Muscle Car Plus December/January 2022

PRO-KIT Special Edition Springs

Introducing, Eibach Special Edition performance suspension systems. Each component is carefully designed and crafted to retain the look, fit and finish of the factory equipment with the benefit of Eibach’s legendary performance technology. Engineered and tested to work perfectly with the factory electronic/standard damper systems, the PRO-KIT increases steering response and improves vehicle dynamics for a sporiter, more balanced feel. Additionally, the reduced height eliminates excessive ground clearance and fender gap giving the Corvette C8 the look it deserves.

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2022 Ford GT LM to be Last Special Edition of Current-Gen Supercar

The new 2022 Ford GT LM Edition will be the final special edition of the Ford supercar and honours the only LeMans-winning car to come out of the U.S. The carbon fibre body will feature a Liquid Silver paint finish with either a red or blue theme throughout, paying homage to the red and blue race livery of the Le Mans winning car. Owners can also choose from an exposed red or blue tinted carbon fibre that includes the front splitter, side sills, door sills, engine bay louvres, mirror stocks and rear diffuser. Custom 20-in. carbon fibre wheels with titanium lug nuts and Brembo brake calipers are also featured. Unique to the Ford GT LM is a 3D titanium-printed dual-exhaust that features a cyclonic design inside the tips. Inside features Alcantara-wrapped carbon fibre seats with a matching red or blue driver’s seat and Ebony passenger seat with accent stitching that will match the driver’s seat colour. Powering the Ford GT LM will be a twin-turbo, 660-horsepower EcoBoost engine. Only 20 of these special edition cars will be made with deliveries having started in early fall, with production set to wrap up at the end of this year.

Dodge Showcases Charger Daytona SRT Electric Muscle Car Concept at SEMA

Dodge used the recent 2022 SEMA Show to showcase the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept car that is fully battery-electric, and that Dodge says offers a peek at the future of their brand. “The SEMA Show is one of the great gatherings of the performance culture, and Dodge isn’t going to shy away as we develop the next generation of muscle car – one that just happens to be fully electric,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge brand chief executive officer – Stellantis. “Technology moves forward and the customizers and tuners move right along with it. We’re demonstrating how old-school hot-rodding will thrive in an electrified muscle-car future.” Nine possible powertrain outputs were announced by Dodge at the show with three different battery-electric power levels shown as well as two levels of Dodge Direct Connection performance upgrades for each power level. Dodge says they will take a stair-step approach to its electrified performance with 400-volt system output levels of 340 kilowatts (456 hp) and 440 kilowatts (590 hp) and an unannounced, factory-delivered, power-level 800-volt Banshee powertrain package. Direct Connection Stage 1 and Stage 2 performance upgrades use a “crystal” key that plugs into the dash. Numbers for the 800-volt Banshee will be announced at a later date.

Mecum Kissimmee Collector Car Auction

The annual migration by collector car enthusiasts to Mecum Kissimmee for the world’s largest collector car auction will continue January 4-15 with an estimated 4,000 consignments offered at auction. Among the main attractions will be a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible from The Chuck Cocoma & GTO Ram Air IV Collection that is one of seven Ram Air IV GTO Judge Convertibles produced with automatic transmission. Its extensive body-off-frame restoration garnered POCI Junior Gold in 1999 and a Senior Gold in 2000. To consign a vehicle or to register to bid, see mecum.com or call 262-275-5050.

MAG Auctions Wekopa Collector Car Auction

MAG Auctions will be hosting a Collector Car Auction event on January 27-28 at the Wekopa Casino Resort in Fort McDowell, Arizona. Over 350 classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars and rare memorabilia are expected at the event so there will be something for everyone. Tickets can be purchased at the front gate with doors opening for general admission at 9am each day. To consign your car, register to bid or to get more information, please go to www.motorsportauctiongroup. com or call us at 1-888-330-0749.

Rolling Artwork

Shaun Reitz’s 1972 Chevrolet Vega Hatchback

The youth today have no idea what terrible cars us old guys had to suffer with as youngsters. Just looking online at modern Kia’s, and they all do a zero-to-60 mph in well under 9 seconds, many 7 seconds, whereas in 1975, Road & Track road tested a Chevy Vega GT and it took 15.8 seconds to reach 60 mph. You could film two TikTok dance videos in that time!

And not only were the cars from the ‘70s slow, but they were also rusty after a couple of years and they almost never had power windows and forget about air conditioning. But the Vegas had a special feature; they had engines that wore out

Story and photos

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very prematurely, so there were so many left for sale cheap, that they just begged to have small-block Chevys stuffed into them.

The Vega was General Motors’ attempt to build a small car to compete with VW Beetles and Japanese cars. The Vega failed so badly, it harmed General Motors for decades to come. The car won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award, Car and Driver named it the best economy sedan three years in a row, the car became a legend, but not for any good reasons. Popular Mechanics referred to the Vega as the car that nearly destroyed GM!

Cam Hutchins

A new compact car was so important to GM, it was designed by GM Corporate and then handed to Chevy to build and sell. Prior to this, the five major GM divisions - Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac - were all building and designing their own cars, sharing very little. GM wanted the car to be cheap. Really cheap, VW Beetle cheap, cheaper than Ford’s Pinto. When your bar is the Pinto, you are doomed to fail, and fail the Vega did, in spades.

A new sleeveless aluminum engine was designed. It failed. Some quipped that when you saw a Vega on the road that was not pumping smoke out of the tail pipe, it was either broken down or being towed. A new multi-coat rust proofing was designed, but air pockets kept parts of the underside and internals of the body completely free of rust-fighting coatings.

To fight costs, a new railcar was built to ship not 18 cars for each train car, but the Verti Pack train cars could ship 30 cars per train car, by positioning the cars straight up and down. Special tanks had to be designed so the cars would not drain their fluids when standing on their nose, but GM saved 40 percent in shipping.

The cars sold well because they were economical to drive compared to the land barges of the day. But it has been written that by the end of 1972, almost all the Vegas sold had safety flaws. Almost two million Vegas were built in the few years of production, and in reality the only ones you see left on the roads today are at car shows with V8s stuffed in them.

Finally, someone found a cure for the crappy motors, a V8, and coincidentally this stopped the rust as now the cars were never driven in the rain or slush and stayed in garages when not racing or at car shows. This is the tale of one such car.

Shaun Reitz was just a child when his parents brought home a new Vega Wagon. The car had just 60,000 miles when the engine grenaded itself and the car was pushed to the side of the yard for the blackberries to claim it. Although there was a perfectly good Vega sitting becoming “Yard Art,” it was left alone while Reitz’s dad John was building Hot Rods, hot Camaros and stuffing V8s into a few Vegas. Shaun was very interested in what his Dad was doing and loved helping out as best he could.

