NEW
CORVETTE C8 DRIVEN SMOKIN’ HOT C
MUSCLE 1970 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER
1955 DODGE CUSTOM ROYAL LANCER No. 346 February 2020 £4.50
CAR OF THEYEAR! CA EAR! LAST OF THE
LETTER CARS
1965 CHRYSLER 300L
COBRA COUPE RE-CREATION
Ben Klemenzson
Viewpoint
Photography: Jonathan Fleetwood.
B
KITCHEN SINK!
oy oh boy do we have a mixed bag for you in this month’s magazine! I know I’m always going on about how Classic American content is really eclectic in terms of eras, makes, models and types of vehicles we cover, but this month I think we’ve surpassed ourselves in terms of the sheer variety! Taking pride of place is the stunning 1955 Dodge that was crowned Car of the Year at last year’s finals. Another brace of stunning Mopars are the ’65 Chrysler 300L which was also in the most recent Car of the Year and the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner which took part in the competition a couple of years ago… Bang up to date is the new Corvette C8, about which we managed to get a ‘first drive’ feature literally as we went to press and then, looking to the future, GM’s electric truck, the E-10, which showcases their turnkey electric drivetrain, something we reckon you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the future. And if you like your cars crusty, but with a lot of home-made character, check out YouTuber Scott
Newstead’s ’49 Frazer on page 50. Our events pages are rapidly filling up, so if you’re a show or event organiser, make sure you get those listings over to us by e-mail (email@ classic-american.com ) or by snail mail (Classic American, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ). And likewise if you’ve got a car, truck, van or any other American vehicle or parts to sell (or you’re after some) get those ads in – we still offer a coupon and photo service (see page 113) or you can go online and submit your ad digitally at www.classic-american.com The days are getting longer and it won’t be long until we dust those cars down, drag ’em out and hit the road again – safe cruising!
Ben Klemenzson, editor bklemenzson@mortons.co.uk
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Classic American
News
PRE-WAR PERFECTION
Gooding & Company, the auction house acclaimed for selling some of the most sought-after and valuable 20th-century European and American motorcars, has announced its outstanding line-up of pre-war classics ahead of its annual Scottsdale Auctions in January this year. Highlights include this brace of beauties: Estimate $450,000 – $650,000
1930 Stutz Series M Boattail Speedster CREDIT MIKE MAEZ
The Scottsdale Auctions Dates: Friday, January 17 at 11am and Saturday, January 18 at 11am Location: Scottsdale Fashion Square, 4700 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 | Corner of N. Scottsdale Road and E. Highland Ave. Public preview: Wednesday, January 15 – Saturday, January 18 Auction catalogues: $100, includes admission for two to the viewing and the auctions General admission: $40, includes admission for one to the viewing and the auctions Live auction broadcast: www.goodingco.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ GoodingandCompany Twitter: @goodingandco #goodingscottsdale Instagram: @goodingandcompany #goodingscottsdale YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ GoodingandCompany Phone: 001 310.899.1960
1930 STUTZ SERIES M BOATTAIL The Stutz Motor Company was largely responsible for producing some of the most desirable American sports cars of the pre-war era. The car manufacturer campaigned its first production vehicle at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, after only five weeks of design and build. This gamble paid off as the car
SPEEDSTER finished in 11th place and thus created the advertising slogan, ‘Stutz – The Car That Made Good in a Day.’ This immediate success set the company up to design and produce more competitive models in the years that followed and paved the way for the iconic Bearcat model, a sports car that stayed in production until 1925.
Estimate $350,000 – $450,000
1937 CORD 812 S/C CABRIOLET Fewer than 3000 Cord 812s were built in the manufacturer’s history and thanks to the industry-leading combination of engineering and aesthetics, this car is unquestionably one of the most iconic vehicles of the Thirties. The
In 1929, Stutz introduced the Series M and referred to the model as the most European of the US auto designs and featured driving lights that turn in harmonisation with steering. This particular Series M Boattail Speedster has undergone extensive restoration and comes from a prestigious west coast collection.
