Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Classic American

Show season is here and the first big gig of the year, Wheels Day, has successfully taken place at its new venue, Newbury Showground. It was debatable if the event would even take place, so challenging was the weather in the run up to it, but luckily things calmed down on the day itself and the organisers had a fantastic turnout which you can read all about in our report starting on page 53. So, car show season is here, and we can all look forward to some amazing events in the coming summer. As always, Classic American will aim to cover these and even be there with our stand where you can buy the latest issue, back issues and subscribe for an even easier reading experience! This month’s magazine…

1934 Packard Eight Convertible Victoria – Sold: £56,250 One of the few right-hand drive Eleventh Series Packard Eights made, this car was supplied new via the marque’s UK concessionaire Leonard Williams of Berkeley St, London. Bringing a touch of transatlantic glamour to the capital’s streets, this Convertible Victoria was first road registered as ‘AMX 343’ on January 31, 1934. Slotting between Rolls-Royce’s 20/25 and Phantom II models size-wise, the four-/five-seater was more technologically advanced than either. With just two former keepers to its V5C registration document, this Packard entered its most recent ownership during November 1996, when it underwent a ‘body-off, chassis-up’ restoration. Finished in Maroon with Cream pinstriping and Light Brown leather upholstery, the car saw regular usage up until 2012 when the vendor’s health started to decline. It’s…

1968 Dodge Charger R/T Thanks to its iconic status on the big screen (plus not forgetting a certain series on TV), the 1968 Dodge Charger RT regularly appears at the top of American car fans’ wish lists. Yet, for Ian Ball, making his dream car become a reality wasn’t quite as straightforward as he had hoped. Ian has been a petrolhead for as long as he can remember, but his introduction to the American car scene was mainly down to his uncle Jeff. “I was very close to Jeff, and we had a shared passion for these incredible cars,” Ian explains. “He owned a 1981 Corvette C3 and a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am, both of which I was lucky enough to inherit when he sadly passed away.” Without doubt, this…

Joie Chitwood Jnr, his father and his son were all car stuntmen in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show – which entertained large, often huge, crowds right across America for over 50 years. They all have motor racing in their blood too and it would be fair to call them a family of ‘petrolheads’. Joie Jnr sets the scene for us: “My dad had a pretty tough upbringing. He was born in Denison, Texas, in 1912. His father, who was a railway worker, upped and left just after he was born and then his mum died when he was two. He was raised by his two elder sisters. He left school early to work in his uncle’s battery shop and when he was 16, he lied about his age and joined…

Oldies, But Goodies While delving in my loft the other week I found a carton in the eaves. On inspection it contained several old model car kit boxes. When I went though it carefully, I found it was the old kits which had been started but never finished. It included several dating from the Sixties, primarily from Monogram, that I’d acquired from friends who’d built them and were going to throw them away. I also found a box full of wheels and tyres, another with miscellaneous optional bits left over from past builds and a third with scale ignition wires for detailing engines. After checking everything, I took loads of photos and, ensuring I’d described them as accurately as possible, essentially as ‘projects’, advertised them on a well-known auction site…

BLACKPOOL MEMORIES Dear Classic American, It was nice to see John Pickard’s photos in the last issue, but sad to hear of his death. John was a very pleasant man. The club, back in the day, was the Can Am Car Club (Canadian-American) and George LeHaye from Billericay was the chairman. There were a lot of US cars around the area during the Seventies and there was a dealer somewhere around Blackpool, I can’t remember his name. Perhaps one of your readers will remember? John was very keen on American cars and his best friend, Eric English, had a lockup in Southport full of Fifties and Sixties American cars, including some Cadillacs – there were about 20 cars in all. One was a ’59 Ford convertible that had once belonged…

