Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Classic American

This time of year is always a hectic one here on Classic American; preparations for our stand and the finals of the Footman James Car of the Year at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC are in full swing and three magazines (December, January and February issues) must be completed and made print-ready before the Christmas break. Then we all collapse in a heap for a few days and start to make preparations for the next year, kicking things off with our first event of the year: the evergreen Wheels Day (or NSRA Swapmeet at Arena Essex, if you really don’t mind freezing to death!). In the two decades or so I’ve worked on Classic American the American car scene in this country has grown, changed and shifted; tastes…

According to bigmeet.com, the website for Europe’s largest American car event, Power Big Meet number 40 means abig change… Power Big Meet 2017 – July 6-8 – moves from Västerås to a new location: the city of Lidköping, located about 200km south-west of Västerås and 100km north-east of Sweden’s second biggest city Gothenburg. The move is due to the fact that the airfield that’s been home to Power Big Meet for 32 years is too small for the 40th jubilee. The organisers are expecting 20-30% more cars than a ‘normal’ Power Big Meet year and have decided to move the event to the huge (double or treble the size of the Västerås airfield) Lidköping/Hovby Airfield. Lidköping is much smaller than Västerås, but within a 30-minute drive there are five other…

Shed and Buried is Travel Channel’s top-rated show and follows Henry Cole and Sam Lovegrove as they search the nation’s sheds looking for hidden treasures. On their travels the motor-mad duo have come across motorcycles and cars of all shapes and sizes, as well as tractors, stationary engines, bicycles, lamps and many other mechanical marvels that have been covered up, or forgotten, for years. During their time on the road they have collected an impressive haul including a pond yacht, a military jeep and even a Sixties drag bike – they never know quite what they’ll find. Once they have made a deal for an item they return to their very own shed to lovingly restore it before selling it on, hopefully making a profit! Now Henry and Sam need…

Dear Classic American, I’m writing in response to Tony Oksien’s column entitled Too New? in the November 2016 issue of Classic American. In recent years, American cars such as the Corvette, Camaro, Mustang and so forth have been or are officially sold in Europe so it’s possible to buy one with EU Type Approval from a mainstream dealer; are these ‘proper’ Americans? For me, much of the appeal is the maverick aspect driving a car which was never intended to grace Europe’s roads, along with the challenge of the MoT test (rear fog lights and amber indicators, etc.) and finding somewhere to do the servicing. On the other hand, people may welcome the chance to buy an American car with full dealer back-up and avoid the complications. As Tony says,…

The first-generation Ford Mustang is widely held up as being acopper-bottomed, blue-chip classic. It was famously a runaway hit for the Blue Oval when launched mid-way through 1964. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop others from trying to improve on perfection, with Italian coachbuilders predictably being to the fore. All manner of Latin ‘carrozzerie’ had a stab at redesigning the original Pony Car with varying degrees of success, OSI’s 1965 offering being perhaps the most radical, but also the one forgotten by history. Formed by Arrigo Olivetti (of typewriter fame) and Luigi Segre, then president of Ghia, the not altogether romantically named Officine Stampaggi Industriali was born in 1960 and financed by the FERGAT road wheel and metal-stamping concern. According to Sergio Sartorelli, the firm’s studio chief, OSI was meant to act…

A common theme of most ofthis year’s show reports has been the weather – well, we are British and it’s what we like to talk about apparently! – or rather its refusal to co-operate. Prescott’s American-themed Autumn Classic was no different. Saturday saw biblical rain, which had a knock-on effect on Sunday’s event as the layout of the show had to be adjusted to avoid the flooded or boggy bits of the site. It wasn’t ideal, as effectively camping mingled with entertainment and while most ofthe show took place on the hardstanding at the top bit of the site, other parts were down at the bottom, such as the Demondrome Wall of Death and some of the live music, giving it something of a disconnected feel. Unfortunately as any show…

