Cars We Remember 2019

A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE

THE SHOW ON THE ROAD

CARS

ABOUT THIS SECTION They’re the machines we had posters of taped to our walls as kids, or lovingly remember family vacations in, or met our spouses because of, or found an incredible deal on — or myriad other stories. They’re the classic automobiles from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s we cherish. This section includes what they’re worth now, where they’re going next and other great tips and tales from the experts at BestRide.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS MEET THE WRITERS 3-34 | HISTORY Plymouth, Dodge, Pontiac, AMC, Willys, Edsel, Nash, Kaiser Frazer, Chrysler, Mercury, original muscle cars

35-47 | BUYERS GUIDE 36 : Buying at auction 38: Terms to know 40: Vintage SUVs 42: Orphan brands 44: Shipping your vehicle 46: Insurance ONLINE • BestRide.com • facebook.com/MyBestRide • twitter.com/mybestride • GregZyla.com ©2019

Craig Fitzgerald is content marketing and publication manager at BestRide.com. He was formerly editor of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car, a vintage imported car magazine with national distribution, published by Hemmings Motor News. Craig has spent nearly two decades as an automotive journalist. He was a regular in the Boston Globe automotive section for 15 years, and his byline has been featured in publications such as Esquire, The Washington Post and Forbes, and blogs for Road & Track, the Huffington Post and CarTalk.com. In his spare time, Craig turns wrenches on rusty old iron, including a 1979 Chevrolet Blazer and a 1965 Vespa scooter. Contact him at cfitzgerald@ bestride.com.

Greg Zyla is an award-winning writer/broadcaster who writes weekly for More Content Now, BestRide.com and other GateHouse Media publications. He has written over 600 car magazine feature articles and in past lives was a champion drag racer, team owner, photographer, racing TV host and newspaper publisher. His son, Tim, races the family’s Pro and Super Pro dragsters and is a two-time track champion. Greg welcomes reader interaction on old cars, auto nostalgia and old-time racing at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, PA 18840, or at greg@greg zyla.com.

STAFF Editor LISA GLOWINSKI Copy editors MICHAEL TOESET, CHRISSY YATES Art Director TONY FERNANDEZ-DAVILA Cover photo: Pixabay

GAT E H O U S E M E D I A L LC A L L R I G H TS R ES E RV E D

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HISTORY Plymouth | Dodge | Pontiac | Mercury Willys | Edsel | AMC and more

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Fondly remembering

PLYMOUTH

A 1952 Plymouth brochure featuring all of the models, including the Cranbrook sedans, coupes and wagons. [IMAGES COMPLIMENTS OF CHRYSLER GROUP LLC]

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By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I want to know about the Plymouth nameplate and what happened to it. Why did Chrysler drop it from its lineup of cars? I always loved Plymouths, and I owned my first one in 1958, an older 1952 Cranbrook that I bought used for only $500.

A: Walter Chrysler is the man responsible for bringing the Plymouth brand to market in 1928 as an entry-level automobile that would help build awareness of his Chrysler Corporation. The car was conceived to battle with the Ford and Chevy lower-priced models.

Through the years, Plymouth served Chrysler’s purpose. Its best year overall was 1973, when 750,000 Plymouths were sold at the beginning of the initial gas and oil crisis. This was somewhat of a surprise because most Plymouths were bigger cars, although the compact Valiant did help the “economy” sales thanks to the now famous slant-six cylinder engine that debuted in 1960. This engine lasted through 1983 in cars and 1987 in light-duty Dodge trucks.

The fuel crisis negatively impacted Chrysler overall and by 1979 Chrysler needed big money loan guarantees to stay afloat.

Thanks to new CEO Lee Iacocca, who was hired in 1978, Congress approved a $1.5 billion deal that allowed company solvency and for Iacocca to build the new Plymouth Reliant K-Car. The loan guarantee also allowed Iacocca to lead the way to his next “big idea” project, and a major automotive success it was.

Specifically, the beleaguered company hit paydirt and enjoyed the automotive smash hit with its all-new and novel Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager

Plymouth was a major player in the muscle car market, establishing the new Roadrunner in 1968 as one of the most popular cars of the decade.

minivans that debuted in 1983.

Chrysler thus survived and its Plymouth brand lived on until the late 1990s, when Neon, Breeze and Prowler models made up the automobile offerings alongside the still popular Voyager minivan.

However, in a move to consolidate the models and dealership offerings, on June 28, 2001, the last Plymouth rolled off the assembly line in Belvidere, Illinois, and brought an end to the Plymouth era that began a year before the Great Depression. By then the Dodge and Plymouth models were identical

vehicles except for the badges. The final Plymouth was a 2001 Neon four-door finished in silver and was purchased by a Chrysler executive.

Road and track Plymouth fans will surely remember your Plymouth from 1952, and Plymouth played a major role in my life, too. My father bought a used ’55 Plymouth Savoy (light green) in 1957 and kept it until 1961 when he bought a brand new 1961 Chevy Belair. Also, my uncle Joe owned a 1956 Belvedere in two-tone red and white

with a big V-8 under the hood.

As for muscle cars, in 1962 Plymouth became one of the big winners at the drags with its 413-inch two-four barrel cross-ram V8 in lightweight Savoy drag strip models, which I remember because across the street from where I lived in Vineland, New Jersey, sat the “Jolly Roger,” a ’62 Savoy that I visited daily. By 1965, the 426 Hemi was under Plymouth’s hood and headed for drag racing immortality.

On the nation’s boulevards Plymouths ruled, especially those 1968 to 1970 Roadrunners with 383, 440 Six Pack or 426 Hemi power and the 1967 to 1970 GTX models, either 440 or Hemi. After 1970, the Roadrunners and GTX models went downhill quickly thanks to government regulations and emissions and the aforementioned gas crisis.

(I personally owned a ’67 GTX and a ’62 Savoy with a slant six).

Hollywood even celebrated the Plymouth brand thanks to John Carpenter’s “Christine.” It chronicled a “possessed” 1958 Plymouth Fury and is still popular to this day on DVD and online streaming. On the slapstick side, Chris Farley and David Spade saved the “Callahan Brake Shoe Company” while motoring across America in a metallic blue ’67 GTX convertible. This duo successfully sold its brake pads to Dan Aykroyd, who played Ray Zalinsky, “The Auto Parts King,” in the hit movie “Tommy Boy.” We can’t end this column without a shout-out to King Richard Petty, as his winning ways in his family STP Plymouths dominated NASCAR ovals for decades and built the Plymouth/Dodge brand like no other race team ever did.

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DODGE past & present

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I know you’ve written about the Chrysler brands, but I would like to see more on the Dodge brand. How did it all start? And what about the Fiat connection now that Fiat is the owner of the Chrysler brand?

A: To get to your second question first, I feel Chrysler Corporation is on better financial ground now that Fiat is behind it, and I feel the Dodge brand will continue to be one of its top models. To explain further, gone are the other Chrysler brands Desoto, Imperial and Plymouth, so it’s either a Dodge, Chrysler or RAM pickup nowadays if you are a MOPAR/Chrysler consumer. And, with this said, few cars are as nice as the Chrysler 300 or as powerful as a Dodge Charger or Challenger Hellcat.

As for the history lesson, Dodge has quite the saga as it dates back to the early 1900s when its original builders, namely Horace and John Dodge, carved a reputation for themselves in a then-fledgling horseless-carriage industry.