1937 Cord 812 SC Cabriolet CREDIT BRIAN HENNIKER
‘SPORTSMAN’ example presented here is one of only 64 originally Supercharged Cabriolets. It includes advanced features such as hidden headlamps, seating for two with a convertible top that disappears beneath a flush deck, and its
signature seven-louvre coffin-nose hood. This 812 recently underwent a meticulous restoration with an emphasis on authenticity and was the recipient of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Awards in 2001 and 2014.
Expedition Earth Imagine deciding you’re going to drive around the world on your second date?! Well, that’s exactly what one Kiwi couple, New Zealanders Bridget Thackwray and Topher Richwhite did on their second date and less than three months later they were setting off from Deadhorse in Alaska, the northernmost point in the western hemisphere accessible by road, in a Jeep Wrangler, nicknamed Gunther. So far they’ve covered 90,000 miles and been through 53 countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Colombia and Argentina, from which their Jeep was shipped to Africa where the odyssey continued up through South Africa, north through Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. There have been a lot of highs and
6 classic-american.com
lows on the journey, including the highest temperature experienced in Sudan (123 degrees Farenheit/51 degrees Celsius) and the lowest altitude in Ethiopia, 127 metres below sea level… Ethiopia is also where they had their scariest moment, being held up by teenage gunmen with AK47 machine guns (fortunately they escaped unscathed!). The most remarkable (or maybe not, since we know how great Jeeps are!) is that they’ve not had a single mechanical or technical issue with
their Jeep, wh hich h is a Jeep Wrangller Unllimited Rubicon. The stock factory spec was upgraded in Arizona, where Gunther was fitted with 33inch off-road wheels and tyres and lifted by 2½ inches, as well as having extra fuel tanks fitted (and water), extra spotlights and heavy-duty suspension, bumpers and roof boxes. Next year will see them tackling Iran, Russia, China, Mongolia and Tibet. You can follow Bridget, Topher and Gunther on https://www.instagram. com/expeditionearth.live/
AACI calls it a day Sad news has reached the Classic American offices that the American Auto Club International has ceased operations due to issues with holding its annual shows. Chairman Brendan McCarth told Classic American: “Sadly, the AACI will be no more. It’s mainly due to Pure Leisure Group changing their event contracts going into 2020 and beyond. Without going into great detail, if we went with their proposals, we’d be effectively working to make money for them while we slowly watched the club go bankrupt. “As you know, we have always done it for two reasons and two
alone. To keep it going, if I hadn’t done something it would have died back in 2008. But also to raise money for the charity When You Wish Upon a Star. It’s like putting something back, and each year when handing the cheque over to Keith Rossiter from their Stockport office, I often said that if I couldn’t do it then I wouldn’t do it. The fact is that without the events, the club is not financially sustainable, hence the decision (by all of the team) to call it a day.” Sad news indeed. Classic American will keep readers abreast of developments in the coming months.
