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Share our passion! It’s 25 years since the first issue of Classic American hit the shelves, but we’re still as passionate about American cars as we were back in 1988. Why not make sure you get your regular dose of American car magic every month with a subscription to Classic American. Not only will you get it delivered to your door a whole week before it goes on sale – giving you first dibs on our extensive private classifieds – but you can also save a whopping 37% on the cover price and no more hunting around the shops trying to find it! I look forward to sharing some of the amazing cars, events and stories that we have lined up for you this year, it’s going to be a great one, so don’t miss a single issue!
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Ben Klemenzson
Viewpoint All
Change Welcome to your new-look Classic American...
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elcome to your new-look Classic American. We decided to coincide it with our 25th anniversary issue, as it seemed appropriate that 25 years since the very first issue of Classic American hit the shelves we should tart the old girl up with a bit of a refresh! You’ll find a new fresher look and some tweaks here and there to your favourite features. The recently completed reader survey revealed that the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ was particularly apt in the case of Classic American. You overwhelmingly said you were happy with it and enjoyed the current format and content. But we’re never happy to just sit on our laurels, so we’re analysing all the data to see what we can do to improve Classic American and make it even more like the magazine that you want to read. A lot has happened in the 25 years since issue number one; not only in the world of American cars, but in publishing itself. It’s no longer good enough just to produce a high quality magazine, these days you have to have a website and social media, such as Facebook, is playing an increasingly important role to the Classic American brand. A flick through that first issue of Classic American reveals several names that are no longer with us, both contributors and advertisers. Yet that burning enthusiasm that cooked up Classic American in the first place (thank you Tony Beadle) still burns brightly at the heart of this magazine and it remains the American car enthusiasts’ bible to this day. I hope you enjoy your refreshed Class Am and feel free to comment or make suggestions, we always love to hear from our readers!
bklemenzson@mortons.co.uk
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Words: Mike Renaut Photography: Matt Richardson
1963 Oldsmobile
Owners: Nick & Wiesia Martin.
This rare 1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 isn’t in concours condition, but its owners love it because it’s practical to own, fantastic to drive and beautiful to look at.
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hen you’ve owned as many cars as Wiesia and Nick Martin, you start to look for something different. Their driveway has been home to everything from classic British custom cars like the ‘Plum Crazy’ Fordson van through Dodge and Chevy vans, a RumbleBee pick-up and an F100. Currently Wiesia drives a 1994 Mustang and they’ve a 1963 Impala undergoing restoration, but it’s their unusual Oldsmobile we’ve come to look at today. “We’d been to look at a Catalina,” explains Nick, “but when we saw this 1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible at Trojan Cars we just fell in love with it. I think it had been in stock for about a year, but we just had to have it immediately.” The couple understand the Oldsmobile only had one stateside owner before being shipped to the UK, but don’t know much beyond that.
“We just loved the power and the colour,” says Wiesia, “it’s such an attractive looking car, lovely styling.” “The gearbox was rebuilt before we got it,” continues Nick, “but I’ve done a bit of work to the car since. I’ve redone all the front suspension and bushes which has tightened up the handling and I went through all the brakes after we started having problems. When I took it apart the push plate on the back end had been put in at a funny angle and was squashed, but since all the Impala parts will fit it was pretty easy to fix.” Despite drum brakes all round Nick insists it’s not a handful on the road. “It’s one of the nicest I’ve ever driven,” he says, “it just cruises along, literally one finger on the steering wheel, no effort at all. If you think ahead a bit so you don’t have to brake hard or really boot the accelerator, we’ve found it’s not even that bad on fuel.”
‘There’s something extra about owning an Olds’ crowed the advertising for 1963, but Oldsmobile was finding some of the stiffest competition coming from within General Motors itself. It’s hard to believe looking at this Dynamic 88 today, but some buyers felt Olds lost its way in the early Sixties. It was outshone by Pontiac’s flashy new Grand Prix and Buick’s sharp Riviera, not to mention the stunning new Corvette Stingray from Chevrolet. Oldsmobile wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was just outgunned and it would take cars like the Toronado, Cutlass and 442 later in the decade for the company to get its mojo back. Interestingly, in terms of styling, what this Dynamic really resembles from certain angles is the later ’65 Chevy – especially in side profile around the rear fenders. ❯
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Two-spoke wheel is simple and elegant.
Now that’s what you call ‘wind -in-the-hair’ driving!