From the inside out

By the mid-1960s, Dodge was a major brand both on and off the racetracks in America. This advertisement shows how Dodge used high performance to promote its car back in the muscle car era with its new 1967 Dodge R/T 440. [AD COMPLIMENTS OF FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES]

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Before becoming car builders, the Dodge brothers were highly respected machinists who built engines, transmissions and other important components for the auto industry.

So big was their business that early accounts point to the fact that a Ford Model T incorporated more Dodge brother parts than Ford.

By 1914, the brothers decided it was time to build their own car, which they did. As for innovation,

the brothers were the first to incorporate a steel body — other manufacturers used lots of wood in the process. Promoting a vehicle that offered more structural integrity, the initial Dodge cars were an instant success and by 1920 were second only to Ford in overall sales with 140,000 units sold. However, tragedy hit the Dodge family that same year. Horace contracted viral pneumonia while on a business trip with his brother, and nearly died. John, who was at his brother’s bedside throughout the ordeal and helped nurse Horace back to health, then contracted the same pneumonia and did die. Eleven months after John’s death, Horace succumbed to a liver disorder, ending a great era of Dodge brothers ingenuity.

Thanks to solid business planning in the event of something like this happening and a family-approved ownership realignment to Dillon Read & Co., the car and truck company continued to thrive.

Dodge was eventually purchased by Chrysler in 1928. Chrysler took the Dodge nameplate, promoted it alongside its successful Plymouth, Chrysler/Imperial and all-new Desoto lines and embarked on many years of success. Later Desoto, Imperial and Plymouth were eliminated from the lineup, while Dodge, RAM (Dodge trucks) and Chrysler remain as the American brand nucleus franchise in the now re-named Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Immortalized in song As for performance, experts agree Dodge was and still is a forerunner. In the 1960s, Dodge and Plymouth flexed their muscles by winning numerous NASCAR races thanks to a stable of competent drivers and great engines. At the drags, none could compare to the “Ramchargers,” a group of Chrysler engineers who took to the quarter-mile in a fashion that some say will never be duplicated. Their “Candymatic” red-and-white-striped 413-426 wedge and later 426 Hemi Super Stock, A/ FX Dodge Darts and funny cars were the terrors of the quarter-mile. Meanwhile, drive-in theaters were crowded with “Six Pack” Challengers, Coronet R/T 440s, 383

PHOTOS: CHRYSLER.COM

CARS

Today, Dodge leads Chrysler with more models compared to Chrysler’s 2018 offerings of just the 300 series and the new Pacifica minivan. Emphasis seems directed at the growth of the Dodge brand as we move quickly to 2020.

A newspaper advertisement for a 1917 Dodge “Closed Car” sedan automobile. At the time, many cars still used wood in their bodies, but the Dodge brothers were the first to incorporate a complete-steel body in 1914. [ADVERTISEMENT COMPLIMENTS FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES]

and Hemi Super Bees, and Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding special-order 440 Darts right on through the early 1970s.

On the airwaves, Dodge’s official hot rod song came in 1963 thanks to the Beach Boys’ hit single “Shut Down.” Then, in 1964, an even more famous song from Jan and Dean dubbed “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena” arrived, solidifying the Super Stock Dodge as a legitimate, high-performance contender. In reality, I doubt the Corvette would have won the race against the 413 Super Stock Dodge in “Shut Down” and, to my dismay, there was no real “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” with a shiny red Super Stock Dodge in her garage. But those Super Stock Dodge Darts were the “sleeper” models

of the boulevard back then, hands down.

Back at Chrysler headquarters, management realized how important high performance was to sales, got behind all of these efforts and sent their factory race drivers on national tours presenting high-performance clinics at Dodge dealers everywhere. It was a great era, and I was fortunate in 1968 to attend a Dodge High Performance Seminar hosted by the late, great drag racer Dick Landy at Glauser Dodge in Vineland, New Jersey.

Today, Dodge leads Chrysler with more models compared to Chrysler’s 2018 offerings of just the 300 series and the new Pacifica minivan. Emphasis seems directed at the growth of the Dodge brand as we move quickly to 2020.

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FORD THUNDERBIRD PHOTO: FLICKR | JOHN LLOYD

history & big engines

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By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Overall, Thunderbird went through a total of 11 model generations starting in 1955 with a two-seater and growing into a fourseater during 1958’s second generation.

Q: What is the biggest Ford engine ever put into the Ford Thunderbirds?

Also, what was your favorite Thunderbird?

A: The first “big” engine to appear in the Thunderbird came in 1958 thanks to Ford’s involvement in NASCAR racing. Ford teamed up with Holman-Moody of NASCAR fame to produce a 430-inch racing V8 that was guaranteed to put out over 400 horsepower although it was rated at 350. The showroom-floor Thunderbirds put out 350 horses in a “detuned” form, and this engine lasted as the biggest ever until 1972, when Ford put the 460-inch V8 in its now “luxury”-more-so-than“thunder” Thunderbird.

Close to the 430 were the 428- and 429-inch engines, used in 1966 through 1971.

After the gas crisis of the early to mid-1970s that included rationing and long lines at the pump, Thunderbirds went to somewhat smaller V8s and even 6-cylinder engines beginning in 1981. Then in 1983, a Turbo four-cylinder joined the group as a new design hit the streets with much popularity.

Overall, Thunderbird went through a total of 11 model generations starting in 1955 with a two-seater and growing into a four-seater during 1958’s second generation. A major style change occurred in its fifth generation, when the 1967 T-Bird grew into

a Lincoln-based luxury vehicle. This occurred mainly because the Mustang, introduced in 1964, took over as the “thunder” from Ford Motor Company thanks to cars like the Boss 302 and soon-to-come Cobra Jet 428s and Boss Hemi-style 429s.

The eighth (1980 to 1982) and ninth (1983 to 1988) generations found Thunderbird downsizing again, but in no way taking the place of the Mustang. The 1983 model was popular on NASCAR tracks, and won numerous races thanks to Bill Elliott and the boys from Dawsonville, Georgia.

After the 10th generation (1989 to 1997), Ford took some time off and reintroduced a two-seater “real” Thunderbird in 2002 through 2005. These were the last Thunderbirds to this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an electricenhanced and powerful Thunderbird in the future.

If you would like some great information on the Holman-Moody race team and how everything happened with Ford’s involvement in big-time auto racing, check out 2002’s “HolmanMoody: The Legendary Race Team” by Tom Cotter and Al Pearce. This 256-page hardcover is highly recommended and details a colorful story of two hard-working car guys (John Holman and Ralph Moody) who built one of the largest race teams in history.

My favorite Thunderbird is the 1962 Sports Roadster in red, please.

Advertisement for the ’62 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster.

[COMPLIMENTS OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY]

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Those wild Willys

DRAG CARS

Willys was back in the car manufacturing business by 1952, making some nice cars that joined the Jeep family of vehicles. However, by 1955, Willys was ďŹ nished building cars and concentrated on their Jeep line. [AD COMPLIMENTS OF FORMER WILLYS-OVERLAND COMPANY]

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By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I’m interested in the Willys car company and those great Willys drag cars that still compete to this day. Also, did Willys build cars after the WWII era?

