Classic American - March 2014 - Preview

★ Rhythm Riot ★ Tech: Starter Rebuild ★ NASA’s Pontiac Catalina ★

Big Block Beauty

275 MARCH 2014

1966

Stingray

★CLASSIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE★ MAGAZINE

RestoRation DRama

£4.30

www.classic-american.com

Third time lucky for ’56 Studebaker Golden Hawk

No. 275 March 2014

The UK’s Number 1 for 25 years

Duo Doin’ the Continental 1976 Lincoln Mark IV

Dy

c i m na

Chasing the Dragon Camaro U2 spy plane chaser

1946 & ’47

Plymouths How Low can you go?

1951 Ford F5 tow truck

in association with

TEL:

01743 232200

Classic American Magazine, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs, LN9 6LZ

CA News The

Iain Kilpatrick collection

Jim Horne of Rock’n’Roll motors in Grangemouth, Scotland, contacted Classic American recently about the death of Iain Kilpatrick from Dunfermline. Ian

was an avid American car fan as well as a pre-’67 Ford Owners Club member. He worked for the Post Office and always imported his own cars. He only sold one

when he wanted to buy another and normally had about four at a time in his stable. He was seen at almost every classic car show in Scotland over the years.

A quiet and tall gentleman with a very long beard, he was easy to spot so even those who didn’t know him would always

remember seeing him with his American cars. Ian was always willing to talk with any show visitors and happy to talk about importing and owning the cars.

He had a near miss a couple of years ago when his beautiful pink ‘59 Cadillac was T-boned by a van so hard that the car was written off.

He had just recently imported the blue 1957 Buick, had it delivered to his garage, parked it inside and then died of a heart attack a day or so later, so sadly never had the chance to enjoy his latest import at all. Although he was 65, he looked 10 years younger. He is survived by his brother in Dunfermline and a sister in South Africa. Jim has been tasked with selling Iain’s cars on behalf of the family and they include: a 1958 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight, a 1957 Cadillac Fleetwood, a 1957 Buick Special two-door coupe and a 1958 Buick Special. If you’re interested in any of these vehicles, please contact Jim on 07593 187939 or via email at Jim@rocknrollmotors.co.uk

Ian Kilpatrick with his ’58 Olds. Photo: Michael Young.

Arizona or bust!

After half a decade of recovering from the recession, the annual Scottsdale auction has kicked off the season in fine style,

6 classic-american.com

shattering all records along the way. The six 2014 auctions held on the week of January 13 took in more than £150.65 million –

nearly a quarter-billion American dollars – with an 82% sellthrough rate, for an average sale price of £64,900; that’s £16.5 million more for the weekend and almost £4242 per car average more than 2013, at roughly the same sell-through percentage.

Top American-car sales for the weekend saw a pair of Corvettes in the top 10, both sold through Barrett-Jackson: a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe sold for £2,333,100, while the 1969

Chevrolet Corvette #57 Rebel L88 Convertible road racer sold for £1,733,160.

But there were many more surprises along the way. Our Classic American correspondent, BK Nakadashi, was on site in Arizona for the entire week.

Watch next month’s issue for full coverage and on-the-scene photos from all six auctions – Barrett-Jackson, Bonham’s, Gooding, RM, Russo & Steele and Silver.

Drive it Day

Sunday, April 27, 2014

New plans have been finalised with five venues to make the 2014 annual FBHVC Drive it Day as interesting as possible for the public and especially for owners of historic road legal motorised vehicles: cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles over 30 years old.

This event, launched and publicised by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC), commemorates the 64 cars that left London on a 1000 mile trial in April 1900. The objective for 2014 is to attract as many up-and-running eligible vehicles as possible out on the roads for this special day.The following venues are participating: ❯❯ Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire ❯❯ Brooklands Museum, Surrey ❯❯ Bressingham Steam and Garden Centre, Norfolk ❯❯ Cotswold Motoring Museum, Gloucestershire ❯❯ Lakeland Motor Museum, Lake District

Preferred parking will be available and volunteer marshals will be on hand. The locations are offered either as a visiting point or a waypoint en route to another destination. Any entry concessions will be explained on arrival by FHBVC marshals who will request the driver’s signature and all FBHVC members will be given a small souvenir of their visit. So get out there in your Classic American and enjoy Drive It Day, we know we will!

Driving to

America

The Mustang Workshop has been busy putting the finishing touches to this gorgeous 1966 Mustang Convertible which belongs to Jeremy Davies. He is preparing for the trip of a lifetime as he is having the car shipped to America for the Mustangs Across America 50th anniversary road trip, which starts in Los Angeles and finishes at the Mustang Club of America venue in Charlotte.

The Mustang Workshop fully restored this Mustang back in 2009 (bare shell and rotisserie) and included some tasteful upgrades. Jeremy, who has a property in Spain, has subsequently driven the car to Spain and back five times. There is a brief insight into the restoration on our

projects page: www.mustangworkshop.co.uk/projects/1966convertible/ As a surprise to the owner, Mustang Workshop boss Roy Holmes designed and commissioned some graphics which he thought would make it very memorable and somewhat stand out from the Pony crowd.

