Hemmings Muscle Machines June 2019

My late-evening online car searches hadn’t been providing much inspiration recently. The problem was stemming from the prices. It seems any car built prior to 1980 now carries an asking figure commensurate with the notion of being “collectible,” no matter what make, model, or body style is being offered. To me, that tends to curtail the enjoyment of the shopping experience a bit. So, when I spotted something I actually liked for the kind of money someone could part with almost casually, I finally had reason to perk up. Trouble was, I didn’t know if I could tell anyone about it. My late-night find felt like a guilty pleasure of sorts. The car was a 1996 Pontiac Trans Am, an example from the F-body’s fourth generation, and one of the…

CADMAD, A 1959 CADILLAC ELDORADO BROUGHAM STATION WAGON, TAKES THE 2019 RIDLER AWARD Cadillac never asked Pinin Farina to build a station wagon variant of its 1959 Eldorado Brougham, but as this year’s Ridler Award winner Cadmad demonstrates, perhaps it should have. The custom won a posthumous victory for its late owner, Steve Barton, at the 2019 Detroit Autorama. Built by Jordan Quintal II and Super Rides by Jordan, of Escondido, California, the starting point was a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, with a body handcrafted by Pinin Farina in Italy. Just 99 examples were built for 1959, at a price nearly double that of lesser Eldorado models. To this base, Quintal grafted on the roof of a Pontiac Safari station wagon, though the process wasn’t that simple. To carry on…

MODERN. DYNAMIC. HIGH-IMPACT.ON STEROIDS. BRIGHT. VIBRANT. RETRO. ASPIRATIONAL. ALSO, GREEN. Ford keeps feeding us dribs and drabs of non-information about the 2020 Mustang, due in the fall. The horsepower ratings remain unspoken. But this month’s news: new colors! Twister Orange and Grabber Lime (shown on the upcoming GT500, confirmed to have more than 700 hp though not exactly how much more) will be part of the new color palette. According to Ford’s color and materials manager, “This color traces back to a Mustang heritage color while bringing it forward with more modern, dynamic pigments and bold new energy.” The press release also included the words “high-impact,” “on steroids,” “bright,” “vibrant,” “retro,” and “aspirational,” in case the pictures didn’t get the point across. The “heritage color” that inspired the new Grabber…

Letter of the Month: Down Under AMX “Greetings from across the Pond. I reside in Adelaide, South Australia, and am the proud owner of a 1969 AMC AMX factory right-hand-drive built by AMI back in 1969/’70 (plus a couple of rare Hornets). I would like to thank you for keeping my “pilot light” on over the last couple of years with your great magazine. Nearly two years ago, we lost my eldest brother to the Big C. It has been a roller coaster ride for all of us during this time, especially for my parents, who are both in their mid-80s. My brother Dave was my partner in crime with our beloved AMC/Ramblers. He has a rare ’64 American convertible (one of eight factory right-hand-drives) and a ’74 Levi’s edition…

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” DYLAN THOMAS, WHO WROTE the above passage before his untimely passing in 1953, never had the chance to sample the smoldering performance of a dual-quad, 425-hp Mopar Hemi on full boil. He missed out on the thrill of being pressed back in a high-backed bucket seat as torque and g-forces conspired to pull his cheeks back, to tighten his stomach involuntarily, and to fill his ears with the unmitigated roar of power and motion and anger. Yet his eternal paean, an admonition (if not an outright order) to live life hard and fast, and to go out with a bang rather than a whimper,…

I traded a 1971 Challenger and cash for this car in the fall of 2008 to friend and fellow collector Gregg Nelson in Minnesota. It was already restored and documented. I love everything about it—the color, the options, and the shape of the ’71 ’Cuda body. I have more than a dozen ’70 and ’71 E-bodies, but this Hemi ’Cuda is the cornerstone of my collection; it’s also the favorite car in my collection. As far as advice, I’d suggest that if possible, buy a completed car, and not one that needs to be restored—you may have to pay more, but you’ll sure save yourself some agony in the long run!…