#1958 Packard station wagon

[elvis2130]

1958 Packard station wagon

[papermoonloveslucy]

BEHIND THE WHEEL!

Lucy & Cars ~ Part Two

In the 1960s America took to the open road. Everyone owned a car - and Lucy Carmichael was no exception. In Danfield and Los Angeles “The Lucy Show” was motorized! 

“Lucy Buys a Sheep” (1962) ~ When Lucy goes to pick out a sheep to act as a lawn mower, she drives a 1949 Packard Super Deluxe 8 convertible. Packard started making automobiles in 1899 and went out of business in 1958, four years before the series premiered. Future episodes indicate that Lucy doesn’t own a car, so the Packard may belong to Viv.

“Lucy and Viv Are Volunteer Firemen” (1963) ~ As the Chief, Lucy gets to drive the fire truck!  This is a Moreland Truck, a company based in Los Angeles. 

“Lucy Drives a Dump Truck” (1963) ~ The title tells it!  Lucy and Viv drive a 1956 Ford F-Series dump truck to deliver recycled newspapers for cash. The  truck has 'Roy Long's Rental' written on the doors. In reality, Roy Long was Desilu's construction superintendent. This is a huge production for the series, using more than a dozen extras, 160,000 newspapers, an enormous sound stage dressed as a city street, and six vehicles.

Parked on the street is a 1961 Chevrolet Apache light-duty truck with a Fleetside bed option. [More about motorcyles in a future blog.]

The dump truck passes a 1956 De Soto Fireflite Four-Door Sedan.

“Lucy Decides to Redecorate” (1963) ~ When they redecorate the house, Lucy and Viv must sleep in the car!  Viv's car is a 1953 Ford Crestline Sunliner convertible. This is the first time we have seen inside the Carmichael's garage.

A close-up of the interior of the vehicle and Lucy’s feet!  

In her sleep, Lucy’s foot hits the gear shift and the car crashes through the living room wall. 

“Lucy, the Camp Cook” (1964) ~ Mr. Mooney drives to the camp in a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint. The Sprint was overshadowed by the Mustang and was discontinued after 1965. When the car runs out of gas, they must hitchhike. 

“Lucy the Meter Maid” (1964) ~ Is another exterior street set featuring lots of vehicles. A 1965 Ford Mustang may also be the same car used in an October 1964 episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” also filmed on the Desilu lot.

Lucy tickets a 1962 Triumph TR4. In court, the Judge admits to owning a “1964 blue convertible” which may be a reference to this car, despite the difference in the actual model year. The license plate is a 1964 NY World’s Fair commemorative plate. Behind it is the 1953 Ford Crestline Sunliner previously seen in “Lucy Decides to Redecorate”.  

“Lucy Makes a Pinch” (1965) ~ On a stake-out, Lucy and Detective Baker park on Lover’s Lane in a 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible.

When Lucy and Viv are on their own stake out, they are sitting in a customized Jeep CJ-5. It is never stated where or how they acquired a lavender jeep!  

“Lucy at Marineland” (1965) ~ When the show relocates to California, the first episode opens with location footage of Marineland in Rancho Palos Verdes, California . Mr. Mooney agrees to leave work at the bank and drive Lucy and Jerry to Marineland in his light colored Ford Falcon convertible.  

“Lucy and the Undercover Agent” (1965) ~ Lucy, Mr. Mooney, and the Countess go undercover. Mr. Mooney is the chauffeur of a Rolls-Royce 25/30 HP Park Ward swept-tail saloon car. 

In 1965, Lucille Ball and her husband Gary Morton filmed a home movie while vacationing in Monte Carlo. The film takes place on the streets and features many vehicles. 

“Lucy and the Submarine” (1966) ~ Before sneaking onto the submarine, Lucy hides out in a parked Laundry van. 

“Lucy and the Ring-A-Ding Ring” (1966) ~ In this episode Mr. Mooney drives a red Volkswagen convertible bug, a somewhat unusual choice for a middle-aged banker during in the mid-1960s.  

“Lucy in London” (1966) ~ The special was shot on location. Footage of Picadilly circus includes many vehicles, including a white VW Beetle. 

“Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1966) ~ A news crew operates out of a blue hatchback station wagon. The camera is mounted on the roof. 

“Lucy Gets Involved” (1968) ~ Lucy moonlights as a carhop at a drive-in burger joint.  The episode features the light blue 1962 Triumph TR4 convertible previously seen in “Lucy, the Meter Maid”.

The scenes feature a blue Ford Convertible, a vintage 1920s Roadster, a blue Sports Car, a red VW Beetle with Moon Roof, and a Police Car.

“Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (1968) ~ Buddy Hackett plays a conman who drives a little red sportscar. 

“Lucy and the Lost Star” (1968) ~ Before arriving at Joan Crawford’s mansion, Lucy and Viv’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. 

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Packard Station Wagon, 1958. From the final year of Packard production, only 159 Station Wagon models were produced 

[packardbaker]

A whole row of Packardbakers.

[bottledwaterweb-blog-blog]

2019 Monterey Motor Week from arthur von wiesenberger on Vimeo.

Monterey Motor Week is known for a number of things especially the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. But other events also make the week exceptional including the Tour d’elegance , a morning journey that went from Pebble Beach to Carmel-by-the-Sea and back. Along the way fans lined the streets as they witnesses and heard this rolling museum of spectacular machines.

Behind the scenes the cars are polished up after the cruise. A rare Chrysler Le Baron Thunderbolt, belonging to an owner from Denver Colorado is one of only five.

A Ford GT 40 is the only aluminum body made. It currently lives in Indiana.