American Car Centre!

The American Car Centre has been part of the American car landscape in London for literally decades, with showrooms in Kingston-uponThames, Barnes and most recently Fulham. The company moved to the present location a couple of years ago and has found it to be the best yet, with its easy access by tube and train and close proximity to central London (it’s literally five minutes from Parson’s Green tube station).

Classic American caught up with Dominic Ouvaroff, son of Stephen Ouvaroff, the original founder of the company, for the latest developments at the London-based outfit. “We’ve always been lucky to get a lot of repeat business from our customers and that continues to this day,

although we’re still getting new clients too. We just recently had two brand new Corvette Z51’s in stock and sold one virtually as soon as we took delivery. We’re looking forward to bringing in the new Escalade too…”

Of course it’s not just car sales that the American Car Centre handles, but also servicing and even the IVA preparation and testing required for all new American vehicles prior to registration in the UK. The American Car Centre, 20 Lettice Street, Fulham, London SW6 4EH, tel 02073 843044. www.americancarcentre.com or email: sales@americancarcentre.com

All show, Very

&

low‌ This rare 1951 Ford cab-over was bought 95% ďŹ nished, but missing the vital touches that make it the peach you see today. And that last 5% is vital, as any hot-rodder knows...

34 classic-american.com

Words: Nigel Boothman Photography: John Colley

1951 Ford CoE custom truck

R WINNE T A E H

y r u x u l k c i t s p Li J

Terry Green’s very original 1976 Lincoln Continental is a rare ‘Lipstick’ edition and it’s as good now as the day it left the factory…

ust like so many of us Terry Green can trace his love of American cars back to his childhood. “My dad always owned American cars,” remembers Terry, “he had loads of them, a 1958 Nash Rambler and an Ambassador, a ’69 Buick Skylark, a ’62 Chevy Impala... Back then, you had either a Ford Popular or a Jaguar – he wanted something better. They were powerful; I started driving them when I was 17. He would always try to get right-hand drive cars, I remember he bought a right-hand drive 1961 Ford Galaxie from Lendrum & Hartmann in 1964 – it cost him £725. My first American car was a 1962 Mercury Comet; I bought it in 1974 for £80.” Since then Terry has owned quite a few, “about 10 Camaros, eight or nine Mustangs, maybe five Trans Ams loads… The one I most regret selling is a 1970 Mustang convertible that I restored. At the moment I also

1940 Lincoln Zephyr Cabriolet

own a 2001 Lincoln Town Car, but this 1976 Continental is my favourite of them all.”

As seems to be the norm nowadays, Terry spotted this 1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV on the internet: “It was on eBay at Golden Classics in Florida,” remembers Terry, “a mate of mine had owned a similar Lincoln Continental so I had a look. My first thought was with the red paint and white top it looked like strawberries and cream. There were about 50 photos showing all over and underneath and it looked really good. I’ve usually found the American dealers are a lot more honest than the British ones. The bidding started at $1 and within 12 minutes had reached $14,000. I thought ‘no way,’ so I phoned the dealership and did a deal right then over the phone. My wife was out shopping at the time…”

1948 Lincoln Cabriolet Tudor

1956 Lincoln Continental MkI

Owner Terry Green.

Nothing says Lincoln like a continental rear deck treatment!

Words: Mike Renaut Photography: John Colley

1976 Lincoln Continental

Terry had the car shipped from Florida to Southampton Docks then got it delivered to his door, “that only cost £240 to have it put on a truck and saved me having to travel a couple of hundred miles to pick it up, plus all the hassles of driving it back. You risk a breakdown or getting it crashed into – what’s the point?” When the truck arrived there was good and bad news. “It was pretty good, obviously a nice low mileage car, but it had been sat on the ship under racks of other cars and was covered in oil and grease – all over the paint and the white vinyl roof. I couldn’t get the grease off so in the end I had the local valet place use Traffic Film Remover to clean it. That got rid of the grease but it also dulled the paint – they didn’t use lacquer on these cars, just layers of paint. I then got the Lincoln re-mopped and polished to bring back the shine.”

That wasn’t even the worst of it, “when they were loading the car,” continues Terry, “the left side exhaust pipe scraped the floor and came off its hanger. Instead of taking a minute to hook it back on they just reversed the car and twisted the pipe up around the axle – it was pointing out in front of the rear wheel!” Naturally Terry claimed on their insurance and with the money was able to buy a complete new stainless steel system. “At the same time I removed the catalytic convertors so it breathes a bit better now too. I’ve kept the cats to one side though.”

1957 Lincoln Continental MkI

Land of Lincoln

Terry’s Lincoln is a 1976 model, the last of the Mark IV models. Not to be confused with the sister model Lincoln Continental, which was available as a two-door coupe or sedan and was the car all the limousines were based on. The Mark was a separate, although related, model. Built between 1972 and 1976 the Mark IV was Ford’s biggest and most luxurious car. The story goes that pre-Twenties Henry Ford’s wife Clara liked chauffeur-driven cars but, since Ford didn’t make any, she rode around in a Cadillac. So Henry Ford bought the Lincoln company from the bankruptcy courts and let his son Edsel run it.

