Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Classic American

And for American vehicle enthusiasts that means, shows, cruises, road trips or just getting your car out and having a wash and polish! With the price of petrol these days I’m sure I’m not the only one spending more time polishing than driving; however, I’m planning to put some miles in later this summer when I’m hoping for some top-down, ‘scorchio’ weather! If you’ve not made any firm plans yet, might I suggest perusing the Events Listings/‘Blue Pages’ on pages 76 and 77 which have a full listing of shows and events taking place throughout the year. For Classic American, the shows are not only an opportunity to get out and meet readers and advertisers alike, but also to look for new feature cars, sell a few subscriptions and magazines…

Rufus Parnell Jones, although born August 12, 1933, in Arkansas, lived the majority of his life in Torrance, California. Parnelli started out in jalopy racing, supposedly his childhood friend Billy Calder nicknamed him ‘Parnellie’ which was written on the door of his 1934 Ford in an effort to disguise the fact that 17-year-old Rufus was racing cars underage. He soon dropped the ‘e’ from the name. Then in 1956 Parnelli got behind the wheel of a stock car, winning his first NASCAR race at Bremerton in 1957. He then began racing sprint cars, winning the Midwest region title in 1960 and when he moved onto the bigger machinery was quickly named the 1961 Indianapolis 500 co-Rookie of the year. While leading the race a stone hit his face and he…

T-bird Trials & Tribulations Dear Classic American, You will no doubt recall our correspondence earlier this year about my 2003 Ford Thunderbird which has ‘gone tech’ with a failed instrument cluster. As you know, I contacted you to see if you had any ideas and you kindly made a few recommendations. These proved to be false dawns, but I was sent a list of electronic diagnostic companies to try by one of your contacts. As a result, I sent it to ECU Testing of Ripley who promptly returned it as they said they did not have the relevant software so could not help. Honesty like that I can deal with. Given the utter lack of technical expertise in the UK, I reverted to the USA where T-Bird Bob near Chicago…

1968 Ford Bronco Restomod ICON 4x4 has specialised in restoring and reimagining beloved vintage designs such as Broncos, Land Cruisers and Thriftmasters since 2005, with an emphasis on modernising each vehicle with advanced engineering to delight drivers behind the wheel. Always working to produce an incredibly unique, decidedly high-performance, convenient driving experience, whilst fully retaining the integrity of each classic design. Once again, ICON’s newest Bronco design meets the highest standards for quality in the category. With the new 1968 BR Old School Edition, ICON has delivered a gorgeous two-tone blue Bronco that immediately makes its presence known on the road, thrilling drivers, passengers and other road users alike. “ICON’s focus is on setting new standards of craftsmanship on every build we complete, and this new 1968 BR Old School…

KINGSTOWN SHIPPING CAR OF THE YEAR HEAT #2 The second heat of this year’s Kingstown Shipping competition took place at the Custom and American car show, held at Beaulieu in Hampshire. The lucky winner was this 1963 Corvette Sting Ray which belongs to Michael Nash from Locksheath, near Fareham in Hampshire. The car is superbly optioned, with a 327cu in V8, four-speed manual transmission and also boasts power-steering, power-brakes and disc-brakes up front. It was restored by Scott Groves of Corvette Kingdom, who upgraded the wheels to the turbine knock-offs it wears today and reupholstered and upgraded the interior in matching blue leather and had it resprayed in Daytona Blue. It’s a Pennsylvania car originally (with the inspection stickers to prove it!) and Mick is the fourth UK owner. We…

Gary Sydney-Smith admits he had no particular requirements in mind when he set out to buy his next American car. “We’d had a 1960 Ford Galaxie Starliner convertible when we lived in Australia,” he remembers. “It was a great car and I’d always wanted to own something similar again.” Now, returned to the UK, Gary had just sold a Ford F100 pick-up and was browsing the internet for something else. “In 2021, the F100 had gone off to Ireland and I’d just started looking when I spotted this 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible for sale in Southend. I wasn’t especially after a convertible. If it had been a four-door sedan or a wagon, I’d have probably considered it. I wasn’t even particularly needing it to have a V8, but once…

Kids get excited for Christmas but that excitement lessens as they get older. I was extremely excited 20 years ago at the very first Chryslers at Brooklands – but that feeling hasn’t diminished. If anything, I get just as excited about it today! No one could have foreseen the event’s incredible longevity when the late, great Tony Oksien and I came up with the concept for it two decades back. Looking back, not much has changed apart from sadly losing Tony a couple of years ago. The format has been pretty consistent throughout: it’s a Mopar show at heart, but very much open to all things American and hot rod – I know that the Mopar Muscle Association (MMA) are truly proud of this show and so am I. That’s…

