Posted by Terry Shea - Ford's 1963 Mustang II concept car. Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company Detroit is broke. Not the auto industry - that's coming back quite strong, even if employing a fraction of the workers it did just a few decades ago. It's the city itself that is broke. And while GM and Chrysler got a reprieve from the gallows by a strong federal push for their "precision" bankruptcies in 2009 that erased their debts, there is virtually no chance of that happening for Detroit. The city is in danger of being taken over by the M... Read On>>
Hemmings Find of the Day - 1973 AMC Javelin Pierre Cardin interior
Posted by Daniel Strohl - In the early 1970s, AMC decided to do something radical: It would pair up with famous fashion designers for special editions of its cars, seen by some (okay, by many) as the least fashionable cars on the market. They started with the Gucci edition Hornet Sportabout and would later go on to introduce the Oleg Cassini edition Matador and Levi's edition Gremlin and Jeeps, but the most outrageous and perhaps best known of the fashion edition AMCs would have to be the Pierre Cardin edition Javelins, which featured funky ...Read On>>It's happened again: Fontana drags suspended
Posted by Jim Donnelly - Photo courtesy Auto Club Dragway You're not hallucinating. Another facility that hosts automotive competition in Southern California has been silenced. This time, a Superior Court judge ordered drag racing halted at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana. Immediately, the complex issued a media release announcing that its Street Legal program scheduled for this Saturday is canceled. Two observations: First, racing in Southern California as a whole has been ravaged over the past several months by seemingly unstoppable forc...Read On>>A car show that fits in your pocket
Posted by Jim Donnelly - The world of premium 1/43rd-scale model cars is simply delightful. The variety of American and foreign prototypes, detail, and exclusivity at a really big showing can boggle the mind. The unfortunate thing is that these shows are much less common in the United States than in Europe, but they do happen. For instance, not long after we reported the passing of hobby pioneer Dave Sinclair, we heard from another Dave who's into 1/43rd, Dave Kirkel, better known as Buz, the proprietor of the Route 66 Model Car Store in...Read On>>Class of 1987 - Mercury Duality of Wagons Edition
Posted by Mike Bumbeck - Images courtesy of the Ford Motor Company Archives. The great American station wagon has largely disappeared as did the thundering herds of bison from the vast Great Plains, for reasons known and mysterious. Various modern automobiles appear somewhat station wagon shaped, but are referred to as crossovers, a CUV, or some other nebulous term used in vain to describe something that's not quite a minivan, nor a car or truck. Flummoxed is one word that comes to mind. In 1987 the Mercury division simultaneously offer...Read On>>
Week in Review
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Canadian collector and museum founder Stan Reynolds dies
Posted by Daniel Strohl - Photo courtesy Reynolds-Alberta Museum Stanley George Reynolds was an inveterate collector who amassed one of Canada's largest assemblages of mechanical things: cars and trucks, certainly, but also tractors, combines, plows, road graders, steam engines and pretty much any old machine he came across. His death last month at the age of 88 has caused many to reflect on the life of "a true Alberta original." Born in 1923 in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Reynolds wished for little more than to follow in his father's footsteps...Read On>>Hemmings Find of the Day - 1942 Diamond T
Posted by Daniel Strohl - While we're not making a concerted effort to put together another March Military Campaign this year, we will keep our eyes peeled this month for interesting mechanized bits of military history, such as this 1942 Diamond T 6x6 troop carrier for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller's description: Rarely do you find a turnkey vehicle like this. This is one of the best driving and running WWII Diamond Ts. These trucks are quite rare in the U.S. The original engine starts easily and is a joy to hear running. The air br...Read On>>Bugatti Type 57C takes Best in Show at Boca Raton
Posted by Richard Lentinello - A stunningly beautiful 1939 Bugatti Type 57C won not only the Best European Classic award at this year's Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance but also the coveted Best In Show award. Owned by noted car collector Jim Patterson, the Voll & Ruhrbeck-bodied Type 57C convertible features a unique cascading grille that juts forward from the famed Bugatti radiator grille, thus making it one of the most recognizable Bugattis ever built. Power comes from a supercharged straight-eight dual overhead-camshaft engine that develops...Read On>>Greatest on two wheels