1951 International L-112 pick-up Four Oldsmobile 442s, a 440 six-pack, four-speed Plymouth Superbird, ’55 Chevy two-door, ’61 Thunderbird, ’68 Torino Fastback 390 GT four-speed, ’69 Road Runner, ’69 Charger 440 R/T, ’69 Mustang 390 GT four-speed, assorted Corvettes, Camaros and Firebirds… The list reads like an excerpt from a particularly optimistic letter to Father Christmas, but for Paul Mimmack, they’re just a fraction of the cars he’s had the considerable pleasure of owning. He’s been fortunate, for his father is John Mimmack, whose name might ring a bell with some readers in the north-west as the proprietor of John Mimmack USA Cars Ltd in Blackpool. Paul says “I’ve grown up with American cars. My dad dealt in them from 1966, so I was around them from a few years old.…

Known as The Grand Daddy of Them All, the 74th Annual Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) was held at the fairplex complex in Pomona, which is 46 miles from LAX Airport. With the show’s main draw, America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award and Al Slonaker Memorial Award, I knew the quality was going to be very high just from the ones competing in these classes, but I didn’t expect it to be so vast. The variety and quality was above what I could ever have imagined. The show being in its 74th year, and known as the longest running indoor show in America, drew people from all over the world to show their cars and also just attend and pay homage. Friday saw the opening of the show, which was when…

Chevy/GMC Trucks 1967-1972 – How to Build & Modify Author: Jim PickeringPublished by: Car Tech Inc. ISBN: 978-1-61325-747-0 American publisher Car Tech have an enviable selection of ‘How to…’ manuals with several covering the restoration and upgrading of pickup trucks. This new title covers the Chevy and similar GMC C and K series trucks from 1967 to 1972 and it’s perhaps the most comprehensive so far. By way of background, the ‘C’ referred to two-wheel drive and the ‘K’ denoted four-wheel drive. Introduced in 1960, the trucks were designed to directly compete with Ford’s ‘F’ series and the Dodge ‘D’ series trucks. There was a wide range of configurations, including both bodies and drivetrains, though they are most commonly thought of as pick-ups. These in turn could be ordered in…

Ascot Racecourse 1967 Airstream Overlander 26ft – Sold: £28,450 This well preserved 1967 26ft Overlander by Airstream International boasts polished aluminium inside and out. It’s been refitted to offer modern creature comforts after an interior restoration which has kept the retro feel, but introduced modern UK plug points and electrics, cookers/hob and lighting. The seating/dining area was trimmed in red to match the diner style and the food preparation area looked equally as impressive. Cooking equipment is a combined oven/grill and a four-burner hob. The Airstream sleeps six, with a double bed to one end and the seating area converting to bunk beds. It seems these Airstreams are more popular than ever, even the bigger ones! 1970 Chevrolet C10 Stepside Shortbed – Sold: £33,002 Proving that Sixties and Seventies pick-ups…

1960 Ford Thunderbird Peter Reynolds hadn’t been planning on owning a Thunderbird until he saw this 1960 coupe at the Rally of the Giants in 2006. “It was in great original condition,” he remembers, “with genuine, low mileage. But it wasn’t for sale. Sometime later, I met the owner Steve Taylor and we became friends. I asked if he’d consider selling the Thunderbird. It turned out he already had…” Steve put Peter in touch with the buyer, but the car had changed hands again. “I spoke with that owner and, remembering the previously immaculate condition of the car, in September 2010 my wife Annette and I took a long train journey to buy it.” But the Thunderbird clearly hadn’t been taken care of. “The owner’s kids had been climbing over…

EVENTS 2024 April 13-14 PETROLHEADONISM UNDERGROUND Wembley, London see: www.petrolheadonism.club/underground 20-21 THE P-15 PICNIC The annual get-together for 1946-1948 Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler Cars. Other Mopar flathead-powered cars and trucks, and guest classics, are also welcome. Come along for a laid-back weekend with dinner, drinks, an overnight stay, cruise out and a museum visit. Full details coming soon. Call Dean on 07802 355025 or email Robin@RockTheJoint.com for info. 21 ALL AMERICAN CAR TRUCK & BIKE SHOW Kilbeggan Ireland N91 W6HV. Once again the biggest gathering of American cars, trucks, bikes, vans, hot rods and big rigs returns to central Ireland to celebrate Americana and American motoring at its finest. Competitions on the burnout pad, huge American fire engines, including a 100ft turntable ladder from New York, drawing classes for…