Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Classic American

Regulations passed in October intended to ease trade restrictions with Cuba could permit the classic cars still in daily use there to return to America, either for restoration or for good. Until 1960 American cars flooded into Cuba. Beginning in 1900 a ferry brought cars in daily via Key West in Florida – just 96 miles away, nowhere else imported cars in such numbers – the island was once Cadillac’s largest export market. Just 704 Eldorado Broughams were made in 1957-58 but there’s said to be at least one or two on Cuba among the 450,000 other cars – around one-sixth of which are said to be pre-1960. Back then car manufacturers were charging as much as a 70% mark up; a 1950 Pontiac was $1800 in America but more…

New cars ruining shows? Dear Classic American, I wanted to respond to your reader’s letter last month entitled “Too new? Are new cars ruining the show car scene?”. In response I have to say I agree to a point – there has undoubtedly been a vast influx of modern cars at US car shows and that’s even the case here in Switzerland too. As a result, many American car shows are very higgledy-piggledy in their layout, with classics parked next to new cars. But I feel that the answer is simple: segregate the cars into sections according to age or era. I find that the drivers of modern cars (normally younger than me!) have more interest in similar-aged cars than Old Timers. I do not enjoy so much walking along…

Hi folks and welcome to the first column of the year! Yep, we have arrived in 2017, a time that will provide many half-century anniversaries within our beloved muscle car hobby over the coming 12 months. Sothis month we salute a very special 1967 Ford model which hit the streets 50 years ago; take a bow the Mercury Cougar! The brand-new Cougar took the car world by storm and gave Mercury a model that could truly be labelled a two-door pony/ muscle car in the same breath as Ford’s Mustang – it also took the coveted Motor Trend magazine’s car of the year award for 1967. The 1967 Cougar had just the one body style: a two-door notchback hardtop and a line-up of three V8 engines: a base 200bhp 289cu…

Lincoln-Mercury and DC Comics hardly seems a likely marriage, even back in 1966. The truth is, Ford’s upper-echelon division had nothing at all to do with the decision to put the Caped Crusader in one of their concept cars. Like all the best stories, it had a large element of chance. It began with the 1955 Lincoln Futura, a far-out, two-door creation on a Continental Mk 2 chassis, with a double-bubble plexiglass roof and exaggerated fins. John Najjar and Bill Schmidt, Ford’s lead stylists, had it built as a proper steel-bodied running and driving car by Ghia in Italy. By 1960 its work as a PR tool was done and it was sold for a nominal dollar to George Barris. The kustom-kar king must have liked its outrageous looks but…

Seven doesn’t often sound like a big number, but tothe superstitious it can be a prophetic one. If someone told you there were seven Chevrolets gathering at aUK car show, or seven Cadillacs, you might be excited tosee them. But if someone told you there were seven Edsels, you’d be in for a UK first – which is exactly what happened in Lincolnshire in July last year. Of at least 50 Edsels that are known about in the UK, nine were eagerly anticipated at an invitation-only event that took place near Lincoln. And, despite two being lost along the way, the turnout was still a sight to behold. While the gathering also involved many other classics and rods, the Edsels were clearly the stars of the show, and took centre…

The ignition system on most petrol engines employed the familiar points, coil and condenser, right up to the late Eighties in some cases, by which time its shortcomings were not compatible with ever leaner fuel mixtures to improve economy and reduce exhaust emissions. For older classics, the Pertronix Ignitor is a good way to eliminate the shortcomings of the condenser and points; which, by their design, change the gap/dwell as wear takes place and can bounce at high rpm, causing misfire. The ignitor unit is neatly fitted in place of the points and a rotating disc with embedded cobalt magnets trigger the ignitor which works using the Hall effect principle, switching the current to the coil. With no external boxes and only one extra wire to the coil, the Pertronix…

Jim and Mike Ring, co-founders of the world renowned custom car builder Ringbrothers, unveiled a 1948 Cadillac fastback coupe called Madam V in the Flowmaster booth at the 2016 SEMA Show in November. Madam V, commissioned by car dealership mogul Wes Rydell, perfectly melds early- and late-model Cadillacs to create a one-of-a-kind Cadillac boasting the benefits of a modern car, with all the style and panache of a vintage Cadillac. The project utilised four cars in total to create one masterpiece, including two 1948 fastback coupes, a used 2015 Cadillac ATS-V and a brand new 2016 Cadillac ATS-V, all provided by Mr Rydell. The Rings began by completely tearing the late-model cars down to the uni-body and lengthening the 2016 chassis by 14 inches to accommodate the longer ’48 body.…

