Hemmings Muscle Machines October 2019

“Failure follows shortly afterward… usually right around the time I show up.” Somehow, as the years have rolled on since the 1960s, certain facets of the automobile that were once ubiquitous have come to be seen as near liabilities that simply must be replaced with updated equipment if the vehicle is to be driven. I find myself succumbing to this kind of thinking sometimes, and it came to light recently when associate editor Terry Shea purchased a ’67 Barracuda and made plans to drive it from his brother’s shop in Connecticut to his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s a long way, if you’re not from this side of the country — right around 750 miles, so naturally there was some trepidation over driving the car rather than having it…

DON GARLITS GOES FOR ELECTRIC DRAG RECORD As we head to press, drag racing legend Don Garlits is planning to strap himself into the cockpit of the Swamp Rat 38 electric dragster at Florida’s Palm Beach International Raceway, stage the car, and then break his existing National Electric Drag Racing Association record, putting down a pass at or above 200 mph. After setting and breaking so many records in the sport of Top Fuel drag racing, it’s no surprise that 87-year-old Garlits can’t sit still. He was, after all, the first drag racer to break the 170-, 180-, 240-, 250-, and 270-mph barriers. In August 2014, Garlits drove Swamp Rat 37, a modified Top Fuel dragster with six electric motors making more than 2,000 horsepower, to a NEDRA DR/A3 class…

On July 18, Chevrolet revealed the long-awaited 2020 Corvette Stingray to a crowd of gathered journalists, Corvette aficionados, and dealership personnel. On paper, the C8 sounds like an impressive package, capable of raising the model’s performance bar even higher, without an astronomical rise in pricing. The mid-engine design brings with it both advantages and drawbacks. On a track, a car with a balanced front-to-rear weight distribution will — generally speaking — handle better than a car with a pronounced front or rear weight bias. The C7 Corvette had reached the limits of what was possible with a front-engine, rear-drive car, meaning that to improve performance (and lower the all-important Nürburgring lap times), a change in platform was needed. In the real world of rush-hour commutes and weekend getaways, mid-engine cars…

R-E-S-P-E-C-T I wanted to take a moment to honor Shirley Muldowney on her courage for writing her column in the July issue of HMM (“I Was a Quarter-Mile Mother,” #191). I don’t believe that recounting her parenting experience was an easy thing to do, but it certainly was brave of her to do so. Mature adults who are able to admit mistakes always get my respect. Joseph Razumich Portage, Indiana NO LUMPING First, let me say I love the magazine and have been a subscriber since you began. Unlike a lot of the magazines out there, you manage to keep it fresh and not just rehash the same things over and over. Regarding the B-O-P Section in the July issue( HMM #191):Youstartitbysaying“It is patently unfair that Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac…

“I tend to disagree with Terry Parsons (“Buy versus Build,” Backfire HMM #192). I am exactly the opposite — I’d rather buy a diamond in the rough and bring it back to its former glory than buy a turn-key vehicle that’s already done. My joy comes from working on a vehicle and seeing its progress from what it once was to what it can be. Once I finish a car’s resurrection, I usually take it to a few shows, have fun with it, and then pass it on for someone else to enjoy. I cannot afford a newly restored car, but despite what some people think, you can still find reasonably priced cars if you are savvy enough. I usually do the mechanical stuff, some upholstery  work, wiring, and light…

IT ALWAYS COMES AS A SHOCK WHEN you ask a car owner how many vehicles he owns, and he has to sit for a moment and do the math. “How many do I have? You mean indoors?” Let us cut to the chase: Terry Gale owns at least 250 restored cars (and hundreds more unrestored ones). The overwhelming majority of these, stored indoors in a number of museum-quality buildings, are AMCs and Ramblers, with consideration given to models before (i.e., Nash) and after (i.e., Renault, Eagle) AMC’s existence. The presentation, tightly packed and impeccably clean, would make most car nuts woozy. He gleefully shows tours of enthralled enthusiasts around his Colorado compound, nicknamed “Rambler Ranch.” Within that 250-car collection dedicated to the preservation of the AMC marque, there are of…