Bread and butter
The Dynamic 88s were Oldsmobile’s basic bread and butter cars. This ragtop was Olds’ equivalent of a Chevy Biscayne, yet could cost around 10% more than an Impala convertible – despite sharing many mechanical parts and internal body pressings of the 1962 cars. Those of a technical mind must have realised – GM had been doing it for years – but such was the power of badge engineering that people would pay $400 extra to effectively have Olds badges hung on a Chevy. What did you get for the extra cash? Well that nice big lazy 394cu in V8 as standard. And a better styled dashboard. New, squared-off styling for the 88 and Starfire was separate from the 98 range which got its own styling cues and different roof lines. 1963 also saw GM introduce straight angled windscreen A pillars that banished the unpopular dogleg screen post –
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source of many bruised knees – despite Harley Earl pushing for the same small curved switchback pillar used in 1961 and 62. New Olds options that year included ‘tilt-away’ steering wheel that could be adjusted to seven positions, AM/FM radio and cruise control. Standard equipment included safety-padded instrument panel, foam-padded front seat, full carpet, electric windshield wipers, self-adjusting ‘Pedaleeze Power Brakes’ and an oil filter. All coil suspension – ‘Pivot-Poise with counter dive’ on the front end – gave a smoother ride. The Rocket engine put out 260bhp on regular gas, but GM recommended premium gas which upped the power to 280bhp. Or you could push the boat out with the optional Skyrocket engine that was standard powerplant on the Super 88 and 98 ranges. Although still 394cu in it offered 330bhp and a wall of torque that was 440lb-ft high.
Power moves
Along with power steering this Olds was also ordered with air conditioning and retains the original radio with front and rear speaker control. It also came with an automatic gearbox, the shift pattern reading PNDSLR. What was the ‘S’ gear? Although the well-trained Oldsmobile salesman would have almost certainly told you it meant ‘super’ gear, the owner’s manual clearly states it is ‘second’. A new three-speed ‘Roto’ Hydra-matic transmission that was smaller and lighter than the previous four-speed was introduced as an option. You don’t have to look hard to find reports that it was apparently unsatisfactory: ‘cheaper to build, but a terrible slushbox, they pretty much always leaked like an over enthusiastic puppy’ suggests one previous Olds owner. The ’63 Oldsmobiles rolled off seven different production lines. Experts I spoke to suggest this pacific mist blue Dynamic was
News Date: May 24-26 Place: Prescott Hill Climb, Gotherington, Glos. Words & Photography: Neal Reed
Event Report
VHRA
GOW! Hill climb
Sometimes as a photographer you get the chance to be at something special. The Spring bank holiday weekend in May was one of those events when the inaugural VHRA GOW! Hill Climb took place…
T
he Vintage Hot Rod Association decided to hire the legendary Prescott Hill Climb just outside Cheltenham for the weekend and lay on what can only be described as the most fun you can have in a hot rod, bar none! The home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club facility was opened for a full day up on the hill, allowing participants to chill out with their friends and soak up the timeless atmosphere that Prescott has to offer. The campsite was full of vintage cars, tents and teardrop caravans, while the paddock area was full of traditional hot rods and vintage styled sedans. Every direction you looked just oozed nostalgia.
r gives jour Russ de Bar
Neil Fretwell is the man behind it and has worked tirelessly for a year to make it happen. Seventy vehicles took part on the day and as you can see, it was a huge success and no one ended up in the tyres – which is always a bonus. Some were there to gently cruise the course with their family; however, most were there for some friendly competition and their own personal challenge. Sunday morning meant thank yous and prizegiving, with Dale Hillard kicking things off with the Spirit of the Meltdown award for his driving skills and nerve in his Model A Coupe, trekking across the country then up the hill with only one brake. Prize for Best Hot Rod went to Simon ❯
are. arman a sc no Keith H
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Event organiser Neil Fretwell hands the Spirit of the Meltdown award to Dale HIllard.
ON F A
1000 miles and 24 hours on the road and still Enrico Werner is smiling.
