Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

“I’m sending this email in response to the article “Talladega or Bust” a while back (HMM #200, April 2020). I thought your readers might like to see what a real NASCAR Talladega looked like in 1969. I built my Talladega to replicate what Benny Parsons’ #72 Talladega looked like at the time. Mine is full NASCAR spec, with a race-prepped Boss 429 making 870 hp at 6,500 rpm and 810 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. I built it to run on the track and to be able to drive it on the street — it has full insurance and is registered. I started collecting parts for this build in 1969, and in 2004 it was running and made the trip to Talladega Super Speedway for the 25-year reunion of…

We wanted to tap into AlYoung’s accumulated experience to see what he would offer for insights to building a muscle car to drive around the world. “I wanted to build a car to drive and was thinking about doing a Route 66 trip when I retired from teaching. I had a 318 sitting in my garage, so I just started working on the Satellite, which I’d gotten for $500. Once I knew it was going to be a road-trip car, I used all my bracket racing experience to ‘bulletproof’ the car. I drag raced it for a year with the 318 on nitrous, basically trying to blow it up. It hung in there, so I knew it would last. I told my wife about traveling with the car and she…

THE INTERNET BUZZED ALL WINTER, after long-time Factory Appearing Stock Tire racer Dave Dudek came within .001 second of the ET record at the 2020 Fall Nationals. The anticipation built as dyno numbers and test times leaked out. New cars were being built to race in the series and old cars were changing hands or being updated. Plenty of cars with 9-second potential were on their way. The annual F.A.S.T. Spring Nationals, at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, came a little earlier this year, on May 13-14, and brought with it the fastest field of Factory Appearing cars ever assembled. In all, 71 racers took to the track in three classes, with F.A.S.T. headlining the show. To say the weather was perfect would be an understatement, with sunny…

MECUM WRAPS TULSA AUCTION Mecum’s inaugural Tulsa, Oklahoma, auction saw overall sales of more than $21.2 million, and nearly 82 percent of the 660 cars found new owners. Parsing the data, 1964-’73 American muscle cars raked in more than $5.8 million, with an impressive 84.5 percent of those offered being sold. One of the stars of the show was a 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda AAR that had undergone a full rotisserie restoration with a matching-numbers 340 Six Barrel engine and drivetrain. It was complete with Chrysler registry documentation, original broadcast sheet, fender tag information, and window sticker. The “All American Racer” was the top sale for Mopar muscle, selling for $132,000. Also changing hands was a 1969 Pontiac Trans Am, thought to be one of only 114 Ram Air III coupes…

If the lore is accurate, hot rodders have been homebuilding V-8-powered Jeeps for almost as long as Jeeps have existed, even overseas as World War II was still raging. Years later, civilian Jeeps with V-8 swaps eventually became fairly common; by the ’70s, AMC owned Jeep and was installing its own V-8s in CJs as a regular option. The availability of the 304-cu.in. CJ ended with the 1981 model year, going out with a 125-hp whimper, but Jeep fans have continued to build their own V-8 versions while longing for the return of a factory option. Seeming to recognize this, last year Stellantis (formerly FCA) teased us with a video of a Wrangler speeding around, making V-8 noises, just as Ford was announcing the coming new Bronco. It could have…

“FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS WHAT YOU GOT. FREEDOM FROM CHOICE IS WHAT YOU WANT.” – DEVO Most high-school-age spuds were happy to have just one car to take them to and from home, school, work, the girlfriend’s house, wherever. Steve Gazda managed to have his name on the titles of two cars simultaneously, both of which he paid for with his own money. But secretly — and maybe he didn’t even realize it yet — he only wanted one. Steve grew up in a Chevy family in Minneapolis, starting his driving career in his parents’ 1960 Nomad. His older brother owned a loaded, 325-horse ’67 Impala SS convertible, red with a white gut and originally ordered for the local Chevy dealer’s wife. Steve dug it and asked that, when it…

IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, there’s recently been a definite shift in the muscle machine mentality. For years, nearly all of us held our muscle-car-era rides in high esteem, restoring them, nurturing them, preserving them, and collecting them. What they represented were some of the best times many of us ever experienced, and a blip on the continuum of time that we’d never see again. As baby boomers, we were young, ambitious, and impatient. The world was ours for the taking, and our powerful, flashy steel machines took us just about anywhere we wanted to go. Decades later, we are still infatuated with them. During the ’80s, the muscle car movement grew in size and significance, with the focus on preserving them in factory-fresh condition. But to what end? Many simply…

