This week will be dedicated to both that most British of automotive institutions, the roadster – specifically, early post-war roadsters that begat a long line of descendants. Which means we have to start the clock circa 1935, because most British cars were stuck in that era for a good couple of decades. There were notable exceptions, as we shall see, but the Morgan 4/4 isn’t one of them. In fact, it remained fiercely – some might say stubbornly – true to its pre-war roots for many decades.
(first posted at ttac in 2010 and here on 2/10/2012) Powered By Ford. There’s something special about those words, something iconic, something that evokes nightmares of an uniquely American scope, from our first family cross-country trips in a 1954 Ford that perpetually overheated and stalled from vapor lock (when it actually started) to the last one, Mother’s craptastic 1981 Escort (replaced by a Civic) that could barely do seventy wheezing unsteadily along the rain-soaked I-70 straight. Powered by Ford. It’s the peeling logo hastily slapped onto the valve covers of this five-liter Mustang II, but you won’t need to raise the hood to understand what it means. The first time this pathetic lump of an engine tries to suck air through its tiny two-barrel carburetor and wheezes its feeble exhaust through its soda-straw sized tailpipe, it will be more than crystal clear. (an explanation of my specific choice of these words follows) Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 6/17/2018) Father-son relationships can be complicated. Sons naturally want to exert their ever-growing prowess, which is a good thing when it’s channeled properly, but when it comes to telling Dad what to do, it gets tricky. Taking advice from their sons does not come easy, at least in my family.
It’s not just a matter of giving up control, but also whether it’s good and useful advice. Needless to say, we all gave my dad lots of advice, behind his back. He was especially touchy about telling him anything, because he was pretty cock-sure he knew it all better. And on a huge range of subjects that was the case, as he had an exceptional memory and was highly intelligent. But he had his blind spots, and as far as I was concerned, cars were one of his biggest ones.
We’ll pay homage today to a cherished, yet defunct, body style; the hardtop. When GM popularized the new body style, a stylish new era that everyone followed was launched.
(Update: After posting, I was informed that surviving 4-door Willys Wagons are very rare. Only 13 are counted so far, and this one would add one more to the record. This one was found in El Salvador about a month ago, and dates from time when US-built vehicles were the norm in that nation).
Most of us paying attention to old cars know of a street, yard, or home with a pile of derelict and junky cars. Depending on location, such sites can be rare or somewhat common. But the point is we all know of at least one such place.
This is a somewhat different Road Test from previous vintage ones. In practice, it is more of a long-term test rather than a typical review of the new ’66 Ford Ranchero. As Car Life’s text explains, their sample was on a long-term loan and staffers had plenty of opportunities to hop on the vehicle and try it in daily life. No mention of how long a period that was, but it was an extended one.
As such, it’s a better setup to try and test a model’s strengths and weaknesses in the real world. In the case of the ’66 Ranchero, all time well spent as the vehicle left a very good impression on those who used it.
The RoadSport was another special project I was fortunate enough to be involved in during my early years at Volvo. To set the stage a bit, we’ll first take a brief look at one of the Swedish brand’s more important new models for ’78.
Model year 1978 was notable in several respects for Volvo’s fortunes in the U.S. market. As in 1977, sales were once again on the upswing, continuing to recover after a disastrous decline in 1976, which surely pleased the home office. 1978 also saw the introduction of the chop-top 262C as well as the first 240-series variant aimed at enthusiastic drivers, the 242 GT. While its B21F four-cylinder developed the same 102-HP as a garden-variety 240 sedan (99-HP in California spec), its functional improvements included heavier stabilizer bars, gas-filled shocks, and vented front disc brakes, improving the model’s handling and performance.
(first posted 3/12/2013) There are a lot of great car museums here in the U.S., including the Studebaker Museum, in South Bend, Indiana, and the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, in Auburn, Indiana. Out on the West Coast, we have the amazing LeMay Collection and the Petersen Museum in L.A. But for Mopar mavens, there was one at the top of the list: the WPC Museum, in the heart of the Motor City. Sadly, it was closed to the public on December 31, 2012. Fortunately for you, though, we had a man in the field…
(posted at the Cohort by Staxman)
(first posted 6/13/2018) Maybe I should start a series of the cars of my Boy Scout troop leaders. The memories made riding in them on our monthly weekend camping trips certainly left an impression, especially when crammed into the little back seat of a ’65 Futura coupe exactly like this one with two other boys and two more in the front along with Mr. O’Neill on the way home after three days without a bath of any sort, sooty and smoky from burning our meals over an open fire, and hung over from way too little sleep. We were desperate to get home, clean up and sleep it off. But no.
Mr. O’Neill sees a little country Catholic church, pulls the Falcon into the lot, and makes us march in and go to mass, despite our filthiness, morally and physically. I only remember the looks of the parishioners vaguely, as I kept nodding off. And then we crammed back into the little Falcon for the endless ride home. I should hate this Falcon.
(first posted 6/15/2018) When the Volkswagen Scirocco arrived on our shores in 1975, it was a revelation: a lightweight, sharp-handling stunner that mated the practicality and efficiency of a transverse-engined, front-wheel-drive layout to a sleek, rakish design and capable suspension setup. It was unlike anything marketed by American manufacturers at the time, and though it was never a massive sales success in the United States, it sold respectably through the mid-1980s. But as that decade waned, it became clear that the Scirocco was losing ground, with sales suffocated at both ends. On one end, the rising prominence of Japanese sport coupes such as the Honda Prelude was impinging upon the Scirocco’s turf, and on the other, the similarly-performing GTI out of Volkswagen’s own stable was more than 25% cheaper, and more practical to boot. So what was Volkswagen to do? Read the rest of this entry »
Photo from the Cohort by nifticus392.
Just one shot to share today for this boattail Riviera. But it’s the view that matters most, isn’t it? A bit less pointy and slightly less boattaily than the ’71-’72s, but still a boattail for all purposes. And no need to remind ourselves of the less rakish ’73 front, right? If you like these, this is the angle to enjoy.
6 Woodfield Drive, Whippany NJ, c. 1955. Lots of Hudson/Nash vehicles.
I was fortunate to recently discover some great vintage color photos that were taken in the municipality I grew up in–Hanover Township, New Jersey. These pictures mean a lot to me, because even though I didn’t come along until the 1970s, the color images capture familiar places that still had shades of the 1950s/60s/”Wonder Years look” that I remember so well. And it now occurs to me that so much has changed in my home town since I was young–changes I never would have imagined.
I bought this car because one day it took forever to get my hair cut. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 3/11/2013) As we saw in the recent ’83 280ZX CC, the sporty Z-cars lost their way a bit from the late ’70s to the early ’80s, donning big, ugly bumpers, velour interiors and even adding a long-wheelbase 2+2 model. But by 1984, Nissan finally decided to dispose of some of the 280’s blubber and tacked-on luxuries in an effort to recapture some of the car’s roots: the original 1970 “24-ounce.” Although the new ’84 300ZX retained a nice ride and power assists, it was somewhat closer to that original, sporty model. Read the rest of this entry »
(first posted 6/14/2018) There are coincidences and there are coincidences. According to the dictionary, the word describes a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.
At top is an illustration from the brochure of the BMW Turbo. Beneath, an illustration from a document outlining the DeLorean Safety Vehicle. This is no coincidence.