When Shaun was 12, he was told the “blowed up” Vega in the bushes was his! His Dad helped him remove it from the bush, clean off the moss and algae and stuff a V8 into the little car. His dad also helped him paint the car. Shaun drove it to High School and while in Grade 11 had someone put tubs and a roll cage into it, because he did not know how to weld back then. His dad is the reason Shaun loved cars and Hot Rods so much, and learned what he could from his

dad who was very talented on the mechanical and electrical side of building hot cars. This is probably why Shaun took up fabrication, so he could take his car building to another level, and between Father and Son they can build anything!

Shaun also was driving either his ‘67 Chevy II, an ‘81 Malibu, a ‘39 Chevy Sedan, or a ‘74 Pontiac GTO, the Ventura-based one. The Vega would always be there but eventually it became a race car, and for Shaun to keep up, he went to trade school to be a welderfabricator so he could do the almost constant changes and repairs he wanted for his Vega. He even had a chopped and lowered 1984 Shortbox Chevy pickup to trailer the car to the races.

Quite a while ago, he sold his original Vega Mom and Dad had given him and that he had built five times, over the years. All sorts of engines and paint jobs, and lots of racing. It went through various stages, mostly all-out race car, but still street legal, almost. You would not be able to take it through a drive-thru, go shopping at Costco or work as a “Skip the Dishes” driver! The car always had nice paint and interior and wheels...for a race car!

The fellow who bought it loved it and his cousin asked Shaun if he could build him one out of his own Vega Hatchback that he had started to build. Shaun figured he could take all the skills he had learned from his first Vega and build a really great car for the guy. The project outlasted the fellow’s love for a Vega and Shaun took over the build for himself, but other projects kept getting in the way, and the Vega just sat in the corner of his shop.

Shaun and his wife Crystal were hanging out in the shop, and they were looking at the Vega, and thinking about what should happen to it. It was 2017 and the big Turbo LS craze was sweeping the car world. Hell, even old 5.0 Mustangs were getting LS swaps! But Shaun thought, why not avoid the craze and build the type of car that everyone loved back in the day. Nothing too fancy, no blower or nitrous, just a big stomping cam and a roll cage to keep the whole thing together.

In a very short period of time, Shaun and his dad took a car that came to them in primer, and built the car you see here. Although Shaun says, “the body was pretty good, except the engine bay and floor, that all had to be fixed.” Only a welder/fabricator could say a car had a good body when it has no floor! The body now is mostly unibody with a rear frame and with new welded floors, designed, fabricated and welded by Reitz Custom Fabrication.

The only body mods were to push the firewall back six inches, a four-inch Cowl Induction hood scoop re-shaped and grafted onto the stock steel hood, and rear valance cut to accept exhaust tips, but everything else is original looking. All this work was done by Shaun’s company, Reitz Custom Fabrication. The dash is in its stock place, but the seats and steering wheel are pushed back. A new passenger-side front fender was required; no 1972 fenders were available, so the ‘72 side marker light had to be grafted into a later fender.

The back frame is made from 2x3 tubing and tied into the front unibody, and it is all strengthened by a 14-point roll cage attached to the 2x3 frame and the front unibody. The car features a custom tubular, exposed transmission tunnel and driveshaft loops, with sheet metal on the underside of the tunnel wrapped in carbon fibre.

The back of the car features massive tubs and a narrowed 12-bolt posi with 4.56 gears and ladder bars with a wishbone track locator and double adjustable QA-1 coilovers. The diff did come with the car. The front has a “stockish” Vega front suspension with all new bushings and powder coated black, but with custom brackets for the Boss air ride system on the front suspension. Four-wheel Wilwood discs and master cylinder stop the beast.

It is running a GM Goodwrench 350 block, bored .030 over (355 cubic inch) with Performance World CNC-machined heads, with 67cc chamber, machined for larger springs. The mill runs a Crower Roller Cam with a massive 650 lift, Crower roller lifters, Manley Titanium pushrods, Crane stud girdles and Crane 1.5 roller rockers. The Skat H-Beam Rods connect the Icon 11:1 forged pistons to a GM Steel crank with a compression ratio of 11 to 1.

The Small Block Chevy is topped off with an aluminum Edelbrock Victor Junior and Holley 830 annular discharge carb and Edelbrock air cleaner. The carb has been with Shaun since 1994 when he bought it from Burnaby Auto Parts and was used on his old Vega. To dress up the engine a bit, there is an aluminum water pump, aluminum Tall Valve covers, aluminum timing chain cover, and serpentine pulleys. All this works out to a beefy 496 horsepower at the crank and 476 lb-ft of torque. At 7,300 rpm!

The 1 3/4-inch headers are custom-built by Shaun, along with 2 1/2-inch exhaust, and it is all ceramiccoated black. The spark is handled by a Performance World billet distributor, an MSD 6AL electronic ignition and 8mm MSD spark plug leads. The whole car is wired with a Speedway Motors wiring harness.

He runs a GM Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission with shift kit and 5,500-stall Pro West torque converter. The transmission was built by Steve at Hot Rods Restos. Rod from Hot Rods Restos donated the TCS Outlaw Shifter.

The interior is all custom-built with the dash covered in leather, and the dash face and transmission tunnel are covered in a carbon fibre wrap. There is a polished aluminum tilt steering column, Bosch gauges, Autometer digital tach, and very trick LED under-dash courtesy lights. The PW seats have PW five-point harnesses, and the Grant steering wheel came from Mopac. They have the white French stitching so the rest of the vinyl interior is also stitched to match the seats. The floor is covered in black carpet and the ceiling has the old headliner removed and a new microsuede liner is applied directly to the interior roof without a dome light. The engine and exhaust make a sound system redundant, but there is a USB charging port.

Shaun did most of the bodywork with it being perfected and sprayed by Larry Shannon. The paint was picked after his painter gave him a whole bunch of paint swatches to look over. The three colours of Sherwin Williams Base Clear that were chosen were all Mazda colours. The body pinstripe, frame and rollbar are in a great deep red colour, called Morello Pearl. The top of the car is Carbon Metallic and the under side is Cosmic Grey pearl. Since the outside is painted to look like a shark, it is not a big leap to think that Shaun and his wife were watching a show on sharks while picking the paint colours.

A few parts came from E-bay and friends and swap meets because parts for Vegas are very hard to find. E-bay was the source of a new driver’s side headlight rim and a new grille. The tires, 24x5x15 Mickey Thompson Sportsmen S/R tires on the front and 28x12x15 Mickey Thompson Sportsmen S/R tires on the rear, were also donated by Rod Neilsen from Hot Rods Restos. The rear wheels came with the car and they are 15x10 E.T. Turbine wheels, with 15x4 Rocket Launcher wheels on the front.

The car was finished in 2019 and the problem is, Shaun now wants to build a Willys. Without racing, driving seems boring. So, a 1940 Willys will soon go under the torch for some corrective surgery! With a torch in his hand, Shaun is a very versatile artist; his art makes music with his tailpipes and tires, and after he finishes building a car, they look better than any painting or sculpture in any museum in Europe. So move over “Mona Lisa,” a little bit of rolling artwork Vega just made you its bitch!