There was a rare 1913 blue Bugatti

A 1935 Packard 1204 Super 8 Coupe Roadster had a 150 horsepower L-Head straight eight engine. This streamlined Packard was styled by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. This car is one of 11 known to survive - and one of three to have a rear mounted spare wheel.

Auctions are also a big part of Motor Week. Some of the most exciting and rarest cars were sold by Gooding & Company.

This 2005 Ferrari 575 Superamerica realized a price of $240,800

A 2018 Ferrari GTC4 Lusso 70th anniversary edition flew out the door at $417,800 … not a bad price for a stylish station wagon

This fun loving 1961 Fiat 600 Jolly with wicker seats and a canopy fringe sold for $156,800

For those in need of speed, Niki Lauda’s 1975 Ferrari 312T, the one he drove and ultimately won the 1975 Formula One Drivers Championship passed the finish line at the auction for $6 million.

A couple of Highway Patrol officers were looking at the 2015 Aston Martin Vulcan and when we asked if they could catch it they said, no way. “I’d just turn off my lights and turn around to go home”. This one didn’t sell at its $2million estimate so it turned around and went home too.

A 2007 Ferrari F430 Challenge race car sold for a bargain price of $72,800

But foreign exotics weren’t the only stars at Gooding. This 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z06 Big Tank Split Window Coupe came with the factory “Special Performance Equipment” which performed well and sold for $588,000.

But the 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO didn't reach its $600,000 estimate.

This Porsche came with its original window sticker, a car sold by a dealership in Goleta, California called Trans World Auto. It was a good investment for someone.

Lamborghini’s first production model, the elegant 1965 350 GT, got an elegant price of $610,000.

But this 1997 Ferrari F50 didn’t reach its reserve and estimate of $2,800,000. Nor did this racing 1989 Jaguar XJR-10 at $1,500,000.

But this unusual strawberry metallic 1955 Mercedes- Benz 300 SL Gullwing did catch the eye of a buyer at $1,435,000 - -unrestored but a fine example of the original 64 year old car.

Other vintage and prewar cars, some that are boat tail roadsters, were stunning to look at even if they were mechanically challenging.

The 1986 Citroen Deux Chevaux Dolly sold for $28,000. Sacre Bleu, this was a real deal for this French cultural icon.

For a little fun, and little being the operative word, this 1959 BMW Isetta 300 sold beyond its estimate at $41,440.

For the buyer who wanted a Ferrari at a bargain this 1967 Ferrari 330 P2 sold for only $35,840.. But it was a 5/8 scale Ferrari designed for children.

A stunning 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet, originally belonging to Prince Alessandro Ruspoli in Rome, it was at the time the most expensive 250 GT and one of the most successful collaborations between Pinin Farina and Ferrari. It’s hammer price was $6,800,000.

Other classic post war cars were statements of their era. A particularly eye catching example was a 1948 Delahaye 135MS Cabriolet. It was one of 3 by Faget Varnet and was the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Class Winner in 2008. It sold for $550,000.

Steve McQueen, an avid motorcycle and financier of the motorcycle classic movie, On Any Sunday, had this 1936 Indian Chief. Unrestored it was sold in the 1984 McQueen Estate Auction in Las Vegas. Asking $240,000 it is still available and open to offers.

A 2019 McLaren Senna, derived from McLaren’s 720S, has remarkable aerodynamics, a duel clutch, seven speed gearbox and a 4.0 liter twin turbocharged engine that produces 789 horsepower. Available at $1,500,000.

The 1953 Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM Superflow was one of the most advanced sports cars of the early 1950s. Only 8 were built making this a very rare car and available at $5.5 million.

The 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, one of 36, sold for $5,100,00.

The Gooding auction made a number of records thanks in part to the charming auctioneering talents of Charlie Ross who has also been an antique expert on numerous BBC programs. One of the records set was for the unique Czechoslovakian 1938 Tatra T77A Limousine which sold for $412,000, a pinnacle of prewar design. The Gooding auction realized more than $76 million sold and 17 of the cars sold over the $1 mark.

[carnutzphoto]

1939 Packard Six Wood-Bodied Station Wagon

Classic Car Club America "Grand Experience" -June 07, 2015.  Held on the campus of the Gilmore Car Museum. Featuring cars from the Packard Motor Car Company, 1900-1958.

[ronone444]

1958 Packard Station Wagon 🔶 Very Rare Ony 159 Produced ♦

[jonathanbelloblog]

A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America

PLYMOUTH, Michigan – This year’s Concours d’Elegance of America held Sunday, July 29, like the 39 before it, was about style and design. Car owners don’t lift the hood for judges unless they so desire, which means that theoretically half the cars on the Inn at St. John’s lawn could have LS3s lurking under the hoods.

Fortunately, many of the owners do lift their cars’ hoods, and everything seems to be pretty original, from Brass Era four- and six-cylinder engines to a 1974 NSU Ro80’s Wankel rotary engine to the nine Nixon- and Ford-era funny cars to the General Motors Firebirds I, II, and III’s turbines.

Unfortunately, your humble reporter didn’t have the time or cloud capacity or even smartphone battery to cover all of these. In fact, the battery died before there was the chance to shoot even half the wonderfully over-chromed American cars from the Jet Age Fabulous ‘58s class.

But there was time and battery to shoot a dozen standouts, including selections from a special display of Porsche factory racecars celebrating the marque’s 70 years of building sports cars. These 11 Porsche Werkes Race Cars are said to be worth more than $60 million, total.

1. 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder by Reutter [Owner is the Brumos Collection, Jacksonville, Florida] “The beauty of the 550 is that it can be driven to the track, raced, and then driven home,” the notecard reads. Porsche hand-built three 550 Spyder prototypes in 1953, and updated the model in 1956 with a new space-frame chassis.