‘Ohio’ George Montgomery’s Multi Maverick Funny Car When I saw that Round 2 Corp were reissuing a Ford Maverick-based race car, it caught my interest. Back in 1975, my first American car was a 1970 Maverick two-door coupe, with a 200cu in six-cylinder engine and a manual transmission. This 1:25 scale kit, originally introduced in 1970 by MPC, is a very different beast and most unusual. As explained on the box, the model can be changed from Gasser to Altered Class, even after the kit is built. It comes with interchangeable front wings and an adjustable front chassis, enabling the wheelbase to be stretched or returned to stock length at will – quite a trick! As it is attributed to veteran drag racer ‘Ohio’ George Montgomery, rather than just a…

I was recently in Arizona, partly for the business and partly for holiday. The business part was for signing copies of my novel Retrospective at two Barnes & Noble locations in the Phoenix area, Chandler and San Tan, yet during my time there, I also had the opportunity to tour parts of the state. I went up to Prescott and Sedona, as well as down to Tucson. It was hot, well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, though the dry conditions were a welcome break from the humidity of the East. It also took me back to the very first time I visited this part of the world, in 1998. At that time, I was still living in the UK, and my friend Dave and I booked a three-week trip in which…

1974 Dodge Challenger We’ve featured many of Dave’s impressive Mopar builds over the decades and it’s fair to say he knows his way around these iconic cars as well as anyone out there. When Dave was just 17, he dismissed any sensible idea of buying a Mini or Ford Escort to drive around in and bought himself a 318cu in 1970 Dodge Challenger instead. This unruly beast paved the way towards a string of further Mopars including a 383cu in Roadrunner, a 1970 Duster, a ’64 Fury and in more recent times a ’67 Belvedere wagon. Aside from this mouthwatering collection, Dave is probably best known for his 1970 GTX, a legendary steed within Mopar circles that has progressed over the years from street to strip (with 800bhp!) before being…

The third Field of Dreams Show took place at Riverside Holiday Park, Swansea on June 2, brought forward from July last year in the hope of better weather and it certainly paid off with ‘Florida-esque’ sunshine and temperatures peaking at 26 degrees. If any of the stallholders sold suntan lotion, they would have made a killing! Hundreds of exhibitors and visitors enjoyed viewing the vehicles on display and perusing the many trade, autojumble and car boot stalls. Live entertainment was covered firstly by vocalist Kirsten Osbourn who included some rock ’n’ roll numbers in her set enabling Kelly Scott and partner Eddie Lee to demonstrate how jiving should be done in front of their ’59 Buick. The second act of the day were the Brothers of Blues who made quite…

events&cruises Classic American Events, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR JULY 12-13 ROCK ’N’ ROLL RIOT NUMBER 2 Six great bands at Shrewsbury Town Football Club, Shrewsbury, Shropshire: Life, The Fabulous Cure, The Hot Rod Devilles, The Hi-Fis and headlining: Too Hot to Handle. Also headlining Little Dave and the Sun Sessions. Two DJs Crazy Man Crazy and Eric’s Rock ’n’ Roll record hop. Hot rod show and classic cars show, plus bikes and trucks. Book now, deposit £50. Weekend tickets £100. Kid’s tickets for the weekend £30. Tickets on sale now. Tickets only, you can’t pay on the door. For tickets call 07388 529617. 14 KIMBOLTON COUNTRY FAYRE & CLASSIC CAR SHOW With 1,200+ classic cars expected, the 2024 fayre is set to feature one of eastern…

Corvette Concept Cars – Developing America’s Favorite Sports Car Author: Scott KoleckiPublished by: Car TechISBN: 978-1-61325-713-5(price from Amazon UK) £33 This is the first of two new books describing the development of Chevrolet cars through the use of concept vehicles. The other features the Camaro and will be reviewed in due course. What’s clear from this well researched and beautifully illustrated account is just how instrumental designer Harley Earl was in the introduction of the Chevy Corvette in 1953. As the vice president of GM’s styling department, he’d been demonstrating his automotive design skills for many years and now had a dedicated and very talented team to assist him with the various projects he was keen to pursue. It started off as a ‘secret’ two-seater sporty car project named ‘Opel’,…