A: The 1940-42 Willys Coupe was and is a popular choice nowadays for both the street rod enthusiast and the serious-minded drag racer. And, to make things all the better, several companies manufacturer complete fiberglass 1941 Willys bodies for use on the street or strip.

As for the Willys car company, it was a respected manufacturer that started production in 1903 and finished second in sales to Ford back in the 1910s seven times. The 1940 to 1942 Willys was a good-looking car with a very low entry price — thus the car’s popularity back then.

There were three models available to consumers in 1940, including the Speedway, DeLuxe and Plainsman in coupe or sedan varieties. There was also a DeLuxe four-door woody wagon, which today is a very rare vehicle. A Willys truck built on the same frame as the Willys car was also available, which drag racers scooped up whatever was left of in the mid-1950s.

In 1941, Ohio-based Willys renamed its car the Americar, which lasted until 1942. In the WWII era car production ceased, and all companies concentrated on building war-effort machinery and vehicles through 1946. Notable is that Willys was awarded a military contract for its new Jeep vehicle in 1941, so many thousands of Jeeps were assembled during the war years.

After the war Willys bowed out of car production from 1947 to 1951. However, enjoying excellent popularity with their Willys Jeeps, a new car called the Willys Aero appeared in 1952.

Kaiser Motors then purchased Willys in 1953 and moved production from Michigan to Toledo, Ohio. Kaiser changed the name of the company from Willys-Overland to Willys Motor Company and hoped for success. However, car sales didn’t do as well as expected while the Jeep family prospered. This resulted in the last Willys Aero being built in 1955. Today, the Toledo plant still specializes in building Jeep brand vehicles.

Today, a 100-percent original 1937 to 1942 Willys is a very rare find, as the hot rodders scooped them up through the late 1950s and early 1960s. Legends like Bob Chipper, “Big” John Mazmanian, Stone Woods & Cook, Jack Kulp, K.S. Pitman, the Mallicoat brothers and numerous others set records on drag strips in their Willys coupes. Many of these teams initially used big-inch Oldsmobile Rocket V8 engines, then switched over to the bigger Hemi V8 engines with superchargers.

These race-prepared Willys gassers initially ran in the 10-second zone, then posted 9-second quarter-mile times with speeds of 140 or more. As a forerunner to the coming Funny Car boom in 1966, the Willys drag cars ran in classes dubbed A or B/ Gas Supercharged and were wild and wooly from start to finish, as huge tires were not yet the norm in drag racing.

The early day Willys coupes make popular drag racing cars to this day.

Pictured is a Revell model kit featuring the famous K.S. Pittman 1940 Willys coupe.

[COMPLIMENTS OF REVELL]

There were three models available to consumers in 1940, including the Speedway, DeLuxe and Plainsman in coupe or sedan varieties. There was also a DeLuxe four-door woody wagon, which today is a very rare vehicle.

The 1941 Willys Coupe and Sedan were not expensive vehicles, with $495 putting one in your driveway. The cars were eventually scooped up by drag racers, which to this day compete on the nation’s dragstrips. [ADVERTISEMENT COMPLIMENTS OF JEEP DIVISION OF FIAT/CHRYSLER]

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My favorite

MUSCLE CAR

PHOTOS: GREG ZYLA, WIKIPEDIA

1967 GTX

Camaro 1968

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By Greg Zyla

was an easy 11-second quarter-mile car with few if any foes.

The GTX with the wedge 440, however, was the more popular choice thanks to an engine featuring a hydraulic cam and a Carter single four’ve been asked by many readers through the years which muscle car barrel for induction. Unlike the finicky solid lifter cam Hemi, which fouled that I owned during the 1960s to early 1970s was my all-time favorite: a plugs in any type of extended low-speed cruising similar to my 396/ 375 1963 Chevy Impala 283 with a T-10 Four Speed, a 1965 GTO convertible Camaro, the 440 wedge made for easier cruising and easy tuning. Additri-power, a 1967 Plymouth GTX or a 1968 Camaro SS/RS 396/ 375. tionally, the same type of bolt on aftermarket parts made a 440 GTX very Being that the GTO was pretty much beat up when I got it and the ’63 fast, capable of mid- to high 12-second quarter miles with 4:10 gearing.

Chevy wasn’t really a “muscle car” thanks to the smaller V8, the choice So popular was the ’67 GTX that Plymouth expanded its muscle car came down to my GTX and my program in 1968 to include the Camaro. It’s awful tough choosRoadrunner, a stripped down, ing, but I have to give the edge to cheaper version of the better the GTX for overall enjoyment appointed “Gentleman’s Muscle and being pretty much all-new.

Car” that the GTX was pro(Yes the Camaro was faster, but moted as in print and TV ads. it took way more spark plugs Built in St. Louis, the GTX to keep it running in low speed would have a run of just five stop-and-go cruising on the years, ending in 1971 and sufboulevards of that great decade.) fering declining sales in the face of new government reguA game changer lations on emissions and the Although the 1967 GTX may rise in gasoline prices. not have been Plymouth’s first muscle car by any means (I’d Was it fast? give that nod to the 1962 PlymAs the proud owner of a ’67 outh Savoy with the 413-inch, GTX 440 with a TorqueFlite, 410 horsepower wedge), it does purchased in 1968 for $2,995 with rank as one of MOPAR’s most just 1,500 miles on the odometer, famous muscle cars of all-time.

I speak from experience how Introduced to better combeautiful and fast this car was. pete with the successful ChevFew muscle cars of the day had elle SS 396, Olds 442, Pontiac the looks and the get-up-and-go GTO, Buick Gran Sport, Meras a mid-size 1967 GTX, which cury Comet Cyclone GT, AMC was built on the Plymouth Bel390 models and Ford Fairlane vedere assembly line. I’ll forever GT/GTA intermediates, Plymremember my B5 bright blue 1967 outh’s ’67 GTX would change GTX, which did not have a vinyl the face of mid-size high perfortop — thank goodness — but did mance cars for years to come. have those cool redline tires.

Perhaps one of the most famous muscle cars of 1967 was Plymouth’s “out to win you Most of these intermediate And was it fast? My over” new Belvedere GTX, a midsize car powered by either a 440 wedge or optional muscle cars rode on wheelbases of 426 Hemi. [AD COMPLIMENTS OF FORMER PLYMOUTH DIVISION OF FIAT/CHRYSLER] GTX ran 12.90 at 108 at 115 to 117 inches, and the ‘67 GTX Atco Dragway in New Jerwas right in the middle with a 116sey with just bolt-on afterinch wheelbase, along with sibling ’67 Dodge Coronet R/T. Power came market pieces. Granted, my 396/ 375 horse Camaro ran quicker from a 440-inch “Super Commando” 375-horsepower V8 hooked to either (12.50s with slicks, 4:56 rear, headers), but not much else on the a four-speed manual or the popular TorqueFlite three-speed automatic. street back then in the intermediate lines could touch my GTX. The only ’67 GTX engine option — for $800 more — was the Sadly, I had to let my GTX go when I received a letter of military “Elephant” 426 Hemi, complete with two four barrels and a deinduction to report to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, so my tuned rating of just 425 horsepower. The street and strip crowd GTX beauty was gone by November 1969. quickly figured that with some smart tuning, a good set of headTo this day, I still have the best of memories of that ’67 GTX. ers, some ignition work and a low-ratio rear (4:10 or 4:56), the Hemi

More Content Now

I

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AMC

MUSCLE CARS & RACING

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: Looking back to your younger days, do you feel Rambler and AMC built formidable muscle cars of the era? Also, which of the muscle car AMCs do you give the most respect to?