Edsel wanted a one-off Lincoln Zephyr to drive when he holidayed in Palm Beach during the winter of 1938 and redesigned his Zephyr convertible to be ‘thoroughly Continental’ in appearance. The styling was a huge hit. After over 250 people asked if his car was for sale, a production Lincoln Continental was introduced in 1940 and offered until 1948.

Since dealers and the public kept asking for the car to be reintroduced, in 1956 Ford released the Continental Mark II – sold not as a Lincoln but as the first model of Ford’s new, but short-lived, Continental Division.

Ford aimed to build the world’s most luxurious car – a modern Duesenberg – and was gunning for Rolls Royce’s ❯❯

1958 Lincoln Continental Mark III

1958 Lincoln Continental Mark III Landau

Technical

Get crankin’

Words & Photography: Karl Anthony

Rebuild your GM Starter in a weekend.

T

o anyone who has ever done a project on their classic car, the following scenario will sound familiar. We wanted to install an engine wiring harness in our 1967 Buick, so we removed the starter to access its wiring. The line of reasoning went something like this: ‘Hmmm, that starter is dirty, it really should be cleaned.’ So it was degreased. ‘It looks better, but what’s under that old black paint?’ It was stripped to find out. ‘Look at all that surface rust. It has to be stripped off. In order to repaint the main case black, the solenoid and natural aluminum nose and rear cover should be separated from it.’ So the starter was taken apart.

‘Gosh, now that it’s already disassembled for painting and since we already have a rebuild kit, we should just clean and inspect the parts for damage and then reassemble it with new brushes, bearings and clutch drive assembly.’ And here we are!

The good news is that GM starters of this era are not complicated, they can be rebuilt at home and they require no special tools to do so. Keep in mind that our starter had no issues to begin with. If your starter has failed, it may require more diagnostics and work than presented here. However, this basic rebuild will cure many common starter maladies.

Follow along as we freshen up ours to provide more years of faithful service.

1

This is a typical GM starter that was used before, during, and long-after the muscle car era with some variations. Casting number 1107313 identifies it as a Buick model. The date code breaks down as follows: 5=1965, F=June, and 2=second day of the month. It’s not original to the car, but still a good unit. Thus far, the grease and black case paint have been stripped off to reveal surface rust.

This illustration from the 1967 Buick service manual identifies some of the parts names and their proper places.

2

3

After removing the field coil strap/solenoid terminal screw, the spacer, and the two solenoid mounting screws, the solenoid was twisted (left or right) until the large flange on its bottom cleared the case. Then it was detached with its return spring.

4& 5 A 3/8-inch socket was employed to unscrew two long bolts that hold both the rear cover (commutator end frame) and the nose (drive housing) to the main case (field frame). The rear cover may need gentle prising to separate it from the case. Inside the case, the leather brake washer and the commutator with the brushes riding on it are visible.

8 Here are all the parts after teardown, but before cleaning.

Note the extra washer at the end of the armature shaft that we have to remember to reinstall after the new parts.

FRee

32

page

n A c i r e m A

Magazine

& Modified

’71 Corvette Stingray

’65 Ford Mustang Fastback K-code

On Sale March 20

Next Month

1939 Buick Special

1958 Packard Arizona auctions

Weitn s to

Tick

1960 Olds Super 88 EDITOR

Ben Klemenzson bklemenzson@mortons.co.uk DESIGN

Michael Baumber CONTRIBUTORS

DIVISIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER

Sandra Fisher sfisher@mortons.co.uk ADVERTISING

Dan Savage

CLASSIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ

SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER

WEBSITE

MARKETING MANAGER

130 classic-american.com

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Nicole Appleyard nappleyard@mortons.co.uk 01507 529576

GROUP PRODUCTION EDITOR

Julie Brown

Craig Lamb

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

Steve O’Hara

PUBLISHER

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Sophie Brown slbrown@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 529416

Huw Evans, Richard Coney, Steve Havelock, Will Shiers, Matt Richardson, Paul Bussey, Nigel Boothman, Mike Renaut, Tony Oksien, Lewis Houghton, Richard Heseltine, Ed Hall, Douglas McPherson, Erik Stigsson, John Colley, Des Penny, Paul Trunfull Tim Hartley

1969 Ford Fairlane 500

Paul Deacon

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Charlotte Park cpark@mortons.co.uk

Nigel Hole

EDITORIAL ADDRESS

www.classic-american.com GENERAL QUERIES, BACK ISSUES & PRIVATE ADS

01507 529529 24hr answerphone, help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk

ARCHIVE ENQUIRIES

Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk Tel: 01507 529423 SUBSCRIPTION

Full subscription rates (but see page 20 for offers): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £50.40. Export rates are also available – see page 20 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. DISTRIBUTION

COMAG, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE. Telephone 01895 433600 PRINTING

William Gibbons & Sons Wolverhampton

Independent publisher since 1885

Member of the Professional Publishers Association

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month

ON SALE DATE NEXT ISSUE March 20 © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.