Missing Mustang Well, the Mustang isn’t missing as such, but we’re missing the details of the owner of this
beautiful green 1967 Mustang fastback, registration ABW 169E which we photographed a while back, but which has changed c owners since the shoot. If you’re the t owner of this marvellous Mustang m or o know the owner, please get in touch by emailing: email@ classic-american.com
classic-american.com 7
Classic American
News
1956 Thunderbird
AUCTION REPORT
HISTORICS MERCEDES BENZ WORLD
Words and photography: Richard Coney
November 23, 2019 As the fallen autumn leaves turn to mulch and the ground gets slippery underfoot, the Historics at Brooklands auction house generally migrates its November sale the few yards across the river Wey from its namesake’s museum grounds to the adjacent Mercedes Benz World. While it’s not a large enough venue to accommodate all the vehicles consigned under cover, the majority, including the most valuable, can be displayed and later auctioned in a temperature-controlled environment. Such was again the case on November 23, though thankfully the weather was reasonable and not as inclement as in previous years. Of the 200-plus lots awaiting bidders, only
Corvette Grand Sport
8 classic-american.com
four were American cars, two Fords and two Chevrolets, but they could not have been more different. The blue oval was represented by an attractive 1956 Ford Thunderbird, in its original colours of period perfect Pistachio Green, with a contrasting white hardtop. One of only 16,361 built that year and said to have been bare metal resprayed relatively recently, the eagle-eyed could see the bright pink remnants of a previous paint job on the bracketry surrounding the standard for 1956 bumper-mounted spare wheel. I wondered why it had been overlooked. Regardless of the colour, the car presented well with an original matching interior and a clean engine bay with what was presumed to be a 292cu in OHV Y-block V8. The 312cu in engine was, however, an option that year. The catalogue said that the brakes had been recently renovated prior to importation and suggested that the convertible top was missing. In reality, it might not have been ordered for the car when new, as the fibreglass hardtop was standard and the convertible top an extra cost option. Said to have ‘EU taxes paid’, there were no UK licence plates and the car had allegedly arrived from Poland. It was estimated at a not unreasonable £28,000 to £35,000, a similar range to previously auctioned T-Birds. The second Ford was a 1965 Mustang GT350 Fastback, described as a ‘tribute’ in the style of a Shelby. Imported in 2015, it
had been bought at a previous Historics auction by a UK collector. The car was awaiting DVLA registration and I was advised it had done no miles since the purchase. Said to have been substantially restored in the US before arriving in the UK, with an engine rebuild, extensive bodywork and a new paint job in Caspian Blue with white racing stripes, it also benefited from a four-speed manual gearbox and four wheel disc brakes. Despite these claims, it was not mint, but would be a good usable classic for everyday use. The estimate was £24,000 to £28,000 which would be a good buy, if bidding kept below the maximum. The older of the two Chevys was an unusual 1965 Chevelle Malibu SS Convertible. Its Ermine white paint was in excellent condition following a recent respray, though the poor panel fit was an indication that it had been rather hurriedly reassembled afterwards. Said to have benefited from work totalling over £18k, its brilliant red vinyl interior was in excellent condition, the carpets were new and the chrome was good. Allegedly a genuine SS model, it had many power options, including windows, brakes, steering and its ‘as-new’ convertible top. Compared to the States, Chevelles are a comparative rarity over here, so determining its true value is difficult.
1965 Chevelle SS
Nevertheless it was estimated at a wide-ranging £24,000 to £30,000. The last American car was a stunning 2017 Corvette Stingray Grand Sport Z15. A true modern supercar which was said to have cost nearly £93,000 less than three years ago, it was still under warranty until 2020. Having covered just over 1200 miles, it was in as-new condition and all the more surprising that it was outside, rather than cosseted in the warm with the other high value cars. There’s not enough space to properly describe the car, but suffice to say it’s seriously
rare, being one of only 71 Twilight Blue coupes in Chevy’s 2017 Design Package Production. With a plethora of options and 466bhp on tap, it was sold new in the UK and has to be one of the rarest and most technologically advanced cars on British roads today. Its estimate of between £65,000 and £75,000 did not, therefore, seem excessive for someone with deep pockets and was a worthy alternative to an Aston Martin or Ferrari. Nevertheless, on auction day, when the hammer fell for the last time, all four American cars remained unsold. Apparently no post-auction deals were subsequently arranged. The Thunderbird is now for sale on a classic car internet site. It will be interesting to see whether any of them will reappear next time on March 7, at Royal Ascot Racecourse. See you there!
Ford Mustang Fastback
classic-american.com 9
Tried& Tested
Included in the kit: the nozzle, three adapters and tape, the bottle and snow foam solution.
Meguiar’s Ultimate Snow Foam Cannon Kit Ki Kit contains a 946ml bottle of the Meguiiar’s Ultimate Snow Foam and has an RRP of £55 £55. It is now available in UK stores and online. See: www.meguiars.co.uk for more details.