OOK ★ EB M C
RE O M
deemed to be the most in keeping with the event, a stunning trophy hand crafted by metal guru Dave Gardiner. GOW!2 is definitely on the cards for 2014, but if you can’t wait until then take a look at what the VHRA has planned for September, another truly one-off experience at Pendine Sands, more information available at www.vhra.co.uk The VHRA would like to thank its generous sponsors Magneto, Retrophoto, Bob Froch, Jacqueline Davies Art, Classic Metal Shaping, Men’s File, Flathead Meltdown, What Katie Did and Heritage Insurance and all those who attended and participated in the debut event. A special thanks goes to the East Coast Sidewinders CC whose help and efforts made the event possible. See you next year. ★
O RE N FA O
Phillips and his ’33 Coupe with the runner-up spot given to Chris Rawlins for his ’32 Phaeton. Best custom went to Clark Devey with his ’36 coupe with Mick Mears’ ’47 Chevy a very close second. Derek Hicks and Julie Evans walked away with some artwork from Jacqueline Davies and Pete Ayres in his homebuilt modified was honoured with a much deserved Very Naughty Boy award. The highlight for spectators and participants had to be the stunning roadster driven by Enrico Werner who drove more than 1000 miles in 24 hours in the rain to be there for the weekend. The flathead-powered fuel injected Model A rocketed up the hill at least a dozen times, each time being pushed slightly harder than before. Rico took home The Car of GOW! award which will be given out every year to the person
OOK ★ EB C
In the paddock or under the trees, Prescott is timeless.
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Dean Jeffries at the Craftsman Experience in Los Angeles at Petersen Automotive Museum. Casey Rodgers, AP Images
Classic American’s resident hotrod and custom writer Keith Harman remembers legendary customiser Dean Jeffries who died recently.
T
he world lost another of the true craftsmen from the golden age of customizing back in early May, with the sad death of Dean Jeffries. Originally learning the art of pinstriping while stationed in Germany with the US Army in the early Fifties, Dean returned to the US and took a job at a machine shop in Compton, California, where he learnt how to use metalworking and fabrication machinery and associated car building skills. Working alongside other such legends as Von Dutch, Sam Barris, and George Cerny further served to hone his selftaught crafts. He became good friends with Ken Howard (Von Dutch), and it was Jeffries who originally drew Von Dutch’s famous flying eyeball logo, which although trademarked to Dean became known as Von Dutch’s much imitated and iconic ‘kustom kulture’ design. Jeffries also continued and developed his striping, working in the machine shop at night and painting cars during the day at George Cerny’s custom shop. He soon became much sought after as a custom painter and developed his own business on the back of this; and in 1956 he rented a small shop next to Barris Kustoms where he plied his trade for George Barris and other customers. Flame painting, scalloping, as well as striping, all became stock in trade work for Dean, with many of the cars he worked on being featured on the magazine covers of the
time. It was he who applied the racing numbers and lettering to James Dean’s ill-fated ‘Little Bastard’ Porsche Spyder. Dean was also the first to start airbrushing T-shirts and seat shirts at car shows, long before Ed Roth in fact. By the Sixties, Dean was working out of a shop in Hollywood, his business now called Jeffries Studio of Style located on Cahuenga Boulevard (incredibly, he was still working on cars at this location up until earlier this year). A spell painting Indy race cars followed, with Jeffries painting the numbers, sponsors and logos on
The Green Hornet.
many, many teams’ racing cars. In 1964 Dean competed head to head with the best of them on the custom car show circuit with his one-off creation, the Manta Ray, a wild single-seater show car created from a framework of quarterinch rod made from two prewar Maserati racing car frames. The Manta Ray was picked up by a Hollwood producer to feature in the Frankie Avalon Beach movie Bikini Beach with Jeffries actually driving it on camera in several scenes. This soon led to more movie and TV work, such
Jeffries-designed Ford Cougar.
Jeffries’ own brand of te. beach buggy, the Kyo
The Black Beauty from the Green Hornet TV show.
1962 Ford Cougar Concept.
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as creating the Green Hornet car for the TV series, the Moon Buggy in the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever and, of course, the Monkeemobile. Dean also found time to develop and market his own Dune Buggy during the Sixties known as the Kyote. The sudden but brief buggy craze of the late Sixties resulted in Jeffries producing over 1000 Kyotes, some sold as kits, some as complete cars through a network of dealers across America. To add another ‘first’ to Jeffries’ long list of innovative achievements in the custom world, he was the first to spray a car with Metalflake paint, developing a higher pressure technique which allowed the flakes suspended in the paint to flow evenly when spraying. We’ve only glossed over Dean Jeffries’ remarkable automotive career here, but Dean was a quiet-spoken and modest guy, one of those in life who just ‘got on with the job’. However, he leaves an impressive legacy of work that has probably influenced thousands of kids over the years with his wild creations, even if many of them never actually knew his name. But to those who do, he will be sadly missed. R.I.P. Dean Jeffries, you were one of the masters. ★
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