Car Guy Magazine 914 by Madwest Media LLC

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ISSUE 914

PREMIERE ISSUE!

REMEMBERED Carroll Shelby GOING GREEN Ohio Electric Car AUTO MOTIVE ARTIST Bill Neale

ROAD TRIP Natchez Trace Parkway TRAVEL Gateway Canyons Resort

DRIVES Lexus LFA • Daytona Coupe (Electric)

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CONTENTS 914 Car Guy Magazine 8

04 Publishers Note 06 Masthead 08 Remembered

Carroll Shelby

1914 Ohio Electric Car

Bill Neale

Bentley GT

The Natchez Trace Parkway

Audi RS5

Galveston Corvette Owner

Car Guy Stuff You Need

We Pick Our Favorite Vehicles, So Far

Pontiac Firebird #1 and #2

Gateway Canyons Resort

Cadillac ELR

What Would Carroll Think?

16 Back to the Future? 24 Master Painter, Master Storyteller 30 Luxury Test Drive 32 Road Trip 40 Sports Car Test Drive 42 Then and Now 24

44 Essentials

46 Top Picks for 2015

48 Cowboy Car Collectors 32

Nashville

THE NATCHEZ TRACE

5 TENNESSEE

Tombigbee National Forest

Tishomingo State Park

Meriwether Lewis

Tennessee Valley Divide

Jackson 2

60 Renova Daytona Coupe

Tupelo 3

ALABAMA

Windsor Ruins

MISSISSIPPI

Old Trace Exhibit Shelter

58 New Tech Test Drive

ALABAMA

MISSISSIPPI

50 Car Guy Paradise

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kay, do we really need yet another automotive magazine? Probably not, but here at Car Guy Magazine we really don’t care about the other publications out there. Yeah we read them. It’s hard to pass up $6 subscriptions to Road & Track, Car & Driver, Motor Trend and so on for the print copies. In fact I have a big stack of them piled almost two feet high next to me on my desk along with a few months of “Handyman” as well for good measure. But now these publications are charging for their digital editions in addition to the print subscription. I thought, well okay, let’s do our own magazine with the stuff in it that we want to read as an option to or perhaps in addition to the other big rags AND we’d do it ONLY as a Digital Magazine, which saves huge bucks on printing and postage. We would include VIDEO from a really cool TV Show that we know of called “The Car Guy Show.” We’d also offer this ultra cool Digital Magazine FREE to our subscribers and count on the premise that advertisers would jump on board to reach our wonderful readers, who are ready to purchase their products and services. So, dear readers, PLEASE READ the ads and CALL those advertisers to thank them for allowing YOU to read FREE content in Car Guy Magazine! The truth is that personally, I don’t really want to do anything else. I got the bug big time from publishing the regional automotive magazine Texas Driver years ago and later the awardwinning national magazine American Driver. Unfortunately the economy and the automotive manufacturer’s bankruptcies pretty much killed our publishing dreams at that time. What’s different now? By taking out the cost of printing and following the growing trend that auto enthusiast readers are jumping on the smartphone and tablet bandwagon for their automotive magazine “fix” we might be able to make it work this time. And, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t want to do anything else. So, I have to make it work! I hope you enjoy this first humble issue of Car Guy Magazine. We promise to make each issue better than the last, so please stick with us as it continues to evolve into the publication that every “car guy” will enjoy and approve! I know it will be a bumpy ride but with your help we’ll finish with something we can be proud of every month. Sincerely, Tim Miller tim@carguymagazine.com

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the publisher’s note

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PROUDLY CREATED IN THE GRAND OLD U.S.A. View FREE digital editions on your smartphone, tablet and computer at www.carguymagazine.com. All advertising is subject to publisher approval before acceptance. Car Guy Magazine reserves the right to refuse any ad for any reason. Advertiser’s warrant and represent that the descriptions of the products and services advertised are true in all respects. Car Guy Magazine assumes no responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Car Guy Magazine, Madwest Media, LLC, its officers, directors, employees and agents make no recommendations as to the purchase or sale of any product, service, or other items. All views expressed in all articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Car Guy Magazine. Car Guy Magazine™ , The Car Guy Show™ and A Kick in the Asphalt™ are trademarks of Madwest Media, LLC. Copyright ©2014 All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital copying and distributing, in whole

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R E M E M B E R E D

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8 beverlydrivemagazine.com

WORDS JOHN MORTON

Doing Business with Attitude Makes Carroll Shelby a Legendary Boss

arroll Shelby finished second in the first sports car race I ever saw. Phil Hill finished first. The race was the Road America 500 in 1957. Nothing could have prepared me for what I’d experience at Elkhart Lake that day. The sounds were from a different planet. And the smell; how could cars smell that good? It was, in NASCAR vernacular, truly awesome. And it was the day I decided, at 15, that I, too, would be a race car driver. So in 1962, when a car magazine ran a story on Carroll Shelby’s School of High Performance Driving at Riverside Raceway in California, I disappointed my parents by dropping out of college and heading west. Incidentally, nearly 50 years later, Carroll told me the reason he finished second that day was that Hill had a 3.8 liter Ferrari while he had only a 3.0 liter Maserati. Upon arriving at the Riverside track, a man rode up on a Honda 50 motorcycle, introduced himself as Pete Brock and said he was to be my instructor. My heart sank! Where was my hero, Carroll Shelby? The magazine had said that he would be the instructor. Pete explained that Mr. Shelby was so busy with the development of his new Cobra sports car that he didn’t have time to teach. The first Cobra – the prototype - was relegated to the school and would be my mount for the five-day course. Now remember, this was 45 years ago. Unlike the schools of today like Bondurant and Skip Barber, with 20 or 30 Jeff Gordon and Michael Schumacher wannabes, it was just me in the reject Cobra and some guy in his own Corvette. On our third day, Pete suspended school for a while so Lance Reventlow could test his Scarab. It was the last Scarab,

the rear-engine sports car. The Shelby operation had taken over the Reventlow building in Venice, California, and absorbed several of Reventlow’s employees. Lance kept a small room and two people to work on the Scarab. After the Scarab was unloaded, Lance climbed in, started the engine, and for some reason, spun some NASCARstyle donuts before blasting onto the track. Shortly he reappeared from the wrong direction and said the engine had a miss. The crew lifted the rear bodywork, discovering a connecting rod protruding from the block. Lance hadn’t displayed much mechanical sensitivity. I believe that was the end of his driving career. The following day, the school was again halted. This time it was for a test of the first Cobra being developed for racing. It was the second Cobra prepared by Shelby American, the first being the school car I had been driving for three days. The new Cobra arrived and the engine man, Bill Likes, announced Billy Sol was on his way to watch the test. Billy Sol? Billy Sol Estes was a crooked Texan known for his alligator shoes. When he explained he was referring to Carroll Shelby, I didn’t get the connection. Mr. Shelby was taller than I had imagined him to be and his now-legendary cowboy accent and brusqueness was intimidating, to say the least. Billy Krause, who looked like a miniature prize fighter, was the Cobra driver. Though it had a slight cooling problem, the car impressed everyone and they appeared satisfied with its first test. I took that opportunity to ask Mr. Shelby if he might find a place in his company for me. He said, “Come see me next Monday.”

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While writing about this week in l962, it occurred to me that it had a significance that could not be known at the time. Those few days encompassed both the end and the beginning of two American sports car icons. The Scarab team was finished and the Shelby era had begun. The following Monday, Mr. Shelby hired me and led me to the shop to outline my duties; not those of an apprentice race mechanic as hoped for. I was shown where the brooms and cleaning materials were kept, and given instructions on where and when to sweep and what to clean. Not exactly what I wanted to tell my parents I had dropped out of college to become. In 1962 Shelby American employed many talented people, including the Reventlow employees. The most important of these was Phil Remington, who was never really satisfied with my janitorial skills, I might add. Without Phil’s expertise, it’s hard to imagine the Cobra evolving into what it became. Phil ran the shop, solving most of the teething problems associated with putting 300 and eventually 400 horsepower into an early ‘50s British antique designed for 130 horsepower. Of course the Cobra would not have existed at all if Carroll Shelby had not had the crazy idea in the first place. Another valuable contributor to Shelby American in the beginning was Joan, Carroll’s combination secretary and girlfriend. She was often referred to as Joan Shelby, but her real name was Joan Cole; people were a little more prudish about unmarried people living together in 1962. They had an apartment in Playa del Rey, about five miles from the Venice facility. Joan was very businesslike and worked hard with Carroll to solidify the relationship with Ford Motor Company. One day Mr. Shelby came to work in a gaudy outfit and Joan told him to go back home and take off his Halloween costume! We had a part-time carpenter named Leo Ortega who was a captain on the Beverly Hills Fire Department. One morning Joan came down from the office and said: “Leo, take John and some tools and follow me.” We drove to the apartment she shared with Carroll, where the front door had been torn from its hinges. Our job was to reinstall the door. Apparently there had been an argument and Joan simply shared with us: “I locked Mr. Shelby out, but Mr. Shelby came in anyway.” Nobody’s perfect. I noticed there were numerous pairs of alligator shoes in the closet. Hmmm. Billy Krause left Shelby after two races to drive for Mickey Thompson and Chevrolet. It wasn’t a good career move for Krause because Chevrolet was about to get out of racing and, sadly, Thompson’s Indianapolis cars were not only uncompetitive but also treacherous. I remember being in Carroll’s office emptying the wastebasket as he called Dave MacDonald to offer him the Cobra ride. Then Ken Miles joined Dave and Shelby American started dominating club racing in early 1963. Eventually I moved up the ladder from janitor to parts chaser. Actually I traded jobs with the parts chaser, a man named Joe Washington. Joe always carried a small flask of “cough syrup”

