Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

SPOTTED: FOUR-DOOR 4-4-2s In response to John Singleton’s letter in HMM #194 about four-door Oldsmobile 4-4-2s: Yes, they do exist. This is a fully documented example that I saw in person here in the Richmond Virginia area. John Dyke Via email SERVICE STATION MEMORIES There are many reasons why readers love this magazine, but one of mine is this: you bring back many fond memories, whether about driving cars or just being around them. Jim McGowan’s column on service stations really hit home. At the ripe age of 12, I “worked” at a small-town Pure station (one bay, two pumps) pumping gas, washing cars, and fixing bicycle flats. Sweet memories: getting fussed at by a Beetle owner because I couldn’t find the gas cap, then again for not releasing the…

1969 AMC AMX PRICE Base price.....................................................................................................................$3,297 Selected options on car profiled..............................................Big Bad Orange paint, $34; AMX 390 Go Package (390-cu.in. V-8, power disc brakes, E70-14 redline tires, 6-in wide wheels, handling package, Twin-Grip differential, heavy-duty cooling system, racing stripe), $310.85; air conditioning, $369 ENGINE Type.......................AMC “Gen-2” Typhoon OHV V-8; cast-iron block and cylinder heads Displacement.........................................................................................................390-cu.in. Bore x stroke..................................................................................................4.165 x 3.574 in Compression ratio..........................................................................................................10.2:1 Horsepower @ rpm.............................................................................................315 @ 4,600 Torque @ rpm............................................................................................425 lb-ft @ 3,200 Valvetrain...........................................................................................Hydraulic valve lifters Main bearings...................................................................................................................Five Fuel system ......Carter AFB four-barrel carburetor, cast-iron intake, mechanical pump Lubrication system..............................................................Full pressure, gear-type pump Electrical system................................................................................12-V, negative ground Exhaust system..............................................................Cast-iron manifolds, dual exhaust TRANSMISSION Type...................................................................Borg-Warner M-12 three-speed automatic Ratios ...............................................1st/2.40:1 … 2nd/1.47:1 … 3rd/1.00:1 … Reverse/2.00:1 DIFFERENTIAL Type...............................................AMC Model 20 with Twin-Grip limited-slip differential Ratio.................................................................................................................................3.15:1 STEERING Type...............................................................Saginaw recirculating ball with…

SO OFTEN WE HEAR ABOUT TEENAGERS who, during the muscle car era, were forbidden by their parents to purchase the high-powered, big-block, four-speed rides that they really desired, having to settle instead for something less. Not so with John Upton of Flora, Illinois. Back in 1970, John was 17 years old and searching for his first car. His dad, John Sr., worked in the coal mines, and his friend Charlie Wyatt was selling his 1969 Impala Custom Coupe. Wyatt had bought the formal-roof Chevrolet to race at the local drag strip, so he outfitted it with the $422.35 Z24 SS 427 option, which included the L36 390-hp Turbo-Jet 427 engine and chrome valve covers and air cleaner lid; black-accented grille; “SS” callouts on the exterior and steering wheel; “427” fender…

THE RESTOMOD MOVEMENT IS ALL ABOUT UPGRADING COMPONENTRY, AND TODAY’S AFTER- market has made this much simpler by creating new parts, assemblies, and kits to facilitate the process. But you don’t need to completely alter your ride to take advantage of a few improvements—lots of options are available that will bring benefits without changing the outward appearance of your classic. Take a look over the following items and consider the possibilities. T-56 REPLACEMENT SILVER SPORT TRANSMISSIONS • WWW.SHIFTSST.COM888-609-0031 • STARTING AT $3,395 Tremec’s Magnum-F six-speed is finally available for the 1998-2002 GM F-body Camaro and Firebird. Fourth-gen enthusiasts now have an option for improving the manual gearbox in their cars. This is particularly beneficial as the pool of factory fourth-gen F-body T-56 transmissions continues to shrink. The Magnum-F addresses the…

IF YOU’VE BEEN MESSING AROUND with car projects for any length of time, you’re familiar with the tendencies that these undertakings can inspire, particularly when they near completion.That’s when the excitement to try it out can lead to cutting some corners.These compromises are almost always labelled as temporary — “I’ll make it right after it’s running…” — but you know how that goes. We’ve been there too many times, and the hard lessons suffered along the way have led us to a more enlightened and patient approach with the Chevelle engine and transmission upgrade project. I, for one, have had enough leaks, backfires, and other first-start fails that I’m willing to hold up progress to make something right the first time.That kind of thinking led us to remove the new…