A: I do not feel AMC built formidable muscle cars during the heyday of the muscle car era, specifically 1964 to 1972. Here’s why.

Hudson and Nash-Kelvinator merged in 1954 to form American Motors. Back then, AMC featured cars that were small and affordable, though never forgetting that larger cars like the Ambassador were necessary to cater to those who wanted them. As for Hudson, AMC didn’t care one bit that this car dominated early NASCAR competition with its Fabulous Hudson Hornets. Nash? The new AMC directors also didn’t care one iota that Nash just happens to be NASCAR’s first-ever corporate car sponsor.

Although late to the party, some of AMC’s later muscle cars were impressive, like this 1969 advertisement for the AMC “Scrambler,” a 390V8-powered, lightweight performer.

That’s strike one AMC dropped the ball again in 1957, as Chevy, Ford and MOPAR were building some powerful V8 engines while Rambler/AMC decided to continue concentrating on economical family cars.

However, something slipped through AMC’s build process that became big news. Turns out AMC was sitting on a real high-performance machine with its 1957 Rambler Rebel 327-V8. This engine produced 255 horses with a four-barrel and 288 horses with Bendix fuel injection.

Sadly, status as a “performance car” instead of a family car went against the company dogma. AMC clearly had one of the fastest cars on the highway, but the corporate bigwigs would have none of it. So, in a move to protect its family economy car image, AMC quickly announced that the 1957 Rebel fuel injection

[AMC PHOTOS]

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When AMC finally decided to build some muscle cars, its 1967 Rebel SST with a 343-inch V8 was no match in comparison to a 440 GTX, SS396 or a Shelby Mustang.

option was cancelled in favor of the four-barrel carb.

That’s strike two As we moved into the 1960s, by the time AMC released its pony and muscle car lineup during the latter part of the decade, they were way behind the movement that began with the 1964 GTO. It got so bad, and to offset any muscle car talk at board meetings, AMC released a newspaper advertisement that stipulated the only “race” they were interested in was the “human race.”

And that’s strike three As the muscle car era boomed, things changed at AMC’s think tank. Realizing the company was losing market share to the younger consumer, AMC tried in 1967 to reverse its family reputation. The sad truth was there were zero AMC muscle cars available to combat the Chevelle SS396, Buick GS400, Olds 442, Mustang GT/ Shelby, Hemi GTX and 440 Dodge RT. They just plain missed the entire craze until it was too late.

I will, however, give a little bit of credit to the first Rambler Rebel SST “muscle car” I remember in 1967, featuring a 343-inch V8 and some high-performance options like a

AMC finally hit the big time with its winning Trans Am Javelins, an operation run by Roger Penske. Mark Donohue brought AMC the overall championship in 1971, proving AMC was for real in the racing world.

Carter 4-barrel carburetor, better camshaft and even a 4:44 rear end gear. Still, a 343-V8 in 1967 against a 440-V8 Dodge R/T or a 427 SS Impala just didn’t cut it. (Not even close).

A year later AMC got serious. The 1968-72 Javelin/AMX models powered by the 390 GoPak and 401 engines are notable, as is the “real deal” AMC muscle car, the ’69 Rambler Hurst SC. The Hurst SC was based on the light compact American body style powered by a 390-V8 with lots of factory high-performance pieces. It ran very well, and low 13-second quarter-mile runs were easy with a few bolt-on additions.

Here’s another notable When AMC decided to go factory racing on a national scale, it did extremely well. The road racing Trans Am AMC Javelins deserve praise and began with a corporate OK in 1968. These Javelins ran against the Mustangs, Camaros, ’Cudas and Challengers of the day, and with the likes of Roger Penske taking over the effort in 1970, it’s no surprise that an AMC Javelin, with Mark Donohue behind the wheel, won seven races and the 1971 overall Trans Am Championship. This proved that with the correct people, AMC was fully capable of putting a winning car on the track.

As the muscle car era boomed, things changed at AMC’s think tank. Realizing the company was losing market share to the younger consumer, AMC tried in 1967 to reverse its family reputation.

NASCAR, too, was “AMC/Penske initiated.”

The surprising AMC Penske/Donohue factory effort began with research and development in 1971, and the result was the winning AMC Matador that competed in the 1973-75 NASCAR Cup seasons. The Penske Matador initially won with Donohue at the Riverside road course in 1973, and after Donohue’s untimely death after a Formula 1 accident, Bobby Allison won four more Cup point races, including the 1975 Darlington Southern 500.

Further, two factory AMC Hornets joined the touring NHRA Pro Stock drag racing field in 1974. Richard Maskin and Dick Aarons headed up the effort, building AMC engines from scratch for the Hornets. One of them, driven by Wally Booth, won six races overall during a very popular period of Pro Stock racing from 1974 to 1976.

Booth even won the U.S. Nationals in 1976, then defeated teammate Dave Kanners in the final round of the 1976 NHRA World Finals.

In summary, this excellent AMC factory racing effort must not go unnoticed. And even though AMC’s NHRA Pro Stock and NASCAR efforts all took place when buying a muscle car had long since passed, the sales at dealerships were fairly good because of these winning race cars.

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Debating the greatness of

BUICK GS MUSCLE CARS

Advertisements for one of the fastest showroom stock muscle cars of all time, the 1970 Buick GSX 455. It could run the quarter-mile in 13.38 at 105.5 mph with no performance additions. [AD COMPLIMENTS GENERAL MOTORS]

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By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I owned a 1966 Dodge Coronet with a 426 Hemi engine, and it was 100 percent stock right down to the 3:23 rear end. Every Buick GS, Olds 442, Pontiac GTO and Chevy 396 SS I raced saw nothing but my tailpipes.

I had one close race with a Corvette 427 435-hp tri-power, and I made the huge mistake of running a Camaro Z28 with headers and a 4:56 rear end from a dead stop. He ate me up, though if we’d had a little longer run I would have caught him and blown him away.

My recollection is that Buicks and Olds super cars were not so super. The Ford Cobra with the 429-inch engine and that silly shaker hood was also a loser. The only cars that really worried me were the Ford 427 SOHC and strong-running 427 Chevrolets. I liked the looks of the Plymouth 440 with “Six Pack” tri-power and p fiberglass hood, d, and they sounded great.

I never had a chance hance to run against one though, so I don’t n’t know how fast they were.

My last fast car ar was a 1992 Corvette ZR1 with about $10,000 000 worth of work done: blueprinted, Desert esert Development exhaust, new intake, cam, m, 4:30 gears, computer chip and dual mass flywheel. I ran a couple 12-second quarter-miles ter-miles at around 115 mph on stock Goodyears, oodyears, which were very hard. I think I could ould have gotten down to the e low 12s with some sticky tires. It was faster than my Dodge, but I liked the Hemi a lot A: In factory showroom trim the 1970 Buick GSX 455 could ould n beat a run with and even

showroom stock Dodge or Plymouth 426 Hemi.

However, I sure hear what you are saying.

Back in our days of the muscle car, things were much different. Autonomy was the rule in the 1960s as each GM manufacturer — Olds 442, Buick GS, Chevrolet SS and Pontiac GTO — all built their own engines. Sharing engines was not an option. Of this class of muscle car, you are correct that Buick was usually the slowest of the bunch in showroom trim ... that is, until 1970 when the Buick GSX Stage 1 arrived at the dealership.