Kit includes:
1 Heavy duty printed Snow Foam bottle. 2 Adjustable foam nozzle (Snow Foam Lance) for thick snow foam action. 3 A roll of PTFE tape 4 Pressure washer adapters x 3 included (Karcher, Nilfisk, Bosch). 5 Meguiar’s Ultimate Snow Foam Xtreme Cling Wash 946ml. Snow foam is apparently the on-trend car cleaning method of the moment and Meguiar’s kit contains three different adapters for three of the most popular high-pressure washers (Karcher, Nilfisk, Bosch). And while setting it up might seem initially a bit of a complex and time-consuming exercise, once it’s done, it’s effectively set up for life and the speed with which it covers a vehicle in the snow foam is remarkable. We had the whole Classic American Jeep covered in less than three minutes! If your car has soft paint or a good wax on it that you don’t want to disturb, the suggestion is that this may be an effective way of cleaning your car as, according to Meguiar’s, it won’t strip the wax from the paint, unlike more aggressive forms of washing. It can also be used as a prewash, which is what we did in the case of our Jeep and, to be honest, it looked pretty clean after the pre-wash and we could have got away with that alone. It’s also suggested you can use the snow foam on the vehicle with a wash mitt, although you’d have to be pretty quick with a bigger vehicle! What’s impressive is how little of the snow foam wash you need: literally 100ml mixed with 500ml of water, which covers the car in just minutes. Although £55 may sound a little steep, you’re buying the actual snow cannon equipment; once you’ve purchased that, the snow foam itself costs £18 for 946ml which should give about 10 washes, which works out about £2 a wash.
Rating
Ease of use: Effectiveness: Value for Money: Overall:
10 classic-american.com
Adapters and PTFE tape to seal the connection.
Attaching the cannon to the pressure washer gun.
Wrapping the connector in tape for a tight seal.
Above: Rinsing off Jeep beforehand. Left: Allowing the snow foam to sink in. Right: Rinsing off…. Below: Et voilà, a sparkling Jeep, ready for its final wash!
Bottle and cannon assembled.
Getting a nice coverage of the snow foam.
Keith Harman drums up all the news, views and latest stuff on the hot rod and custom scen ne…
Smaller Strombe ergs
NSRA Supernats dates ggest hot rod event on the calendar in the UK,, Probablyy the big the NSRA have released the dates for the 2020 Supernats, to be held, as ever, at Old Warden Park, near Biggleswade in Herts. August 6 to 9 are the dates to save, but booking doesn’t open just yet, so you’ll have to wait until May if you want to preenter this very popular event. As usual you’ll be able to attend with your car on the Sunday only, but it might be an idea to get there early if you are planning to go as space was definitely at a premium last year, with late-comers directed into a second field adjacent to the main show area.
NSRA Supernats. p
Holman & Moody … and Valley Gas Anyone who knows their Ford Performance history will know the names Holman-Moody. For the record, the former race car team built virtually all the team cars that raced under the Ford banner in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, there probably isn’t an area of American motor sport where Holman-Moody haven’t had an influence, or a win! Over here, Valley Gas Speed Shop’s owner Jimmy Hibberd has long been a big fan of the company and its products, and was recently invited to the company to spend time with H-M boss Lee Holman, spin a few wrenches, and generally learn even more about the iconic company. As a result, Jimmy returned having been granted sole UK distributor for Holman-Moody products, including cams, inlets, T-shirts and other cool merchandise. You could even order an H-M prepped Ford GT40 if your pockets are deep enough! You can follow VGSS at their FB page, or call them on 01264 353646
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It seems like every few months that Stromberg carbs are launching yet another cool new product for lovers of traditionally motivated cars. Clive Prew at Stromberg was recently in touch to tell us all about their new Stromberg 81 carburettors. Stromberg 81s (in case you didn’t know) are the regular and already famous, ’97’s little brother. These carbs were standard fitment on Ford’s smaller V8 60s from 1937 to 1940, and with smaller venturi and throttle bore sizes, they were the hot ticket for twin carb set-ups on both this engine and on Ford four-bangers too. Up to now, good original ’81s have been hard to find, and expensive too, so news of Stromberg’s new addition to the range will be good news to rodders and restorers running both Ford’s V8-
60 motors and tuning the venerable ‘B’ motor four cylinder too. Clive told us that reproducing the 81 wasn’t on his radar at all originally, due to the high casting costs of producing a different sized carb, however, by fitting accurate aluminium inserts to 97 bowl castings and other modifications, a workable compromise was achieved with excellent results reported. With a range of carburettors now produced to suit virtually all applications of the Ford Flathead family, Stromberg have got it covered. For more information and availability details, contact Stromberg at www.stromberg-97.com
Corvette comp Did you know about this? ’Cos we didn’t; but back in 1989, TV channel VH-1 ran a phone-in competition where the prize was 36 Corvettes, one from every year to date. That’s not 36 winners getting a Corvette each, that was a prize of 36 ’Vettes! From the four million calls, the cars were won by a carpenter from New York who immediately sold them, having nowhere to put them. The next owner of the collection also struggled, depositing them in various Big Apple parking garages, and there they sat for years. The good news is that due to a deal between the Discovery channel and Corvette Imagine winning 36 Corvettes!