Keeping paint finishes from becoming damaged is an ongoing concern for car enthusiasts, particularly those who use their vehicles for some form of competition. We recently found an interesting product, which many car fans may find appealing, to help shield painted surfaces from harm. Road Warrior Plus Liquid Paint Protection is applied to the surface to be protected with a small paint roller (included in the kit, along with a small roller tray). When it cures, it forms a thin, clear protective film, which can be peeled off by hand once dry.The company considers this a temporary coating, so it can be applied and removed as needed. We sampled the paint protection product on the 1971 Road Runner of Hemmings sales rep Rowland George. The car has a nice paint…

COLLECTIBLE MUSCLE CAR era racers were front-and-center at Mecum Harrisburg 2019. Returning to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex from July 31 through August 3, Mecum reported that, “More than 70 percent of all 1,301 offered vehicles, hammered sold,” at the auction. Todd Werner’s collection was one of the headliners, and it was comprised of just over 40 consignments that also included a couple of motorcycles. Many, however, were vintage drag cars that were campaigned by eminent racers and teams like Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin, Dick Landy, Arnie Beswick, “Dyno” Don Nicholson, and others. They, along with one of Todd’s two Richard Petty NASCAR race cars, filled several of the top 10 sales positions. The Petty 1970 NASCAR Superbird was not among them, however, as it was a no-sale at…

WITH ITS RECORD IN THE BOOKS, CHALLENGER 2 GOES UP FOR AUCTION In a few short years, Danny Thompson did what nobody else in the world has done: setting a land-speed record for a piston-powered vehicle in a mostly untested streamliner originally built decades prior. With that under his belt — and his father’s designs validated — Danny has decided to put the Challenger 2 up for auction. Danny and his father had hoped to return the car to the salt in the ’80s, but the March 1988 murder of Mickey and Trudy Thompson put a halt to those plans. Danny held on to the streamliner, and in 2011 decided that the time was right to finally attempt a wheel-driven land-speed record. Over the next several years, Danny and his…

“The accolades you receive for your magazine are all fully justified! Apart from the great cars, the magazine is so much about people as well, and the stories about owners and their cars are always so enjoyable. Reading the magazine is like being part of a wonderful family! I live in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, and muscle cars are quite a rarity here. Terry McGean’s April editorial about driving our cars (“Spark That Old Flame, HMM 188) really hit a home run for me. Repair skills and parts availability are a problem here, so concours cars are not a part of life. Driving our cars is! I am fortunate to have some great cars, and have attached pictures of two of them being driven. Apart from general outings, my 1969 Z/28…

MODIFIED MUSCLE IS, BY DESIGN, personalized. Color, power, wheels, driving feel — all are highly subjective and are ideally dictated by the owner/builder. What the car is, how it performs, how it looks and feels ... how it makes the owner feel ... all are meant to be curated and custom-tailored for an audience of one. How do you build a custom car for someone when no one knows who the end user will be? How do you build a custom car for someone who (whisper it) may not even be into cars? Such was the conundrum presented to Steve Strope and his Simi Valley, California-based Pure Vision shop. Pure Vision’s creations are well-known within the pages of HMM: we’ve been featuring his good works since his ’72 Plymouth GTX-R,…

At shows, I post a sign with my car’s history and about two years ago, at an event in Albion, Illinois, I saw a lady crying while reading it. She told me her name was Mary, and that her brother Charlie [Wyatt], who had since passed away, had owned my car, which she used to wash for him. I talked with her and her husband, and we became friends. Soon after, Mary called and said she found a document for my car. I’d never had any dealer paperwork for the Impala. She asked if I could drive the car over, so her 90-year-old mother, Fay, could see it. They were very happy when I did, and I was grateful to get the completed dealer order sheet.…