In defense of your car, I will certainly admit that the 426 Hemi was no match for any of the challengers if evenly equipped. When in the hands of pro racers who knew how to make them faster — more air and fuel into the cylinders — the 426 Hemi was untouchable. To this day, the 426 Hemi cylinder heads are considered the best-designed and best-power-producing “air/ gas mixture” delivery system of all time. So, anyone with a 426 Hemi like yours just had to do a little fine tuning, the g, add some headers,, adjust j carbs, add a Mallory ignition and perhaps a lower gear ratio like a 4:10 or a 4:56, and I agree nothing could come close to defeating a car like that.

Further, had you changed your rear gears from the highway-friendly 3:23 to even a 4:10, that Z28 wouldn’t have stood a chance.

I’ll end

with my memories of a Motor Trend Magazine test in 1970. When the editors tested the Buick GSX 455 with 510 lb. ft. of torque against a bunch of other muscle cars that year, including a 426 Hemi and a 440 GTX, the Buick with an automatic ran the quickest of them all with a 13.38 quarter-mile at 105.5 with a 3:64 gear.

The Hemi I recall had 3:23 gears and an automatic, and I think it ran in the 13.50 range.

In ending, because fewer than 700 were ever built, it makes sense you never lined up against a Buick GSX 455. But I’ll again stress that in 1970, it was one of the most potent muscle cars of all time.

Back in our days of the muscle car, things were much different. Autonomy was the rule in the 1960s as each GM manufacturer — Olds 442, Buick GS, Chevrolet SS and Pontiac GTO — all built their own engines. Sharing engines was not an option.

1960 Olds 442. [WIKIPEDIA]

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CORVETTES , Corvettes & more Corvettes

This 1967 Corvette L88 Coupe is a ďŹ ne example of one of the most sought-after collector cars in the world. Only 20 were ever built in 1967. Not surprising, the L88 series was overseen by the Father of the Corvette, engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, and was rated at 430 horsepower. In real numbers, the L88 easily delivered 560 to 570 horsepower. [CHEVROLET]

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By Greg Zyla More Content Now

on an aluminum intake and put out closer to 570 horsepower than the advertised 430.

If you liked to cruise with your L88 in town, the spark plugs would foul quickly and because of the solid lifter cam, setting the valves became a necessary regular chore. Additionally, you had to run at least 103 octane fuel, which even back then was not available at every gas station.

Thus, if you had an L88, you were most likely a serious car collector or racer, but for sure not a daily cruiser around town. Those who took care of their L88s, as most did, now own one of the most popular and expensive clas-

Q: If you could own just one Corvette from the classic years, what would you pick? Also, I know the new Corvettes are great, so how about a word on those, too?

A: If I had to pick just one Corvette from the classics, it would have to be a 1967 L88 Corvette, of which only 20 were built that year. The low production number came because the L88 was built for racing, and every one of the 20 had a mandatory radio and heater delete and was promoted by Chevy for offroad use. However, all L88s would pass state inspection.

In 1968, Chevrolet introduced the C3 third-generation Corvette, more aerodynamic and modern in looks. The 427 big-block L88 L88s were intentionally engine was still available as another 80 were sold. listed at only 430 horsepower, five less than the 435[BARRETT-JACKSON] horse L71 427 Tri-Power that cost $437.10. There was also an L89 aluminum head L71 option, which added another $368.65. Both L71 and L89 were 435-horse, 11-to-1 compression 427 big block with three Rochester twobarrel carburetors. Additionally, in 1967 you could order a Tri-Power 427 for just $326 more, producing 400 horsepower thanks to a lowercompression 10.25-to-1 design and hydraulic lifters.

The best-selling big block in ’67 was the L71, with 3,754 sold. Only 16 other buyers spent the added monies for the L89 aluminum sic cars of all time, worth way more than any heads, which didn’t increase horsepower but, 426 Hemi or Mustang Shelby 500 ever built. being 80 pounds lighter, improved weight ratios Considering the Corvette in ’67 sold 8,504 front to rear for better handling and delivered a coupes and 14,436 convertibles for a total of bit better in acceleration. (Not much, just a bit). 22,940 units, that only 20 L88s were ever built becomes even more noteworthy. As for perforThe L88 “off-road” option cost $947.90 mance, with the 4:56 optional rear gears, a bone and featured a 12.5-to-1 compression 427 with stock L88 was an easy 11-second quarter-mile better-breathing aluminum heads (rectanperformer with some slicks and a set of headers. gular ports), high lift solid lifter cam, special In 1968 Chevy introduced the C3 third2.19 intake and 1.88 exhaust valves, beefy generation series Corvette Stingray, featuring valve springs and special L88 “dimple” 7⁄16 bolt steel rods that connected to the best a more aerodynamic design that many fans iniforged steel crankshaft Chevy offered. It was tially didn’t like. (I was one of them). But Cortopped with an 850-cfm Holley carburetor vettes have a way of growing on you, and after a

few years everyone liked or accepted the style.

The final L88 production numbers for the 1968 and 1969 L88s were 80 and 116, respectively, for a grand total of just 216 ever produced.

Believe it or not, a consumer could order a few options if he checked off the L88 on the order list: power windows, removable hardtop, leather seats, tinted glass, speedometer “speed minder” (yeah, right), those loud side pipes, engine block heater, rear window defogger, headrests, tilt-telescopic steering and, in 1969, a better clutch that came with the standard M22 “rock crusher” four speeds. Similar to the radio and heater delete, power-robbing air conditioning and power steering were not available.

So, the ’67 Corvette L88 coupe would be my classic Corvette selection, surely not a surprise to any real Corvette lover. Honorable mentions go to a ’67 Coupe L89, ’63 split window with fuel injection or a ’69 Coupe L71/L89, the latter of which I walked away from in 1974 during the fuel crisis. I could have had it for $5,500 at Stoudt Corvettes in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Now, I’m hurting!)

As for the modern era, I was recently a member on a question and answer panel at a car show and we were asked by an enthusiast, “What is the best buy in the current muscle car market?” Several on the panel said the Dodge Challenger Demon/Hellcat series, but my choice is the entry-level, brand new 2019 Corvette, a 460-horsepower beauty that goes for $55,495. It is dollar for dollar the absolute best buy out there. So, with this in mind, I’d probably choose a new 2019 Corvette, but go for one of the 500-plus horsepower Z06 models just for fun. I’d also opt for the 8-speed automatic these days, as they are quicker than the 7-speed manuals.

Maybe one day I’ll own a Corvette ... but not a multi-million-dollar L88.

They are way out of my current “size of wallet” purchase capabilities.

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CHEVELLE SS history

The 1968 Chevelle was both a sales winner and popular performance and family automobile.

The ultimate Chevelle has to be the 1970 SS454 LS6, rated at 450 horsepower.