2. 1959 Porsche RSK 718 [Rick Grant, Moraine, Ohio] Like the modern Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster, this short-wheelbase version of the 550A successor has a rear-midengine layout. Its 1.5-liter quad-cam engine makes 142 horsepower, a good number for the day especially when you consider the car weighs just 1,260 pounds. A fine example of pure sports car minimalism.

3. 1971 Porsche 917 KH Short Tail [Porsche Museum] Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko drove this car to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting two track records that stood until 2010: Average speed of 222.3 kp/h (138 mph), and distance covered of 5,335.16 kilometers (3,315 miles).

4. 1959 Chevrolet CERV 1 Open Wheel Single Seat [Mark Reuss, Concours Enthusiast of the Year] Future chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, with engineers Harold Krieger and Walt Zetye designed the first Chevrolet Experimental Racing Vehicle with a tube frame, independent rear suspension and rear engine configuration two years before Jack Brabham introduced his rear-engine Cooper Climax at the Indianapolis 500. CERV 1 was built to Indy car dimensions, but with an all-aluminum 353-hp 283 cubic-inch V-8, later replaced with a Hilborn fuel-injected 377 cubic-inch V-8, with which it set a 206.1 mph speed record at the Milford Proving Grounds’ five-mile oval in 1964.

5. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Racer [GM] Designed by Peter Brock, Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda shortly after the Automobile Manufacturers Association banned manufacturer-sponsored racing, this car previewed the stunning C2 Corvette of 1963. It weighed about 2,200 pounds, nearly half a ton less than production Corvettes of the late ‘50s, and its 283 cubic-inch fuel-injected small block made 315 hp at 6,200 rpm.

6. 1929 Duesenberg J150 Roadster/Convertible by Derham [Veit Automotive Foundation, Monticello, Minnesota] This car, powered by a 265-hp 420 cubic-inch I-8, gives a rare view of a running chassis in the midst of restoration. The original Derham body was replaced in 1977 with a Derham body from a 1931 Lincoln, and the current owner is restoring it to original spec. The cost of this running chassis when it was built was $8,500.

7. 1939 Packard Super 8 Convertible Victoria by Darrin [Leon Flagg and Curtis Lamon, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin] This is the second of six Super 8s with coachwork by Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s Sunset Boulevard studio. Most of these custom bodied cars rode on the less-expensive Packard 120 platform. Painted in Packard’s Havana beige paint color, this car has been restored with a Tenite “mica”-infused dash, faithfully recreating the original material, and with “genuine saddle-quality” leather.

  8. 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus [David Huffman, Hadley, Pennsylvania] This was part of an “Alternative Muscle” display that included a factory supercharged 1964 Studebaker Lark Daytona hardtop, a 1964 Chevy Impala 409/four-speed station wagon, a low-spec Hemi-powered 1966 Dodge Coronet Sedan and a 1967 Buick Skylark GS 340 two-door hardtop. Though less popular, to these eyes the ’71 Satellite/Road Runner/GTX always looked better, more interesting with their voluptuous “fuselage” styling than their boxy predecessors. This one is powered by the big-block 383 cubic-inch V-8, with pistol-grip shifter four-speed manual, and painted In-Violet.

9. 1967 Gyro-X 2 Door by Troutman and Barnes [Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, Tennessee] A musical group named Barnes & Barnes once produced a pop single called “Fishheads.” This Gyro-X designed by Alex Tremulis of Tucker 48 fame, and gyroscope expert Thomas Summers is at least as wacky as that song. Tremulis and Summers felt this two-wheeler, using gyros for stability, would be more efficient than a traditional four-wheeled car. It is powered by an 80-hp Mini Cooper S four, and reportedly reached 125 mph in tests. The designers planned using stored kinetic energy to provide additional power for future models.

10. 1925 Bugatti Type 35A [David Duthu, Seabrook, Texas] A small, lightweight antidote to modern Bugattis, this T35 is an “A” denoting the detuned version of the Type 35’s 90-100 hp (at up to 6,000 rpm!) three-valve, 2.0-liter inline eight.

11. 1958 Rambler Ambassador 4 Door Hardtop Station Wagon [Peter H. Phillips, Leonard, Texas] Buick and Oldsmobile pioneered four-door hardtops in the 1955 model year, but Rambler was first with a four-door hardtop station wagon, beginning in 1956, long before rollover crush concerns. Engine is a 270-hp 327 cubic-inch OHV V-8. Just 294 of these were built for the ’58 model year, and Rambler’s four-door hardtop wagon was dropped after 1960.

12. 1963 Porsche 901 Prototype Coupe [Don and Diane Meluzio, York, Pennsylvania] We began with racing Porsches for the 70th anniversary, so why not finish with a production prototype? Said to be the only survivor among 13 Porsche 901 prototypes, this car has a number of features that were changed for production. The manual sunroof slides forward to open, while production models featured electrically operated, rearward sliding roof panels, and the instruments are in two dashboard pods, instead of the large central tachometer with four smaller pods flanking it. Counterbalance torsion springs hold up the front trunk lid and coil springs hold up the rear engine lid, instead of the production model’s gas struts, and the interior window sill moldings are made of balsa wood. This car was used to experiment with various heating/ventilating systems, which were sealed after testing with small aluminum plates.

The post A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4 https://ift.tt/2Ox6ncx via IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America

PLYMOUTH, Michigan – This year’s Concours d’Elegance of America held Sunday, July 29, like the 39 before it, was about style and design. Car owners don’t lift the hood for judges unless they so desire, which means that theoretically half the cars on the Inn at St. John’s lawn could have LS3s lurking under the hoods.

Fortunately, many of the owners do lift their cars’ hoods, and everything seems to be pretty original, from Brass Era four- and six-cylinder engines to a 1974 NSU Ro80’s Wankel rotary engine to the nine Nixon- and Ford-era funny cars to the General Motors Firebirds I, II, and III’s turbines.

