Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i Classic American

Working on a vehicle is a lot easier when you have instructions. The nice folks at Bishko have made it easy to fix your ride by putting original factory service manuals on handy DVDs. This is the same literature that the dealership techs use to diagnose and repair customer vehicles. Since original manuals are getting harder to find, especially ones in good condition, these DVDs are especially handy for owners of vintage rides. With more than 7000 titles available, Bishko has factory literature for many vehicles other sources just don’t offer. The DVDs contain high-resolution scans of the original factory resources that are chock-full of valuable information like engine specs, alignment data, wiring diagrams, diagnostic tips and repair processes. GM DVDs will also have the Fisher Body manuals, which are…

TAKING THE PLUNGE Dear Classic American, I recently purchased and imported my dream car, a 1973 Corvette Stingray convertible from a doctor in Oklahoma who had owned and cherished the vehicle since 1976. The Corvette is numbers matching and stock apart from Boyd Coddington wheels. I spent years looking for the right vehicle and colour combination of red with saddle interior and I particularly wanted a 1973 as for me it had the right combination of soft front and chrome rear. I spend hours polishing and still have to pinch myself when I open the garage door. I would recommend anyone to import their dream vehicle from across the pond, just make sure you have the vehicle inspected and try to tick as many boxes as you can.…

General Motors has studied the possibility of a mid-engine Corvette for decades. Original chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov conceived of such a variant as far back as the late Fifties. This led to the Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle (CERV) I and II of the early Sixties – the latter conceived as a competitor to Ford’s all-conquering GT40. Further mid-engine prototypes were developed, resulting in the XP-882, XP-895 and XP-897GT of the early Seventies. The latter sported a version of Felix Wankel’s revolutionary rotary engine mounted behind the seats. Arkus-Duntov felt that 180bhp wasn’t enough and so developed a four-rotor version that featured stunning bodywork courtesy of Jerry Palmer. Prohibitive costs nixed the idea, so the car was given a conventional small-block V8 and renamed the Aerovette. Even still, it would ultimately…

Since the first Eldorado arrived as a luxury convertible late in the 1953 model year, Cadillac had been developing these halo-model specials as a way for those with money to take a step up from the already glamorous Series 62s. By 1955, buyers got a customised interior and tweaked rear end styling, more power, more toys… just more of everything! In 1956 the Eldo’ split into a Coupe Seville and a convertible Biarritz, and in 1957, the famous four-door Brougham joined the line-up as its own Series 70, and in a different ball-park of stardust and expense even from the other Eldorados: $13,000 rather than $7200. At $7286 for a 1957 Biarritz convertible (nearly $800 up on the year before) you might have struggled to see the benefit over a…

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Thruxton race circuit as we know it today. It is also the 60th anniversary of the British Saloon Car Championship, which later morphed into the British Touring Car Championship. When Thruxton opened its gates in 1968, it was bang in the middle of a golden era of motor racing and as far as the British Saloon Car Championship was concerned, it was a period when mighty Mustangs, ferocious Falcons and curvaceous Camaros slugged it out for victory at the head of the pack. Happy days. At the end of the Second World War, many of the airfields which had been hastily constructed for the war effort became redundant. Quite a few found a new lease of life as motor racing circuits, including…

At the time of reporting, April had just passed and sadly, the Victory Wheelers’ 13th Hayling Reunion didn’t repeat previous years’ weather of sunny skies for a balmy car show by the sea. It did stay dry, but was consistently cold, windy and gloomy, which no doubt put a lot of people off going. Nevertheless, even if some people were put off, enough cars turned up to completely fill the beach in front of Funland Amusement Park, so there’s no way the event could be considered anything less than a success, and a walk around the car park was necessary to catch all the worthy cars that came along. The Wheelers say that they aim to get “as wide a variety of vehicles as possible”, and they certainly managed that,…

Whitebox models are much like the old Corgi Toys. Accurate in appearance, well made, packaged sturdily and simply, but unpretentious and reasonably priced. Their 1939 Lincoln is typical of their 1:43 scale offerings. My sample has deep gloss black paint, which shows off the lines of this elegant upmarket convertible, with contrasting matt red interior. Chromed trim was becoming more common at this time, but had yet to dominate the designs as in the postwar years, so is limited to bumpers, grille, wheel covers and side trims. Here the smaller strips are painted rather than plated. Packaged within a stackable clear box it’s said to be limited to 1000 examples, but take that to indicate the colour combination. Priced at between £20 and £25, it’s good value in today’s market.…