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383,085 Chevelles built, less than 1 percent (.059) were convertibles. Thus, the Chevelle Malibu Q: Can you tell me a little SS396 convertible will attract about the Chevelle and its the most dollars as per rarity history up to 1970 and how in today’s market. Personally, many 1968 Chevelle modI’ve never been a big fan of the els were produced over1968 Chevelle’s looks, nor have all? Which 1968 is most I ever been a convertible lover. valuable? Which Chevelle In 1966, the SS convertible numwould you like to own? bered 2,984, and in 1967, it was A: The Chevelle debuted 3,033. Thus, the 1968 SS ConvertThe 1965 Chevelle SS line was the very first year a 396 V-8 big block engine was available. in 1964 when Chevrolet ible is the rarest of the 66-67-68 Known as the Z16, only 201 were ever produced as the SS396 did not appear in any decided to add a midsize to its national Chevrolet advertising. Rated at 375 horsepower, the engine was different than the Chevelles. The L78 option 396-375 car lineup that included Corhorsepower version that returned in Corvette’s 396 that delivered 425 horses. [PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHEVROLET] vette, Corvair, Chevy II and the 1968 to the engine lineup is worth full-size Biscayne, Belair and Impala models.

10.25 compression ratio versus Corvette’s higher the most; currently a 1968 SS396/ 375 convertThe new Chevelles were available in base lift solid lifter cam and 11.0 compression. Many ible is listed at a high retail of $104,000 thanks to 300, more-amenities Malibu and the perthink the Z16 came with the famous L78 code the 45 percent increase the L78 adds to the price. formance Malibu Super Sport (SS), the latengines, but it did not. Today, it is reported that In 1969, Chevelle made nice changes to the ter of which would take on a persona of its just 65 of the 201 original Z16s are accounted for. rear taillight motif (which SS396 fans didn’t own during the muscle car era. The highest By 1966, the muscle car craze boomed as 72,000 like in 1968), and the front end was given horsepower SS available in ’64 was a 300SS396 Chevelles were built with either 325, 360 or an upgrade that resulted in another greathorse 327, and it moved along quite well.

375 horses available, the latter now an official L78 looking Chevelle SS396. In 1970, things got With the GTO making major inroads in the version. The boulevards were filled with them, even better with a nice enhancement up front muscle car era at GM’s Pontiac headquarters, and even though the ’65 is the rare gem, ownand rear design upgrade treatments. Total Chevy got serious and offered a 350-horse 327 ing a ’66 Chevelle SS396 is nothing to scoff at.

Chevelle sales were 454,400 in 1969 and SS in the Chevelle line, which when equipped In 1967, 63,000 more Chevelle SS396s were 403,855 in 1970, including station wagons. with a four speed and proper gearing was quite sold with either 325 or 350 horsepower packages.

With all this said, I would be the first in line the quarter-mile performer. Still, better things I feel the drop in sales came about thanks to the NOT to turn down a good deal on a well-takenarrived at mid-year when the very first SS396 other GM brands like Pontiac GTO, Buick Gran care of ’68 Chevelle SS396, especially with the L78 appeared with a new L37 code 375-horse engine.

Sport and Olds 442 taking a decent share of the option. I’m just trying to answer your question as These first big-block SS396 Chevelles are today GM muscle car pie. It’s notable that 1967 was a to the specifics of the 1968 model, and its positives very expensive as only 201 were built under a Z16 year that the L78 375-horse design was not availand negatives. In my opinion, the 1968 Chevelle option code: These featured beefed-up suspenable on the SS396, which I never could figure out. exterior was the least popular; from 1964 through sions, better brakes and a heavy-duty rear end.

That brings us to 1968.

1970, all Chevelles were judged by outward Further, the Z16 Chevelle’s 375-horse L37 A total of 365,800 1968 Chevelle 300s and appearance because drivelines were so similar.

V8 differs from the L78 396 that developed 425 Malibus were produced and another 60,499 SS My favorite if a Z16 is not available? It horses under the hood of the Corvette that same 396 coupes and 2,286 SS 396 Convertibles were has to be a 1970 SS454 LS6, thank you, red year. This came thanks to Z16s hydraulic cam and assembled. When you add all this up, out of the with black stripes but I’m not picky.

By Greg Zyla

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1955

CHEVY

265-V8

By Greg Zyla

and the beginning of Chevy high performance

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Q: Back in the 1960s 60s I purchased a 1955 BelAir Sport Coupe and, while drag racing, a guy who was driving it blew it up. It had the e new 265inch V8 and ran reall well. ho was a Another friend who circle track racer had ad me go to an area machine shop where he did all his business. The e machine shop foreman called me saying it would take a couple of weeks to get the parts, as itt turns out I had one of vys only 400-plus Chevys that came with what at was e Power Pack. called back then the The Power Pack had a Duntov cam ns, among other and different pistons, ons. Can you shed performance additions. any light on this, ass I’ve only found ning this motor? one article mentioning A: You sure had onee of the rare Chevys that came out in 1955, as it not only was the debut year of the most famous engine V8, but you also got of all, the Chevy 265-V8, rformance engines ahold of one of the performance opular discusthat to this day is a popular vy enthusiasts. sion subject with Chevy First we’ll introducee the Duntov part of n. This camshaft is your engine’s equation.

1955 Chevy 265-V8 [WIKIPEDIA]

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named with respect to the “Godfather of the Corvette,” Zora Arkus Duntov. I personally put the Duntov name right alongside famed General Motors designer Harley Earl when attributing GM’s overall success back then.

Duntov’s mechanical genius centered on improving the Ed Coledesigned 265-V8. Cole allowed Duntov’s expertise to take hold with the Power Pack Chevy offerings and making the 265-V8 Corvette a true, fast, sports car. Additionally, 1955 just happened to be the year Chevy officially started backing many racing drivers with factory support or “good deals” for independent racers who were oval and drag racing the new 265-V8.

These upgrades included solidlifter high lift Duntov cams, known as a “¾ Racing Cam” and one of which my brother and I installed back in 1966 in our ’63 Chevy Impala 283. I also remember our engine had the Power Pack cylinder heads identified by a little pyramid on the front of the head stamping. We also removed the 3-speed manual and put a Borg Warner T-10 4-speed in with Hurst shifter and changed the rear gear from 3:36 to 3:55. We had the Power Pack heads refreshed by famed racer/mechanic/team owner of the day Tony Ruberti from Vineland, New Jersey. When all was said and done, it was the fastest 283 Impala in the area.

Back in 1955, the new 265 came in three configurations: 162 horsepower two barrel, a Power Pack 180-horsepower with four barrel and dual exhaust and, later that year, the coveted 195-horse Super Power Pack with a solid lifter Duntov cam, higher compression pistons and a free-flowing dual exhaust setup. It sounds like

it was the Super Power Pack that was in your car, as less than 500 were produced that year. In 1956, the ultimate Power Pack produced a conservative 225 horsepower.

The next couple of years found the 265 featuring dual four barrels and fuel injection, then growing to 283 in 1957, 327 in 1962 and 350 by 1966 with horsepower ratings all the way up to 375 in the Corvette. And even though Chevy introduced its first big-block in 1958 ala the 348 series, the small-block Chevy still ruled and would be available as it is today with over 700 horsepower available. I remember Chevy advertising the 1955 and 1956 Chevy Power Pack models as “The Hot Ones,” and then “The Super Hot Ones.”

Along with Duntov and Cole, co-engineer Harry Barr must also be mentioned in the trio that really designed the 265-V8. The masterpiece engine was lighter than the inline Stovebolt six, featured five main bearings, aluminum pistons, individual rocker arms, forged steel crank and a bore/stroke ratio that allowed for high revs and reliability.