while he was chasing parts and he thus always smelled of liquor. He probably was a better janitor than I was, though I don’t know how our driving compared. I was preparing to buy my own race car in late ’62. During our lunch breaks, I got some sound advice from my older friends. One practical friend said I should “take the race car money and put a down payment on a house.” Another more resourceful friend suggested I “buy a Corvette and get laid.” Not taking either advice, I bought a Lotus Super 7 and went to the SCCA licensing school at Riverside. Things went well at the school, but three classes were required, each about a month apart. One of our engine men, Ole Olsen offered to prepare my engine for racing after hours in the engine department. When the next SCCA school date approached, it was obvious my car wasn’t going to be ready, so I concocted a plan to use the school Cobra. I would drive it out to Riverside, do the school day and hand out Cobra brochures to all the would-be racers. How could Carroll refuse? I mustered my nerve and went to the office to present my plan. Well, he refused. Dejectedly, I told him, “I guess I won’t be getting my license for a long time then, because I need two more SCCA schools.” He looked a little put out then told me, “You want a license? I’ll get you your license.” Never one to shy away from my curiosity, I asked Carroll how he could skirt the rules and he said, “I’ll call Charlie Gates.” Charlie Gates was in charge of licensing for the California Sports Car Club region of the SCCA. I got my racing license; I was impressed. Carroll Shelly had some horsepower. I took a leave of absence from Shelby American in the spring of 1963 to race in the Midwest where I grew up. Returning to California in the fall of 1963, I resumed working at Shelby American. By then the Cobras had become a real force in American racing. The King Cobra, a Cooper Monaco in which Shelby had installed a 289 Ford engine with Dave MacDonald as the driver, won both the Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and the Times Grand Prix at Riverside, the two most important sports car races in the United States. Upon returning, the first race in southern California that I could enter was at Willow Springs, a track about 90 miles north of Los Angeles. Coincidently, Carroll attended the Sunday race to observe and recruit Ronnie Bucknum, a standout amateur, for the Cobra team. As luck would have it, I nearly beat Ronnie that weekend, finishing right on his tail. Carroll came up to me after the Bucknum race and said: “That was fantastic. We’ll fix you up with a good engine, and you’ll beat Bucknum.” Simply receiving the compliment was enough for me, but the normally slow-talking Texan rushed on to say, “I’ll make you a team driver and I want to sponsor you. We’ll get you some parts from England. I’ll call up Colin Chapman and we’ll make fixing up that car of yours a shop project. You just make a list of what you need.”

LEFT TOP Shelby’s world-famous smile. LEFT BOTTOM Shelby’s inner circle of friends has long included the world’s most famous race car drivers. Some competed against him and some drove for him. ABOVE TOP Shelby chats with fellow legend Dan Gurney. ABOVE BOTTOM Shelby making history with his GT40s at Le Mans.

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Monday morning I had my wish list ready: close ratio gears, wider wheels and fenders, front disc brakes, and an oil cooler. When I handed the list to Shelby, he asked: “What’s this?” Excitedly, I reminded him. “Oh. Yeah.” He took the list, but didn’t seem too excited. His enthusiasm from the day before had evaporated. The guys in the shop urged me to keep after him or nothing would happen. After asking several times in ensuing days, he finally remarked, “You’re a pain in the ass, John. I’ll call Colin right now.” The parts finally arrived from England, but only gears and the oil cooler. Carroll seemed to have totally lost interest in my car. In early March of 1964, the Shelby team was going to make an all-out assault at the 12 Hours of Sebring. We were entering three FIA 289 Cobras, one Cobra coupe, and a 427 prototype that Ken Miles dreamed up. Fabricator Ted Sutton had installed a NASCAR stock car engine in a 289 Cobra chassis for Ken to drive. A fellow lower-tier employee, Jeffrey Schoolfield, and I wanted to go to Sebring, but were not really part of the traveling team. After we let it be known that we would do almost anything to go, we were called to the office where the controller told us: “Mr. Shelby said I could give you boys $25 apiece if you will drive your own cars to Sebring and if you will serve as night watchmen at the track.” She suggested we pool our money and take one car. Neither Jeffrey nor I had a car we could trust to make the 5,000-mile trip, so we asked if we found a third person, could he also have $25? She agreed, so we got John Shoup to take the trip with us, using his Karmann Ghia, which would probably make the trip on our allotted $75. After a 54-hour trip from hell in the cozy, slow coupe, the three of us arrived just in time for tech inspection. I ran into Ken Miles and Lew Spencer. Ken asked if I had an FIA license. “I only have an amateur log book, but I didn’t bring it,” I told him. “Can you get one?” Ken asked. “I don’t see how. Why?” “Because we only have nine drivers for

our five cars and we may need you for the 427.” He took out a small piece of paper, wrote something and handed it to me. “Take this to race headquarters and see if they’ll give you an FIA license.” Ken had written simply: “John Morton is qualified to have an FIA license. Ken Miles.” To my shock, the officials gave me the license; the second license I hadn’t earned. Another man with horsepower. The nine drivers on the team were Lew Spencer with Bob Bondurant, Phil Hill with Jo Schlesser, and Dan Gurney with Bob Johnson in the 289s; Dave MacDonald with Bob Holbert in the Daytona Coupe, and Ken Miles in the 427 with no listed co-driver. In practice, Ken crashed into a tree, so several of us, including Ken, worked well into the night repairing the car. I wasn’t given any practice due partly to the crash, but mostly because at least one car was expected to break in time to free up an extra driver. After a couple of hours into the race with all five cars still running, there was concern for Ken, who had damaged ribs from the crash. I was ferrying tires between the pits and Goodyear when someone said, “Mr. Shelby wants to see you.” Carroll, who knew I hadn’t practiced, asked me: “Do you know this track, John?” By this time I knew that my chances were riding on my answer to this question, so I told him that I did in fact know the track. The truth was I’d only seen the race a couple of times as a spectator. Earlier in the week, when it looked like I might drive, I bought a $15 driving suit and borrowed a helmet from a guy in a preliminary motorcycle race. When I first got in the race car, I was scared, but didn’t do anything too stupid beyond a couple of spins on corners I had never seen before. I drove the rest of the day with several intermissions for mechanical problems. Finally, at dusk, the engine blew. Dave MacDonald and Bob Holbert won the GT class giving the Pete Brock designed Daytona Coupe version of the Cobra its first win. After the race I confessed to Carroll that I’d lied about knowing the track. He laughed. To this day, I don’t know if he knew I was bluffing when he first asked me the question. After I traded the Super 7 for a Lotus 23,

Carroll was good enough to enter my car as a Shelby American entry, transporting it to some of the 1964 professional races. The first race for the Lotus would be the Players 200 at Mosport in Canada. The team had a semi and the truck driver, Wayne “Red” Pierce, and I rode to Canada together. Besides the Lotus, we had a Cobra for Ken Miles and a King Cobra (Cooper Ford) for Dave MacDonald. The Mosport race was the first weekend in June, so Red and I were able to listen to the Indianapolis 500 on the truck radio as we traveled. MacDonald had qualified one of Mickey Thompson’s unorthodox rear engine cars. It was the same team that Billy Krause had left Shelby to drive for the year before. Krause didn’t qualify in ’63. Some of Dave’s friends cautioned him not to drive the Thompson car because it wasn’t safe, that better opportunities would come his way later. Dave felt he had made a commitment. Even though he was uncomfortable with the car, he would drive it. We listened as they reported the second lap crash. There was fire; lots of cars involved, and the race was stopped. The radio said Dave was in the crash. A couple of hours later, they announced that Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sacks had died. It was hard to take. It still is. At Mosport, Augie Pabst drove the King Cobra we were carrying. He finished second to Bruce McLaren. The Cobra team dominated the USRRC series in 1964. I was lucky to get to drive Cobras in two more races that year. At the Road America 500 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Ken Miles, Skip Scott and I won the GT class and were second overall. A week later Joe Freitas and I drove to sixth place at Bridgehampton in New York. After the season was over, I went to the office to see the controller. I asked, “Didn’t I win some prize money?” She replied, “Yes, you did.” “But I never got a check.” “Oh no,” she answered. “We used it to pay down your account.” “Account? I don’t have an account.” “Oh yes, you do. For the Lotus 7 parts.” Thirty some years later while speaking at a Shelby Club in Texas, when I told the story of the trip to Sebring and the $25, Shelby yelled from the audience: “You were overpaid!”