Unfortunately, your humble reporter didn’t have the time or cloud capacity or even smartphone battery to cover all of these. In fact, the battery died before there was the chance to shoot even half the wonderfully over-chromed American cars from the Jet Age Fabulous ‘58s class.

But there was time and battery to shoot a dozen standouts, including selections from a special display of Porsche factory racecars celebrating the marque’s 70 years of building sports cars. These 11 Porsche Werkes Race Cars are said to be worth more than $60 million, total.

1. 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder by Reutter [Owner is the Brumos Collection, Jacksonville, Florida] “The beauty of the 550 is that it can be driven to the track, raced, and then driven home,” the notecard reads. Porsche hand-built three 550 Spyder prototypes in 1953, and updated the model in 1956 with a new space-frame chassis.

2. 1959 Porsche RSK 718 [Rick Grant, Moraine, Ohio] Like the modern Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster, this short-wheelbase version of the 550A successor has a rear-midengine layout. Its 1.5-liter quad-cam engine makes 142 horsepower, a good number for the day especially when you consider the car weighs just 1,260 pounds. A fine example of pure sports car minimalism.

3. 1971 Porsche 917 KH Short Tail [Porsche Museum] Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko drove this car to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting two track records that stood until 2010: Average speed of 222.3 kp/h (138 mph), and distance covered of 5,335.16 kilometers (3,315 miles).

4. 1959 Chevrolet CERV 1 Open Wheel Single Seat [Mark Reuss, Concours Enthusiast of the Year] Future chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, with engineers Harold Krieger and Walt Zetye designed the first Chevrolet Experimental Racing Vehicle with a tube frame, independent rear suspension and rear engine configuration two years before Jack Brabham introduced his rear-engine Cooper Climax at the Indianapolis 500. CERV 1 was built to Indy car dimensions, but with an all-aluminum 353-hp 283 cubic-inch V-8, later replaced with a Hilborn fuel-injected 377 cubic-inch V-8, with which it set a 206.1 mph speed record at the Milford Proving Grounds’ five-mile oval in 1964.

5. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Racer [GM] Designed by Peter Brock, Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda shortly after the Automobile Manufacturers Association banned manufacturer-sponsored racing, this car previewed the stunning C2 Corvette of 1963. It weighed about 2,200 pounds, nearly half a ton less than production Corvettes of the late ‘50s, and its 283 cubic-inch fuel-injected small block made 315 hp at 6,200 rpm.

6. 1929 Duesenberg J150 Roadster/Convertible by Derham [Veit Automotive Foundation, Monticello, Minnesota] This car, powered by a 265-hp 420 cubic-inch I-8, gives a rare view of a running chassis in the midst of restoration. The original Derham body was replaced in 1977 with a Derham body from a 1931 Lincoln, and the current owner is restoring it to original spec. The cost of this running chassis when it was built was $8,500.

7. 1939 Packard Super 8 Convertible Victoria by Darrin [Leon Flagg and Curtis Lamon, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin] This is the second of six Super 8s with coachwork by Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s Sunset Boulevard studio. Most of these custom bodied cars rode on the less-expensive Packard 120 platform. Painted in Packard’s Havana beige paint color, this car has been restored with a Tenite “mica”-infused dash, faithfully recreating the original material, and with “genuine saddle-quality” leather.

  8. 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus [David Huffman, Hadley, Pennsylvania] This was part of an “Alternative Muscle” display that included a factory supercharged 1964 Studebaker Lark Daytona hardtop, a 1964 Chevy Impala 409/four-speed station wagon, a low-spec Hemi-powered 1966 Dodge Coronet Sedan and a 1967 Buick Skylark GS 340 two-door hardtop. Though less popular, to these eyes the ’71 Satellite/Road Runner/GTX always looked better, more interesting with their voluptuous “fuselage” styling than their boxy predecessors. This one is powered by the big-block 383 cubic-inch V-8, with pistol-grip shifter four-speed manual, and painted In-Violet.

9. 1967 Gyro-X 2 Door by Troutman and Barnes [Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, Tennessee] A musical group named Barnes & Barnes once produced a pop single called “Fishheads.” This Gyro-X designed by Alex Tremulis of Tucker 48 fame, and gyroscope expert Thomas Summers is at least as wacky as that song. Tremulis and Summers felt this two-wheeler, using gyros for stability, would be more efficient than a traditional four-wheeled car. It is powered by an 80-hp Mini Cooper S four, and reportedly reached 125 mph in tests. The designers planned using stored kinetic energy to provide additional power for future models.

10. 1925 Bugatti Type 35A [David Duthu, Seabrook, Texas] A small, lightweight antidote to modern Bugattis, this T35 is an “A” denoting the detuned version of the Type 35’s 90-100 hp (at up to 6,000 rpm!) three-valve, 2.0-liter inline eight.

11. 1958 Rambler Ambassador 4 Door Hardtop Station Wagon [Peter H. Phillips, Leonard, Texas] Buick and Oldsmobile pioneered four-door hardtops in the 1955 model year, but Rambler was first with a four-door hardtop station wagon, beginning in 1956, long before rollover crush concerns. Engine is a 270-hp 327 cubic-inch OHV V-8. Just 294 of these were built for the ’58 model year, and Rambler’s four-door hardtop wagon was dropped after 1960.