Retro and Modern

Story and photos by Dan Heyman

Ahhh, the Ford Mustang. When it comes to all-time classic funto-drive cars, you could do a heck of a lot worse. The looks, the power, the prestige and history, the Silver Screen car chases; it never gets old.

Except, it does and now there’s a new one coming. This isn’t one of those, but with ’22 being close to the end of the line for the Mustang

as we know it, we thought it’d be a good time to take one out and see just how much life it has left.

When it comes to styling, the Mustang starts out as a great mix of retro and modern, and especially in my tester’s eye-catching (or should that be “eye-grabbing”?) Grabber Blue hue, it’s got a proper muscle car vibe going on. The “eagle eye” headlamps – added for the 2018 model year – are a perfect fit for the Mustang ethos. I do have to say, however, that the 19-inch wheels do look a little pedestrian here. I think I would have liked something bigger (20s are an option), perhaps finished in something other than the rental-spec nickel-plated aluminum seen here.

Inside, meanwhile, you’ve got all the telltale Mustang stuff like deeply recessed gauges – which are actually on a single digital display that can be modified to look like a classic two-gauge set-up, or a modern affair that has the tach wrapping around half of the instrument cluster – gauge roundels atop the centre stack, proper mechanical handbrake and threespoke steering wheel. There’s also quite a helping of plastic, but that is kind of all part of the muscle car ethos and doesn’t bother me all that much.

What has my nose a little more out of joint is actually what’s been done to move away from the classic and into the modern; there are far too many buttons attached to the wheel – for your cruise,

2022 Ford Mustang GT Convertible

your Mustang-specific drive settings, your audio controls, your navigation buttons – that takes away from that great classic three-spoke look. Not to mention that the one button you’d think you’d want on the wheel – that for the steering wheel heater – isn’t there, but accessed via the central infotainment display, even though the seat heaters get traditional “hard” buttons.

I do love the seats, though; they look nice and low-profile but are still well-cushioned and supportive in all the right places. They sit more comfortable than they look, that’s for sure, although the rear seats remain fairly vestigial, even if they do have child seat anchors.

I’m also a fan of Ford’s SYNC infotainment system; the Mustang doesn’t get the newest version of the tech – few models in the line-up do for now – but its SYNC3 system remains intuitive, with nicely-positioned buttons and menus. There’s also support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Any audio you play through said systems runs through a 12-speaker B&O sound system on my tester; that’s a $1,000 upcharge but it does provide crisp, clear sound and even though I love the sound of a V8 as much as the next muscle car person, I don’t say no to good audio, even at the $1,000 level seen here.

The way the semi-power folding soft top works is also a nice mix of the old and new; you start the process by cranking on a nice, chunky-feeling release lever and then the electric motors do the rest, with the whole affair taking about

15 seconds to complete. The only thing is that having to reach up to tuck away the release lever as the roof is deploying can be a bit awkward.

You’ll probably want to spend most of your time with the top down, though – it is a convertible, after all, and if you’re not going to be dropping the top, what’s the point, really? Even if the Mustang looks

much better with its top in place than the Camaro does, although that’s not saying all that much.

With top-down motoring, you get the great wind in your hair, sun on your scalp (sunscreen- don’t forget the sunscreen) and better still, you really get to hear the yowl of that great Coyote V8 just ahead of you. Even though the auto doesn’t rev as freely as the manual does, there’s still plenty of burble and pop from the powertrain to keep you and your ears happy. Though you can adjust the exhaust note to four levels, if you don’t want to wake the neighbours.

My tester came equipped with a the six-speed manual option, and it is really rather good. As many times as I’ve driven the Mustangs and in as many levels of spec, I’m always surprised just how much this ‘box feels like something from a smaller sports car like an MX-5 or Boxster. It’s snicketysnick good, the throw is right on and clutch take-up, while just a titch on the long side, is easily controlled.

Acceleration is, of course, very brisk as you move through the gears; there’s no forced induction here, so power gets sent to the rear wheels with little hesitation and the meaty Goodyear Eagle

F1 rubber gets the power to the road in a confidence-inspiring way. Then, said rubber does well to help keep things copacetic as you wind this ‘Stang through the twisties, even if the steering could be a little more responsive. That’s an issue not really helped by the added weight the convertible has over the fastback coupe, which amounts to just over 80 kilograms. Of course, if you are beheading your Mustang and opting for the auto transmission, chances are you aren’t going to be too bothered if you aren’t setting the top lap time at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Indeed, you’ll likely be more concerned that you have a comfortable ride and enough power to perform the everyday tasks every vehicle needs to do well. With the Mustang, the good news is that in addition to those seats, the ride does well to meter out most bumps and the chassis doesn’t feel quite as squishy as convertibles sometimes do. The addition of the $2,500 MagneRide adaptive dampers on my tester is a huge help in this regard, both in terms of reducing the bumps and bangs, but also keeping the ‘Stang tracking true through bends. Add the ultra-responsive and grippy Brembo brakes and what you have here is a proper performance drop-top.

Here’s the thing, though. I say “performance drop top”, but I do wonder if that’s really what one would be opting for when it comes to the Mustang Convertible. Convertibles as a rule are about the quality of life they provide, the thrill of the wind through your hair and all that. Which you get without having to add all those performance bits – the 3.73 rear axle, the MagneRide, spoiler delete, more – my tester’s Performance Pack provides. There’s a Mustang coupe for that, and it’s less expensive. Drop the top, keep the V8, keep that noisy exhaust and keep the colour but save yourself almost 10 grand by skipping the performance package and dampers. Now we’re talkin’.

Second Coming 1956 Mercury Medalist

Collectors often talk about the cars they “let go” years ago. At least one of them--Bob Buchman, of Hortonville, Wis.—opted to go back and recreate the Niagara Blue ‘56 Mercury Medalist two-door hardtop that he’d let go years earlier. He’d scrapped the car’s body in the mid-‘60s, but only after he pulled the engine and transmission out of it because they were very special.

The car had been fitted with an optional M 260 engine kit that wasn’t released until Jan. 20, 1956. The kit contained 29 parts or groups of parts that were designed for dealer installation. The M 260 hardware converted the regular 312cid 225-hp engine into a 235-hp engine.

In a March 19, 1956 letter, a Mercury service department manager in Los Angeles named R.E. Sutherland said the new engine option would be announced on April 19, 1956. While not specifically promoted as a Ford or Mercury racing option, that’s exactly what the M 260 kit was.

Bob Buchman’s relationship with the M 260 actually began in 1963, when he bought a 1955 Ford four-door model to drive to Florida. That’s where he was stationed as a United States Air Force airman. In those days, many military personnel practiced the sport of drag racing.

Buchman always enjoyed driving fast and having powerful cars. In fact, he got picked up for

Story and photos by John Gunnell

The deep-dish steering wheel was part of FoMoCo’s mid-‘50s safety package.