GLENN ZANOTTI PHOTO

CARROLL SHELBY 1923 - 2012

ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Mortonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first job working for Carroll Shelby was in the rather less-than-glamorous roll of parts chaser and janitor, not high profile racer. But after a lucky break by surprising Shelby himself, Morton realized his dream of taking the wheel of a Shelby race car. Morton went on to dominate SCCA and Trans-Am Datsun racing in the early â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;70s for Shelby Daytona coupe designer Peter Brock and then, later, he drove to class victories at Le Mans and Sebring. Today, Morton competes in numerous vintage car races. CarGuyMagazine.com

10th annual Polo on the Midway benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas Saturday, October 25, 2pm-7pm Prestonwood Polo Club 525 Yacht Club Road, Oak Point, TX General admission $25, Kids 12 and under free 380 Community Challenge Cup • Two Live Polo Matches with Traditional Champagne Divot Stomp • Rolls Royce Car Club Car Show • Marani Vodka Cocktail Tasting •Silent Auction • CELEBRITY dunking booth with WFAA’s Brian Glenn, Texas Revolution running back Jen Welter, Former Mr. Texas USA Universal/Mr. North America USA Universal 2013 Douglas O’Neil Green • Family Friendly Festival with Carnival Games • Vendor Booths • Petting Zoo

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n the early 20th century, many mostly female driving pioneers were onto something automotive that was only marginally less environmentally friendly than a bicycle: Electric cars. These mostly forgotten tall cars – they look more like horseless coaches than anything else ever to move under its own power – were all the rage back in the early 1900s, well before the notion of a fuel miser had slipped into any car nut’s mind. Dozens of electric car producers sprung up across the United States from the turn of the century until the Great Depression, the most widely known of which was Anderson Electric Car Company’s Detroit Electric brand. But Detroit Electric wasn’t the only battery-powered automotive innovator in its day. Just an hour’s drive today from Detroit is West Bancroft Street in Toledo, Ohio, once home to the Ohio Electric Car Company, producers of some of the most elegant and upscale electric coaches marekted primarily to high society women. Ohio Electric produced just under 1,000 cars, according to historians, from 1910-1918, but just a handful are known to remain today. Only one, our very original feature vehicle, a 1914 Ohio Electric Model 40 Dresden Brougham, is known to be in running condition. During their production run, Ohio Electric cars were distributed throughout the eastern United States and Canada. While all electric cars were play toys of the wealthy and were targeted at women, Ohio Electric’s cars were among the most opulent. With features like curved glass – an expensive piece to manufacture – elegant silk window curtains, roll-up shades and even an included toilet kit, few luxury features were left out. Internal combustion automobiles were dirty devices in the early days of motoring. Hand cranks that required substantial muscle to turn, sooty exhaust and oil leaking from every possible seal, made them decidedly un-ladylike transportation devices, by turnof-the-century standards. This, of course, was an era where society women wouldn’t want to be in the public’s eye with even a speck of oil on their clothing or a whiff of gasoline fumes. Electric cars provided a perfect solution since they required no more than the switch of a lever to turn on and off and they lacked any need for an exhaust system. In addition, they were quiet to run, so leisurely conversation inside was easy to maintain. Ohio Electric marketed its electric automobiles exclusively to women, as evidenced by the dearth of men in advertisements. The only male figures shown are doormen at hotels. Instead, the advertisements feature women engaging in activities deemed appropriate by the day’s advertising teams. At least in the eyes of Ohio Electric’s designers and marketers, women were expected to use these vehicles for outings to the theater or on leisurely picnics with their friends. It is with this in mind that the interior of the Broughams was designed for conversation. The driver sits on the left side of a leather-covered bench seat at the back of the cabin. Two small, swivel seats are mounted directly in front of the bench so that occupants could face the driver and bench seat passenger for conversation while on the go. There was little traffic on the roads of 1914, so paying attention to the road was apparently of minimal importance.

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LEFT The driver sits behind the passengers on a plush leather bench. It seems odd at first, but not as odd as the utter silence when under way. ABOVE LEFT Befitting the vehicle’s typically female clientele, a complete toilet kit was included with the Ohio Electric. ABOVE RIGHT Turn of the century details abound on this 1914 Ohio Electric Model 40 Dresden Brougham. Interior details are sparse by later standards, but every detail shows the extraordinarily opulent atmosphere that was lavished on the car’s drivers back in 1914. Intricate window sashes, beautifully stitched roll-up window shades and fine silk curtains were standard equipment and are still present today on this feature car. There were no ashtrays included because society women were not expected to smoke, though there was a dainty Sterling silver bud vase mounted to a roof pillar. There was little in the way of gauges other than an ammeter, a voltmeter, an eight-day clock and a floor-mounted speedometer and odometer. There was a rearview mirror, called “Mirr-O-Scope” in promotional materials. The upright cabin, a hand-hammered aluminum body that gives the vehicle its striking appearance, features copious headroom so that women did not need to remove the

fashionable hats of the day. Aerodynamics were clearly not even a consideration, which helps explain the low 28 mph top speed with a full charge. But underhood – and there are two hoods – there is no indication that the electric cars were designed to be powerhouses. Seven six volt deep cycle batteries sit under a hinged hood outside of the front and rear of the cabin. They provide about 92 volts D.C. power when they’re fully charged. The electric motor is a General Electric Automotive Motor. Power was modulated through a unique magnetic control hand knob that took the place of a conventional gear lever. There are four forward speeds and an additional accelerator speed engaged by pressing a foot pedal and there are four reverse speeds. Unlike a traditional transmission, this system provides something more akin to four “on/ off” switches for different vehicle speeds.

To further reduce power-robbing friction, the car has no universal joints in the drivetrain. The motor and the rear axle are connected by a solid shaft balanced on a ball, much like a teeter-totter. When the motor moves upward after hitting a bump, the axle moves down, and vice-versa. This fairly simple setup reduces power loss that would otherwise occur as a result of friction and yet it still maintains drivability. Magnetic drum brakes operated at the press of a button, though conservative drivers would avoid heavy use of the brakes and rely on power-saving coasting instead. There is also a pedal-operated parking brake. With an advertised range of 100 miles, conservative driving was an absolute must. And unlike internal combustion cars, gas stations – charging stations in this case – weren’t on every corner.

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Instead of a steering wheel, the vehicle features a steering tiller. Drivers of substantial girth would have likely found difficulty in pulling the tiller all the way in toward them in order to make a sharp right turn. Ohio Electric’s advertising suggested that the tiller would allow the vehicle to be piloted from either the rear bench or the swivel seat directly in front. Our feature car is owned by Dallas car collector Chuck Murphy, who purchased it in the early 1990s from another local collector. “I like unusual cars,” Murphy says. “When this came up for sale 30 miles away from me, I couldn’t resist it.” Murphy’s Model 40 Dresden Brougham is entirely original with the exception of the paint, some carpet and the tires, though it is swathed in the original paint scheme, has matched reproduction carpet and the factory hard rubber tires – replaced by pneumatic

tires for ride comfort – hang in his garage. Even details that one would have expected to have vanished from Murphy’s car over the years are present. White rubber step board pads are original, the women’s toilet kit – equipped with a Sterling silver hat brush, a note pad with a mechanical lead pencil, a mirror, scented paper and cloth and a change purse. Murphy’s car collection – which includes several vintage Buicks, a 1922 Brewster Open-Front Town Car and even a 19th-century steam car – is full of drivers and the Ohio Electric is no exception. He puts a few hundred miles on the car a year, which might not seem like much, but with an average speed of 18 miles per hour, that’s some serious time behind the tiller. Murphy helps organize a yearly drive for owners of vintage electric cars and he also helped our friend, James Cousens, fill his ex-

tensive collection. He’s tracked down all of the known Ohio Electric Car Company vehicles, most of which he can count on one hand. When it comes time for a drive, Murphy climbs aboard and rings a bell, which sounds just like a street car. “I used to ride the street car to school,” Murphy recalls. “The whole experience of driving this car isn’t much different.” The only sounds you hear from the Ohio Electric vehicle are the occasional clunk from the road and Murphy’s hand moving the control knob through the speeds. It is an entirely surreal experience, especially if you’re not in the cabin and Murphy sneaks up behind you. “That’s what the bell is for,” Murphy laughs.

ABOVE Chuck Murphy’s well-preserved vehicle still features its original white rubber step pad, an item that quickly wore out in most cars of its vintage. LEFT Period advertisements featured upscale women partaking in “elegant” activities of the time, like outings to a Broadway show or idyllic picnics in the country. RIGHT Murphy’s Ohio Electric is the only running and driving survivor he knows of and just one of a handful in existence whatsoever. It sees regular use around town and on tours with other vintage electric cars.

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f you are looking for a perfect and unique gift or simply getting ready for the next car show. Platinum Car Collectibles caters to the true automobile fan, who loves to celebrate cars with models, apparel, and other memorabilia. For speed demons, we carry diecast Ferraris, Corvettes and muscle cars that park comfortably on a shelf, desk or display case in your home or office.