Heroes, it’s happening again. Yep, another sweepstake is underway right now, this time 36 lucky winners will each win a Corvette. Called the Lost Corvette Give-away it’s unfortunately only open to US residents, but if you have a good friend or family over there, it could be worth a steer!? Go to www. corvetteheroes.com for more details. The comp is open until April 30. Good luck and let us know if you or your USbased family are winners!
Richard Heseltine
From
here to
obscurity
FEORA Looking more like a plane than a car, the ill-fated but fascinating Feora is given a second airing in this month’s From Here to Obscurity…
I
t appeared more aircraft than car, but the Feora was a serious project. Remarkably, it was one that was conceived and created by a self-taught designer and builder. Scroll back to the early Eighties, when Chuck Ophorst was a 20-something service mechanic employed in the oil fields of Bakersfield, California. He dreamed up a compact, three-wheeler commuter vehicle that would also be easy to drive and a doddle to park. Working out of a two-car garage in Paramount, a suburb of Los Angeles, he spent 22 months fashioning the prototype which emerged blinking into the light in 1982. Underpinning this brave new world was a tubular chassis that comprised 180 separate pieces welded together. Power came from an air-cooled 175cc Honda ‘twin’ which produced a giddying 22bhp. Suspension was by means of a trailing arm set-up at the front and a swing arm arrangement to the rear. The striking part, however, was the ultra-slim glass fibre body which purportedly had a drag coefficient of just 0.15cd. An enormous amount of effort was expended smoothing the air flow over the body and wheels. At the front of the car, there were six air intakes positioned at the point of highest pressure to both feed the engine and to reduce aerodynamic lift without resorting to the use of
canard wings or spoilers. Just below the single headlight were two smaller supplementary intakes which supplied ventilation for the twoseater cabin (the glazing was fixed). The Feora tipped the scales at just 229kg (505lb) minus driver, Ophorst claiming the prototype was capable of reaching 92mph overall, and delivering 80mpg at a constant 55mph. At 75mph, it was purportedly good for 71mpg! John McGovern drove the car for Alternative Cars International magazine in 1983 and reported: “[The] handling is very good: the rack and pinion steering uses only 13⁄4 turns lock to lock… At the moment, Chuck uses motorcycle tyres, but [he] feels that flat-tread car-type tyres would improve drive, handling and steering qualities even more. “Up to 50mph, there is a little too much engine roar to be heard inside the car, but over that speed the noise progressively quietens out. Very little tyre noise is generated, and there is no wind noise at all. “Directional stability is first class, and though the Feora steers neutrally in corners, it displays
some understeer when really pushed, which merely serves to reduce speed without upsetting the car’s balance… The Feora certainly looks like something out of Star Wars, but apart from the lack of any luggage space it is practical and great fun to drive, or even to be a passenger in. It delivers amazing performance together with outstanding fuel economy, and is stable, comfortable and safe.” As for whether America was ready for driving around in something that looked like a grounded aeroplane, the answer is moot. Ophorst evaluated his options, but reasoned that he would need to sell Feoras at around $14,000 to return a profit, and even then production would be strictly limited. He decided against it, but did later offer plans for DIY builders to make their own replicas. He also embarked on constructing a teardrop-shaped four-wheeled device but it remains unrecorded if it was ever completed. ★
Richard Heseltine’s weird and wonderful American cars from the past.