12. 1963 Porsche 901 Prototype Coupe [Don and Diane Meluzio, York, Pennsylvania] We began with racing Porsches for the 70th anniversary, so why not finish with a production prototype? Said to be the only survivor among 13 Porsche 901 prototypes, this car has a number of features that were changed for production. The manual sunroof slides forward to open, while production models featured electrically operated, rearward sliding roof panels, and the instruments are in two dashboard pods, instead of the large central tachometer with four smaller pods flanking it. Counterbalance torsion springs hold up the front trunk lid and coil springs hold up the rear engine lid, instead of the production model’s gas struts, and the interior window sill moldings are made of balsa wood. This car was used to experiment with various heating/ventilating systems, which were sealed after testing with small aluminum plates.

The post A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger 6 https://ift.tt/2Ox6ncx via IFTTT

[jesusvasser]

A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America

PLYMOUTH, Michigan – This year’s Concours d’Elegance of America held Sunday, July 29, like the 39 before it, was about style and design. Car owners don’t lift the hood for judges unless they so desire, which means that theoretically half the cars on the Inn at St. John’s lawn could have LS3s lurking under the hoods.

Fortunately, many of the owners do lift their cars’ hoods, and everything seems to be pretty original, from Brass Era four- and six-cylinder engines to a 1974 NSU Ro80’s Wankel rotary engine to the nine Nixon- and Ford-era funny cars to the General Motors Firebirds I, II, and III’s turbines.

Unfortunately, your humble reporter didn’t have the time or cloud capacity or even smartphone battery to cover all of these. In fact, the battery died before there was the chance to shoot even half the wonderfully over-chromed American cars from the Jet Age Fabulous ‘58s class.

But there was time and battery to shoot a dozen standouts, including selections from a special display of Porsche factory racecars celebrating the marque’s 70 years of building sports cars. These 11 Porsche Werkes Race Cars are said to be worth more than $60 million, total.

1. 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder by Reutter [Owner is the Brumos Collection, Jacksonville, Florida] “The beauty of the 550 is that it can be driven to the track, raced, and then driven home,” the notecard reads. Porsche hand-built three 550 Spyder prototypes in 1953, and updated the model in 1956 with a new space-frame chassis.

2. 1959 Porsche RSK 718 [Rick Grant, Moraine, Ohio] Like the modern Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster, this short-wheelbase version of the 550A successor has a rear-midengine layout. Its 1.5-liter quad-cam engine makes 142 horsepower, a good number for the day especially when you consider the car weighs just 1,260 pounds. A fine example of pure sports car minimalism.

3. 1971 Porsche 917 KH Short Tail [Porsche Museum] Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko drove this car to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting two track records that stood until 2010: Average speed of 222.3 kp/h (138 mph), and distance covered of 5,335.16 kilometers (3,315 miles).

4. 1959 Chevrolet CERV 1 Open Wheel Single Seat [Mark Reuss, Concours Enthusiast of the Year] Future chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, with engineers Harold Krieger and Walt Zetye designed the first Chevrolet Experimental Racing Vehicle with a tube frame, independent rear suspension and rear engine configuration two years before Jack Brabham introduced his rear-engine Cooper Climax at the Indianapolis 500. CERV 1 was built to Indy car dimensions, but with an all-aluminum 353-hp 283 cubic-inch V-8, later replaced with a Hilborn fuel-injected 377 cubic-inch V-8, with which it set a 206.1 mph speed record at the Milford Proving Grounds’ five-mile oval in 1964.

5. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Racer [GM] Designed by Peter Brock, Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda shortly after the Automobile Manufacturers Association banned manufacturer-sponsored racing, this car previewed the stunning C2 Corvette of 1963. It weighed about 2,200 pounds, nearly half a ton less than production Corvettes of the late ‘50s, and its 283 cubic-inch fuel-injected small block made 315 hp at 6,200 rpm.

6. 1929 Duesenberg J150 Roadster/Convertible by Derham [Veit Automotive Foundation, Monticello, Minnesota] This car, powered by a 265-hp 420 cubic-inch I-8, gives a rare view of a running chassis in the midst of restoration. The original Derham body was replaced in 1977 with a Derham body from a 1931 Lincoln, and the current owner is restoring it to original spec. The cost of this running chassis when it was built was $8,500.

7. 1939 Packard Super 8 Convertible Victoria by Darrin [Leon Flagg and Curtis Lamon, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin] This is the second of six Super 8s with coachwork by Howard “Dutch” Darrin’s Sunset Boulevard studio. Most of these custom bodied cars rode on the less-expensive Packard 120 platform. Painted in Packard’s Havana beige paint color, this car has been restored with a Tenite “mica”-infused dash, faithfully recreating the original material, and with “genuine saddle-quality” leather.

  8. 1971 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus [David Huffman, Hadley, Pennsylvania] This was part of an “Alternative Muscle” display that included a factory supercharged 1964 Studebaker Lark Daytona hardtop, a 1964 Chevy Impala 409/four-speed station wagon, a low-spec Hemi-powered 1966 Dodge Coronet Sedan and a 1967 Buick Skylark GS 340 two-door hardtop. Though less popular, to these eyes the ’71 Satellite/Road Runner/GTX always looked better, more interesting with their voluptuous “fuselage” styling than their boxy predecessors. This one is powered by the big-block 383 cubic-inch V-8, with pistol-grip shifter four-speed manual, and painted In-Violet.

9. 1967 Gyro-X 2 Door by Troutman and Barnes [Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, Tennessee] A musical group named Barnes & Barnes once produced a pop single called “Fishheads.” This Gyro-X designed by Alex Tremulis of Tucker 48 fame, and gyroscope expert Thomas Summers is at least as wacky as that song. Tremulis and Summers felt this two-wheeler, using gyros for stability, would be more efficient than a traditional four-wheeled car. It is powered by an 80-hp Mini Cooper S four, and reportedly reached 125 mph in tests. The designers planned using stored kinetic energy to provide additional power for future models.