Here’s the car Jim found for Bob before the restoration work was done on it.

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speeding in Kentucky on his way to Florida. It happened in one of those small-town speed traps. “I just gave the cop $25 and he never asked to see my driver’s license,” Bob admitted to Muscle Car Plus. “That was a good break for me, since I didn’t have a driver’s license then.”

Bob got to Florida and found that drag racing was very popular there at that time. “Everyone was doing it then,” Buchman remembers. “A guy who had a ’56 Mercury hardtop wanted to race me. He and I actually wound up trading the bodies of our cars. So, I kept the drive train. I stored the engine in my foot locker and rebuilt it right there in the Panama City barracks.”

One day Buchman was listening to a buy-and-sell program on the radio and someone came on with some car parts to sell. They included a dual fourbarrel carb intake manifold and finned aluminum valve covers. The selling price was just $25, so Bob bought those parts, too.

Buchman ported and polished the engine’s cylinder heads and rebuilt the Holley four-barrel carburetors. Then, he went drag racing. He ran at strips in Florida, Georgia and Alabama and did quite well. Bob was close to his Air Force discharge date and a buddy asked him what he was going to do with the car. “I’ll probably give it to my younger brother Jim,” he answered.

So, Jim Buchman got the car. He was in high school at the time. Jim cruised around in the Mercury and, once in a while, did a little street racing with it, too. He dated his future wife, Vicki, in the

Dual exhausts hint at the M 260 kit’s prowess.

Ford-powered Mercury. When he lost his driver’s license, Vicki had to drive it and actually learned how to drive a stick shift car that way. Eventually, the body got rusty. That’s when Bob pulled the drive train out and took the body to the scrapyard.

“I saved the engine and transmission and the rest of it went bye-bye,” Bob laughed. A few years after that, Jim called Bob up to tell him he’d found a Niagara Blue ’56 Mercury Medalist two-door hardtop for sale in Minnesota. Ironically, the car had no engine or transmission in it. “If you don’t buy it, I will,” Jim Buchman warned Bob. So, big brother Bob laid out $5,000 for the car.

The Minnesota Merc was no mint-condition example, but it could certainly be built to resemble the original Medalist that Bob and Jim drove. The car had an automatic transmission, however, so Jim and

Bob went to North Carolina and bought a stick-shift parts car. They needed the steering column and other parts made exclusively for stick-shift cars.

Getting the car they needed to make a clone of the first Merc meant a lot to the brothers. “To me, it brought back good memories,” Bob explained. “I had a lot of fun with that car in Florida.” For Jim, it was the car he’d dated Vicki in and it had been a fun ride for him, too.

In the old days, Bob didn’t bracket race the old Merc. He actually ran it in G & H stock classes. He says he raced head-to-head against 421-powered Pontiacs and did fairly well. “The Ponchos had more power,” Bob admitted. “But they were also heavier cars.”

The engine in Bob’s car was actually a 292 with a 312 crankshaft. It had ‘57 cylinder heads, which had larger intake valves. The exhaust

The engine is even hotter today than it was in the 1960s.

The car was stripped down to the frame and rebuilt in Bob’s home shop.

Bob made his own rotisserie.

valves came from a 368 Lincoln V8 and were bigger yet. By milling the cylinder heads, Bob took the compression ratio up to 11.0:1. The twin Holley four-barrels helped with the go-power, too. Bob actually bought an Isky cam for $25 at a Sears Roebuck store. (Who remembers when Sears stores had big auto parts departments?)

Bob Buchman says he learned many Ford performance tricks when he was in the service and a bunch of them came from a fellow airman who drag raced a ’57 Chevy. “He was from Ohio and he always told me what Ford guys did to their cars,” Bob explained. “This man even built me a transistor ignition system from scrap parts that he scrounged up from airplanes.”

Bob’s first Mercury had a top speed of about 120 mph. He remembers that it turned 100 mph in the quarter mile. “My brother Jim bet

one guy he could do 70 mph in second gear,” Bob laughed. “He did it, but he never told the guy he was in overdrive.” Bob says the 292 was never a high-revving engine, but he managed to get 6500 rpm out of his with the tricks he learned.

Bob Buchman spent about six years doing a complete restoration of the Minnesota Medalist. He has photos of the entire job from mounting it in a homemade rotisserie to the day his son sprayed new Niagara Blue paint on the body. “It was a lot of work to put together this second coming of the Mercury,” he emphasizes. “But, it was definitely worth doing it.”

Profile view shows off the Medalist model’s distinctive side trim.

Mercury styling touches were a bit upscale from its Ford cousin’s.

Bob had the M 260 valve cover emblems specially made.

Carnuts to Carmel

My first trip to Carmel for Car Week was in 1983 when my parents took my younger brother Jeff and myself to the historic races at Laguna Seca. Back then, the Big Block Cobras only raced on Sunday so we gave up the chance to see the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in favour of seeing 427 Cobras and GT-40s battle it out on the fabled Corkscrew turn up at the top of the track.

For the next four years, I drove down Banzai-style at a maximum speed of 55 mph or 90 km/h, to go to the races and camp on the track. I went in 1990 with my wife when Allard was the featured marque and one of

Canadian Content at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

my High School teachers, Mr. Carlson, was there racing his Allard. I got invited by John Carlson to go to the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours d Elegance to cover it for the National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada and also cover the Historic Races for Patrick Stewart’s Magazine “Western Driver”.

The road trips started up again with my family tagging along in 2010 and I have been lucky enough to continue doing it to this day. A lot has changed since then and the Concours does not have to compete with my love of the races, as you can see the cars race and qualify from Wednesday to Saturday and then Sunday they do a hill climb up to the Corkscrew. Although previously I often would get up at 4am to head to Pebble Beach and then leave at 11am to head back to the track to shoot the Sunday races.

What has not changed is my love of road trips. This year I convinced Loren Cocking, who had previously competed in the Peking to Paris Rally with Jenny Mah, to share the driving, and help me with interviews of many of the cool Carnuts we would meet. I dubbed our trip the “Carnuts to Carmel” with t-shirts designed with a knockoff of the Peking to Paris logo and a map of the original race layout when they raced near Pebble Beach on the fabled 17 Mile Drive.

Loren will tell you how tough the Peking to Paris rally was, but my plans were to wear him out completely with car event after car event for a solid week. We left Sunday and drove through the night to get to the California Car Museum at Sacramento, Monday morning. We then drove through traffic to Carmel and camped there just blocks away from the gated

Story and photos by Cam Hutchins

1957 Ghia Chrysler Superdart. A team effort between Chrysler’s star de-

Virgil Exner and Ghia of Turin, shown at the 1957 Turin Auto Show.

17 Mile Drive. The campsite, a jewel in Carmel, is located close enough to the military base, so we had bugles waking us up.

