Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Hemmings Muscle Machines

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES, the Carlisle Fairgrounds in central Pennsylvania has hosted a vast array of automotive events each season. Among its most popular marque-dedicated shows is the Carlisle Ford Nationals, held this year over June 2-4. For 2023, participation again soared, reaching 3,434 vehicles, the second-largest turnout in event history. Regular attendees know that the annual Ford show offers a variety of attractions to further enhance the experience, adding dimension beyond the show field, whether they bring a vehicle to display or just stroll the grounds to take it all in. This year included the SVT Cobra Reunion, which brought many examples of the Fords from the ’90s and 2000s that had been improved by the Special Vehicle Team, including F150 Lightning trucks, the SVT Focus, SVT Contour,…

WE HEAR IT EVERY YEAR, from readers and locals alike. “I don’t like the auctions. Cars are too expensive now. The average Joe has been priced out. Auctions have ruined the old-car hobby. That car’s not worth seven figures.” (Or six. Or five.) While the days of the roadside $500 ’57 Chevy are well behind us, may we suggest that the dissatisfied and alienated are, perhaps, not looking in the right place? For those whose spirits forge ahead beyond the obvious, for those willing to seek out the un-overhyped, may we suggest the MAG (Motorsports Auto Group) auction? Over the last couple of years, MAG has proved itself to be the most inclusive of the January Scottsdale car auctions. And by inclusive, we mean this: The cars do the talking,…

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. 1978 PONTIAC TRANS AM RESERVE: $22,500SELLING PRICE: $27,300RECENT MARKET RANGE: $20,100-$29,500 There’s no end to enthusiasts’ affection for the late-Seventies Trans…

Doubtless you’ve heard that Chevrolet’s rear-drive pony car, the Camaro, is going away — again — for the second time this millennium. Regardless of the car, once the sales dry up and the model goes away, an inevitable surge of special editions turns up at your local dealer. Before the Camaro name is used on some flavor of electrified SUV, Chevrolet has shown the good sense of introducing a couple of nice-knowing-you special editions. The first is the 2024 Chevy Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition. If it looks familiar, it’s because Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR, Goodyear, and Chevrolet fielded one that looked a bit like it, which just ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The NASCAR-spec racer completed 285 laps — more than 2,400 miles — around the 8.476-mile…

THERE ARE A VARIETY OF FACTORS that contribute to the desirability of a classic muscle car. The most important include rarity, quality, originality, mileage, and history. Few, if any, cars have all the attributes cited here, and all sorts of combinations of the above factors exist. You can find a high-mileage car with a related engine replacement that was well cared for and restored to a high standard. Conversely, you might find a low-mileage car that was seriously damaged early in life and has sat in a barn for decades. The combinations are nearly endless, but if you’re looking for something specific, you might have to take what you can find. Mopar collector Tom Lembeck was in the latter position in the early 1980s, as he was specifically looking for…

DECEPTION AND COMPETITION are a nearly inseparable alliance that has been part of the performance game for as long as engines have been inhaling atomized fossil fuels and burping spent hydrocarbons. Regardless of the type of competition, surreptitious creativity quite often plays heavily into the game. Some might call it cheating. Others consider it opportunity. The trick, of course, is to successfully pull off the ruse while avoiding detection. Detection can often be avoided with the addition of an intentional distraction… and in certain situations the trickery can be even more effective when there is none. Such is the game the owner of this 351W stroker engine intended, and he wanted to be sure he would be able to play it well. With a punch-you-in-the-face displacement of 426 cubic inches,…

RARE MUSCLE SELLS BIG AT MECUM’S INDY AUCTION Mecum has released the results of its 36th annual Original Spring Classic at Indy earlier this year. The nine-day event raked in more than $113 million in total sales and the unquestioned star of the day was the 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda 440 Rapid Transit show car. Designed by noted automotive stylist Harry Bentley Bradley — who designed the original Hot Wheels cars — and built by Chuck Miller, it was one of four original Plymouth Rapid Transit System Caravan Road Show cars displayed at major shows and dealerships in the early 1970s as a part of Plymouth’s performance marketing campaign. After more than five decades in hiding, it crossed the block with only 967 miles on the odometer and its original 440…

Letter of the Month: Pony Car Family Thanks so much for a great magazine – I’m a longtime subscriber. I couldn’t believe my luck when I got the July issue to see that the Shelby GT500 Mustang and a Pontiac Formula were both featured! I owned a 2008 GT California Special convertible, and my mom had a 1976 Pontiac Firebird Formula she used to let me drive in high school. I also recently visited the Shelby museum in Las Vegas and thoroughly enjoyed the story of the GT500 and of course the Buyer’s Guide on the same in the issue. I’m not sure though when the Buyer’s Guide was written or where you got the selling prices, but unfortunately those figures are probably half of what current prices…

THIS PAST JUNE, the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans (or 24 Heures du Mans, in the native tongue) stormed through the French countryside around the Circuit de la Sarthe, on public roads, and celebrated the centenary of the event. Le Mans (pronounced LE-moh to us Yankees) is automotive endurance racing at its finest, with technical innovation intertwined with durability at its core. Trial and error. Overcoming obstacles. Powering through. Racers plying their trade there fiddled with aerodynamics as early as 1925. Fog lamps appeared a year later. Radial tires in ’51. Fuel injection in ’52. Disc brakes a year after that. Turbocharging in ’76. A move to renewable fuels starting last year. While these innovations may not have been spawned at Le Mans, all of them proved their worth…

WE HAD TO INSTALL FRESH CALIPERS on a classic Chevelle recently and went to grab a set of rebuilt units we’d had on the shelf for years, only to find them coated in rust, despite having been wrapped in plastic. We were about to reach for the wire brush and some parts-store spray paint, but experience says that those measures often provide a cure that’s only temporary — brake heat and oxidation usually conspire to bring back the rust. However, our shop, the Hemmings Garage, has been doing projects for video (check out the Hemmings YouTube channel) and recently started using products from POR-15, makers of the familiar Rust Preventative Coating many of us have used over the years. What we didn’t realize was that the company offers a broad…