If you go to any reasonably sized car show in America, the chances are that you will see at least one Pontiac GTO, and it’s likely that you will see several. At more specialist shows like the GTOAA Nationals or the Pontiac-Oakland International annual conventions, you will undoubtedly see GTOs galore and several 1968 GTOs – the one GM called ‘The Great One’ in their ads. But to see a pristine 1968 Pontiac GTO in England is unusual. That’s why discovering Simon Sharp’s ’68 GTO in Dartmouth, Devon, was all the more surprising. Simon bought his GTO in August 2013 from a fellow American car enthusiast – John Cliff. Well, he didn’t exactly buy it – he swapped his Dodge Ram SRT 10 Viper truck for it. Simon felt he…

It’s the grand finale of a year’s hunting high and low for the best American cars in Britain, but the Classic American stand at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show also served as a beacon to all classic car lovers, showing just how cool and sexy American cars really are. The full spectrum of American automotive offerings was on display, from formal pre-war classic sedans like Bob Lucas’s 1933 Cadillac, to jazzy fins and chrome sleds like Phil Holden’s 1959 Pontiac Bonneville and there were plenty of Sixties/Seventies muscle cars on show too, including John Castleman’s super-rare Superbird. Ultimately it was the 1966 Corvette Stingray owned by John Mayes which took the most points in the judging process and ultimately won the Car of the Year title, along with the…

Classic American recently received a message from a reader asking if we were aware of any problems with the steering on new Ford Mustangs. “A friend of mine collected his last Friday,” read the email, “and his wife drove it all weekend until the steering seized. It did this three times at a road junction and she could not move the steering wheel. They turned the ignition off and back on and it seemed okay. After it failed three times he rang the main dealer and told them to collect it. They told him it was the electronic controller for the steering that had failed. He got his money back, plus expenses. He only had it three days.” It might well be unconnected, but we note that in…

Dear Classic American, Could you tell me please when it was that vehicles stopped being called ‘rusty’ and started being referred to as ‘having patina’? Charlie Read Belper Derbys. Hmmmm, Charlie we did a little research in our archives and the first reference to ‘patina’ was in issue 232 back in October 2010. Patina is of course now a highly prized attribute, unlike rust… Dear Classic American, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading about Matt Snowball’s incredible ’68 Charger. What a great car and a great inspiration to us all – you don’t have to be driving ’round in a million dollar resto’ to have fun and have one of the coolest-looking cars on the block. Best of all, despite its dragged-out-of-a-barn appearance, Matt’s created a…

The idea of a mid-engined Corvette has been floated for more than half a century, but we’re still waiting for a production model to break cover. One of the more tantalising concept cars – or ‘… running visions of the future’ in Chevy speak – arrived in 1986. What’s more, the Corvette Indy was more than a mere motor show crowd pleaser, it was a fully functional supercar. Well, at least one of them was. Three were made, after all. Scroll back to 1959 and the Bow Tie brand began toying with the idea of mid-engined machines, although the single-seat, open-wheeled CERV I (Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle) was about as far removed from a street car as you could get. The CERV II that followed in 1964 was touted as…

Most old race cars are like Trigger’s broom. Twenty new handles and twenty new heads. Racing, by its very nature, is hard on machinery. Notwithstanding crash damage, components wear out and metalwork hardens due to flexing, and starts to crack or even break. Even bodywork, especially aluminium panels, can split. Furthermore, most racecars were only built to last a season or two. After that, many were either clapped out or no longer competitive and either scrapped or stripped. No one at the time envisaged that some of these cars would be racing in 30, 40, 50 or more years later. Consequently, very few historic racing cars are truly original, as they raced in period. The lucky ones were covered in a dust sheet and shoved to the back of the…

Lee Iacocca had a long and colourful career at the Ford Motor Company, and after it ended, he was soon hired by Chrysler. He was invited to talk with John Riccardo, the then chairman and CEO of Chrysler, who had swiftly reached out to Iacocca after hearing about the parting of the ways with Henry Ford II. Things were not exactly going well over at Chrysler at that time and what must have been a combination of taking on a challenge, and a love for the auto industry, saw Iacocca take the challenge and sign up to work for the Pentastar. The day it was announced was November 2, 1978, and the Detroit Free Press carried the story on the front page: Lee Iacocca joins Chrysler; however, unfortunately the other…