We drove straight up to Canepa Motorsports for their Open House. Bruce Canepa’s business prepares many race cars for owners who want to race vintage cars but in no way have the ability to maintain a high-powered very valuable Vintage race car. Many were only built to last one season....not decades of racing. Canepa Motorsports also sells high-end cars, has a museum upstairs with amazing cars, some missing as they are at the track, and has a huge restoration and maintenance facility. For one week a year you are welcome to walk through the shop and get close to the best of the best in the car world. We stood next to an original flat 12 bare block from a Porsche 917.

During “Car Week” in Carmel, there are almost 30 car events. On top of what I have already mentioned, we went to Retro Auto, Concorso Italiano, Coffee and Cars, Broad Arrow auctions, Concours du Lemons, RM Auction, Gooding Auction Preview, The Little Car Show, Classic Motorsports Kick-off Car Show and Cruise, and by camping on the track, we saw four days of racing. The rest of the week was similar with getting up early and seeing killer cars, but Sunday morning is the epitome of a Carnut doing Carnutty things. We got up at 4am and stealthily took apart our tent and drove from our campsite at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, to the mayhem awaiting us trying to park at Pebble Beach.

Each year, a few classes of cars are featured at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Sometimes, the fabled front row by the ocean is split between two featured car classes or types. Sometimes Coachbuilders, sometimes Marques. This year the oceanside row featured Lincolns and the cars that raced at the fabled 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2022 was the 100th anniversary of the first running of Le Mans, and Le Mans is very prominent as the movie Ford V. Ferrari is still fresh in many Carnuts’ minds.

The actual winning cars from 1966 and 1967 were there, the 1966 Ford GT40 P/1046 Mk II driven by Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren, and Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt’s 1967 Ford GT40 J-5 Mk IV. The two Cadillacs that American playboy millionaire (before the magazine Playboy had been invented) Briggs Cunningham campaigned were there. Both were based on 1950 Series 61 Cadillacs, one as a Stock-bodied racecar and one as a highly modified Streamlined roadster. The French officials and press dubbed the streamlined car “The Monster” or “Le Monstre” and the stock bodied car, “Petit Pataud” or “Little Clumsy One” in English.

My two favourite Jaguars were there, the C-type and D-type. The 1953 Jaguar lightweight C-type won Le Mans outright in 1953, the first time the average speed was set at 100 mph. The D-type Jaguar was built in 1955 but won Le Mans in 1956. “Old Number 2” the 1930 Bentley Speed Six Vanden Plas tourer had come in second in the 1930 Le Mans, finishing right behind its sister car, “Old Number 1”.

Another car shown for the first time at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance after being lost for 80 years is the 1937 BMW 328 NSKK. A recent “forensic” restoration by its current owner showed the glory of this car, that was part of a three-car team that placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in their class at both the “Mille Miglia type” replacement race held in Libya, and Le Mans in 1937.

We arrived on the Show grounds at Pebble Beach and took our place to watch the most amazing cars in the world drive onto the 18th Fairway of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The very cool thing about this year’s 71st running of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, was the number of Canadians that participate as owners and restorers. RX Autoworks again was on hand with an amazing 1955 Maserati A6GCS Frua Spyder that they had just finished up a full restoration on. Rob Fram from RX got to drive the car in the Tour d’Elegance on the Thursday prior to the show weekend. The cars from the Concours drive part ways down the

1967 Ford GT0 J-5 Mk IV Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt won Le Mans in this car, now owned by the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon won Le Mans in 1966 with this Ford GT0 P/106 Mk II. The next year the car crashed at the 2 Hours of Daytona at the hands of Lloyd Ruby, never to race again, except at Historic races.

197 BMW 28 NSKK on the fabled “Beach Row.”

1955 Maserati A6GCS Frua Spyder.

coast of California south of Carmel and they gain extra points in case of a tie in the judging. This is one of the highlights of the week!

The other cars I found as significant “Canadian Content” were either restored by Canadians, or owned by Canadians. Or picked because, for whatever reason, the owners chose to include in the “Car Guide” that informs guests about the cars, that they were driven or tested in Canada, as is the case with the Ford GT designed to take on Le Mans in 2016.

In no particular order, I will start with one of the most significant cars that any Carnut can come across and try not to drool. The very first Shelby AC Cobra has been seen many times and was actually in the Shelby Museum at Las Vegas, but maybe a more important Cobra is the 1963 Shelby Cobra Team Race Car, owned and restored by Peter Klutt of Legendary Motorcar Company Ltd, Halton Hills, Ontario. The car was recently finished and a real treat was for Rich MacDonald, the son of legendary Shelby driver Dave MacDonald, to see the car restored, for the first time, at Pebble Beach.

According to the “Field or Car Guide” provided by the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, “this 1963 Factory Team Shelby Cobra (CSX2026) was built at Shelby to full competition specifications. It was

Another truly significant Canadian car was John Dart’s 1929 Duesenberg J LeBaron Dual Cowl Phaeton, now owned by Tony & Jonna Ficco, Wheatridge, Colorado. Only three Duesenbergs were sold new in Canada. I remember seeing this car for the first time at the Steamworks Concours d’Elegance in Gastown, Vancouver in the early 2000’s. This car has only had six owners since new, not counting dealers or brokers.

It was originally bought for the son of a gold mining millionaire for $18,000 in 1930 as his wedding present. Then it went to Billy Van Horne, who was the grandson of William Cornelius Van Horne, the driving force behind the first cross-Canada railway. Upon Billy Van Horne’s death it was acquired by Professor Raymond Boyer, who was

first raced by Dave MacDonald at Riverside in 1963 and it won. This is the first Cobra ever to win a race, the first Cobra to win an SCCA championship, in 1963, and the first Cobra to win a USRRC race overall, which helped secure the championship in 1963. In total, CSX2026 won eleven races during 1963 and 1964.”

“It was housed for a while at the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, Colorado, and the current owner has restored the car back to its exact original specifications as it appeared on the track in Riverside.”

eventually charged with being a spy. Being a professor of chemistry at McGill University, he had worked on a super-explosive known as “R.D.X.”. When he was convicted of espionage, he gave the car to his son, Major Guy Boyer, who drove it for six years before selling it to Captain John Dart.

Dart was a millionaire miner, an heir, a Professor, a Major and a Captain, not wanting to reduce the provenance of this amazing car to an episode of Gilligan’s Island, but facts are facts. Captain Dart grew up not far from the Duesenberg factory, and finally was able to buy the car he had been dreaming of since he was a child. He bought the car in 1951 for $1,000, but the car had some body damage and a restoration was needed. But he did not know it would take 50 years!

The car retains its original chassis, engine, and coachwork and the final restoration was done by Sherry Classic Autos of Ontario. Its first American owners acquired the car in 2008. Tony & Jonna Ficco drive and show the car regularly and this is the second time at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Not a miner or a professor, but it was a Canadian burlesque dancer who owned a 1935 Lincoln K Brunn

Non-Collapsible Cabriolet. Only 13

This photo includes the flamed Tom McMullen Roadster, now owned by the owner of Mecum Auctions, and the green car, the Ray Brown Roadster, from the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles.