Posted by Jim Donnelly - It's not often that you find such an appearance at a racing pre-season or salute-to-the-legends show, but here's one. The NAPA Dirt Track Heroes Show, beginning this Sunday, March 4, at the Phillipsburg Mall in northwestern New Jersey, has a late addition to its lineup: one of the greatest AMA motorcycle racers of the modern era, Chris Carr. Carr is just off his retirement from a stirring career that saw him turn pro in 1983 and win 78 of the approximately 400 flat track mains he entered. He won seven AMA titles,...Read On>>Lost Dealerships Project - Rootes Group Canadian headquarters
Posted by Dave LaChance - From reader Peter S. Badenoch comes this image of the Canadian headquarters for the Rootes Group, which was the parent company of automakers Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam and Talbot, and commercial vehicle producers Commer and Karrier. Peter wrote: Here's one from Toronto, Canada, and the days when Britannia ruled the waves in the import world. This photo, featuring a Sunbeam Rapier Series 111A, shows what were the headquarters of Rootes Canada from the early 1950s to the later 1960s. The huge building incorpora...Read On>>Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Breedlove Javelin, Mickey Thompson Corvette, and Prudhomme Pepsi Challenger to cross the block
Posted by Daniel Strohl - All images courtesy Mecum Auctions To the best of our knowledge, Craig Breedlove, Mickey Thompson, and Don Prudhomme never went head-to-head-to-head, even though all three competed in their respective motorsports in roughly overlapping time periods. Later this year, however, cars that all three legends piloted will come together in a different sort of competition - for enthusiasts' dollars - at Mecum's Indianapolis auction. Certainly the most colorful of the three is Breedlove's Speed Spectacular Javelin, one of...Read On>>Hemmings Find of the Day - 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint
Posted by Daniel Strohl - This 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint for sale on Hemmings.com is one well-traveled coupe, with three major open-road races under its belt, including La Carrera Panamericana. As one would expect, it's been massaged and sorted, making it perfect for vintage racing or, if you enjoy the tight fit of racing buckets, for a quick trip to the grocery store. Preferably the grocery store three counties away. From the seller's description: prepped for rallies and street use. Campaigned in La Carrera Panamericana (class win i...Read On>>Help one of auto racing's best friends
Posted by Jim Donnelly - Full disclosure: Al Robinson is one of my best friends in the world of auto racing, a mentor and walking encyclopedia of history (on everything) who helped out people like me when we were starting out behind a keyboard. Al managed public relations for years at Dover International Speedway and then handled NASCAR's then-Busch East touring series. He was regarded as America's busiest professional race fan, attending 100 or more events a year while doing his promotion, plus announcing. That was all sidetracked last ...Read On>>Deleite g?tico: the beauty of Spanish funeral coaches
Posted by Daniel Strohl - Photos courtesy Miguel Caballero Covian This past weekend, the International Classic Vehicle Salon in Madrid put together an impressive collection of ornate funeral vehicles, the likes of which we've only ever previously seen in ones or twos rather than gathered together for display. Together they make for an impressive spread, exhibiting fine and extensive carvings on their magnificent coachwork. Miguel Caballero Covian, who has in the past sent us photos of collectible American cars in Spain for the Lost and F...Read On>>Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Oldsmobile Limited tops Milhous auction at $3.3 million
Posted by Daniel Strohl - Photos courtesy RM Auctions When a raggedy 1911 Oldsmobile Limited shocked the collector car world nearly five years ago by selling for $1.5 million at RM's Hershey auction, many observers wondered what somebody would pay for a nice and shiny version of that car. We came as close to answering that question as possible this past weekend, when a beautifully restored 1912 Oldsmobile Limited hammered for $3.3 million at RM's Milhous sale. The price topped the weekend's auction of the Milhous brothers collection in B...Read On>>Hemmings Find of the Day - 1954 Ford Crestline Skyliner
