Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Classic American

For full disclosure, this is an Alfa Romeo. Yes, we appreciate that this is a magazine dedicated to the best things ever to emerge from the US of A, and Alfa Romeo isn’t an American brand. Please bear with us. You see, this striking GT is – brace yourself – a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X in lingerie. There is little Italian about it. It is a car that confounded Alfa fans and Mopar types alike when it first emerged in 2010. Even now, it baffles as many as it bewitches, that is assuming that it is remembered at all. How, precisely, did this most steroidal of Detroit muscle cars become an Italian exotic? It’s complicated. The car was conceived by Atelier Zagato Studio. It was intended to celebrate Alfa Romeo’s…

The Seventies was a decade of change and upheaval in America. Automotively, the country was hit with two fuel crises (1973 and ’79) which demanded that American cars become more efficient. This makes the Seventies the last gasp of the truly full-size American car. Compacts and intermediates had grown throughout the Sixties and by the end of the Seventies, the American automotive landscape needed a desperate makeover. Boomer-induced myopia led to a prevailing ‘nothing good built after ’72’ mentality for decades, but younger generations (i.e. Gen X, themselves pushing 60 now) and younger are now craving the cars they remember from their youth. Pricing remains low, although who knows for how long. For every model made, there’s almost always an alternative that you may not have heard of. That’s where…

The Humberside-based Highway 63 club has built up a huge following in the past 12 months since its formation, so when we were invited to attend its recent meet-up at Bridlington-based MVM Garage, how could we refuse? When likeminded American car nuts Andy Skelly and his brother Steve, along with Chris Hammond and Ron Cole, took the decision to organise their own monthly meets, they really weren’t expecting as many as 60 cars to attend on a regular basis. “Our club has grown bigger than we ever imagined, and we now have more than 1000 members on social media,” Andy says. “Our usual monthly meet takes place at Trippett Street car park in the centre of Hull, but we do organise events at various scenic locations in the area too.”…

It’s always nice to go to a show that you know is a cracking day out and with lots of amazing cars on display. Such was the case with the Beaulieu Hot Rod and Custom Drive-in Day. Traditionally held on Father’s Day Sunday, it always has a great turnout, so we were able to earmark it as a Car of the Year heat and take along the Classic American stand. Beaulieu is located in the beautiful setting of the New Forest and not far from Southampton, so you can’t really get any further south than this. The weather was sunny and warm, with the odd cloud to break the heat and the turnout was typically busy, with lots of folks treating Dad to a day at Beaulieu Museum and the…

1. This month we are back in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at Cooley’s Statewide Scrap and Salvage – where a thriving scrap metal business hums at the front, and a forest of forgotten classics waits quietly at the back. Among the thousands of cars dating back to the 1930s is this 1951 Chevrolet, now sandwiched between two trees that almost certainly weren’t there when it was parked up decades ago. 2. For a vehicle pushing 80 years old, this 1947 Ford has weathered time surprisingly well. While there’s some wear and tear around the edges, the bodywork shows mostly light surface rust rather than deep rot. These late-1940s Fords were essentially a continuation of pre-war styling and engineering, with the 1947 model sharing much of its design DNA with the 1941…

Everyone loves a Mustang and this particular beauty caught our eye at the recent Beaulieu Custom and American show, where the second heat of this year’s Kingstown Shipping-Vintage Tyres Car of the Year competition took place. Performance/special edition Mustangs such as the Mach 1 are probably the most sought-after of all and Steve Hayward, from Brighton, has owned this particular Medium Blue beauty for about three years and says it hails from Kansas City, Missouri originally. Featuring a 351cu in Cleveland V8 motor, it’s undergone various performance upgrades, such as MSD ignition and a three-inch exhaust system. Other nice period touches include the rear window louvres and air dam, plus Steve has added the handsome sporty wooden steering wheel, which looks very much in keeping with the car. The Mustang…

When I first visited North America, abandoned cars and trucks could be found in almost every rural hamlet. Often, with a bit of curiosity and persuasion, you were able to take a closer look at them and in some cases even take them home. Depending how long the vehicle had been there it could be anything from a complete basket case, with little in the way of usable parts left on it, to a car or truck that had recently been pulled off the road and was still wearing nearly current registration tags. Most vehicles, however, were somewhere in between. And it didn’t matter which part of the country you were in, there were plenty of pickings. Times, however, have changed. Over the last 20 years there has been a…

In motorsports, it’s nearly always the drivers who are the stars and the heroes. However, racing is a team sport. The drivers would be nothing without the car designers, the engineers, mechanics and sponsors. And Joe Public would know nothing about it if it wasn’t for the photographers, journalists and publishers, especially in the days prior to TV coverage. American Pete Lyons, now 85, and his father Ozzie before him, worked their socks off and drove many thousands of miles to attend race meetings and report on them for newspapers and magazines in America and the UK. Pete not only covered racing in his homeland but also became part of the Formula 1 and sports-car circus travelling all over the world. He developed a wonderful style of writing which was…