10. 1925 Bugatti Type 35A [David Duthu, Seabrook, Texas] A small, lightweight antidote to modern Bugattis, this T35 is an “A” denoting the detuned version of the Type 35’s 90-100 hp (at up to 6,000 rpm!) three-valve, 2.0-liter inline eight.

11. 1958 Rambler Ambassador 4 Door Hardtop Station Wagon [Peter H. Phillips, Leonard, Texas] Buick and Oldsmobile pioneered four-door hardtops in the 1955 model year, but Rambler was first with a four-door hardtop station wagon, beginning in 1956, long before rollover crush concerns. Engine is a 270-hp 327 cubic-inch OHV V-8. Just 294 of these were built for the ’58 model year, and Rambler’s four-door hardtop wagon was dropped after 1960.

12. 1963 Porsche 901 Prototype Coupe [Don and Diane Meluzio, York, Pennsylvania] We began with racing Porsches for the 70th anniversary, so why not finish with a production prototype? Said to be the only survivor among 13 Porsche 901 prototypes, this car has a number of features that were changed for production. The manual sunroof slides forward to open, while production models featured electrically operated, rearward sliding roof panels, and the instruments are in two dashboard pods, instead of the large central tachometer with four smaller pods flanking it. Counterbalance torsion springs hold up the front trunk lid and coil springs hold up the rear engine lid, instead of the production model’s gas struts, and the interior window sill moldings are made of balsa wood. This car was used to experiment with various heating/ventilating systems, which were sealed after testing with small aluminum plates.

The post A Dozen Delightful Classics from the Concours d’Elegance of America appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk WP Feed 4 https://ift.tt/2Ox6ncx via IFTTT

[itsworn]

Car Craft’s Top 25 Picks From the 2017 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

For many attendees, the annual Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals has become a yearly pilgrimage. Filling up the Stephens convention center in Rosemont, Illinois, minutes from O’Hare Airport, people travel from literally around the globe to be here. For most of the year leading up to it, managing MCACN member Bob Ashton is out locating a few great cars to invite. Well, more than a few; a lot of really great cars.

There are no bad cars at MCACN. The best of the best originals, the best historical examples, the best modern and accurate restorations, and some of the best stories all come together. Bob made a great statement in the annual program about how our cars erase the political, religious, color lines and gender lines that fissure modern culture. As the unifier in these somewhat turbulent times, there is a level appreciation for the finished and found, the rarest and “realest”, and more. But then Ashton goes and finds area managers from every interest and discipline who get cars for every category’s subcategory.

There were many special groups of cars from 1967, 1972, Formula Firebirds, Kar-Kraft Fords. There are Saturday morning unveiling of the latest restorations just like the original new car shows used to do. There are seminars and concerts, judged awards, and special displays. This is the greatest musclecar show on the planet. Period. You need all two days, always the weekend before Thanksgiving, to see it. So hopefully you enjoy these picks, but you really should come next year. Oh, and Ashton, you owe me a pair of shoes…

Car Craft Giveaway Car: 1969 Swinger in the Barn Finds section Tom Ellie brought his find from St. Petersburg Florida in, the original 1969 “Swinger” 340 Dart GTS. Really long-time readers will recall this machine from almost 50 years ago, when staffers like Terry Cook built this thing. That it survived so intact and in its original custom paint is pretty incredible, and it would be a hard decision whether to leave it be or restore it. Back in 1969, the Dodge was given away at the NHRA World Finals in Dallas to contest-drawing winner 16-year old William Outlaw (yes, correct). His mother accepted it for him, as his father Odis was over in Vietnam at the time.

Coolest Ex Car Craft Cover Car: 1970 Hemi Challenger This real Hemi Challenger showed up on our cover back in October 2013, after it had been stored but undriven for decades. Here it is, brought back to like-new condition by restorer Ward Gappa (left). The owner, Lowell McAdam (center), was very happy to have acquired this car, which has 98% of its original sheet-metal, a completely original Hemi driveline, and excellent documentation.

Nicest Engine without a Car: Malcolm Durham ZL1 With a lot of first-gen Camaros on hand, this engine was one of the most notorious. East coast racing hero Malcom Durham, known back in the day as the “D.C. Lip,” was a prominent player in the FX, Funny Car, and early Pro Stock wars with his Strip Blazer Chevrolets. It is believed he raced a blue 1969 COPO Camaro that is now known in the hobby as ZL1 #42, and Jeff Stranak has the rebuilt engine on a stand on display.

Nicest Car Without A Body: 1953 Corvette Cutaway You want to talk about cool Corvettes, this one is an engineering sample showcasing details for the newly-released Corvette from when GM’s huge Motorama displays were happening. This is the lowest Corvette chassis number in existence, and when owner Ed Foss had it restored, a half-body was added to make it into a cutaway. Yes, it is a six-cylinder, but let’s be honest- who wouldn’t want to find this thing stashed away somewhere no matter what kind of cars you were into. And it drives, too.

Coolest Old School Racing Hero: Tom Tignanelli Some people will remember Tom Tignanelli’s Detroit-based “UFO” drag cars- mainly Funny Cars that ran in the modified division on gasoline. Collectors Clark and Collene Rand had Tom’s old 1965 altered wheelbase Plymouth on display following its fresh restoration, and Tignanelli himself also came to MCACN this year with a load of experimental parts like titanium torsion bars and stories about his work in Chrysler’s legendary “skunkworks” the Woodward Garage.

Nicest One-of-None Car: 1967 Hemi Belvedere 1 There are exceptions to every rule, and this 1967 Belvedere 1 with Hemi power certainly fits the bill. In 1967, the Hemi option for Plymouth was specifically noted to only be available in the GTX. However, it is documented that four were installed in the basic Belvedere 1 model for drag racers like Judy Lilly. This car, however, was not raced, and features 100% of its original paint, very original interior, and original Hemi driveline. Now owned by Frank Karabetsos, it was in the Vintage Certification program.