The first Cobra Team Race car to win a race and driven by Shelby Driver Dave MacDonald, now freshly restored.

Owned by a gold miner’s son, a Major, a Professor and then Captain John Dart of Ladner BC, who this Dusenberg for more than 50 years before it was sold at auction in 2008 for over $1.6 million USD.

The 195 Lincoln K Brunn Non-Collapsible Cabriolet once owned by a Canadian burlesque dancer was found in a barn in Ontario in the late ‘60s.

were built and one was delivered new to the President of the Philippines, but only three are thought to exist today. This car’s history is unknown until its ownership by the Canadian burlesque dancer/actress and its subsequent discovery in a Pembroke, Ontario barn. Now owned by Nicholas & Shelley Schorsch, of Newport, Rhode Island.

Also not their first time at Pebble Beach was David Cohen of Vancouver, BC with his 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Graber Roadster, which was in the special class for Graber-bodied cars. Cohen’s Bugatti is thought to be the first Type 57 chassis bodied by the Swiss Coachbuilder Graber.

Graber had built bodies for many of the world’s best car makers including in alphabetical order Alvis, Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Duesenberg, Lagonda, Packard, and Rolls-Royce. Producing an estimated 800 coachbuilds, Graber was a feature marque at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The winning car of the event was not a Graber-bodied car, but a stunning 1932 Duesenberg J Figoni Sports Torpedo. To be fair, everyone who saw the Figoni Duesy commented this is going to be the winner.

The oldest “Canadian Content” this year was the 1908 ALCO 60 HP Touring owned by Brad Balun of Oshawa, Ontario. The only one still existing, it has a 60-horsepower T-head six-cylinder engine with a four-speed transmission and chain-driven rear axle. ALCO’s were built by the American Locomotive Company, and one with an identical chassis to this car won the Vanderbilt Cup, in 1909 and 1910. According to the “field guide”, the leather, lamps, instruments, and upholstery are all original.

Originally owned by a Canadian is the 1952 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupe, now owned by David Martin, of Santa Monica, California. One of only 100 DB2 Drophead Coupes and 10 left-hand drive models,

The 1949 Lancia Aprilia Ghia Supergioiello Coupe owned by Nigel Churcher of Toronto, Ontario, had originally started its life a show car when brand new and on the stand at the 1949 Geneva Auto Show. The name of the model of this car, the Supergioiello, is Italian for “Super Jewel”, and the coach builder Carrozzeria Ghia produced three cars on three different chassis – an Alfa Romeo 2500 chassis, a Ferrari chassis and this Lancia Aprilia chassis.

The 1938 Steyr 220 Glaser Roadster is one of only six 220’s to wear the coachworks from Dresden-based coachbuilder Glaser. It was an Austrian-built car and the company is now partners with the Canadian company, Magna International as the subsidiary Magna Steyr, a contractor building cars for Daimler, BMW and Tata Motors. This car also was featured at the 2014 Crescent Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The last of the Canadian Content is definitely not the least important car, but with a small part of being Canadian. The 2016 Ford GT Multimatic Coupe was tested first on a Canadian track and played an important

it was sold new to Herbert Turner Matson of Victoria, BC who was a newspaper publisher. It has been restored to its original paint colour and interior and sports a vintage BC licence plate.

Next year’s 72nd Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will be held on August 20, 2023, but make sure you are there Thursday August 17th for the Tour d’Elegance, August 16th for Canepa’s Open House and August 15th at the California Auto Museum….I forgot, the weekend before Pebble Beach there is a pre-reunion at the race track, so maybe next year, head down to the Bonneville Salt Flats a week-and-a-half early for Speed Week. See the 75th year that Speed Week has run at the Bonneville Salt Flats, August 5th to 11th, then drive to Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and camp on the track for the Pre-Reunion, August 12th and 13th, then do all the car events of Car Week before the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

role in Ford winning the GT class at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. This car was an early test car to make sure Ford would be competitive at Le Mans. From its first test on track to the Le Mans race was only 395 days. It is now painted in the same livery as the winning car and used by Ford for promotional events.

A truly epic Carnut Odyssey!

Owned by Vancouver’s David Cohen for almost two decades and is believed to be the first Bugatti Type 57 bodied by Graber of Switzerland.

Built by Ford and Multimatic in just over a year to compete at the 2016 2 Hours of Le Mans in the GT Class.

A 1952 Aston Martin DB2 Drophead Coupe sold new in Victoria BC and one of only 10 built as left-hand drive.

Owned by Peter Boyle of Covington Ohio, this 198 Steyr 220 Glaser-bodied roadster was seen at the 201 Crescent Beach Concours d’Elegance in Surrey, BC.

More Power

A close look at the ’65 Vette

F or 1965, the Chevrolet Corvette had slightly changed styling. There were three functional, slanting louvers on the sides of the front fenders; a blacked-out horizontal-bars grille and different rocker panel mouldings. A restyled hood without indentations was standard, but Corvettes fitted with an optional new 396-cid “big-block” V8 used a special hood with a funnel-shaped “power blister” air scoop.

Inside the ‘Vette, the instruments were changed to a flat-dial, straight-needle design that reflected an aircraft-type design influence. The seats had improved support and one-piece moulded inside door panels were introduced.

Standard equipment included a full set of gauges including a tachometer; safety belts; a heater and defroster; a windshield washer; an outside rear view mirror; dual exhausts; an electric clock; carpeting; a manually-operated top (on convertibles) and interior sun visors. A four-wheel disc-brake system was standard, although drum brakes could be substituted for a $64.50 credit.

Fuel injection was offered, but was phased out at the end of the ‘65 model year. New options included a nasty-looking side exhaust system and telescoping steering wheel. Eight exterior colours were available: Tuxedo Black; Ermine White; Nassau Blue; Glen Green; Milano Maroon; Silver Pearl; Rally Red and Goldwood Yellow. All convertibles came with a choice of a Black, White or Beige soft top. Interior colours were Black, Red, Blue, Saddle, Silver, White, Green and Maroon.

Two Sting Ray body styles were offered. Model 19437 was the coupe, which again had a fastback design. It listed for $3,947 with standard equipment. That was slightly more than $1 per pound, since it tipped the scale at 3,570 lbs. Chevrolet produced 8,187

coupes. The Model 19467 convertible proved to be a bit more popular—and 15,377 of the ragtops were made. The convertible was priced lower ($3,212), but weighed more (3,645 lbs.)

