Curbside Classic -

CC Capsule: 1954 Allard K2 – Proto-Cobra With World’s Most Contorted Shift Lever

– Posted on April 17, 2024

(first posted 3/31/2013. Updated 4/15/2018) Passing by the Sports Car Shop always requires a brief stop to see what’s currently on display. I’d seen this splendid Allard K2 through the garage windows for months, but when it finally made it out front I had to take a closer look. I knew that Allards had a certain cobbled-together quality, despite their handsome bodies. But when I poked my head into the passenger compartment, I almost couldn’t believe it: Prepare yourself for the world’s most contorted shift stick: Read the rest of this entry »

Curbside Classic: 1940-41 Lincoln Continental – A Creation of a Man of Taste and a Man of Talent

VinceC

– Posted on April 17, 2024

(first posted 4/17/2018) Unquestionably, Henry Ford was one of the greatest pioneers in automotive history. Henry was able to build highly successful cars for a low price; yet he didn’t have much of an eye for style. It was his son Edsel who saw the importance of automotive styling. Edsel, a man of impeccable taste and style, was able to turn around the well-engineered but stodgy Lincoln into a beautifully designed automobile after Ford took ownership from Henry Leland. After Henry’s Model T was still on the market well past its expiry date, it was Edsel’s classic Model A design that helped turn around the Ford Motor Company.

Edsel had a vision to make Ford a leader in automotive design and searched for the talent to execute his vision. He had noticed the highly talented E.T. “Bob” Gregorie, who at only 22 years old already had experience designing yachts and had briefly worked under Harley Earl at General Motors. Edsel hired him in 1931, and by 1935, when Edsel created a styling department, he named Gregorie its head.

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Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: 1959 Buick Electra – Outback Edition

Rich Baron

– Posted on April 17, 2024

Photos from the Cohort by William Oliver.

It was back in 2000 when a close friend of mine living in LA asked me: “So Ric, what SUV would you like to buy?” This after he purchased a Lexus RX300. He was ecstatic about the vehicle.

I struggled with the question then, and I struggle with it now. What SUV-CUV kind of practical tall car would I purchase? I mean for, real?

When the question comes, my mind always goes blank…

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Vintage Dealer Snapshots: The New 1957 Chevrolets Arrived! – Oct. 1956

Rich Baron

– Posted on April 17, 2024

This is a topic that has appeared fairly often at CC and I’m pretty sure it’s always welcomed. I’m talking about the introduction of new year models and the excitement their arrival used to cause back in the day. A different era when new models were the talk of the town, with their arrival providing a buzz one could feel in the air.

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Curbside Classic: 1988 Nissan Silvia (S13) Convertible – Silvia Got Roofied

Tatra87

– Posted on April 17, 2024

I assume we’re all die-hard Silviophiles here. I mean, what’s not to like about a reasonably-sized and beautifully-styled RWD 4-cyl. coupé like the S13? What’s that? You would rather have a convertible? Well, if you had the dough and you were quick enough in placing your order, Nissan’s Autech division could arrange something for you.

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COAL: Cycles Of A Lifetime – ’77 Harley-Davidson XLCR – With Apologies to Willie G.

Jose Delgadillo

– Posted on April 17, 2024

I couldn’t believe that HD would build this!

I went from a chopper to a Cafe Racer. It wasn’t that surprising since I had made a few improvements to my earlier chopper to make it more roadworthy.

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Curbside Classic: 1966 Pontiac Star Chief Executive – Executive Privilege

Jason Shafer

– Posted on April 16, 2024

(first posted 5/21/2013) If you look and listen, you can almost hear the late night television commercial:

“Hey, folks, Honest Abe here at Honest Abe’s Used Car Emporium, Tire Shop, and Pool Supplies! Boy, let me tell you, the inventory is great and the deals are hot! What kind of inventory? you ask. I got stuff here you just won’t find anywhere else for prices that you can’t beat with a billy club!