Banish Boxing Day blues! If you’re feeling a bit bloated with Christmas excesses, why not clear your head and get out of the house for the Romsey Boxing Day Cruise. Organiser Steve Biddlecombe has been in touch about the event, saying: “We’ve now raised more than £22,000 for various charities over the last 14 years and just over £18,500 for Prostate Cancer UK, who we will again be collecting for this year (the collection has got off to a great start with £390 already on the JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MRB-STEVEBIDDLECOMBE). Once again, we have been kindly sponsored by Adrian Flux insurance who have supported the event for some years now and the aim, as always, is for the event to simply be afun get-together for classic car and bike enthusiasts and…

If you’re after an auto electrician that’s capable and willing to tackle any American vehicle, whether old or new, then West Yorkshire-based Classic American advertiser ACE Auto Electrics should definitely fit the bill. Proprietor Jordan Walker has been in the business for more than a decade and while ACE undertakes electrical work on all cars, Jordan is himself an American car enthusiast (he owns a new American-spec Mustang on which he did the light conversion himself) and he’s made American cars a speciality – after all, there’s nothing better than working on cars you like! In the workshop when we visited ACE had both a new and a classic Mustang in the workshop, both of which had light conversions, and a custom 1955 Plymouth which was…

This month’s column is perhaps a little different from most, since it relates to a car that I actually own. Recently, it seems, there’s been a growing wave of so-called classic car ‘experts’ on this side of the pond that seem to think very little in the way of substance came from the Eighties and that the 1979-93 Fox Mustang actually represents the nadir of the breed in terms of styling and brand heritage. No doubt many of those same people either weren’t around back then, or if they were, probably had more than one pair of acid-washed jeans and a questionable hairstyle. As is often the case, when you actually delve a little deeper, such opinions tend to hold little sway. It’s also important to note that cars are…

“THIS 1957 PREMIERE SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST UNDER-APPRECIATED AMERICAN CARS OF THE WHOLE ERA...” Other Lincolns are more famous. Think of the clap-door ‘Kennedy’ cars, or the Mark Series Continentals that defined the ‘personal luxury’ excesses of 1969 to ’79. You can’t ignore those giant unibody things from 1958-’60 with the angled headlamps and roofline from a motor yacht with a Bimini top, and then there’s the elegant Continental II of the mid-Fifties that cost the company more to make than even the $10,000 selling price could recoup. But does fame really matter? After a few minutes spent studying these pictures, you’ll begin to doubt it. This 1957 Premiere seems to be one of the most under-appreciated American cars of the whole era. Tri-Chevys, Cadillacs, Exner-styled Chryslers…

Keep on truckin’ I wonder how many of you remember the 1978 Kris Kristofferson film Convoy and the short-lived CB radio craze that followed soon after? Such was the enthusiasm for American trucks at that time that most of the model kit manufacturers produced quite a range. As with all hobbies, it’s acyclical thing and truck modelling has been in the doldrums in recent years. The new re-release of Revell’s neat 1:32 scale Kenworth Aerodyne COE tractor should therefore be welcomed by truck enthusiasts. It’s arelatively simple kit with just 57 parts, but Revell has not skimped on detail, as it includes a detailed interior and a good number of chromed components. The prototype is designated a Class 8 in the US Heavy Vehicle Transport Vehicle tables, so a 1:25th…

If you don’t drink, because that eats into your gas money for your ride, or you don’t gamble, because that could pay for performance parts… and you always take fast cars over fast women, then (unless you’ve been living under a rock!) you’ll already know that there is avery good automotive reason to visit Las Vegas in November: the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show. With an event of this magnitude, four days aren’t enough to see the entire show. Fortunately it is neatly divided into genre and sub-genre, but every twist and turn reveals something new and unique, which also means that there is always that nagging feeling you’re missing out on something somewhere! The only answer is to be sure to explore everything and everywhere: every hall, entrance,…

CADILLAC DREAMS Excuse us for rewinding the clock back a couple of months, but we do believe we missed this story from the summer, and it’s worth telling. We recently heard from Derek Drinkwater (he of awesome US catering trucks fame), and his attempt last year to revive and relive a bit of Cadillac racing history. It started with Derek sourcing a ’50 Cadillac two-door in Oregon, with the intention of recreating a tribute car to the Caddy that was campaigned in the Le Mans 24 hour race of that year by Briggs Cunningham. Not too difficult to build, as one of the two cars Cunningham raced was basically stock mechanically, as per the rules at the time, the OHV V8 engines easily powerful enough to keep up with smaller-engined…