Standard in Corvettes was a 327-cid V8 with a 4.00 x 3.25 bore and stroke, a 10.5:1 compression ratio and a Carter four-barrel carburetor. It was rated for 250 hp at 4,400 rpm and 360 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm. There were several optional versions of the 327. The L75 option (300 hp @ 5,000 rpm and 360 lb-ft at 3,200 rpm) had a different AFB type Carter four-barrel. The L79 option (350 hp @ 5,800 rpm and 360 lb-ft @ 3,600 rpm) had a higher 11.0:1 compression ratio and a Holley four-barrel. The L76 option (365 hp @ 6,200 rpm and 350 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm) had a high-lift cam and solid valve .lifters. The L84 version (375 hp @ 6,200 rpm and 350 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm) added Ram-Jet fuel injection and was the last optional Corvette “fuelie” engine.

Story and photos by John Gunnell

Ermine White—paint code CC—was another popular colour in ’65.

The most powerful engine option was a 396-cid big-block V8 with a 4.094 x 3.76 inch bore and stroke. It used an 11.00:1 compression ratio, mechanical lifters, a high-lift cam and a Holley four-barrel. It was good for 425 hp @ 6,400 rpm and 415 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm.

Standard in Corvettes was a three-speed manual all-synchromesh transmission with floor-mounted gear shifter. You could order three other gearboxes: A two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission with floor-mounted gear shifter; a high-performance Muncie allsynchromesh four-speed manual transmission with floor-mounted gear shifter or a version of Muncie’s special close-ratio four-speed transmission with floor-mounted gear shifter.

The ’65 Corvette retained a 96-in. wheelbase. The convertible was 175.2 inches long and the coupe was 175.3 inches long. Overall height and width for a coupe were 49.8 inches and 69.6 inches. The front tread (56.8 inches) was a little narrower than the rear (57.6 inches). Ground clearance with standard equipment 7.75 x 15 tires was five inches.

The Corvette used a full-length steel ladder type frame with five cross members and separate fibreglass body. Independent upper and lower A-arms, unequal-length wishbones; coil springs; an anti-roll bar and tubular shocks made up the front suspension. An independent rear suspension had a fixed differential; nine leaf springs; lateral struts and universally-jointed axle shafts; radius arms and direct-acting shock absorbers. Rear axle ratios were: 3.36:1 (standard) and 3.08:1; 3.55:1; 3.70:1; 4.11:1; 4.56:1 (all optional).

Most 1965 Corvettes (89.6 percent) were sold with a four-speed manual transmission; 8.6 percent had Powerglide automatic transmission; 69.5 percent had tinted glass; 10.3 percent had air conditioning and 13.7 percent had power steering. An L78-powered 1965 Corvette could go from 0-to-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and from 0-to-100 mph in 13.4 seconds.

MATCHING NUMBER: Matching numbers are important to serious Corvette enthusiasts. The 1965 Corvette VIN is embossed on a stainless steel plate welded to the right side dash pillar brace under the glove box. The numbers that year were: [Convertibles] 194675S100001 to 194675S123562; [Coupes] 194375S100001 to 194375S123562. The first symbol 1 indicated Chevrolet. The second and third symbols identify the body series 94=Corvette. The fourth and fifth symbols indicate the body style number 67=convertible; 37=coupe. The sixth symbol indicates the model year 5=1965. The seventh symbol identifies the assembly plant S=St. Louis. The last six symbols are the sequential number.

The beginning engine numbers were 0001001 and up at each assembly plant with F=Flint, Mich. and T=Tonawanda, N.Y. Corvette engines have the last six digits of the VIN stamped on the block next to the engine number. The body number plate was located on the engine side of the cowl. The Fisher Body Style Number 65-19467

“Sting Ray” (two words this year) appeared on the right side of rear.

Kind of a Cop Car

A one-of-a-kind 1966 Mercury Park Lane

I n early January 1966, John Kroll walked into Northern Motor Co.—an Escanaba, Mich., Lincoln-Mercury dealer - in search of a new car. Kroll told the salesman he wanted to buy the fanciest, fiercest and fastest car that Mercury made. He didn’t know that he’d wind up buying a one-of-one-made Mercury that met his desires.

The car he ultimately got was a big Mercury Park Lane and you’re probably wondering about how it could be the only one made, since 38,700 Park Lanes left Mercury assembly lines in 1966. Even the two-door hardtop fastback (Style No. 67) that Kroll wound up with saw 8,354 assemblies by itself.

The answer lies in the way vehicles were marketed in the muscle car era. As late as 1966, there was very little in the way of safety or smog equipment mandated by the government. “Factory hot rods” could still be put together by dealers who were willing to make special requests. They’d ask for cars to be built with unique combinations of extras that couldn’t be found packaged on standard order forms. This allowed Kroll’s salesman to “build” a Park Lane that wasn’t listed on the pages of the In the Fine Car Tradition: Lincoln-Mercury Presents the Move-Ahead Cars for 1966 fullline product insert.

This is also, most likely, the only ’66 cop car with bucket seats.

First, Kroll asked for a Park Lane with the S-55 high-performance kit. Introduced in the spring of 1963, the original S-55 option included a 427-cid V8, heavyduty underpinnings, steering upgrades and a four-speed manual transmission with floor shift. By 1966, the S-55 goodies included full-length body side mouldings; chrome rocker panel mouldings;

Story and photos by John Gunnell

rear fender medallions; bucket seats; a centre console and a dual exhaust system. Under the hood, a 428-cid 345-hp V8 was substituted for the 427.

Motor Trend magazine did a road test of the 1966 Mercury S-55 two-door hardtop in its August 1966 issue, summing it up with the words, “Comfort, style, performance come at no extra charge in Mercury’s sportiest model.” The magazine’s test car was loaded with just about every option in the sales catalog, except air conditioning. The list included a remote deck lid release, automatic

headlight dimmer and cruise control. The extras drove the car’s price up to $4,735.94 instead of the normal $3,387. They also brought the weight up to 4,260 lbs. Even at that, the “standard” 428 took the beast from 0-to-60 mph in 8.9 seconds and down the quarter mile in 16.9 seconds at 85 mph.

Mercury built only 3,585 of the S-55 optioned cars in 1966. Only 2,916 of those were based on a Park Lane. However, even that wasn’t rare enough for John Kroll. He discovered that Mercury could provide a limited-production 428 Police Interceptor engine

This Park Lane also has an automatic transmission, a floor shift and a console.

Even the windshield washer bag has amazing “Mercury” detailing.

Note the Northern Motors dealer nameplate and the rear-exit dual exhausts.

Full wheel discs have a tri-bar spinner look.

The two-door hardtop’s semi-fastback roof even has a black vinyl top.

that generated 360 hp at 5,400 rpm and 459 pounds-feet of torque at 3,200 rpm. Officially, only law enforcement agencies could order this engine, but the owner of Northern Motor Co. was very good friends with the local police chief and put his name on the order form.

Nine days later, someone at Mercury headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., caught on to the substitution and canceled the order. That prompted Kroll to make a phone call to Lincoln-Mercury Division to find out why his order had been canceled. The receptionist at L-M headquarters told him to wait a second. The next voice John heard would change his luck and get him a rare car. It belonged to Lee Iacocca.