We have a broad range of officially â&#x20AC;&#x153;I look forward to meeting you at our licensed automotive apparel, hats new store in Plano on Preston Road and driving shoes made by the likes of Ferrari, BMW, Shelby and Mopar just south of the George Bush Tollway.â&#x20AC;? to name a just few. Thanks, We also offer the most trusted brands in car care products, such as Joel Lomax, Owner Platinum Car Collectibles Mothers, Meguiars and Griots Ga19177 Preston Rd. Ste 188 rage. Dallas, Texas 75252 469 644-7520 joel@platinumcars.com

WORDS AUSTIN SPENCER

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Great storytelling is a disappearing art. You have to be witty, eloquent and convincing. And it never hurts to have a voice where chuckles, pauses and imitations flow effortlessly. Artist Bill Neale possesses all of these, along with another attribute that makes his tales legendary – he was there. As a celebrated automotive artist, entrepreneur, amateur racer and companion to some of the industry’s most influential figures, Bill has experienced first-hand enough auto history to never tell the same story twice. He was known for taking impeccable notes, whipping up sketches on the spot and snapping plenty of photos to help recall these once-in-a-lifetime occurrences. The accuracy of his work demonstrates that fact. His paintings, which hang in private collections and museums worldwide, evoke passions from Le Mans victories and sharp turns at the Colorado Grand, as well as the tranquility of soft summer evenings on the Monterey Peninsula. Bill’s passion for the craft led him to help establish the prestigious Automotive Fine Arts Society in 1983, which now consists of more than 20 of the world’s foremost automotive painters and sculptors. Recognized today for his ability to master multiple mediums such as watercolors, acrylics and oils, it was Bill’s tenacity that drove him up the ranks in the business world. His quick rise from illustrator to creative director at powerhouse ad firm TracyLocke was followed by the founding of his own agency, Point Communications. After selling the business in 1988, Bill’s art career took center stage. Whether he’s buried deep into his latest painting in his Dallas studio or behind the podium at a social gathering or press conference, Bill’s recollections are truly engaging. One of his favorite subjects, both in conversation and on canvas, is his dear friend and cover man of this American Driver Magazine issue, Carroll Shelby. As part of the original Shelby “rat pack” that dominated the American performance scene in the 1960s, Bill rode shotgun for some of Carroll’s most unforgettable moments. It was during Carroll’s heyday as a racer that Bill recalls how fabulously talented the legend really was. “People today just don’t realize the phenomenal talent that Shelby possessed as a driver,” says Neale. “After watching him navigate an ‘S’ curve in an Aston Martin at Sebring one afternoon, I finally asked him for his secret to driving such smooth curves and always coming out on top. He strategically explained that he picks an apex and enters the turn a little slower to come out fast with maximum traction. Then he chuckled and said, ‘If that doesn’t work, I just make sure I have a bigger engine than everyone else’.” In the mid-‘60s, Bill and Carroll, along with racing buddies Dave Witts, Tom Tierney and David E. Davis Jr., formed the renowned Terlingua Racing Team, a grassroots squad that enjoyed life both on and off of the track. To represent the team’s lifestyle and anti-establishment attitude, Bill designed a black and yellow logo with a rabbit holding his paw in the air.

ABOVE Racing Shelby Mustangs and flying P-51 Mustangs; Neale’s enthusiasm for performance ranges the gamut. LEFT Neale has remained close to Carroll Shelby since he was part of the legendary Texan’s “rat pack” in the 1960s. Shelby’s cars have long been a centerpiece of Neale’s art.

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ABOVE Neale’s well-known accomplishments include the Terlingua Racing Team logo. The aggresively stylized rabbit is set to make a reappearance on a new performancce package Mustang from Shelby. BELOW Ferraris, like the six-cylinder 1955 121LM, have long captured Neale’s imagination and paintbrush.

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The prancing rabbit quickly became a mascot for the group and even appeared on their competi tion version Shelby GT350s that started showing up at races across the country. Jerry Titus drove the first official Terlingua Racing Team car in the 1967 Trans-Am series. “Jerry was a bit of a maverick and Shelby wanted his car to really show up on the grid, so we painted it ‘Gawdawful Yellow’ with a black hood,” recalls Neale. “The combination of outrageous looks and serious performance in a car driven by such a cocky, talented driver made the team very popular.” With Bill’s help, Carroll and his performance pros at Shelby Automobiles, Inc. are returning the Terlingua Racing Team to the forefront of the grassroots racing community. At a press conference during the 2007 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Shelby Autos unveiled three Terlingua Racing Team performance models, including a brand new Ford Mustang V6, a 1965 427 Shelby Cobra and a 1967 Ford Mustang. Each, of course, dons Neale’s famous prancing rabbit. Another well-known logo designed by Bill is the black and gold fleur de lis associated with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He helped create the symbol in the early 1960s for close friend and then owner of the Saints, John Mecom Jr. An avid racing enthusiast, Mecom founded the Mecom Racing Team, which was active in Formula 1 and the World Sportscar Championship in the ‘60s and early ‘70s. Bill remains close with the fellow Texan, who owns an extensive collection of his original paintings. “In addition to being one of my closest friends, John Jr. is probably my biggest art fan,” says Neale. “Our friendship began after racing icon Bill Schroeder introduced us and John Jr. asked me to design the badge for his Mecom Racing Team. That led to the creation of the Saints logo and numerous commissioned pieces for John Jr. and his father, ‘Big John.’They were especially fond of my work with Ferrari, a marque that they cherished and even attempted to purchase at one time.” Bill has also spent a great deal of time with former racer and father of the Chaparral, Jim Hall. He remembers Hall’s brilliance and tireless work ethic, which led him to be one of the first builders to apply aerodynamics to a race car. “Jim Hall is a true genius,” says Neale. “His ability to apply his passion for aeronautical engineering to automobiles forever changed the sport of auto racing. The Chaparral is a pure work of art that I have featured as the centerpiece in numerous paintings throughout my career.” Bill’s relationships with iconic figures such as Shelby, Mecom and Hall are just a few of the countless bonds he has built over the years as an ambassador of the automotive industry. Additional members of Bill’s tight network of auto pals include Dan Gurney, Phil Hill and Bruce Meyers among many others. His warm spirit, professionalism and passion for speed have earned him seats at the head tables of racing’s elite fraternities. Thankfully, through spectacular paintings and priceless tales, Bill shares his experiences with the world.

ABOVE Three Shelbys: A Cobra, a Daytona Coupe and the man himself.

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ABOVE A gleaming 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB charges through the vivid colors of the Colorado Grand. RIGHT Neale captured Carroll Shelbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s momentous victory in a Ferrari Monza at the last sports car race at Pebble Beach. LEFT Nealeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artwork has graced numerous event posters and programs. This one, featuring a trio of vintage Alfa Romeos, was commissioned for the Colorado Grand.

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LUXURY DRIVES

LEGENDARY BRITISH HERITAGE

BENTLEY GT

WORDS B. HARRISON PHOTOS TIMOTHY MILLER

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When a Bentley Continental GT Convertible V8 pulls up to the Eagles Canyon Raceway clubhouse, it’s only natural to wonder why a boulevard cruiser is at a race track and how the car can provide a thrill like a sports car. Surrounded by pure racetrack, a 2.5mile road course circuit with 11 turns and more than 70 feet of elevation changes, this is not your typical drive through Highland Park Village looking for that elusive parking space in front of Café Pacific. Then, you look at the numbers: 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, 500 horsepower, and 487 lb-ft of torque. Sounds fun...but only if you have about 3,000 pounds to toss around. In this case, you’re dealing with 5100 pounds. My expectations were low because of these seemingly unfavorable figures. I have before me this beautifully crafted machine with its legendary British heritage and German engineering, and it was impressive to the touch. The fit and finish, the seats, the layout, the materials, are everything you would expect from a vehicle like this. Comfort and confidence. You push the start button and a subtle exhaust note leaves you yearning for more. That soon becomes a distant memory once you select the S-mode for sport-drive. Take command of the paddle shifters and engage the quick-revving V8. The car moves as nimble as a well-tuned sports car, yet smooth as silk. Can we call this car a “sports car”? No! This is a pure GT car, the essence of “grand tourer.” It defines what should be the perfect recipe for nocompromise motoring. When it comes to grand tourers, balance and comfort usually top the list of key characteristics–and the Bentley delivers. Sure, its competition gives exotic looks and sounds, like the Ferrari and Aston Martin offer, but the average driver also needs space. The Bentley offers classic looks that are both grown-up and inviting in comfort. The driver feels in control of the driving emotions expected from carving up back roads, but without the fighter-cockpit closeness that elicits thoughts of “are we done yet.” You can stretch out and really enjoy your trip in a car that can handle

being driven hard, but that also provides the comfort, luxury and pampering you desire when heading out to a black-tie dinner.” Back to the fun things in life: flogging machines around closed-course race tracks. I’m expecting lethargic handling out of 5100 lbs. of machine on 20-inch wheels, but the car surprises me. As I’m waiting on someone to pull up next to me and pass the Grey Poupon, the car showed its true muscle. I can actually throttle-steer this car around corners, tossing it around with confidence, late-breaking into corners, going hard on the brakes and then back to full-throttle, pulling quickly out of the corners and banging through the gears through gears. Its speed climbs fast and I know now that this car can really move. The twin turbos keep the power and torque in the optimal range for extreme balance. I’ve driven the W12 twin turbo Bentley, and although power difference is noticeable, I was very happy with the balance coming out of this V8. I never had the feeling of too much power, which can be a handful in most conditions. This car really responded perfectly to how hard I was pushing it. I soon forgot I was tossing around 5,100 pounds. It was difficult to believe it was really that heavy. I realized how wonderful the chassis feels, even for a convertible 4-seater. Without a hint of flex and weight distribution perfectly matched to GT expectations, driving the car was a pure pleasure to experience. I was hard on the brakes and several laps in I was expecting some brake fade, but it wasn’t there. The car wanted to keep going and going strong. Having raced various cars, I usually don’t get excited by cars like the Bentley, but this car delivered something that I never expected. Bravo to the people at Bentley for creating a masterpiece. Sure, this car looks great cruising Beverly Drive on the way to the Dallas Country Club for golf or to the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek for dinner, but the true reward comes from taking the long way to get there!