Posted by Daniel Strohl - The Fifties were a time of excess: Some horsepower is good, so more must be better. Some chrome is good, so more must be better. And some plexiglass is good, so more must be better. Or, at least, that's what we see with this 1954 Ford Crestline Skyliner for sale on Hemmings.com, which features both the clear plastic roof section characteristic of the Skyliner and the windowed hood that Ford created to allow dealers to show off the new-for-'54 Y-block V-8. From the seller's description: Ford-O-Matic transmission, po...Read On>>See no Evel. Just restore it
Posted by Jim Donnelly - Photos courtesy Robb Mariani Truck restoration means working with big parts to achieve big rewards, but can be a real piece of work in its own right if the truck is a one-off custom. That's true in neon capitalization when you're talking about a rig as conspicuous at the guy who ran it, the tractor-trailer setup that hauled Evel Knievel's gear during the 1970s. Once he'd bone-snapped his way into American folklore, Knievel first acquired a cabover Kenworth in 1971. Three years later in Texas, he soared his Harle...Read On>>Cars I've Loved and Hated: Michael Lamm's Unauthorized Auto Biography, Chapter Three
Posted by Michael Lamm - In 1953, 17-year-old Michael Lamm considered his 1932 Cadillac V-16 "totally restored." Today, it would qualify as a very nice driver. All photos copyright Michael Lamm, 2012 In the early 1950s, what we now call "classic cars" were 20-year-old hulks. Back then, individual "classics" that survived wartime scrap drives found themselves relegated to the back rows of used-car lots. In that day, classic cars vastly outnumbered collectors, so rolling relics like Duesenbergs, Pierces, Cord L-29s, senior Packards, Stutz...Read On>>Monday, February 27, 2012
Prominent collectors join forces to buy Saab USA Heritage Collection
Posted by Mark J. McCourt - American Saab fans can breathe a sigh of relief, now that we know which parties won the bidding for the 10 vehicles of Saab Cars North America's Heritage collection, which were auctioned on Friday, February 10, in one lot. Yes, that's plural: According to SaabsUnited, half of the cars went to Bill Jacobson of Wilmington, Delaware's, Sports Car Service, and half went to Tom Donney of Fort Dodge, Iowa's, Tom Donney Motors. The two pooled their resources in one winning bid. Bill and Tom enjoy fine reputations in the...Read On>>Hemmings Find of the Day - 1949 Boles Aero
Posted by Daniel Strohl - Cabin fever is running high here in Vermont, and we're just itching to get back on the road. In fact, we've been dreaming about not just a road trip in a collector car, but one with a vintage trailer in tow, so we went looking and spotted this 1949 Boles Aero travel trailer for sale on Hemmings.com. While we've seen shinier examples, we'd put down the polishing compound and leave it just as it is. Now what to pull it with? From the seller's description: 13ft. travel Trailer. New tires, flooring and rock guard. All ...Read On>>The accident that started it all
Posted by Mike McNessor - Photo courtesy General Motors This year marks a pretty significant, if underappreciated, milestone in automotive history: Cadillac's implementation of the electric starter motor as standard equipment on the 1912 Model 30, which made it possible for anyone to turn over a multi-cylinder internal combustion automobile engine without fear of getting TKO'd by the hand crank in the event of backfire or kickback. In fact, the very real dangers of starting a car engine by hand are what spurred Cadillac to adopt electric...Read On>>University students attempt to set land speed record fueled by vegetable oil
Posted by Terry McGean - Photos courtesy Greenspeed A group of students from Boise State University are planning to make a land speed record attempt, targeting a class for diesel-powered vehicles but using vegetable oil as their fuel. The students are part of Greenspeed, an official BSU club founded "to provide students with the opportunity to gain real life experience working in an interdisciplinary environment while designing, building and racing a vegetable oil-powered vehicle." The club was conceived by BSU engineering student, Dave...Read On>>Forgotten Fiberglass - Bill Burke, Mickey Thompson, Roy Kinch and the birth of Atlas / Allied Sports Cars
Posted by Geoff Hacker - Photos courtesy Geoff Hacker To any gearhead, the names of both Bill Burke and Mickey Thompson are synonymous with speed. Yet they were both also noted innovators, and in the fall of 1952 they collaborated on one of the most beautiful fiberglass sports cars the post-war world had ever seen, the Atlas Swallow. Burke was into hot rodding back in the late 1930s and thus was heavily involved in the pre-war lakes speed scene. He frequently appeared in Throttle, the first automobile enthusiast magazine published in Am...Read On>>Source: http://01newsauto.blogspot.com/2012/03/hemmings-daily-will-city-of-detriot.html
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