Tony Oksien
Muscle car files
The most expensive muscle car ever built?
Tony tracks down what he believes could be the most expensive Plymouth ever…
W
elcome to this month’s column. I hope you find the contents interesting as I will be unveiling Chrysler’s most expensive muscle car ever built – a stunning 1971 Plymouth GTX. There is a remarkable story behind the car’s production, as I will explain… This car is the holy grail of all 1971 Hemi B-Bodies in existence today, so not too much to live up to! So, what makes this GTX so special? It’s what we call the ‘sticker’ price, which shows the dealership it was sold from and the shipping address, but most important is the listed code option details and of course the total price of options ordered with the car – in this case a whopping $6592.75, which in 1971 was one helluva price to pay for a Plymouth. To put it into context, a 1971 Cadillac Coupe DeVille could be had for $6264 and a Chrysler Imperial weighed in at $6276. The figures don’t lie, this GTX is massively expensive! Back to our story. In 1968/9 Larry Michael Dickson from California, a soldier in the US Army, volunteered for three tours of action in the Vietnam war. He was no ordinary soldier – highly commended for bravery, leadership and with a bad-ass attitude to the Viet Cong, he came home Wellborn Muscle Car Museum, 124 Broad Street, Alexander City, Alabama, 35010, United States. For more information, see: www.wellbornmusclecarmuseum.com
with medals and ribbons aplenty, and acquired hero status. On arriving home, he headed straight for a Plymouth dealership and bought a brand new 1970 Road Runner, which he gave hell as he settled back into civilian life from the tensions of duty in Southeast Asia. Then, in February 1972 he visited Courtesy Chrysler/Plymouth just outside of Sacramento, California, who had parked in their lot a heavily optioned and pricey ’71 Hemi GTX painted GY3 Curious Yellow, a one-year-only High Impact paint colour. The dealership was getting anxious about moving on the B-Body, so when Dickson showed interest in the car a deal was quickly struck involving the Road Runner being traded for the GTX and the $4800 balance paid for the car. Larry then set about transforming the car – the Hemi was treated to 12.5.1 pistons, a lumpy Crane cam, headers, Mallory dizzy, chromed air cleaner, valve covers and pulleys, but he left the stock exhaust system and the original Rallye wheels. By 1973 the car had clocked up 29,000 miles, then it slowed to around 1000 miles a year up until 1981 when it was parked for good, showing only 49,000 miles. Why the GTX was taken off the road is a bit of a sad tale; the car was Larry’s pride and joy, never driven in bad weather, always clean and tidy, well looked after and in excellent condition. Larry had big problems coming to terms with civilian life and unfortunately hit the bottle for comfort
and to drown the horrors of war; in short, he never adjusted to civilian life. One night in 1981, while drunk, he lost control of the GTX and crashed into a telephone pole, denting the passenger’s side door. When he returned home and examined the damage, he vowed to never drive the Plymouth again. The GTX was parked in his garage and there it sat until his death in 2009. Enter Scott Lindsay, a long-time Mopar collector and a guy who likes to sniff out rare cars. During a chance meeting at a car show in 2010, Scott was told of a mystery ’71 GTX in California. He set about following up the leads given to him, eventually tracing the car, and a deal was completed, with the car then travelling to Oklahoma and into Scott’s collection. The car has been very much untouched; even the dent in the door is still visible, with the original factory paint. Although sold in California, the GTX came with bright tips, so originally not bound for the golden state, and rumours persist the car was a special order for a senior Chrysler executive. This is a sunroof car, one of only 32 ’71 GTXs built with this option and a Hemi four-speed 4.10.1 Dana rear end, again one of only 11 produced. Every factory option is included except the pedal dress-up kit, which just never happened to be ticked off, and no rear window louvres, because it has a full vinyl roof. This total time-capsule Plymouth can be seen at the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum, Alexander City Alabama, US. Tony Oksien – CA’s resident muscle car guru
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