Bentley GT

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ROAD TRIPS Natchez Trace Parkway How would you like to drive on a road for over 400 miles and not encounter one stoplight? The Natchez Trace Parkway road is not only beautiful and historic, but is also significant by its total absence of traffic lights, stop signs and billboards. It is the road you dream of while stuck in rush-hour traffic. The only catch is a fifty mph speed limit that is enforced with enthusiasm. The beauty, the history, and the leisurely pace makes this road ideal for the relaxing trip. If you do this road on a motorcycle you will also enjoy one of the smoothest roads you have traveled. The Natchez Trace Parkway took about sixty-seven years to complete and runs from the most beautiful antebellum town in the south of Natchez, Mississippi, 444 miles northeast where it terminates just southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. For over 8,000 years, depending upon which historian you want to believe, and long before the Romans engineered the Appian Way, this “trace” (or path) has been traveled

T H E D E V I L’ S B A C K B O N E

by both man and beast. Bandits, thieves, and cutthroats over its history are one of the reasons this trace became known as “the Devils Backbone.” The other reasons were the daily discomforts one confronted while traveling the trace: swamps, heat, flood, wild animals, poisonous snakes, disease-carrying insects, foul drinking water, and unfriendly natives. American Indians and wild animals used this trace from the dawn of time in North America. Europeans entered the picture when Don Hernando de Soto and his Spanish soldiers happened upon the trace in 1540. De Soto was to die along this trace without finding any of the gold he was seeking. To prevent his body from falling into the hands of the Indians, it was buried in the “Father of the Waters,” better known today as the Mississippi River. Little did de Soto know that the gold he could not find would be carried on the trace years later as payment for goods that the Kaintucks sold down river and then took home with them. The heyday of trace travel was between

Swamps are scattered along the Natchez Trace Parkway, and you can stiop and wander around – if you dare.

1778 and 1820, when Kaintuck boatman traveled by flatboat down the river and returned home on foot up the trace. The flatboats the Kaintucks maneuvered down the Mississippi River from the Ohio Valley could be as long as sixty feet, had enough space on top for an animal stable, living quarters and a storeroom for cargo destined for New Orleans. Three men were needed to navigate a flatboat down the river. The river’s current provided the power. All that was needed for steering was a way to keep the flatboat in the middle of the river and away from the rocks and shore. The current of the river and no means of self propulsion in the flatboat doomed the flatboat to be sold for the value of its wood at the end of the journey and also, doomed the flatboat operator to a long, dangerous trip up the Natchez Trace. The appearance of steam ships which could carry travelers back up the river, would bring most trace travel to an end. By the time Abraham Lincoln went down the river in 1828, the trace was history.

WORDS TED GLOVER PHOTOS BILL KEESE

A cannon and monument to the fallen at Vicksburg National Military Park.

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Dunleith Inn, a stately Bed and Breakfast at Natchez, Mississippi. Though trace travel might have been dead, four men by the names of Crockett, Bowie, Travis and Lewis did make their last trip along the trace. Crockett, Bowie and Travis continued on to meet their destiny at the Alamo, while Meriwether Lewis met his dark destiny, death and controversy at Robert Grinders stand along the Natchez Trace. To this day the controversy remains over the final hours of Meriwether Lewis and who fired the two shots that killed him. As the history of the trace developed, so did many towns along the trace. Many have since disappeared as the economy changed over time, but some towns still remain and are rich in history. Prior to European occupation and visions of wealth and fortune in the New World, the agricultural Natchez Indians lived peaceful albeit doomed lives along the bluffs of the Mississippi. Even though French soldiers sought out and killed nearly the entire tribe of Natchez Indians in 1731, international politics, religion, war and changes in economy could not prevent the town from evolving into what it is today. A premier destination where one can see more antebellum homes and architecture than any other

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city in America. The antebellum jewel of the south and southern terminus of the trace is Natchez, Mississippi. The oldest settlement on the Mississippi, Natchez has had Spanish, French, British, and the American flag fly over its tree-lined streets, houses and gardens. From the time of statehood in 1817 until the Civil War, Natchez grew as a center of wealth and culture. Monumental mansions were erected and filled with the finest furnishings available from around the world. Monmouth, which stands on a prominent hill, was built in the Federal style in 1818 for New Yorker John A. Quitman. Quitman, a vocal expansionist, became the governor of Mississippi and supported the invasion and annexation of Mexico and Cuba. Also for succession and against the federal government, Quitman took it to the extreme. He rejected the Federal style of his mansion and had it renovated into the Greek Revival style which we see today. High on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi is Rosalie. Rosalie is built near the site where the French erected Fort Rosalie (named after the Duchess of Pontchartrain) in 1716. This is also the site where the Natchez Indians massacred the French, despite

a warning from an Indian woman who was in love with a French solder stationed at the fort. Rosalie was completed in 1823 for Peter Little, a cotton farmer and lumber mill owner from Maryland. During the Civil War when the Union army occupied Natchez, General Grant briefly resided there. Stanton Hall, a Greek Revival mansion completed in 1857 and recognized as “one of the most magnificent and palatial residences of antebellum America,” was built towards the end of antebellum grandeur. Built for cotton farmer Frederick Stanton, an Irish immigrant, it is one of the most visited National Historic Landmarks in America. Many people will recognize this mansion as the one featured in the film North-South. Back in the woods sits Longwood, built for cotton grower Dr. Haller Nutt and his wife Julia. It is considered to be the grandest octagonal house in America. The house, where construction started in 1860 was planned to be a six-story 30,000-square-foot Oriental Villa. What wasn’t planned was the Civil War. According to the Longwood tour guides, when the war started, all the “Philadelphia craftsmen dropped their saws and hammers and fled north to pick up rifles and bayonets, never to return.”

You can even visit the Parthenon, with its giant statue of Athena â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or at least a full-scale replica of it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in Nashville Tennessee.

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Dr. Nutt and local builders completed the basement level, which consisted of nine rooms. The rest of the house is unfinished to this day. Tools, half-completed wood works and even the crate the piano arrived in can still be seen on the unfinished upper floors. While these beautiful mansions comprised what was considered “Natchez proper,” a part of Natchez described as “Natchez improper” was located in an area along the river call Natchez Under-the-Hill. This was a wide flat piece of land by the river where the various types of boats would load and unload cargo, and at one time was considered the wickedest waterfront on the Mississippi River. Some of the human cargo which came ashore consisted of drunks, bandits, murderers, and other rabble-rousers who frequented the bars, taverns and brothels along Silver Street. Fist and knife fights were considered normal evening activity, and muggings, shootings, murders were a nightly occurrence. As travel on the Mississippi declined, so did the importance of Natchez Underthe-Hill. Today it is mostly restaurants and the tourist shops. Brits by the River, a British car show hosted by the English Motoring Club of Mississippi every September usually brings out about fifty interesting British automobiles. Of note with this club, it is the only British car club in the U.S. with two Gordon-Keebles in its reg-

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istry. There are only about half-dozen of this rare British GT in the states, and both in the club are road worthy vehicles. Before leaving Natchez and heading north on the trace stop for lunch at Mammy’s Cupboard, south of town on Highway 61. Built in 1940, this restaurant is as unique as it is unusual. Built out of brick and resembling a black woman in a red skirt holding a serving tray, you enter the restaurant through a door in her skirt. Once inside, enjoy some incredible homemade pie. North of town you enter the trace and begin the 400 mile drive towards Nashville. While the Parkway is over 400 miles long, it is less than 1,000 feet wide in most areas. So you will be driving in one of the longest and narrowest National Parks in the U.S. The trace is not a constant. The land changes from rolling to flat and back again. The foliage varies as to location and time of year. Dogwoods are the main attraction in the spring, while the blazing color changes of autumn attracts drivers in the fall. The road is the only constant you have. It is black and tabletop smooth. It curves through the forests. It rolls through the flat land. It crosses rivers and history. And, at fifty mph you won’t miss a thing. The trace uses mile markers to let you know where you are and what there is to see, learn and explore. It is well marked and the Natchez Trace Park-

Above: Andre’s Restaurant in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Right: The ruins of Windsor Mansion.

way map is the only map you will need. One of the most popular stops is about thirty miles north of Natchez, where highway 552 intersects with the Parkway. Exit here and proceed about ten miles west to Windsor ruins. All that remains of this magnificent 1859 Greek revival mansion are twenty-three white stone Corinthian topped columns that reach up into the sky. One can only imagine the beauty of this place set back in the trees out in the middle of nowhere. The irony is the mansion survived the Civil War only to accidentally burn to the ground in 1890. Only one picture remains of the building and that was a drawing done by a Union soldier. At mile post 40 sits the town of Port Gibson. General Grant refrained from destroying this town during the Civil War because he said it “was too beautiful to burn.” There will be many opportunities to see remnants of the original Sunken Trace, and mile marker 41.5 will be the first as you travel north. Stop and walk along the trace and imagine what it must have been like traveling home along this path. Even at midday the trace is dark. How many of these trees shielded a brigand? Deans Stand is at mile marker 73.5. These “Stands” became ways for the locals to make extra income by offering room and board to weary travelers. They were welcome sights for most travelers, even if there was no privacy and up to ten or more unkempt guests