IMPALA STUFF METRO MOULDED PARTS INC. • 800-878-2237 • METROMMP.COM • $190.77 Owners of 1963-’64 Chevrolet Impala convertibles can now order new window sweeper sets to refresh worn factory parts. These pieces are perfect replacements for your decaying and older seals. Each set comes with eight seals, including both inner and outer components for the left and right side, plus front-window and quarter-window pieces. Parts are made from EPDM material, which has superior ozone and UV resistance, ensuring long-lasting performance. Installation hardware is included; inquire about p/n WC 7200-64. CORVETTE TRIM RINGS KEEN PARTS • 800-757-5337 • KEENPARTS.COM • $125/EACH; $425/SET OF FOUR To renew factory appearance, reproduction Rally wheel trim rings are available for the 1968-’82 Corvette. Each ring is designed for both “AG” (1968-only) 7-inch wheels,…

OIL INSIGHTS I just read the “Rip Van Winkle Corvette” Q&A in the Ask Ray column of the September issue and I agree with Ray’s answer, but I also wanted to add some additional information based on my experiences. I’m also formerly ASE Master Certified. Background: I bought a 1970 Corvette with the base engine, the 350/300 hp, in 2013. It had just 34,000 miles, and I bought it from the original owner. The car wears factory paint and is a survivor with its unmodified original powertrain. The Corvette has earned NCRS Top Flight status and was a 2014 Bloomington Gold Survivor. Initially, I used 10W-30 synthetic oil with my first two oil and filter changes. Then the engine developed an intermittent lifter tick at operating temperatures. The fix: I…

MOST TRAVELERS CARRY SOME KIND of internationally recognized identification. Al Young’s passport weighs 3,500 pounds and has a V-8. “I like to say that if you judge me by what I look like, you’re about 90 percent wrong about me. If you judge me by my car, well then you’re about 90 percent right.” Al, a man who has carried the nicknames “Gentleman” and “Smilin’,” beams with delight. He is a retired teacher, a grandfather, a proud Chinese-American well versed in his cultural heritage. He looks like the educator who saw a spark in you when you were perhaps a wayward teenager and set you on the right path. Al seems like a kind man, and he is. But he doesn’t drive around in some beige Camry. He’s a drag…

MYRTLE’S CAFÉ STILL BEARS ADVERTISING from the days before Henry’s gasoline carriages. Under its antique tinned ceiling, hot coffee and a gratuitous wedge of raspberry pie staved off the aftereffects of a nine-hour flight. Across the street, my Mustang rental car waited in the shade of a red brick store. Princetown, Illinois, is just one small town off Interstate 80. I reminded myself I had a Mustang and the whole Midwest to go play in. It created a strong desire to hit the road again. I was back in the States to write a story about a family and a car, but two days before the wheels of my Boeing touched down, that story fell apart. I didn’t have anywhere to be and had no plan to follow. Some people…

THE RUN-THROUGH AUCTION held at Westworld in late 2020, combined with delaying the event for a couple of months beyond its normal January-defining dates, appeared to have paid off for Barrett-Jackson in March. Seating for bidders continued to be socially distanced, and a minimum of non-bidder foot-traffic was on hand to clog up the aisles of cars. The crowd was still thinner on the ground. And there were still questions: Would collectors care about the event on March 20-27, giving out-of-towners one less reason to leave their frozen environs for a week of fun in the Desert Southwest? Would another auction in town just beforehand (and actually overlapping by one day) prove to be an issue? The results speak for themselves: Barrett-Jackson sold a massive 1,054 vehicles for a total…

HEMMINGS AUCTIONS IS OUR LIVE, ONLINE AUCTION site staffed by customer service professionals ready to help bidders and sellers with any questions. A wide variety of classic and specialty vehicles from all eras are up for bid. Auctions run for two weeks, and qualified bidders place their bids electronically. Once a vehicle is accepted into the auction, the seller pays only a $99.95 listing fee. The winning bidder is responsible for a 5-percent fee on all completed auctions. The following are examples of auctions that transpired during the month leading up to press time. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, email Director of Auction Operations Terry Shea: terryshea@hemmings.com 2016 FORD MUSTANG GT ROUSH WARRIOR EDITION RESERVE: $50,000 SELLING PRICE: $52,500 RECENT MARKET RANGE: $47,500-$71,550 You had to be part…