Classic American’s very own Stars and Stripes show will be taking place over the weekend of June 30/July 1 in the stunningly beautiful grounds of Tatton Park, Cheshire, near Manchester. With excellent motorway connections from the nearby M6, M62 and M56 it’s a doddle to get to from the Midlands, Wales, the North East and even Scotland and is well worth a visit as the largest American vehicle event in the north. Lots of folks make a weekend of it camping over, or staying in their motorhomes; however, it’s just as much fun to pop along just for the day. If you wish to display your car you’ll need to pre-book online at www.cheshireautopromotions.co.uk. There’ll be plenty of classic American cars on display, as well as customs, rods and even…

Since 1902, Cadillac has come to define the quintessential luxury American car. Once billed as ‘Standard of the World’, owning a Cadillac symbolised status and success. And while the brand fell on tough times during the Eighties, it has been quietly enjoying a resurgence. Today’s crop of cars and SUVs boast truly world-class performance and handling, premium appointments – technological innovations through features such as Super Cruise and Cadillac User Experience connectivity— plus edgy styling that remains distinctive amid today’s ‘genericar’ vehicle fleet. Here’s a look at what’s currently on offer from General Motors’ top tier brand. Cadillac ATS The smallest member of Cadillac’s current passenger family, the ATS is a front-engine, rear-drive sedan and coupe aimed at the likes of BMW’s 3/4-Series and Lexus IS. It comes standard with…

This month I would like to take a look at one of the heavy-hitting 50th anniversary cars, the 1968 Dodge Super Bee. This Dodge never stayed on the earth for long... it was a car that never quite fitted in, was misunderstood, mis-sold and never really recognised; however, in its short life the ‘Bee’ made an impressive statement for such a short-lived automobile. The Super Bee appeared for just a few years, from 1968-1971, although after a three-decade absence came back in September 2007 as a 2008 model named the Dodge Coronet Super Bee. Dodge’s budget muscle car had its origins very much determined by the Plymouth Road Runner, and although the Charger and Coronet B-bodies could be ordered with performance enhancement they were expensive compared to the no-frills Bee.…

The owners of Inline Tube restore a muscle car every year. While each project serves as a rolling advertisement for the company’s line of restoration parts, John and James Kryta also use these cars to illustrate a point: with a little hard work, the right information - and correct replacement parts, of course – just about anyone can build an award-winning car. Admittedly, the level of workmanship on any professional restoration is generally higher than what the average home-based mechanic can readily accomplish. John and James pride themselves in pushing the resto bar higher with each car. But lessons they learn can be applied to anyone’s project. This story is a good example of that thought process. We approached the Krytas to help us with a story about executing a…

Now in its 25th year, the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals moved to its new home, the world-famous Santa Pod Raceway, the UK’s premier drag strip. After the final curtain fell recently on Shakespeare County Raceway many were sceptical about the move, but there was no need, Santa Pod’s experience in running world-class drag meetings is second to none. The Nostalgia Nationals had several main classes running, which were the Outlaw Anglias, the Gasser Circus, Supercharged Outlaws, Nostalgia Super Stock, the Wild Bunch and the Tri-Chevys competing in the Tri-Chevy Shootout. With the whiff of race fuel and burning rubber in the air, the emphasis was firmly on giving everyone maximum track time, so the weekend’s RWYB competition kicked off on the Friday with a full day of track action – cars…

AMT 1949 COUPE Having waxed lyrical about the retro-boxed AMT 1950 Ford convertible back in May, I thought I should also mention its stablemate, the 1949 coupe. Dating back decades and having been reissued many times, it too benefits from vintage-style box art, though according to manufacturer Round 2 Models’ website, it is a new image, painted by renowned artist Don Greer, recreating Gas Man, a drag gasser version of the kit that was offered years ago with similar decals. These so-called ‘silent’ box faces are proving popular in themselves, providing plenty of inspiration for the builder. The kit always was a goody, but with an original set of custom wheels remastered for this latest incarnation, an optional set of red Plexiglass windows, plenty of colourful decals and four wheel/tyre…

CONVERTIBLE Vendor: Anthony Lewis, Harrow, Middlesex Telephone: 0208 954 4552 Price: £29,995 Words and photography: Paul Bussey With this month’s Classic American paying homage to the Cadillac marque, our Drive-Buy is indeed one that you can purchase in the UK right now. It’s a 1964 De Ville convertible, which represents fins ’n’ chrome styling at their most reserved and the very last of the genre as a year later, fins were pretty much gone for good. The year 1964 represented a milestone for Cadillac in a number of ways. On November 4, Cadillac built its three-millionth car, a Fleetwood Brougham. It was a year when the company built more than 181,000 cars for the 1965 model year, establishing another record. The factory also closed its doors on July 8, 1964…