JUST OFF CALIFORNIA’S Highway 1, in Pescadero, sits a cozy old restaurant named Duarte’s Tavern. Among its specialties is Crab Cioppino: a delicious seafood stew simmered in a broth made with tomatoes and wine. Duarte’s was one of the late John Dooley’s favorite eateries. As a commercial crab fisherman, he must’ve appreciated the Duarte family’s commitment to fresh, locally sourced seafood. John was also a lifelong car enthusiast with a typical, “one-that-got-away” story to tell. In his case, that one was a ’65 Pontiac GTO that he sold after getting drafted during the Vietnam War. So, about five years ago, once the constraints of a thriving business and a growing family had eased, John struck a deal with Bill Ganahl at South City Rod and Custom to build the ultimate…

RARELY DID MERCURY HAVE a moment unto itself. Ford Motor Company’s mid-market division was saddled with a perpetual identity crisis, which challenged sales, but also seemed to motivate its designers to make Mercury’s models stand apart from their Ford counterparts. When the factory performance wars heated up, Mercury was able to benefit from the engineering and development Ford had put into its engines, slipping the same powerplants into Mercury shells, and then doing some competition development of its own. Specially prepared, power-packed Comets sucker-punched competitors in the quarter-mile, Cougars nearly stole the 1967 Trans-Am title, and Montegos went one-two in the 1968 Daytona 500. If you were paying attention on Main Street, the quiet, ENGINES Despite confusion among period buff mags and factory literature, the Cyclone Spoilers of 1970 received…

FALLING INTO A BUSY SEPTEMBER FOR AUCTIONS RM’s Auburn, Indian, extravaganza, held August 29 through September 1, grossed $16.6 million in sales, with 90 percent of all lots sold. A ’71 Plymouth ’Cuda 340 convertible, said to be the last ’Cuda convertible built, fetched $150,000; a red ’67 427 Corvette roadster with close-ratio four-speed sold for $129,800; a four-speed ’60 Corvette roadster sold for $104,500; a four-speed split-window Corvette coupe sold for $92,950; a ’69 Shelby G.T. 350 fastback changed hands for $77,000; and a Nickey-prepped, 427-powered ’68 Corvette sold for $74,800. Worldwide’s event, also in Auburn, netted some strong results, despite a focus on classics that extended beyond the realm of pure muscle. These included a ’70 Ford Mustang Boss 429 for $220,000; a ’67 Shelby G.T. 500 for…

SO QUICK IT HERTZ: HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND HERTZ TEAM UP FOR A SUITE OF LIMITED V-8 CAMAROS When you think of renting a black-and-gold pony car from your local Hertz rental counter and hitting the road-race circuit, naturally you think of ... a Camaro? No, that doesn’t sound right. Although it might well in the future: 750 horsepower has a way of scrambling your brain and making you see things differently. To that end, Hertz and 12-time-NASCAR-champs Hendrick Motorsports have introduced a suite of custom 2020 Camaros to the Hertz rental fleet: 200 Camaro SS models, and just 24 Camaro ZL1s. All cars are signature black with golden yellow striping, special fender badges, interior stitching with driver William Byron’s signature, and a serialized plaque. The ZL1 models include a Callaway…

HOT RODS DIDN’T USED TO HAVE back seats. Sure, there were exceptions, but the general rule from the ’30s to the ’50s was that sedans were something your parents drove — only coupes and roadsters were worthy candidates for a hopped-up teenage dream machine. If you happened to get one with a rumble seat, well, you probably tore out the seat itself and turned it into a reverse-hinged trunk. That started to change as late-model cars got more popular among the shade-tree racer set, however. The muscle car era blew apart the stereotype entirely. When supercar buyers returned from the showroom, it was almost inevitable that their 389, 396, 390, 383, etcetera, was mounted in a midsize sedan or hardtop, complete with back seat. Somebody at AMC remembered, though. While…