The only Achilles heel of the 1955 265 was the oiling design, which did not yet have a spin-on fullflow filter. This was cleared up with a 1955 dealer-installed option called an external oil filter and in 1956, the oil system was revised.

There are also some questions as to the Duntov solid lifter cam being offered in 1955. Some say yes, some say no. My recollections tell me that Chevy did things “whatever way they desired” back then, and the 195-horse Power Pack featured a “Corvette” cam and high compression heads, which to me means a Duntov solid lifter cam. I could be wrong, but I know for sure that the 1956 Power Pack engine had a solid lifter Duntov.

The 1956 Chevy was even more powerful than the 1955, with horsepower available up to 225 horsepower. This ad did not mention the dual-quad 225horse engine, as this was surely an early ad for the 1956 line.

By 1957, the 265-V8 grew into the also-famous 283 and found fuel injection available on the Corvette and Bel Air full-size model. [CHEVROLET PHOTOS]

Back in 1955, the new 265 came in three configurations: 162 horsepower two barrel, a Power Pack 180-horsepower with four barrel and dual exhaust and, later that year, the coveted 195-horse Super Power Pack with a solid lifter Duntov cam, higher compression pistons and a free-flowing dual exhaust setup.

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PONTIAC’S forgotten muscle car:

CARS

Ad for the 1970 T-37 included both two-door hardtop and two-door post models. [ADS

THE T-37

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I would like to add a car to your list of the top 10 muscle cars from the 1970s.

Two years after getting out of the service in 1969, I traded my ’69 GTO for a 1971 Pontiac T-37. It had a 455 H.O., 4-speed M22 Muncie “rock crusher” and 3:73 gears.

As you may know the T-37 was a stripped Lemans, including a cloth bench seat with rubber floor mats. It was a pretty plain car except for the Rally wheels.

It had two white decals near the running lights on the fenders that showed “455 H.O.” I don’t know how many were produced but I never saw another one in the Rochester, New York, area.

Maybe you have some additional information on this car, production numbers, etc. The GTO was quick but not nearly as fast as the 455 H.O., and as others have said in your columns, “BOY DO I WISH I HAD KEPT THAT CAR.” A: Yes, I forgot about the T-37 as it

is indeed worthy of a top 10 callout!

Your T-37 was based on the lightweight Lemans style chassis and, believe it or not, I came across one at a car show in Waverly, New York, in July 2018.

Well, sort of.

The vehicle I saw at the car show is not a 100 percent original GT-37. Although powered by a correct 400 Ram Air engine, it is a convertible. The owner is putting together this clone utilizing front fenders from a GT-37 he had secured at a “U-Pull It” service center, known to us baby boomers as junkyards. Even though no GT-37 convertibles were ever built, it will be a sweet car when finished.

Interesting about the rare T-37 is, as you mention, how stripped down they came from the factory. The GTO Judge was also promoted as a stripped-down version of the “regular” GTO, although nowhere near the T-37.

You mention your car had the M22 Muncie 4-speed, a sure giveaway that your T-37 had some serious muscle under the hood. The M22s were the best of the GM four-speeds at the time and stood up to speed

COMPLIMENTS OF GENERAL MOTORS]

1971 Pontiac LeMans T-37 [WIKIPEDIA]

shifting better than any other, resulting in its “rock crusher” slang.

The T-37 arrived mid-year 1970 just as the muscle car revolution was slowing down, mostly due to very high insurance premiums. If you wanted a GTO, the insurance was sky high for youngsters, so Pontiac used the Tempest model with T-37 identification to fall under Pontiac Tempest insurance rates, which were much lower than a GTO. As for nomenclature, “T” stood for Tempest and “37” was the Pontiac internal code for any and all hardtop coupes across the line.

The initial ’70 Pontiac GT-37 was indeed the fastest Pontiac muscle car produced when equipped with the Ram Air III 400-inch engine that put out a conservative 345 horses.

Other V8s were available, but the 400 Ram Air was the hot ticket.

Notable is that even though the GT-37 had the Ram Air III engine, no ram air hood was available, and just 1,419 GT-37 coupes were built in 1970. The GT option was a $236.97 addition and included Judge-style accent stripes, Rally II wheels minus the trim rings, white letter tires, dual exhaust, 3-speed manual floor-mounted shifter, remote mirrors, hood pins and the GT-37 nameplate. It was for sprucing up only, and did not include any performance engines.

Then in 1971, things changed. The Tempest was no longer available, so Pontiac used its identical 112-inch Lemans chassis for the T-37 models and its lower insurance premiums. Further, anything that added weight to the 1971 models was eliminated, saving over 100 pounds in the two-door performance models. A four-door T-37 was also

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available, but its wheelbase was four inches longer and not suited for muscle car enthusiasts. The GT option for ’71 included a Hurst shifter and, again, any GTO-style engine could be ordered.

As for marketing, Pontiac even used the saying “There’s a little GTO in every GT-37, and you don’t have to be over 30 to afford it,” again in regards to the high under-30-yearold insurance rates for the GTO. The most powerful engine option was the $358 more H.O. 455, rated at just 335 horses but putting out way more.

Overall T-37 production came in at near 36,000, of which 5,802 were V8s. But of the V8s, only 54 had the 455 H.O. engine, making your car the rarest of all.

Few high-performance T-37s remain so if you see one at a car show, you are viewing a very rare muscle car.

This ad for the 1971 Pontiac GT-37 muscle car explains everything from lower insurance rates for young drivers to high output engines.

Customers could order any Pontiac V-8, or even a six-cylinder if desired, in the T-37 series.

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A

STAR BORN IS

Edsel’s flop begat the fantastic Mercury Comet

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I really liked your article that appeared a while back about the Mercury Comets and that they were supposed to be an Edsel compact car.

I remember both the Edsel and Comet well as I’m a baby boomer. What really went wrong in this situation?

A: First let’s discuss the Comet a bit more, as it was indeed built to be a new compact Edsel when introduced in 1960.

However, with continued poor sales at the dealers the ‘60 Edsel was in its final year, resulting in the 1960 Comet having no official Mercury branding.

Accompanying this piece are photos from a 2018 car show in Waverly, New York — you’ll see a 1961 Comet sitting with no other identification than Comet logos. In 1962, Comet became an official member of the Mercury family as sibling to the Ford Falcon. Both Comet and Falcon were successful in the new compact car market, competing against Corvair, Chevy II, Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Lancer.

Unlike Edsel, the Comet was a huge success at the dealerships — more Comets were sold in its first year than all Edsels combined during its three-year run.

There were also notable Edsel similarities in the Comet, and some smaller parts were used from the Edsel parts bin.

As for the Edsel, it was nothing more than gadgets, gimmicks, slick advertising and new sheet metal on a Ford-Mercury chassis. Thus, I will always regard the

1959 Edsel ad

Comet as an innovative new compact car (along with Falcon), while the Edsel was and is a non-innovative, non-inspiring vehicle. And in comparison to the compact Chevy Corvair, I’d give the edge to the Falcon/Comet as the better of the vehicles in head-to-head comparisons.