The relaxed downtown square at Natchez, Mississippi. staying in a single room. Mile marker 122 will be your opportunity to walk with the alligators and snakes, if you so desire. Cypress Swamp has wooden walkways throughout the water tupelo and bald cypress swamp where you can explore and see the area from on top, rather than from the road. Around mile marker 260 you can still see Elvis. This is Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis Presley was born. The two-room shotgun house where he grew up still stands and is now part of the fifteen-acre Elvis Presley Park. Inside this park is a museum which contains many items surrounding the life of Elvis that the die-hards just have to see, like a Las Vegas jumpsuit he wore during one of his concerts. And, as I am sure everyone realizes, this has been the number one tourist attraction in Tupelo since Elvis recorded his first hit record. However, since December 2002 another attraction has opened which readers of this magazine might find just as interesting. The Tupelo Automobile Museum which houses the automobile collection of Frank K. Spain. Frank was an early pioneer in radio and telecommunications with an Electronics Engineering degree he received from Mississippi State University at age nineteen. His fascination with cars began in 1950 with the

purchase of a 1937 MG. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until 1983 and the purchase of a 1938 Lagonda that he finally began taking collecting seriously. The museum is over 120,000 square feet and is separated into an area for displaying vehicles and an area where restorations are undertaken. There are presently 150 cars in the collection, including a 1948 Tucker, 1886 Benz, 1967 Roth Wishbone, 1929 Dusenberg Model J and a 1976 Elvis Lincoln Mark IV. I suppose in Tupelo one must always have an Elvis car in his collection, but even without it the Tupelo Automobile Museum is a must stop for automobile enthusiasts. As a reminder that this area was contested during the Civil War, north of Tupelo the graves of thirteen unknown Confederate solders can be seen at mile marker 269.4. There are other areas of interest for the Civil War historian with five battlefields within an easy drive from the parkway. Vicksburg National Military Park, Tupelo National Battlefield and Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site are in Mississippi, while Shiloh National Military Park and Stones River National Battlefield are in Tennessee. Milepost 327 is situated on the Tennessee River in Alabama. George Colbert operated a stand and ferry here and reportedly charged Andrew Jackson $75,000

to ferry his army across the river. The gravesite of Meriwether Lewis is at milepost 385, and one of only two active Old Trace-era structures can be seen at milepost 407. From 1801 until traffic on the trace declined, John and Dolly Gordon ran a ferry across the Duck River. The house was built in 1818 and was part of a 1,500 acre plantation managed by Dolly, as she outlived her husband by 40 years. At milepost 438 stands the Natchez Trace Parkway Arches. This is the first segmentally constructed concrete arch bridge in the U.S. The double-arch design is so beautiful that in 1995 the design won a Presidential Award for Design Excellence. After crossing this bridge the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway is near. One way the traveler is able to grasp the end of the trace is the glowing red ball at the intersection of Highway 100 and the Natchez Trace Parkway â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a traffic light. The solitude and lack of commercialism has ended and the traffic light you drove over 400 miles to avoid is now shining in your face like the table lamp thrust into your face by the detective in a black-and-white grade B movie. No lights. No traffic jams. No billboards. Just 400 miles of smooth road and great views.

Nashville

THE NATCHEZ TRACE

5 TENNESSEE ALABAMA

MISSISSIPPI

Windsor Ruins

Tombigbee National Forest

Tishomingo State Park

Meriwether Lewis

Tennessee Valley Divide

Tupelo 3

ALABAMA

Old Trace Exhibit Shelter

MISSISSIPPI

Jackson 2

1 Natchez

Information Centers

Online Information

Mississippi Crafts Center, Jackson

www.nps.gov/natt

Natchez National Historical Park, Natchez

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace_Parkway

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Daycare for your “Baby” FOREIGN CAR CARE PERSONALIZED

Nerces Mavelian Owner BMW CCA Racer

white glove service and value

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Serving European Car We invite you to experience Autoscope by visiting one of our Owners for 30 Years! extraordinary shops and meet our talented people. We’ll take good care of you with free shuttle service, beverages and even a gentle hand washing of your favorite “baby” or “babies!”

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WORDS Kristin Treager, 2013 PCA GTC4 National Champion PHOTOS Timothy Miller

Hello Gorgeous! W

hen I first saw the Audi RS5, I exclaimed (in my best Barbara Streisand voice), “hello gorgeous!” Not only is the RS5 visually striking, but it’s paired with one heck of a power plant. Under the hood you will find a 4.2 Liter engine which produces 450 horsepower. This is the same motor that is featured in the popular Audi R8 super car...that’s pretty exciting considering this is a passenger vehicle! Though the engine is impressive, what really makes this car special is its transmission. The RS5 features a seven speed dual clutch automatic transmission with paddle shifters. As a race car driver, I am skeptical about streetcars with paddle shifters. They often won’t let you up shift when you want nor downshift when you want, completely defeating the purpose of having paddle shifters in the first place. But the RS5 rises above this common problem. The CPU will protect you from over revving the motor, yet for the most part, the computer will let you downshift when you desire. The car even has an automatic blipper which rev matches your downshift for a seamless transition.

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My only complaint is that if you neglect to use the paddles for an extended period of time, the car reverts back to automatic mode...even with the “dynamic” setting selected. My suggestion to Audi...“let me do what I want to do!” If I want to be in automatic mode I’ll change it myself! Also, the display screen doesn’t conspicuously show you what gear you’re in while using the paddles. There is a teeny-tiny little number that you have to search for on the screen. And really, who has time to play hide and seek with the display screen when you’re taking a late apex turn at 90 mph? That being said, the dynamic duo of the R8 engine and 7 speed transmission results in extremely quick acceleration. The kind of acceleration that any race car driver and wanna be race car driver can appreciate. At 75 miles per hour, the aerodynamic system deploys. The integrated wing spoiler raises up automatically to increase

aerodynamic downforce; perfect for fast sweeping turns on track (or on the street if you’re so inclined). This spoiler feature can be manually overridden to remain in the “up” or “down” position. As you speed past 75 mph and hit 160 mph, the RS5 is noticeably cool, calm, and collected. No vibrating. No shuttering. The car squats down and charges on. Any “push” or “understeer” you’d experience from an all wheel drive car is mitigated by the 40/60 all wheel drive split. Of course you can’t talk about speed without talking about brakes. Though the standard brake package offers an improvement over the S5 brakes, for another $6,000 you can completely upgrade to the carbon-ceramic brakes; not necessary if you’re just zipping around town, but a good investment if you plan to track this car on high speed touring days at your local road course. The motto “Truth in Engineering” rings true on track. The RS5 is the perfect car to take you from the boardroom to the race track in the blink of an eye.

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Readers Share their Photos and Videos from the Past and Present

Then&Now

Then 42 CarGuyMagazine.com

Native Galvestonian Doug McLeod has spent most of his 73 years in awe of classic cars and motorcycles beginning as a small boy assembling with much glue and patience plastic model car kits. “Then” photo taken fifty some years ago in Galveston of Doug McLeod with his hard earned Texas tan and his 1962 “327” three speed, manual shift Corvette convertible.

Please send us your Photos and Videos from the Past and Present

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nowâ&#x20AC;? photo taken this summer on Galveston Island of Doug McLeod and his current favorite toy, the 2014 Z51 Corvette. The seven speed stick shift coupe with 460 HP and 465 torque will clock 0-60 MPH in 3.8 seconds. Which may explain why Doug is always without a shirt. As to the short shorts, well they seem to be back in fashion again, fifty some years later!

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Essentials Griots Garage Speed Shine

Mooneyes T-Shirt

Perfect between washes, a quick mist and light toweling removes dust and other foreign residue, leaving behind a brilliant surface. A great way to enhance color and extend the life of your base wax or sealant.

Mooneyes products and logos are an indelible part of Hot Rod nostalgia, easily recognizable to gearheads band novices alike. Enjoy this shirt which features the MOON Eyeball logo with California in script below.

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California Car Duster Works like magic! The traditional, classic wood handle, and heavy duty mophead are preferred by car show entrants and enthusiasts across the world. Easy to use and includes a carrying case. WEBLINK http://platinumcars.com/content/california-car-duster-wood-handle

44 CarGuyMagazine.com

Ferrari T-Shirts

Quick Shine

Ferrari captures it all within every stitch, racing inspired color schemes and subtle soft fabric. Ferrari shirts are engineered just for you.

Great for dust, smudges, fingerprints, bugs, and bird droppings, Golden Shine Quick Shine creates a mirrorperfect finish and helps repel dust by reducing static cling on paint surfaces. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be disappointed.

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Ford GT40 Took Europe by surprise and beat Ferrari to the finish, the 1966 Ford GT40 Mark II. Own this die-cast model piece of automotive history today. WEBLINK https://platinumcars.com/ brand/shelby-collectibles

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OUR TOP PICKS FOR 2015

Eco Supercar 2015 BMW i8 Revolutionary in its design, the 2015 BMW i8 looks like nothing else on the road. Otherworldly aesthetic details include doors that open up and out like wings, striking LED headlamps and a fully digital instrument display. The $135,700 2+2 plug-in hybrid is powered by both an advanced threecylinder gas engine and a 96 kW electric motor, which, combined, create 362 horsepower—good for a 0-to-60 mph dash of 4.4 seconds—and an impressive 94 mpg. Arriving in showrooms now, the 3,285-pound i8 is allwheel drive, which makes for superb traction all year long.