West Country landscape gardener Ben Luke rather fancied an old American pick-up truck: “They are rather cool, but also practical. I wanted something I could use on a daily basis both for work and leisure,” he told me. After surfing the internet he unearthed a bright orange 1954 Chevrolet 3600 long bed for sale in Cornwall. He recalls: “It was the 2013 Easter bank holiday and the trip there was horrendous. Traffic jams everywhere. It took me over five hours. When I arrived, the truck looked okay, but alarm bells should have rung when the owner said he didn’t want to drive it on the road. Anyway, Istill went ahead and did the deal and the guy agreed to trailer it to my home.” All that glitters is not gold…

In October 2016, a United Auto Workers representative hinted that we could well see the return of the iconic Ford Bronco by decade’s end. Originally debuting for 1966 as a compact, go-anywhere utility (think America’s answer to the Land Rover SWB), the Bronco morphed into a full-size sport utility variant of the F-100/F-150 for 1978 and lasted in this form through 1996. (A smaller Bronco II, spun off the compact Ranger pick-up, was also offered from 1983-90). Although Ford hasn’t offered a Bronco in North America since the 1996 model year, with the light truck market stateside still hot and likely to remain so, the idea of a reborn Bronco arguably makes more sense now than at any time since 1996. It’s rumoured that the new Bronco will actually be…

We are sad to report that Brock Yates, one of America’s most astute, inquisitive and sharpest motoring journalists and writers, has passed away at the age of 82, after a long fight against Alzheimer’s disease, writes Steve Havelock. Growing up in Lockport, New York, Brock was a car guy and motorsports fan and after graduating from Hobart College and a four-year spell as an officer in the Navy, he turned to journalism where he shone. He was writer/editor for Car and Driver for 40 years and was nicknamed ‘The Assassin’ by his peers for his take-no-nonsense style. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, more commonly known as The Cannonball Run. Founded in 1971 largely as a protest to speed…

One of the things I love most about this hobby is that everyone’s got their own favourite cars and trucks. Granted some are more popular than others, ’69 Camaros, vintage Mustangs etc., but if you actually look at this hobby stateside, or just about anywhere else actually, it’s amazing what you’ll find tucked away in people’s garages. Of course, there are those so-called experts that are quick to deride some vehicles, claiming they aren’t worthy of true classic status, but in my view that’s missing the point. Okay, so something like an AMC Pacer or Lincoln Versailles may not be everybody’s cup of tea but both are historically significant cars – the Pacer being a radical take on the Detroit concept of a small car, while the Versailles bridged an…

Sometimes you say the wrong thing without even trying. I start my conversation with Matt Snowball by complimenting him that his 1968 Dodge Charger R/T hasn’t been painted orange like a General Lee, or black like a Bullitt replica and he admits the reason he bought it was to paint it black and replicate the Bullitt car. SoI tell him I’m glad he decided to leave it untouched, it’s great to see a survivor car, they’re becoming so rare. “Well, it’s not exactly untouched,” admits Matt, “I’ve actually done quite a bit of work to it. “I always wanted a Charger and could never find one,” continues Matt. “I went to the Billing show in the early Nineties and came home with a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, then I bought a…

Now 92 years old, Lido Anthony Iacocca (rhymes with ‘try-a-Coke-ah’) came from a city in eastern Pennsylvania called Allentown (made famous by the eponymous Billie Joel song) which was mostly populated by the Dutch and he, as an Italian, stood out from the other kids. By the time he was 15 years old, he wanted to be in the car business like his father’s friend who ran a garage; so even at an early age he had seen what a Ford dealership was like behind the scenes. His father ran a local car rental agency and promoted his son to get involved in the business. To help prepare for this he earned an industrial engineering degree at Lehigh University and then went on to Princeton for his Masters. His start…

The final heat of this year’s Footman James Car of the Year competition was won by Steve Blewitt’s wonderful 1958 Ford Custom 300 two-door sedan. While the Custom 300 was the base model offered by Ford that year, this is areal peach of a car in terms of its condition and originality. With only 34,000 miles from new, it was assembled in Kansas, where it remained most of its life and it features a 292cu in Y-block V8 and two-speed Fordomatic transmission. Steve saw the car on eBay initially and ended up buying it from Fast Lane Classics and has owned it for two-and-a-half years now.…

