tuning attention from the aftermarket, power updates for vintage Mopars are an increasingly interesting prospect. And now that the aftermarket has responded with components to facilitate these swaps, including engine mounts and headers for popular muscle-era Mopar applications, it’s becoming increasingly easier to execute these projects. None of this was lost on a friend of ours who had acquired a nice, rust-free Slant Six-powered ’69 Dodge Dart not long ago,…

Our coverage from Scottsdale, Arizona’s, mid-January collector-car extravaganza, more commonly known as “Auction Week,” continues this month with highlights from the Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions event. With its corporate offices based right in downtown Scottsdale, Russo and Steele celebrated its 18th-annual sale in fine fashion, offering a little more than 800 vehicular lots over the span of five days (January 17-21) on the grounds of the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick facility on the eastern edge of the desert city. In recent years, Russo and Steele has made headlines managing the sale of some of Europe’s finest Full Classics, grand touring cars, and neo-supercars, as well as domestic-made Full Classics and boulevard cruisers. Russo, however, has always been closely associated with mustering a fine array of muscle…

FULL-SIZE PONTIAC DISC-BRAKE CONVERSION Q: I have a 1969 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, and I want to convert it from front drum brakes to disc brakes. Can you help me find a conversion kit that allows me to do this? I see lots available for A-body Pontiacs and G-body Grand Prixs, but none for a full-size car. Jeffrey Gilmer Via email A: The 1969-’70 Pontiac full-size spindles were not only specific to Pontiac, but also specific to only those two years. The 1967-’68 spindles were similar but used different wheel bearings and brake hubs. Front disc brakes were available from the factory for 1969 and ’70, but obviously it will be difficult to find those parts now, and critical replacement items, like the original two-piece rotors, are no longer readily available.…