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Four-Passenger Sports Coupe 2015 Lexus RC 350 Lexus has always listened carefully to its customer base, and the most recent result of that attention is its return to the four-passenger sports coupe segment with the daringly designed 2015 RC 350. The 314 horsepower rear-wheel drive coupe features an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters on the steering wheel to help drivers keep control at all times. Expect the RC 350, estimated to cost $48,000 when it debuts this fall, to hit 60 mph from a standstill in less than 5.0 seconds. Inside, the RC 350 shows off Lexus’ new Remote Touch Interface, which functions much like a computer mouse to control various vehicle settings.

Seven-Passenger SUV 2015 Cadillac Escalade Bigger and bolder than ever, the Cadillac Escalade is new inside and out for 2015. From afar, the Escalade most notably sports striking new LED headlamps, while, inside, the SUV showcases Cadillac’s slick CUE infotainment system, which implements an 8-inch capacitive touch display to control everything from the naviga-

tion to audio systems. Alongside all of this new technology, the interior boasts premium materials, including real wood and leather accents. And, thanks to its now-standard Magnetic Ride Control, the Escalade’s handling is more precise than ever.

Two-Seat Sports Coupe 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe Sculpted by renowned designer Ian Callum, Jaguar’s latest addition to its pedigreed lineup pushes the performance envelope with a nod to the manufacturer’s famed 1961 E-Type. This 3,500-pound all-aluminum beauty boasts such edgy touches as retractable door handles that extend to greet drivers when they approach the vehicle. Inside, the tight interior is decidedly drivercentric, while its muscular steering wheel and sculpted seatbacks underscore this Jag’s sporting intentions. There is a wide selection of variants at the customers’ disposal, ranging from the $65,000 340-horsepower V6 to the $99,000 550-horsepower F-Type R, which screams from 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds, with a top speed of 186 mph.

Here’s a few of our favorites so far for 2015. Let us know what you think.

Touring Coupe 2015 Mercedes-Benz S-Class One of the most visually striking Mercedes in recent memory, the 2015 SClass Coupe is also a masterpiece of automotive engineering. Like its fourdoor sibling, the $116,000 all-wheel drive Coupe boasts a slew of groundbreaking technologies, including Magic Body Control—a sophisticated suspension system that uses cameras to scan the road for irregularities up to 50 feet ahead. While standard suspension systems are reactionary, Magic Body Control is proactive, adjusting the suspension to compensate for potential bumps before ever encountering them, and significantly improving handling. Another first for the S-Class Coupe is Active Curve Tilting, a technology used to lean the car into corners the way motorcyclists lean into bends, and reduce side-toside movements.

Compact Sports Sedan 2015 Audi S3 The 2015 Audi S3 high-performance sports sedan surprises on a number of levels. Slated to arrive in showrooms this summer, the $42,000 S3 has a 2.0-liter turbocharged fourcylinder engine that generates 300 horsepower, giving the S3 a 0 to 60 mph time of less than 5.0 seconds. A built-in Qualcomm 4G LTE chipset, meanwhile, makes the S3 the first vehicle in the country to offer highspeed wireless connectivity, providing highly detailed street-view navigation graphics and even Facebook and Twitter alerts. The S3 also sees the debut of Audi’s Phone Box, an innovative cell storage area in the center console that improves cell reception through an antenna built into the rear windshield. Measuring approximately 10 inches shorter than Audi’s S4, the S3 nevertheless packs nearly as much technology and driving thrills as its larger sibling.

Compact SUV 2015 Lincoln MKC Fresh off the launch of Lincoln’s redesigned MKZ sedan, the American luxury automaker pulled the wraps off its first entry-level premium crossover, the 2015 MKC. The $33,995 MKC debuts this summer with an optional 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine that generates 285 horsepower, making it as powerful as a V6—though it’s 15 percent more fuel efficient. The MKC casts a striking shadow with Lincoln’s signature split wing grille up front and a unique wraparound rear tailgate. Inside, drivers and passengers will appreciate both the Bridge of Weir Leather seats and the giant panoramic roof. More good news: For those who never quite mastered the art of parallel parking, the MKC’s new park assist makes it easy, pulling in and out of tight spaces without drivers having to so much as touch the wheel.

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Cowboy Collectors buy “Holy Grail” Pontiacs

ans of the Discovery Channel’s Fast ‘N’ Loud enjoyed the account of Gas Monkey Garage’s epic acquisition, restoration and sale of two very significant muscle cars. The first and second Firebirds ever built, two of Pontiac’s “Magnificent Five,” were bought from Chuck Alekinas, former UK and NBA basketball player. Having acquired the pair, Gas Monkey’s Richard Rawlings made a striking deal with their new buyer, but it came with a punishing rider: restore them to museum condition in just sixty days, or pay a $10k a day penalty for every day over deadline.

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The team at Gas Monkey rose to the challenge and enthusiasts got a chance to enjoy the historic pony cars at the 3rd annual Concours d’Elegance of Texas on May 4th, when their new owner unveiled them to the public. They now reside in a permanent pride of place in a private museum in Colorado. Having watched the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro enter the pony car market, Pontiac had joined the race in 1967, creating a unique identity for its new Firebird. Rather than offer one car with multiple options, it instead presented

“The Magnificent Five,” each model offered with its own distinctive style and different engine. “The discovery of the very first and second Firebirds ever built, two of the Magnificent Five, was an enthusiasts dream,” said JD Pass, entrepreneur, collector, cowboy and long-time friend of Gas Monkey Garage. He and his business partner, a lifelong Pontiac enthusiast, were branding cattle on a Dakota ranch when they learned of the discovery of the “Holy Grail” Pontiacs “over the mooing and bellowing of hundreds of cattle”. “Having done the deal and bought the cars from Gas

SEEN ON “THE CAR GUY SHOW” In Episode 10 we met up with “JD” and the two cars at the Worldwide Auctioneer’s Concours d’Elegance of Texas on Lake Conroe, Texas. the No. 1 car and “Show4” on the No. 2 car, significant when factory show cars do not usually survive. Pontiac’s first Firebird is a 326 Convertible, presented in its original Regimental Red, with cruise control, Monkey Garage, we elected to bring Originally bought by Gas Mon- deluxe interior package in red and a them back to their former glory so key Garage for $70,000, the Firebirds very rare floor mounted clock. Car #2 is a 4-speed HO Coupe in Silverglaze, that people can enjoy them as origi- were sold for $650,000, after each nally built, rather than leave them had been the subject of that ground- the first High Output car built, with factory-mounted tachometer, Rally II to deteriorate further,” he explained. up restoration, led by Jason Aker, a “Gas Monkey Garage rose to fame as concours restoration expert brought wheels, tilt column and deluxe black a hot rod and custom shop, but the on board to oversee the project. Se- interior. Further inquiries on the cars team has done an exceptional job of rial #’s 100001 and 100002 are both should be directed to JD Pass at jdturning out a museum quality resto- factory show cars, as evidenced by the trim tags which read “Show1” on succeed@yahoo.com. ration on these great historic cars.” CarGuyMagazine.com

Car Guys Enjoy Gateway Canyons Resort Deep in Coloradoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red-Rock Lands 50 CarGuyMagazine.com

ook out your guestroom window and the monolithic Palisade rock formation is in your face. Gateway Canyons resort sits in winding red-rock canyons in western Colorado, a playground for active travelers that rivals nearby Moab, Utah but without the crowds. The adobe-style buildings fit right into these canyons where Ancient Puebloans once lived and cowboys once roamed. The resortâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Adventure Center offers hikes high into the redrock hills that surround the resort, kayaking and river rafting on the Dolores River, horseback riding, rappelling, climbing and just about any other adventure you might want to experience. The resort was created by John Hendricks, founder of the Discovery Channel, who owns a massive ranch nearby. With his love of this dramatic setting, he set out to design a resort that combines upscale luxury inside the buildings and outstanding adventures outdoors. Car Guy Bonus The resort offers on-road (Bentleys, Ford GT40s and more) and off-road (Jeeps and Trophy Trucks) driving experiences. On or off the views are simply incredible. The Gateway Colorado Auto Museum, which houses just part of Mr. Hendricks multi-million dollar collection of classic cars. Among the 50 cars in the museum are a 1906 Cadillac Model H Coupe and the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car that Hendricks bought at an auction for $3.24 million. CarGuyMagazine.com

Lodging While the resort is big - 225 acres the footprint of the lodges, museum and other buildings is small. The Kiva Lodge only has 38 units spread out around a courtyard pool. The decor is upscale southwestern with desert colors. Both the premium and the deluxe rooms are spacious, with big comfortable chairs set before a kiva-style gas fireplace and a wet bar. The downstairs premium rooms have tiny courtyards with private hot tub. The Grand Kiva suites have two bedrooms and a full living room. (Gateway Canyons also has a smaller, more basic lodge, which is being remodeled into more upscale accommodations.) Adventure Center The experienced guides at the Adventure Center know the region well and take active guests out for sports and experiences in the surrounding countryside. Fly-fishing, hiking, mountain biking,climbing or rappelling on the canyon’s high cliffs are just a sampling of what’s offered. (Extreme junkies can take the Class V climb to the peak of the Palisade formation.) There’s kayaking, tubing or rafting on the Delores River, a five-minute walk away Fly rods and cruiser bikes are free to use. Moderate to long trail rides and equestrian instruction start from the Stables at Gateway, down the road a few miles.