So having taken a look at the new car offerings from GM and the independents for 1947, let’s turn our attention this month to the remaining choices facing those of you planning to replace the occupant of your drives during the coming year. Perhaps you can argue that Chrysler Corporation has taken the most honest and straightforward approach to the present situation in our auto industry – it has stated that there will be no changes to any of its cars until the all-new post-war models are ready for production; and like GM that is likely to be for the 1949 model year. You’ll have to open the hood and read the serial number to tell a ’47 Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto or Chrysler from the ’46 car – and it…

We’ve been busy updating and improving the Classic American website and we hope you’ll notice and like the changes! The new website has amuch brighter, vibrant feel to it and is easier to navigate and use. Going forward, it will also be the site (as opposed to the Classic American Facebook page) where we will upload all the images from our show reports that we’ve not been able to shoe-horn into the print version of the magazine. You’ll be able to do lots of things on the new website, from uploading free private classifieds to ordering subscriptions and merchandise. We always love to hear reader feedback, so if you have any comments, good or bad, let us know! While the website will never replace the magazine, it will complement it…

A team of classic car experts from Hagerty, the worldwide leader in collector car insurance and valuations, built a drivable 1930 Ford Model A in less than 100 hours using only what they sourced from 2016’s Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Starting off with just a rolling chassis, the team of four Hagerty employees rose to their self-imposed ‘Swap to Street’ challenge. In an effort to illustrate the accessibility of the collector car hobby, the total cost of the project was less than $10,000. After completing the build, the team took on an additional challenge, the 700-mile drive from Hershey back to Hagerty’s Traverse City, Michigan, base. Overcoming a persistent oil leak, dead starter and some minor repairs along the way, the team…

Tony’s attention was drawn over the summer to Chevrolet’s Mustang beater, the Camaro… there’s just been so many nice ones around! This year I have attended a real multitude of classic car shows; everything from typical English classic gatherings, to hot rod get-togethers and several American-styled events. As a muscle car fan, the very fact that Detroit iron is happy rubbing shoulders with archetypal British, European old timers and customs suggests to me that slowly the American breeds are gaining credibility within the hobby – something that has not always been the case. This season for me the car that has really stood out is the General Motors’ favourite, the Camaro – it seems like every show I have attended has had a couple of excellent models on parade. So…

I know we Brits always bang on about the weather but it has a huge effect on outdoor activities. It is so unpredictable and can often make or break an event. At least Lord March doesn’t have to worry about the forecast affecting ticket sales for the Goodwood Revival as it is pretty much a sell-out well in advance. This year we had three seasons in three days. Friday was okay-ish and quite autumnal, as could be expected at this time of year, Saturday was like winter with lashing rain much of the time and Sunday was gloriously sunny with deep blue skies. Needless to say, Friday and Sunday were the most enjoyable days although Saturday’s demanding track conditions with rivers streaming across the track and pools of standing water…

This year was the 50th running of the Beaulieu International Autojumble and to mark the occasion, a commemorative booklet has been produced which was on sale at the event. Very interesting reading it makes too. Just 70 stallholders attended that first event in 1967 of which only three were full-time traders, with some 4933 people attending. Now, there are 2000 stands with close to 40,000 people attending. So what is the attraction? The new Lord Montagu sums it up nicely. He says: “The attractions of the Autojumble are about the little things, but lots of them. For the stallholders the morning starts with the pleasures of camp cooking, bacon, sausages, coffee. Then the punters arrive. For them, it’s the sight of oily crankshafts, colourful enamel signs, careworn toy cars, slightly…

BYE BYE BILLING Although rumours had been rife for a couple of years about the future of Northampton’s Billing Aquadrome as an automotive event venue, in late September Billing management dropped the bomb by informing all car clubs that have been holding events there that, with immediate effect, there would be no more shows at the popular venue. Many Classic American readers will have attended various club runs at Billing over the last 30-plus years, but probably the biggest club affected will be the National Street Rod Association whose Fun Run was the club’s first weekend run way back in1973, many citing it as the club’s spiritual home. Although in recent years, bad weather and the site’s natural lack of good drainage, plus other undesirable elements and petty crime have…