Best Collection Overall: First Gen F-bodies The choice was a given based on the 1967-1969 best-selling model. Selection was a challenge when you consider that while both the 1967-1969 Camaros and Firebirds are plentiful, choosing ones that will fit into a couple of rows of “the best” meant hard choices. In fact, most of the Z28s were in another area. So here is Bill Jenkins Indy Nationals-winning L78-powered Super Stocker, the Penske-Donohue Trans Am champion, Pete Estes’ one-off 1968 Z-28 convertible (shown), and a row of documented 427-CI supercars from Dana, Nickey, and Yenko. The Firebirds were highly-optioned Trans Ams and deluxe models, led off by Truman Fields’ notable NHRA record setter barely seen in the left foreground. The guitars were used as eye candy around several display areas.

Most Expensive Car not in Attendance A certain 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible was drawing a lot of comments from people. This picture shows a 1970 Challenger R/T Hemi convertible whose asked-for number was a big $1,795,000. They were accepting trades for other cars, but we were fresh out of prewar Bugattis…

Coolest Show Car to drive for fun-1967 Camaro SS This car had the largest accumulation of trophies at this year’s event. It is all painted up nice and shiny in bright orange and has a chromed blower sticking through the hood like some ‘80s trailer queen. Well, this thing goes when Duane Waldrop hits the loud pedal on this car, as seen by his handout. The car runs on E85, sort of like an alcohol funny car.

Best Musclecar Equalizer Event: The Pure Stock Drags This trio of monsters is part of the action when the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race happens in Michigan each summer, and they all look the part of stock street vehicles. Seen here are Steve Hodges’ 1970 4-4-2, Dan Kruger’s 1968 Hemi Charger, and Dave Hemker’s 1970 Buick Stage 1.

Biggest Muscle Wagon: 1964 Impala 409 Under restoration by Keith Curry is this 1964 Impala station wagon. While you can hot-rod these things, nothing extra is needed when it first came down the assembly line with a 425-HP 409 dual-quad engine and factory four speed driveline. Most of these things got crushed, so we are looking forward to seeing this one when its finished.

Best E-Body Shaker: The Swiss Connection The Wellborn Musclecar Museum sponsored this display of Shaker Mopars, and this restored 1971 Challenger was making its first public appearance in the USA. Ordered new by a woman from Switzerland, this is a heavily-optioned 1971 Hemi / four-speed, with a formal rear window, spoilers, and colored rubber bumpers. Despite all this, the car ended up being road raced in Europe with a front air dam and wide wheel flares. So if you think running the Matterhorn on a Ducati would be a handful, trying this with a nose-heavy Hemi machine required skill and a little madness.

Coolest team effort: Ford Drag Team display Organized by noted collector Bob Perkins, this was likely the largest group of cars from the original Ford Drag Team assembled since 1971, and certainly the largest in a show arena. Two 427 SOHC Pro Stock Mustangs, two Cobra Jets Mustangs , the rare 428 Torino that debuted and is seen here, a “Going Thing” promotional Mustang, and a tribute Torino plus Bob’s well-known glass house trailer full of rare memorabilia. Perkins is second from right here, and Torino owner Dave Steine is seen at the left.

Coolest Mustang: Shelby GT500 Paxton Supercharged Kevin and Winona Suydam had two very impressive cars to unveil, a 1968 “drag package” Yenko Camaro and this beast that most people never knew existed, the 1969 GT500KR experimental test car equipped with a Paxton supercharger. Though a handful was built in the GT350 racing era, this one bolted atop a 428 is incredible, and the paint is a legitimate special-order color. Kevin stands with the screaming yellow zonker after the unveiling cover came off on Saturday morning.

Coolest Nifty Fifties Car: 1958 Packard More supercharged cars were in the Studebaker invitational this year, following up on the blown Larks from 2016 with a group of late 1950s speedsters. One car that really drew attention was this very rare 1958 Packard Hawk, which came from the Studebaker factory that year with a McCulloch supercharger. If you are not familiar with this design, which featured EXTERIOR leather armrests, don’t feel bad; only about 900 were built. This was the last year to ever see the legendary Packard nameplate.

Coolest Mod Wife: Sharon Jones We sort of did this for fun, as a number of the ladies dress up in ‘60s fashions for the event. Sharon and her husband Ron had their deluxe 1969 Coronet 500 in the South Oak Dodge display. This car had been dragged out of a hometown field in rough shape and Ron constructed it as an OEM-looking rebuild for her, adding a Mercedes electric sunroof and a Hurst four-speed shifter through the console to the automatic trans. With a nod to hipster fashion, Sharon dressed up as part of the 1969 advertising campaign, which was likely approved by Dodge Sales VP “Crusher” Bob McCurry and his he-man crew over lunch-time martinis in late 1968. We were digging it…

Coolest Corvette for a Car Craft guy: 1965 L88 experimental This being the Muscle Car & CORVETTE Nationals, there are always exceptional ‘Vettes on display, and this was one or our favorites. Looking suspiciously like a body in white rarecar project, we learned it was just that, and for none other than legendary developer Zora Arkus-Duntov. He used this car to test big-block racing packages, including the very-first L72 427 and L88 427 extreme racing development. It had a string of first-ever notations a mile long, and was modified regularly between 1965 to 1967 when the so-called C2 Stingray models went out of production.