It’s amazing how time flies. It doesn’t feel like 12 years ago that I attended the Chelsea Cruise for the first time, but members of the old guard have been at it much longer – 50 years in fact, since the last Saturday night of May 1975. Such a milestone deserves a celebration, and that’s just what took place as the sun sank behind Albert Bridge on May 31. Chelsea may have changed for the worse in some ways – 20mph speed limits, speed bumps and gratuitous bollards as cases in point – but that didn’t stop hundreds of Yank owners, hot rodders and enthusiastic spectators flocking to Battersea Park and Chelsea Bridge to honour the Chelsea Cruise at 50. In modern times, the cruise has owed its survival to…

Just recently, Chevrolet teased the automotive world with a new C8 Corvette variant, showing off a stylised ‘X’ logo and leading to speculation that the Bow Tie brand was about to drop a new ultra-high-performance model dubbed the Corvette ZR1X. Now, we’re getting our first official look at the car in question. Trumpeted as the most advanced Corvette ever made, the new Corvette ZR1X delivers 1250 horsepower through a combination of boosted internal combustion and electric power, yielding an estimated 0-60mph time of less than two seconds, and an estimated quarter-mile time of less than nine seconds at more than 150mph. This is the car automotive pundits have been calling the Zora for the past several years. Engine-wise the ’Vette utilises the twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 LT7 petrol engine, the same…

Round two of the American Super Stock Revival series was very much a battle of elapsed times, strategy, breakouts and above all – red lights. After a week of track conditioning many of the weekend’s competitors across all classes were picking up personal best ETs and higher mph figures than ever before. With 12 equally hot muscle cars and a patina’d ole truck sitting on the block, thrashing it out over four qualifying sessions and an LCQ (Last Chance Qualifier), topping the A/SS charts was Howard Holmes at the wheel of the family-owned (for more than 25 years) 493cu in big block Brodix headed Dodge Coronet R/T just 1500th off a 7.85 dial at 7.865s. Also using all his 493cu in horsepower to maximum effect was revival series leader and…

You’d normally expect a farmer to drive around in a Land Rover or 4x4 of some description but, given the choice, Rob Marshall prefers to be behind the wheel of his stunning 1970 Camaro instead. We first met Rob during the lengthy dry spell last spring and while most of the UK population couldn’t get enough of the endless sunshine, not quite everyone shared the same view. As Rob is a farmer, taking care of his crops is a top priority, so as you’d expect, that lack of rain certainly caused him a few issues. At least this gave us chance to distract him for a short while and to take a closer look at his incredible and very bright Citrus Green Camaro! “I’ve always had a love for big,…

Chrysler 1933 Chryslers in the Thirties had certain connotations of wealth. The flagship CL Imperial Custom model was a formidably expensive machine and carried the sort of elegant coachwork which today makes it a popular inclusion at international concours such as Pebble Beach. This 1933 sedan is a little less exotic, but it still would have had a smooth and torquey straight-six. Spotted in Greenwich Park in 1963, it would have been assembled at Chrysler’s English factory in Kew, Surrey. Allan came to be good friends with the owner, Roy Johnson (see box-out on page 64). Written on the bonnet was the name Big John, possibly after the Jimmy Dean song. Dodge 1938 We are delighted to report that this right-hand-drive 1938 Dodge is still in existence and on the…

Classic American Events, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR July 18-20 31ST MOPAR EURONATS Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7XA, The Ultimate American Muscle Car show with RWYB for American cars only, drag racing, show ‘n’ shine, wheelie contest, live music, traders and camping. Whether you have a modified or classic American car or truck, come along to the largest muscle car door slammer event in Europe. Sunday will see a gigantic show ‘n’ shine in the car corral and at lunchtime the wheelie contest. The best muscle car show in the UK has just got bigger! Don’t miss this petrolhead experience, get those tickets today. Camping available onsite so come for the weekend, all American car clubs welcome. Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road,…

The 21st Chryslers at Brooklands event came round fast and didn’t disappoint. Despite the weather forecast not looking promising (and the effect this would have on the numbers attending) ultimately the weather man was wrong. So, a cloudy Saturday meant I was cleaning the Charger inside the garage, getting it ready for Sunday. Sunday morning, bright and early, I got to Brooklands at 7.15am to start the set-up. Our friend and fantastic photographer for the event, Darren Graham of DGP Media, was close behind us. My daughter Karen and grandson Charlie soon followed, as did my son Scott in his Plymouth with his kids Alex and George. It’s a real family affair as soon after my two eldest granddaughters, Jorja and Chelsea, and my great-grandchildren, Leonard-Bill and Frances-Rai pulled in.…