PRICE Base price ...............................................................................................................$3,150.65 Options on car profiled...................................................SS 427; four-speed; Positraction; bucket seats with console; radio; clock; accessory lighting; rear seat speaker; undercoating; (tilt column added later) ENGINE Type..................... Chevrolet Mark-IV big-block V-8; cast-iron block and cylinder heads Displacement..............................................................427-cu.in. (currently 432.75-cu.in.) Bore x stroke ...................................................... 4.251 x 3.76 in (currently 4.281 x 3.76 in) Compression ratio..........................................................................10.25:1 (currently 10.4:1) Horsepower @ rpm................................................................390 @ 5,400 (factory rating) Torque @ rpm ................................................................ 460 lb-ft @ 3,600 (factory rating) Camshaft..................................................................................................................Hydraulic Valvetrain ......................Hydraulic lifters; GM Performance 3/8-in pushrods; stainless-steel valves; Comp Cams valve springs and stainless-steel roller tip rocker arms Main bearings...................................................................................................................Five Fuel system .... Rochester Quadrajet; cast-iron intake manifold, mechanical LS6 pump Ignition............................................Breaker-point distributor with electronic conversion Lubrication system.............................Full pressure; TRW gear-type pump, stock oil pan Electrical system..............................................................................................................12-V Exhaust system.......................................... Cast-iron manifolds, 2.50-in dual…

FOR DYED-IN-THE-WOOL gearheads, Northern California is a special place: In a relatively small geographic area, there’s a higher concentration of unique strains of car culture than just about anywhere else in the country. Antiques, customs, hot rods, lowriders, overlanders, bikes, vintage military, Eurosport, JDM, classics, old boats, vintage circle track, the truck scene, dragsters and muscle cars are all equally represented. There’s even a chopper moped gang. The point is there are literal tons of influence, that all feed off each other when it comes to the Nor-Cal car scene. But this is Hemmings Muscle Machines and we’re here to talk about a certain 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda built by Zane Cullen’s Cotati Speed Shop, about fifty miles north of San Francisco. In what outwardly seems like a fairly sedate and…

IN MILITARY PARLANCE, PROVIDING REARWARD defense while a fighting unit advances or withdraws is referred to as “bringing up the rear.” It’s amazing, sometimes, how fighting a battle and building a muscle machine can be so similar. In this segment of our budget-built Pro Touring machine, we devised a strategy to protect our ’69 Camaro’s rear with a disc brake package, an anti-sway bar, a lowering kit, and to complete the ploy, we fit up our rolling stock. Plus, we were able to take advantage of a short break in the build schedule to add some color to the Camaro’s flanks. Painting a project car is a big decision, not one to be approached without careful consideration. Unquestionably, adding paint to a project largely defines that vehicle and its intentions.…

MOPAR MAGIC TORQSTORM • 616-226-9476 • WWW.TORQSTORM.COM • $4,950 This new supercharger kit is for small-block Mopars — the 318, 340, and 360 engines that were built from 1967 to 1993. The new PLUS kit includes an air conditioning compressor, alternator, power steering pump, and pulleys for both the crankshaft and water pump, as well as the supercharger components. In terms of installation clearance, this new kit extends no more than 17.5 inches above crankshaft center and 17.5 inches laterally. Available in natural alloy or black anodized, the kits come with everything mentioned above, but a blow-through-type carburetor is not included. AXLE-BACK EXHAUST SYSTEMS HOLLEY • 866-464-6553 • WWW.HOLLEY.COM • $319.95 New Flowtech non-muffled axle-back exhaust systems are now available for 2016-’18 Camaros. These will maximize the performance…

DECEMBER 1 HI-PERFORMANCE SWAP MEET Long Beach, California 800-762-9785 5-7 MECUMAUCTIONS Kansas City, Kansas 262-275-5050 6-7 RALEIGH CLASSIC CAR AUCTIONS Raleigh, North Carolina 919-269-5271 6-7 PREMIER AUCTION GROUP Punta Gorda, Florida 844-593-7355 8 POMONA SWAP MEET Pomona, California 714-538-7091 8 SUMTER SWAP MEET Bushnell, Florida 727-848-7171 JANUARY 2-12 MECUM AUCTIONS Kissimmee, Florida 262-275-5050 5 FREEMAN’SSUPERSUNDAY SWAP MEET Indianapolis, Indiana 317-296-0336 5 MEDINAINDOORSWAP MEET Medina, Ohio 800-553-8745 11-19 BARRETT-JACKSON AUCTION Scottsdale, Arizona 480-421-6694 12 HI-PERFORMANCE SWAP MEET Long Beach, California 800-762-9785 15-19 RUSSO AND STEELE AUCTION Scottsdale, Arizona 602-252-2697 17-18 GOODING & COMPANY AUCTION Scottsdale, Arizona 310-899-1960…