Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Classic American

When is a replica not a replica? When it’s a Cord 8/10. Scroll back to the mid-1960s and the faux classics movement was tiny. There had been a few attempts, not least the Surrey ‘Curve Dash’ Oldsmobile clone, while Brooks Stevens had by now ushered in the Excalibur line of Mercedes lookalikes, but the concept of a new ‘old’ car was still a novel one. One of the less well-remembered trailblazers for the movement was Glenn Pray, a schoolteacher from Oklahoma and Cord obsessive who had owned and restored several cars prior to acquiring the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company. He did so having leveraged himself to the hilt. Nevertheless, he then set about reviving the Cord nameplate and creating a variation on the ‘coffin-nose’ 810 model. He embarked on the project in…

Growing up as a kid in the Eighties I had a particular fascination with American cars of the period, even going so far as to write off for brochures from American manufacturers and often receiving them by return post. Pretty much all of those I still have to this day! Back in ’85/’86 when I was 16/17 I spent a year in a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina and was in American car heaven for the duration. Cars like the ones featured on these pages were still relatively new, but there were still plenty of full-size cars from the Seventies (even cars from the Sixties, believe it or not) still in daily use and parked on the roads. So, when I saw Steve Waring’s 1981 Cadillac at the Stars…

Step into Classic American’s time machine, while we dial the clock back to 1976. Rocky and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were on our film screens, while Charlie’s Angels, Happy Days and MASH were on the small screen. And on the radio? Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Abba. Jimmy Carter was in the White House and the first oil crisis was a distant memory, while the UK and Iceland concluded the third Cod War and Britain sweltered in a summer-long heatwave. Not only that, but it was also a seminal year at General Motors. Why, you might ask… Well, it was the final year for most of GM’s full-size offerings, which were dramatically downsized the following year. Buick had traditionally been the mainstay of big, comfortable GM cars like…

Rétromobile in Paris is one of the biggest and best winter indoor car shows, but in previous years American classics have been relatively few in number. That changed this year, with some 50 cars and motorbikes of Stateside origin. Rétromobile always attracts the unusual, and a prime example was the 1974 Stutz Blackhawk with the Fédération Française des Véhicules d’Époque. The neo-classic luxury car was styled by Virgil Exner and most famously owned by Elvis, but the example on show was built for another all-American hero: Evel Knievel. Many manufacturers attend the show and, for the first time in my years of visiting, Cadillac had a stand, displaying a 1958 Eldorado convertible, made at a time when the company was still proudly using its original slogan, The Standard of the…

CAR SHOW SEASON KICKS OFF! Ready, steady… Go! Well, arguably it has kicked off already, with the NSRA’s Southern Swap Meet having taken place the first Sunday in March at North Weald. You can read all about that on pages 76-79. Classic American contributor Zack Stiling headed across the Channel to what is arguably the first classic event of the year, Retromobile in Paris, which is mercifully held indoors and which you can also read about on pages 80-83. And this month sees the Classic American events listings ‘Blue Pages’ (pages 72-75) absolutely chock-a-block with shows and events all over the UK, so you can start planning your show season for the coming year. Car of the Year rolls into 2025! It’s back and bigger than ever. The 2025 Car…

For decades, America’s Golden State was seen as the benchmark of everything great about the country. Good weather, massive economic power, major cultural influence and living standards that were the envy of many places in the world were just some of California’s attributes. The state was also the epicentre for car culture and is recognised as the birthplace of the hot rod and custom car movement. Yet even back in the glory days of the 1950s and 1960s there were signs of trouble on the horizon. One was the growing smog haze, caused by the formation of oxides of nitrogen. Over time, in places like the Los Angeles basin, the issue of air quality became of such concern that it led to the formation of the California Air Resources Board…

After the war, Chrysler woke up to find that, along with many other luxury carmakers, the pre-war market for big touring saloons and dropheads had all but disappeared. The number of potential customers with the money to purchase a relatively expensive new touring car were few in number. However, the market for cheap, second-hand cars was booming, due to a glut of good condition, ex-military cars and trucks being sold off by the United States government from their bases in East Anglia. Used car dealers would pay a fixed sum of £50 for 100 cars; a job lot of vehicles which could include Fords, Chevrolets, Dodges and Chryslers, as well as Austins and Vauxhalls. One of the dealers who used this opportunity to start their American car business was Simpson’s…

events&cruises Classic American Events, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR March 21-23 PRACTICAL CLASSICS CLASSIC CAR & RESTORATION SHOW NEC, Birmingham. Explore a diverse array of automotive history, from rustic gems to pristine classics. Witness live restorations by 150+ car clubs, providing invaluable tips and visual learning experiences. The restoration workshops feature live demonstrations and personalised advice from experts. With 250-plus exhibitors, discover everything you need for classic car restoration. Join the excitement of the classic car auction, where a variety of classics find new homes. Immerse yourself on the live stage, featuring expert talks and celebrity interviews. Don’t miss the UK’s largest barn find, showcasing the beauty in the old and rusty. Take a nostalgic journey as you stroll through childhood favourites. The restoration show is not…

Ascot Racecourse March 1, 2025 Historics’ opening auction of the year kicked off at the delightful venue of Ascot Racecourse and featured a diverse range of American vehicles, as you can see on these pages. Funnily enough, the vehicle which one would have imagined would have been snapped up, the Fifties Ford F1 pickup, didn’t find a buyer… 1965 Ford Thunderbird Offered without reserve Sold: £4290 Body text: What do we have here? Well, it’s certainly unlike any Thunderbird of this era we’ve seen before. The rear end treatment is certainly an acquired taste, although probably easily returned to stock. Likewise, painting the whole front black is an interesting move. If you could source a good, solid clean front and back for this car from a dry state junk yard,…

Before Work that body Engine grouping Interior…

If you are considering buying an American car and you have narrowed your list down to something quite specific (or that gem you dreamt of many years ago has finally become available, or maybe it’s just your first toe-dipping experience into the American car scene), before you rush out and part with your hard-earned, now is the time to do your homework. With that fabulous invention, the internet, we’re all experts, right? Whoa there! Take a breath and be mindful. I think many of us have stumbled across a forum when searching for information on cars and taken the information as gospel. Forums can be okay up to a point, but when you see two guys with opposing opinions stating that they are both correct, you know that it can…

1. Having spent 30 years hunting for tin, I’ve visited most of the great yards in the US, a number that sadly dwindles with each passing year. It’s rare to find one I don’t already know about, but that’s exactly what happened when I stumbled upon Rohner’s Auto Parts in Willmar, Minnesota, purely by chance. To be honest, it didn’t look like much from the outside. There were no obvious signs it specialised in classic cars, and I almost drove straight past. What a mistake that would have been! Established in 1950, Rohner’s is an 80-acre treasure trove of automotive history, filled with thousands of fascinating vehicles, including these colourful Gremlins. 2. I have a hunch that the aesthetically challenged Pontiac Aztek might be on the cusp of becoming a…