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Automotive History: Factory Four Speed Transmission Behind a Slant Six? Yup, For a Couple of Years Anyway
Posted on September 21, 2023 | 81 Comments(first posted 9/21/2017) I’ve long had a fixation on the lack of four speed transmissions being available on American compacts in the 1960s. The standard three […] -
CC Tech: 1988 Ford Mustang GT – Plastic, A Better Idea In Quarter Windows
Posted on August 17, 2023 | 39 CommentsTo me, this is a new car. My parents have owned it since 1990, and they even permitted me to drive it to school once a week when I turned […] -
Engine Prototype: The Stillborn Corvair Gen2 Modular Engine – From Two to Twelve Cylinders
Posted on June 23, 2023 | 54 Comments(first posted 6/14/2017) A ten cylinder Corvair engine installed in a FWD ’62 Impala? How’s that to get the juices of a hard-core Corvair air-head going? One of […] -
Cold Comfort: History of Automotive Air Conditioning, Part 3 – Post-World War II
Posted on June 3, 2023 | 105 Comments(first posted 6/3/2017) After seeing the explosion of the aftermarket air conditioning sales in the early 1950’s, Detroit decided to get back into the factory air conditioning business […] -
Cold Comfort: History of Automotive Air Conditioning, Part 2 – The Aftermarket
Posted on June 2, 2023 | 109 Comments(first posted 6/2/2017, updated 6/2/2023) As I detailed in Part 1 of this series, Packard, Cadillac, and Chrysler all dabbled in automotive air conditioning between 1940 and 1942. […] -
Cold Comfort: History of Automotive Air Conditioning, Part 1 – Pre-World War II
Posted on June 1, 2023 | 92 Comments(first posted 6/1/2017) I’ve never really seen a good, comprehensive history of Automotive Air Conditioning, so I decided to take it upon myself to write one, being somewhat […] -
QOTD/CC Tech – What’s The Best Way To Store A Plug-In Hybrid Car?
Posted on March 7, 2023 | 17 CommentsYes, I know that we do mostly old cars here, but I have built up a respect for the brain trust of CC readers, so maybe some of you can […] -
Vintage Car Life Tech: “Air Cooling For Cars?” – There Was One Benefit That I’d Not Considered Before
Posted on February 23, 2023 | 22 CommentsIn addition to road tests, Car Life also had a regular tech column, written by Roger Huntington, who really knew of what he said and wrote. This article, from March […] -
CC Literature: 1977 Ford Noise And Vibration Diagnosis – Never Has A Dollar Been So Useful
Posted on February 1, 2023 | 35 CommentsOn a snowy Sunday of late, my dad and I made our annual sojourn to a local Model A Restorers Club swap meet, which was unfortunately less well-attended by vendors […] -
QOTD – What Auto Safety Devices are Most Often Bypassed or Ignored?
Posted on November 25, 2022 | 129 CommentsA recent entry in JP Cavanaugh’s COAL, about his 1968 Chrysler sparked some personal memories, and some comments, about subverted automotive safety features. In JPC’s case, that trigger had to […] -
The EPA’s Charts On Efficiency, Performance, Weight and Other Metrics, 1975-2016 — Peak Malaise Was Obviously In 1982
Posted on November 7, 2022 | 54 Comments(first posted 11/7/2016) The EPA has issued its “Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2016”report). (The updated report through 2020 is here). It’s […] -
Tech History: The Perimeter Frame – Body-And-Frame, Not Body-On-Frame
Posted on November 3, 2022 | 50 CommentsFor too many years I’ve cringed when I see or hear the expression BOF (Body On Frame) as applied to American cars with perimeter frames, meaning pretty much all of […] -
CC Tech: 1973-77 GM Colonnade Chassis Design – Corner Carving through the Brougham Era
Posted on October 26, 2022 | 66 CommentsWhen one discusses American cars of the 1970s, good handling is not typically something that pops into one’s thoughts. If anything, most American cars of the 1970s have a reputation […] -
CC Tech: The Operation and Tuning of a Holley Carburetor – a Modern Twist on Old Tech
Posted on October 12, 2022 | 40 CommentsMany of us contributors and commenters lived through the era prior to electronic fuel injection. This meant that most of us have had the “pleasure” of owning and driving cars […] -
Automotive History: The Mysteries Of Automotive Epicyclic Or Planetary Overdrive Revealed – The Predecessor To Modern Overdrive
Posted on June 8, 2022 | 152 Comments(first posted 8/31/2012. Revised 6/6/2016 and 6/6/2022) Overdrive. For you younger readers, no, we’re not talking about the top gear in modern stick-shift or automatic transmissions. This is about epicyclic […]