The mother of all muscle car shows has reached its silver anniversary, so why not come along and enjoy the mayhem that is the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend of July 27-29. This three-day muscle car fest is a must for all petrol heads – see up close factory performance cars from the Sixties and Seventies, cars that were built to race on the street and the strip. With racing all three days and the chance to get your own car up the famous quarter-mile, you too can experience being part of the show and not just a spectator. The best of European muscle will do battle on the strip and a healthy cast of extras, including the Gasser Circus, Nostalgia Super Stocks, Street Outlaws and…

Earlier this year Worldwide Auctioneers was awarded the contract from the town of Shipshewana, Indiana, to sell the matchless Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum Collection, the world’s greatest and most complete collection of Hudson, Essex, Terraplane, Railton and Dover cars and trucks. The collection of 69 cars and associated memorabilia is now available for viewing online, with the full colour catalogue available shortly. The exciting all no-reserve sale is scheduled for Saturday, August 4 at 760 S. Van Buren Street, Shipshewana, the site of the former museum itself. “This is going to be a very special sale,” said John Kruse, principal of Worldwide Auctioneers. “This collection was born of the late Eldon Hostetler’s lifelong passion for the marque and it is truly one of the most ardently curated and extraordinary that…

It remains a footnote in Le Mans lore. Nevertheless, a humble Chevrolet Camaro took on the European elite in the 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours and created a bit of history on the quiet. Here was an all-American squad, with a gen’wine NASCAR superstar on the drive roster, armed with a machine that bore closer resemblance to a stock car than an endurance racing weapon. It had ‘stocker’ suspension, Rizla-thin bodywork, a three-speed auto ’box and an engine note that, according to a report in Custom Car from the time, sounded like “… Mount Helens erupting”. The story centres on NASCAR driver/entrant Billy Hagan, who had long harboured an ambition to race in the round-the-clock classic. Nevertheless, the Louisiana resident’s Stratagraph Inc team nearly didn’t make the cut as the…

Let’s talk numbers. In 1976, Cadillac broke their own annual sales record from 1973, selling 309,139 cars. Of those, 114,482 were Coupe de Villes, advertised that year as ‘America’s favourite luxury car’ – with good reason, you’d have to agree. This two-door, six-passenger car sat on a 10ft 10in wheelbase with an overall length of 19ft 3in and pushed its 5025lb mass around with a 500cu in (8.2-litre) V8 engine, the largest in the industry. Look back at some of the older Cadillacs in this issue, say the 1957 and 1960 convertibles on pages 28 and 36, and you’ll find cars a few hundred pounds lighter and a few inches shorter, powered by engines that were still large without being quite so immense as this version. They were products of…

Classic American: “I understand you were an architectural student studying in Newcastle, how did you end up in America?” Tom Falconer: “I was offered asummer job to work and study there when I left school in 1965. Back then, it was rare to visit the USA. I stayed in Atlanta and my boss found me a room at his old fraternity house at Georgia Tech. If you’ve ever seen the film Animal House, that’s precisely what it was like. The Frat President had a black 1962 Corvette, while my roommate rode a Harley Sportster. My boss let me drive his brand new 289cu in Mustang notchback while he was away. I returned to the UK in love with American cars, bikes, beer and women –and maybe not in that order.”…

Noted automotive designer, hot rodder and TV personality Chip Foose broke the habit of alifetime at the autumn SEMA show in Las Vegas when he unveiled his latest build, his own personal ’32 Ford five-window coupe. You might think the talented Foose would struggle to not redraw and reinterpret Henry Ford’s classic Deuce; after all, his imaginative artwork and custom builds are what he’s been famous for over the last 30 years. But Chip’s ‘Deuce’ differs from his previous builds in that it is almost totally traditional, with completely stock bodywork including stock height top and full fenders. Chip explained that a ’32 five-window coupe had been on his bucket list since he was aboy. A neighbour had one and he thought it was the coolest car ever. It’s universally…

Author: Scott Ross Published by: Car Tech ISBN: 978-1-61325-304-5 Price: £15.99 Beep beep! As explained in this, the latest, Muscle Cars in Detail book, it’s no wonder Wile E Coyote could never catch the Roadrunner. At the height of the muscle car wars of the early Seventies, some cars stood head and shoulders above the opposition. One such was Plymouth’s Belvedere-based budget-priced Road Runner B-body intermediate. With its minimalist good looks and its choice of competitive performance engines, especially when fitted with the legendary 426cu in Hemi V8, it was an immediate hit with younger buyers with shallower pockets, who nevertheless wanted a proper muscle car. In 1968 Chrysler introduced the stripped-down Belvedere, badged with Warner Brothers’ cartoon character, the Road Runner, and fitted with a “beep, beep” horn, with…