Iacocca informed Kroll that his order had been canceled because FoMoCo didn’t build Police Interceptor models in a two-door model, especially with bucket seats. Kroll figures he must have told Iacocca something that pushed the right button, because the sales guru said, “I’ll see what can be done.” Soon, a man with the title Manager of Limited Production Vehicles joined the conversation. “He wasn’t about to question Iacocca,” John pointed out. Kroll took delivery of the car—the only one of its kind—on March 22, 1966.

According to Darrel Burnett, Executive Director of The Automobile Gallery—where the car is now--the Ford-Mercury Police Interceptor package installed on it included a Super Marauder High-Performance 428-cid Police Interceptor V8 with 400-plus horsepower; a special carburetor; a heavy-duty C-6 automatic transmission; an increased-capacity cooling system; a heavy-duty propeller drive shaft; metallic-lined large-diameter heavy-duty brakes; extra-wide heavy-duty steel wheels; heavy-duty springs; heavy-duty sway bars; a special free-flow straight pipes dual exhaust system (with tail pipes exiting at the rear); high-speed-

The 28 Super Marauder V8 in cop-car format is conservatively rated at 60 hp.

rated tires; a 3.50:1 rear axle ratio and a certified speedometer calibrated in one-mph increments. According to Kroll (don’t ask how he determined this—he won’t tell you) the car’s top clocked speed is 133 mph!

Amazingly, Kroll was charged only $3,670 for the car, which compared to $3,387 for a regular Park Lane two-door hardtop at the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. The Gladstone, Mich. resident also had to pay $146.80 in sales tax, $13.65 to license the car, $1 for a title fee, plus he had to put $1 in an uninsured fund. That brought the total that he paid Northern Motors Co. to $3,833.74. And he had to wait six weeks for it.

When they talked, Iacocca told Kroll, ‘If you’re fortunate enough to get the car made the way you want it, never sell it. There will be many made like it; some will look like it, but there will never be another one made like it. Someday, it will be worth something.” John heeded that advice. Today the car sits in The Automobile Gallery in original, completely unrestored condition, except for one repaint in its original white colour.

Kroll told Brian Earnest of Old Cars magazine that he drag raced the Mercury once. “I beat an Oldsmobile 4-4-2 and nobody

wanted to race with me again,” he said. “I had one race!” Then he gave the car to his wife Leona, who drove it only in the summer.

The Krolls pampered the muscular Merc so well that it still resembles a new car. It has just over 43,000 original miles and not many signs of wear. Leona never drove it when the weather was bad. “My wife is very, very particular,” Kroll told Earnest. “And I’m particular because I know how to take care of a car. It’s like brand new, inside and out.”

Darrel Burnett personally purchased the Park Lane to ensure that the Mercury and John Kroll’s legacy of ownership would be honored appropriately. The car came into The Automobile Gallery on October 14, 2022 and will remain on display there. John Kroll had many opportunities to sell the Park Lane as he aged (he turned 88 on November 17, 2022), but he was looking for someone to truly honour and appreciate the car. The Gallery had elected not to purchase any vehicles for a period of time following its Founder Red Lewis’ death, so Burnett felt he needed to buy the car to preserve its outstanding history.

Before putting his Merc display at The Automobile Gallery, Darrel Burnett did research to prove its provenance. Roger Towne and Adrian Clements helped him dig deep into its history. “It was interesting to see John Kroll’s face when I showed him the binder and all of the history, including things he didn’t know about the car.” Burnett is proud of the way his staff brought the car back to nearly showroom condition by carefully removing grit, grime and polishing all the right spots. “We have photos of the dramatic transformation from top to undercarriage,” he noted. “I have been used to restoring cars to perfection. This was a very unusual case where I tried to return the car to what it once was without restoring it. Overall, I’m pleased how it turned out.”

For further information on the fascinating history of this car contact The Automobile Gallery at ( www.TheAutomobileGallery.or g ).

New 1966 grille had horizontal bars and a thin, vertical piece in the centre.

Park Lane badges appear just ahead of the door break line.

There’s a PARK LANE plaque on the rear fenders, too

PARTS STORE

Procar’s Pro-90 Traditional Reclining Front Seats

Procar’s Pro-90 front reclining seats offer a vintage look that is ideal for restoring old muscle, vintage, exotic or kit vehicles. They provide a classic look that will complement most muscle cars and are made using your choice of vinyl, velour and leather or a combination of vinyl and velour. They are available in a few different colour options including beige, black, red, grey and white to complement just about any build.

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Holley Gen III HEMI Swap Oil Pans

Holley has released a new line of aluminum oil pans that are ideal for 1963-1974 Mopar A-, B-, C- and E-body vehicles with Gen III HEMI engine swaps. The factory oil pans that come on these engines don’t fit the best and usually hang too low for your swap but these new pans are meant to integrate more easily. The cast aluminum construction and integrated windage tray combined with O-ring sealing provide an attractive, leak-free solution for your HEMI swap vehicle. The pans come in a kit complete with all parts needed for installation including the oil pan, pickup assembly, Oring seal, windage tray, baffling and mounting bolts.

For more information please go to www.holley.co m

DO-IT-YOURSELF

Auto Meter’s InVision Digital Dash for 1982-1987 Monte Carlo, El Camino and Malibu

Auto Meter’s new InVision Direct Fit Digital Dash System is now available for the 1982-1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo/El Camino/ Malibu as a one-model solution for your entire dash. It allows you to monitor the speedometer, tachometer, fuel level, oil pressure, water temperature and volts all in one place. It features 12.3-in. LCD with three user-selectable screens, and all kits include a wiring harness and sending units for water temperature and oil pressure. The dash features an adjustable RPM range and displays in imperial or metric units, and offers an integrated joystick to allow for easy programming.

For more information please go to www.autometer.co m

K&N Replacement Air Filter for 2020+ Chevrolet Camaro

K&N’s replacement air filter for the 2020+ Chevrolet Camaro SS has been designed to increase horsepower and is washable, reusable and engineered to last the life of your vehicle. They are designed to provide high airflow and exceptional filtration to ensure that your engine is getting large amounts of very clean air. Engineered to fit easily into your factory air box, the filter will not void your vehicle’s warranty and will save you money from not having to constantly replace your vehicle’s air filter.

For more information please go to www.knfilters.c a

MagnaFlow XMOD Series Performance Exhaust System for 20172022 Dodge Challenger

MagnaFlow has made its xMOD Series Performance Exhaust System available for the 2017-2022 Dodge Challenger, which offers the ability to configure your sound utilizing specifically engineered, interchangeable modules. The exhaust systems feature MagnaFlow’s proven straight-through core design with 5-in. round by 14in. long bodies and now feature v-band clamps for quick installation and removal. Like any other MagnaFlow exhaust, this system features stainless-steel construction, dyno-proven performance with straight-through mufflers and fast-flowing mandrel bent pipes.

For more information please go to www.magnaflow.co m