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The Spa The Spa at Gateways Canyons is small but upscale. The treatment selection is varied, including massages, body treatments, facials, and hair and nail services. Dining The focus is on fresh, imaginative fare in both the fine dining and the casual restaurants. The Entrada Restaurant and Lounge, where guests often come casually dressed, features dishes using locally grown ingredients. Expect anything from bison carpaccio to polenta-dusted Colorado striped bass to Colorado rack of lamb. Head to the Kiva Cafe for more casual fare, ranging from buffalo meatloaf and angus burgers to salads with a Southwestern flair. Exploring Gateway Canyons Resort is in the middle of one of the most scenic drives in Colorado: The UnaweepTabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway. The highway is carved through high canyons, follows deep river beds and passes sheer sandstone cliffs. Historic sites along the way include the remnants of the Hanging Flume, which brought 23 million gallons of water daily from the San Miguel River to operate the hydraulic mining equipment at the Bancroft Placer gold site. Within a two-hour drive, visitors will find some 18 wineries in the Colorado Wine Country region. Most are at the base of the Colorado National Monument. CarGuyMagazine.com

Discovery Retreats The resort is the official home of Discovery Retreats, and plans are underway for week-long retreats on topics that one might see on the Discovery Channel. Topics for the retreats include â&#x20AC;&#x153;Secrets of the Universe.â&#x20AC;? (The Discovery Communications family includes shows such as the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, the Science Channel and the Military Channel. Discovery Adventures is the travel arm of the Discovery Channel.) Gateway Canyon Resort Info and Reservations: Visit official Gateway Canyons Resort Web site, or call (866) 671-4733 43200 Hwy 141, P.O. Box 339, Gateway, Colorado 81522 Gateway Canyons Resort is about an hour and a half drive from the nearest airport at Grand Junction, Colorado. Search for a flight to Grand Junction Regional Airport

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ELECTRIC DRIVES 2014 Cadillac ELR

WORDS Jim Sherman

ell, I was the last one of our group to get to drive Cadillac’s new ELR. I have driven the Volt from Chevrolet and frankly the ELR is a luxury Volt. The ELR shares the same driveline technology as the Volt but that is where the similarities end. The ELR at first glance, is what you would expect from a modern day Cadillac, edgy lines, big grill and a stealth fighter look. The ride is quite nice, good drivability, low cabin noise at speed but it has a larger turning radius than you would expect from this small of a car. Let’s talk interior. I would say

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that Cadillac has exceeded expectations with the fit and finish. The color choices are elegant and a good combination of leathers, faux carbon fiber and plastic. Cup holders are small so a large coffee from Dunkin fits but not the XL. One of the negatives that I found is the rear seats are tough to get into even for a 7 year old unless you want to wait for the seat to power itself forward and then back again. Trunk space? If you are going solo you can fit your clubs, if there is a second set you are going to either have to lower the rear seats or rent a set when you get there. The layout is logical and

it has surprisingly good outward visibility. The driver technology has a learning curve, with any luck Cadillac dealers will have a comprehensive delivery process. The driver display is possibly the best one I’ve seen. It reminds me of Iron Man’s helmet. Logical layout, very clear resolution and simple to navigate once you’ve spent some time learning it. Our test car had Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Departure Warning Systems. Both these systems combine audio, visual and physical (seat vibrates) warnings to let you know that you’re not doing

something right. The Adaptive Cruise Control was easy to set up and it was very smooth during speed changes. If you haven’t had a chance you should go drive with it sometime I am a big fan of these systems. There is a lot to learn in the car before you start driving. The efficiency of our test vehicle was disappointing. I picked up the car from Tim and he failed to remember to plug it in overnight. As a result I had 0 EV (Electric Vehicle) range. This situation caused the gas generator; I call it that because that’s all it does, to run constantly as I drove around. This resulted in a lack luster 27 MPG for the day. Over the 1000 miles our team put on the car we had a combined fuel economy of 28.1 MPG, again disappointing. As a counter point, I let it charge at home for the night, roughly 10 hours and when I went to drive to the office it had 15 miles of EV range.

During my entire commute the gas generator never once started up. In theory if you were diligent about plugging it in at night and your commute was less than lets say 20 miles round trip, you would rarely see a gas station. In summary I think that the Cadillac ELR may have it’s place in the market as a luxury electric vehicle. The combination of good looks, technology and short-range efficiency make it a great affluent commuter car. I am encouraged to see the progress that is being made in these types of vehicles and look forward to future generations of electric drive cars. CarGuyMagazine.com

RENOVO MOTORS DEBUTS ALL-NEW 2015 RENOVO COUPE AT

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T THE 2014 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURSE D’ELEGANCE

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ELECTRIC Daytona Coupe, What?

enovo Motors, Inc. today introduced the world to the groundbreaking Renovo Coupe with a production prototype on display at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance. Founded in 2010 with the mission to build the world’s most exciting vehicles, Renovo has operated in stealth mode for over four years as they developed and refined their patent-pending EV technology. The Coupe—the first all-electric American supercar—is the culmination of these efforts. “Renovo Motors sought to cre-

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ate an aspirational vehicle that demonstrates the performance, control, and excitement that is possible with EV technology,” said Renovo’s CEO Christopher Heiser. “We have poured our passion and innovation into the Coupe in an effort to deliver a truly amazing driving experience, and we’re honored to present the Production Prototype of our car at the Concours d’Elegance.” The Coupe sets a benchmark 0-60 time of just 3.4 seconds, the fastest of any production rear-wheel drive electric vehicle. The car’s massive 1,000 foot-pounds of torque is

available immediately from a dead stop and delivers perfectly linear acceleration that is unlike any car on the road today. The mid-mounted twin sequential axial-flux motors deliver both power and efficiency, with optimized energy mappings for a wide range of driving conditions. When run at full throttle, the motors produce over 500 horsepower. More importantly, the drivetrain ramps to full power in just 37 milliseconds— about ten times faster than the blink of an eye—and further redefines how a performance vehicle can

0-60 time of just 3.4 seconds, the fastest of any production rearwheel drive electric vehicle. The car’s massive 1,000 foot-pounds of torque is available immediately from a dead stop respond to the commands of the driver. The Coupe offers a new and unique viewpoint on the supercar segment. “Our motivation to design and build our cars is not artificially tied to any particular propulsion technology,” notes Jason Stinson, Renovo Motors CTO. “Simply put, we can do things with electric vehicles that can’t be replicated by any other platform. Exploring these areas, reducing them to practice, and building them into our products is at the core of what we do best.” The Coupe’s incredible per-

formance is made possible by the patent-pending battery technology developed by the Renovo team. Multiple separate battery enclosures enable a performance-oriented weight distribution and minimize chassis volume requirements. The Renovo Motors drivetrain is less than 40% of the total weight of the car, and yet delivers the highest peak power in its class. The on-road performance is matched by a fast-charge system that can refill the batteries in just 30 minutes and maintains compatibility with a wide range of standard Level CarGuyMagazine.com

“This shape was nearly perfect 50 years ago...”

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2 charge systems. At the track, the Coupe can be charged between run sessions, offering the first true circuitready EV. The Coupe’s sculpted drivetrain is on full display in its genuine, factory-modified CSX9000 chassis supplied by the world-famous Shelby American brand. Completely reimagined by award-winning designer Peter Brock, the CSX9000 delivers the features of a modern supercar while retaining the classic and race-proven aerodynamic silhouette of the original 1964 Le Mans winning car. “This shape was nearly perfect 50 years ago, and physics doesn’t change

much over time,” said Mr. Brock, an early advisor to Renovo Motors. “However, the redesigned car has a totally updated body, frame, suspension, and cabin; it’s a new chapter for this chassis. When the Renovo team approached me with the idea of incorporating my work into their designs, I was thrilled. The finished product definitely carries the spirit of the original car strongly into the future.” Every aspect of the Coupe’s interior was designed to create a more direct and immediate connection between machine and driver. From the cockpit the driver has access to a

Each Coupe is built at Renovo Motor’s facility in the heart of Silicon Valley wide range of controls and information systems. Classic needle gauges surround a modern circular digital display, and a muscular drive selector enables brake regeneration to be adjusted in real-time—another first for a production electric vehicle. Each Coupe is built at Renovo Motor’s facility in the heart of Silicon Valley, USA. The talented and experienced team of designers, engineers, and technicians at Renovo Motors are proud to share the Coupe Production Prototype with the world and are looking forward to entering the final stages of the car’s development program.

Renovo Motors brings the Coupe to limited series production in 2015. Renovo Motors, a Silicon Valley Car Company, is driven to create the world’s most exciting vehicles. By harnessing the power of the latest electrical, mechanical, and software systems the Renovo team creates cars that redefine the driving experience. Their debut offering, the Renovo Coupe, sets multiple benchmarks in the EV supercar segment and demonstrates the performance, control, and excitement that is made possible by Renovo’s patent-pending technology. CarGuyMagazine.com

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