Best-known Celebrity Musclecar Enthusiast: Jason Line 1970 Buick GS Most people know Jason Line from the NHRA Pro Stock class, but not so many know that he has a wheels-up 1970 Buick GS he runs in Stock Eliminator. A while back, he bought a rough-but-rare real 1970 GS Stage 1 convertible and chose this event to debut it to the public after a lengthy restoration. He is seen toward the back of the group here with a big crew of his restoration guys and their better halves. Why Buicks? We know Line understands power-to-weight ratios, and 455-CI Buicks had the lightest long-blocks coming out of the OEMs in the era. That they are timeless in style doesn’t hurt, either.

Coolest AMC: 1969 Scrambler by MASCAR  The crew from Costa Mesa states they have had some unhappy Kenosha campers as word on this project came out – a real Scrambler converted seriously enough to clock 8.50 specs. Truth be told, what remained of the original car likely needed to be rebodied; it was cut on that badly. So they built a hot 401 engine, lifted the scoop a couple inches, blended the Group 1 and Group 2 paint schemes (you know what that is about, AMC dudes) in metallic paint, and bolted on a deck wing to prevent flight at 160+ MPH. The result was a head-turner even in a sea of the rarest musclecars on planet earth.

Most Valuable Available Racecar: 1965 Landy’s Dodge Mecum’s big area has been used to showcase cars for their upcoming events, especially their season opener in Kissimmee, Florida. The racecars collected by Nick Smith will be a highlight there next January, and for the first time, the restored Landy’s Dodge will be offered in public. The king of the 1965 “funny cars,” Dick Landy wheel-stood this Dodge to infamy, and this is the best survivor of the Chrysler program. Oh, you’re a Chevy guy? How about the 1963 Z11 Impala of Frank Sanders, the most original of those cars, and Fords, which were Smith’s personal favorites, will include not one but two original Gas Ronda Mustangs!

Best Survivor Oldsmobile: 1971 Cutlass Dave Belk is a pretty experienced car collector who got wind of a 1971 Olds Cutlass Supreme convertible owned by a woman 20 miles from his Iowa home base. The well-optioned car turned out to be everything hoped for, the equivalent of a 4-4-2 in classy trim with a 350/four-speed/Anti-Spin-type rear end, and less than 40,000 original miles. Carefully cared for since day one by Lonna Rea and her late husband, this silver beauty had single-family ownership until 2017. It is never modified, a cruiser not a bruiser, from the waning days of Dr. Olds performance medicine show. So Belk chose to bring it up to MCACN for Vintage Certification, where specialty judging found it scoring a Legend rating at a very high 92.5% originality.

Best Restored Oldsmobile: 1970 4-4-2 Oldsmobile This was a hard choice, as there were a lot of them here. The Olds we chose was just redone by Magnum Auto for Jeff and Joanna Stolowski, a 1971 tri-color (blue, black top, white interior) convertible with 445 cubes of W-30 under the hood and many options. Its emotional unveiling for original owner Kathy Maddison, who had owned the car with her late husband Keith from new until 2015, was a highlight for the crowd who was on hand as the restored car was revealed to the public for the first time.

Best Oddball Barn Find: Early Logghe Streamliner We will admit, we are always blown away by the stuff that shows up in Ryan Brutt’s Barn Finds and Rare Gems display. There were very cool cars in 2017, like COPO Chevys with documentation, vintage muscle trucks and even an old funny car, but one car that took everybody by surprise was this 1959-era Logghe Stamping Company streamliner. According to research still being conducted into this car’s origins, it was one of only two sports-car chassis built by the brothers for a possible road race effort that were instead pressed into drag strip duty. This may have been because Detroit Dragway was host to the NHRA Nationals in 1959 and 1960. Of course, Logghe later helped Mercury ignite the funny car revolution. Saved from a Motor City-area junkyard, Dragrace Relics LLC, owned by Clark and Collene Rand, will direct its eventual restoration.

Best Oddball Cruiser: 1967 Boss Bird Randy Birchfield built and displayed this 1967 Thunderbird, which obviously has had some upgrades. The engine is a Cobra Jet-type 428, complete with Shaker scoop. The car uses a C6 automatic, features a deck wing, and has flawless “highway star” deep purple paint. The clean execution includes custom Boss Bird lettering. Not something you see every day…

And Best Car of the Event (in you author’s opinion): 1970 RT/SE Hemi Challenger It started with that super-cool Gator-Grain roof and survivor appearance. This Challenger R/T SE with its 426 Hemi engine, four-speed transmission and 4.10 Dana rear is pretty cool, and it was highly optioned. But I needed a story, and this car had it. Original owner, the late Godfrey Qualls, was in the 82nd Airborne and bought this car after a tour of duty for Uncle Sam. He later served the city of Detroit Police as a police officer for 37 years. He ordered the N96 Shaker, and was not happy when his custom $5,272.00 factory build showed up at the dealership without it, and was further told he could not get one on a Dodge, period. So he sued the company and eventually won, getting the parts from Chrysler for the conversion. As you can see, he never put that design on. When off-duty, Officer Qualls established a noteworthy reputation as the baddest Hemi car on the east side of Detroit, parking it during the mid-1970s gasoline crisis. His son Greg and their family brought to MCACN after Bob Ashton, a native of the area, found out this ghost still existed in solid unrestored shape, with dealership plastic seat covers intact and every piece of imaginable factory paperwork. There were a sea of Shaker cars in pristine shape at this year’s event, and a lot of other very worthy cars, but a cop from Detroit with a Street Hemi whose reputation echoed to Woodward and a car that still exists today, unrestored and with his family? Yep, that’s MCACN…

Next year’s dates – November 17-18, 2018

The post Car Craft’s Top 25 Picks From the 2017 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/car-crafts-top-25-picks-2017-muscle-car-corvette-nationals/ via IFTTT

[kristivadiva]

The top two are 57 Packard Clipper Wagons,the bottom two,1958 Packard Station Wagons all Studebaker based.