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Curbside Classic: 1966 Plymouth Valiant – Aging In Place

Eric703

– Posted on April 16, 2024

(first posted 4/16/2018) Most of the cars featured on Curbside Classic are unlikely survivors – the one-in-a-thousand cars that are still intact long after most contemporaries met their demise. One question that we can rarely answer here is just how these cars survived: What set of unique circumstances led to a 50-year-old car still hanging around? Occasionally, though, we can answer this question, such as with this 1966 Valiant I found at an estate sale.

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CC Brochure Boggle: 1986 Dodge Michigan—They Sold What, Where?!

Daniel Stern

– Posted on April 16, 2024

Originally posted 4 December 2020; rewritten 4/2024 with more and better images, and text translations

This is a still from a Japanese animated movie called Shitī Hantā (“City Hunter”). The alarmed-looking character we see here is in the back seat of a…ruh…what is that? It’s got a Pentastar and a “Michigan” badge, and it looks quite a lot like… Read the rest of this entry »

Vintage Snapshots: Volkswagen People In The ’60s & ’70s

Rich Baron

– Posted on April 16, 2024

Reality is stranger than fiction, and Volkswagen’s history certainly fits that assessment. The unlikeliest automotive powerhouse, that rose on the unexpected success of the curious and offbeat VW Beetle. The Volkswagen story is certainly a fascinating one, but nothing would be of the company without those who took to their unique products.

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CC Capsule: 1998 Tommykaira ZZ – Gone In (Almost) 60 Seconds

Tatra87

– Posted on April 16, 2024

Just a short post for this second installment of “JDM Rarities Week,” but it’s one that really took me by surprise. I assume some of you might have heard about the Tommykaira ZZ, but until I chanced upon this one on one of my regular Sunday strolls at the Jingu Gaien, I certainly had no idea this even existed.

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Curbside Musings: 1959 Ford Galaxie – On Becoming Stanley Roper

Joseph Dennis

– Posted on April 16, 2024

This past March marked the first month since August of 2012 in which I had returned to my hometown of Flint, Michigan twice. Last month was bookended by two trips, the first of which was mainly to watch a new documentary film (Remembering Flint Central) about my long-closed high school. The second trek was to participate in a celebration for a favorite, former teacher and also a significant birthday for one of my best friends, someone I’ve known since our fifth grade year at our gifted elementary school. There had been no formal party plans for my friend, who I’ll call Veronica, but that Saturday ended up being such a fun, impromptu evening with just her, her husband, and a handful of other friends, most of whom had known each other since at least the beginning of high school.

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Vintage Editorial: “Reflections from an English Country Inn” (Brock Yates, C&D 1968)

Paul Niedermeyer

– Posted on April 15, 2024

(first posted 5/23/2013, as a follow-up to yesterday’s Grosse Pointe Myopians)

This is the kind of stuff I inhaled as a fifteen year-old: Brock Yates analyzing the British Car industry, and prognosticating. It’s a bit long-winded, from a time when we weren’t bombarded with media flying at us from all directions and we craved long articles to fill the time (and brains). And of course, it’s old hat; we know how the British car industry essentially melted down and away; the few remaining remnants (except Morgan) all in the hands of foreign ownership. But if you have the time, here’s a trip back to 1968, when the British auto industry was really just beginning to face its do or die situation. (from the December 1968 issue of Car and Driver). Read the rest of this entry »

In-Motion Classic: 1970 Ford F-250 Sport Custom Camper Special – Workhorse

Joseph Dennis

– Posted on April 15, 2024

(first posted 4/11/2018) I love visiting Las Vegas as much for enjoyment of some of its many excesses as for cultural observation. It has also occurred to me that I might, in the same way, be the “observee” in the eyes of other another tourist. Though my trips there are usually for participation in an annual reunion of a group of close-knit friends who no longer all live in the greater Chicago area, I also like to take one afternoon to branch off by myself with my camera. I feel as though my sense of what constitutes the “real” Las Vegas has mostly eluded me, as most places at which my friends and I have stayed or visited are, admittedly, tourist traps.

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