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This 1961 Comet has no Mercury identification and the rear tail lights are 100 percent 1960 Edsel. The Comet was a huge success at Lincoln-Mercury dealerships: More were sold its first year than the combined sales of all Edsels in its three-year run. [GREG ZYLA]

CARS What went wrong Still, with so much hype going on about the new Edsel, and even an “Edsel TV Show,” you would have thought something out of this world was about to hit the showrooms. But when Edsel appeared in late 1957 as a 1958 model, it was pretty much a bust from Day One. Additionally, introducing a car during a 1957 recession didn’t help matters.

Edsel’s design was way out there, with a front end featuring a “scoop nose,” “hangman’s noose” or “snorkel” design, take your pick. The front motif offset what I felt was a very nice trunk and rear taillight design and decent interior overall.

Another reason I feel Edsel failed was the name — Edsel. Edsel Ford was the son of Henry Ford, and the name just didn’t have a ring to it like Thunderbird, Continental, Fairlane or Marauder.

There were also many internal disagreements associated with the naming of the new car, and many at Ford headquarters did not want the name on the car.

As for marketing, Edsel was sold initially as a standalone division, but from the start it ended up at Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln dealers. Edsel tried to compete for the Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Dodge, Desoto consumer dollar, but probably impacted sibling Mercury more so than the competition.

As sales dropped, Edsel received a frontend facelift in ‘59 and rear taillight tweaks resulting, in my personal opinion, as the best-looking Edsel. Still, the end came in 1960 and Edsel dubiously achieved being labeled as perhaps the worst new car introduction and sales flop in motoring history.

A bright spot However, when I see an Edsel nowadays at car shows, I’m one of the first to go up and check it out. The years that pass us so quickly prove that even a horrible flop like the Edsel has its day in the sun, which happens to be right now at collector car shows everywhere.

Some of today’s in-demand Edsels are the station wagons, especially

Advertisement for the 1960 Comet that is not yet an official Mercury, although available at Lincoln-Mercury dealers. In 1962, the Comet officially became a Mercury family compact car. [ADS COMPLIMENTS OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY]

There was much hype about the all-new 1958 Edsel, including newspaper full-page ads, television commercials, billboards and even an “Edsel TV Show.” Nothing worked, and the Edsel went down as one of the worst new car introduction failures of all time.

The Edsel station wagons, especially Bermuda and Villager, bring top dollars at auctions everywhere in good condition. The Edsel cars, however, are priced lower and are good buys right now in the collector car market.

fully loaded Bermuda and Villager, convertibles and any two-door hardtops or sedans. However, if not in tip-top shape, Edsel to this day does not command top dollar at the auction sites and may offer an excellent entry point into the

collector car hobby. I’ve seen several nice Edsels for less than $7,000 online and in magazines.

The Comets and Falcons from the early 1960s are also noteworthy, as many are available on the open markets and advertised for less than $5,500.

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1950 Nash Rambler [WIKIPEDIA]

Classic compacts:

NASH RAMBLER & HENRY J

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: Which car do you feel was the first post-World War II compact car to be a success?

A: That’s a tough one as there were several car manufacturers experimenting with smaller cars back then, including sub-compacts like the Crosley and even mini-compacts like the King Midget. However, since I’m pinned down as to a first new compact car, I’d have to give the pat on the back to two cars for this honor.

First is the 1950 Nash Rambler, with George Mason as the main reason for its success. Mason was always in full support of smaller American-made cars during his tenure

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CARS as president of Nash, which he did so well after spearheading the merger of Nash automobiles with Kelvinator appliances back in 1937. Mason’s ideas on promotion were second to none and were way ahead of the curve, especially in using television to promote his Nash and Rambler automobiles in “Superman.” He also talked Indy 500 officials into letting him use a Nash hardtop/sedan to pace the world famous race in 1947, the first ever non-convertible. The new 1950 Rambler sold over 11,000 units its first year and over 50,000 the next thanks to expanding the line to include a wagon and a hardtop.

The second compact to arrive on the scene at

the same time was the 1950 Henry J, introduced in September 1950 and sold through 1954. You could even buy a Henry J at Sears Roebuck stores with Allstate badges on it and Sears tires and batteries. Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser was the idea man behind this new compact, which was cheap and provided dependable transportation for post-war families just getting on their feet.

Along with new homes that could be purchased for $9,900, Kaiser felt he could sell a petty much stripped-down, new car to those who were on tight budgets. His sales theory, however, proved incorrect as after a decent start of 7,100 Henry Js sold, sales declined each year through 1954, and Kaiser finally pulled the plug.

In comparison, the Nash Rambler was way more successful because it featured a convertible zip-down top with many standard features over and above the Henry J’s bland offerings. The Rambler later offered the aforementioned station wagon and a hardtop, leaving the Henry J way behind in the race to attract new customers.

Price differential in 1950 was $1,321 for the new, but very plain, Henry J versus $1,800 for a nicely equipped Nash Rambler convertible.

By the early 1960s, Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant (Dodge Lancer) and Chevy Corvair were ready for introductions as the Big Three joined the compact car fray. Nash Rambler and Henry J beat them by a full decade.

The Henry J was the brainchild of Henry J. Kaiser, noted auto manufacturer and ship builder.

It was an all-new post-WWII compact introduced in 1950 and sold through 1954 as a low-cost, no-frills car that most families could afford. Kaiser even worked a co-op with Sears, Roebuck and Company, selling the Henry J rebadged as a Sears Allstate for a few years. [AD COMPLIMENTS FORMER KAISER/FRAZER CORPORATION]

The 1950 Nash Rambler preceded the Henry J by a few months and is perhaps the very first American-built compact car to hit the highways. It was so popular that 61,000 were sold in its first two years of production. [AD COMPLIMENTS FORMER AMERICAN MOTORS CORPORATION]

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KAISER-FRAZER & sharing platforms

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1948 Kaiser Frazer [WIKIPEDIA]

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q: I wonder about the Frazer Vagabond, built from 1949 to 1951 and its near-identical tical parts compared to o the Kaiser Traveler, builtt from 1949 to 1954. You said that at both had “all of the necessities to be called the ‘Godfather of the modern-era ern-era hatchback.’”

I appreciate any additional dditional information you can supply and nd also about manufacturers sharing parts way back then.

A: The Frazer Vagabond gabond and Kaiser Traveler offered the consumer a hatchback style dropdown trunk, a flip-up rear window and rear seats that folded down. The cabin featured wood skid strips that helped hold the cargo in place, and both Kaiser and Frazer advertising pointed to the fact that an owner could put a double bed in the pickup-like cargo space. All Vagabonds and Travelers featured a rear license plate assembly that could be flipped out and down, allowing driving with bigger cargo and the “hatch” open.

The Vagabond and Traveler came from the same manufacturer, Kaiser-Frazer.

I remember seeing my first Kaiser Traveler/ Frazer Vagabond in person. My grandfather owned a grocery and economy store in the 1930s through the 1960s in Ranshaw, Pennsylvania, and one of his customers had one. Since I was the official “store clerk” at the age of 8, I would always look forward to this family showing up to fill their Traveler/Vagabond with a month’s worth of groceries.

I would watch intently as I helped load the groceries, and then the family would pull away as I watched in amazement. My grandfather, Martin Sulewski, would explain to me about the car that doubled as a truck as I received a piece of

penny candy (usually a Hershey chocolate “block”) for helping the Kaiser-Frazer family.

As for sharing parts, even back then car companies were regularly sharing what is called today “platforms,” especially engines and transmissions.

We used to call today’s “platforms” assembly lines, and the reality of a Kaiser and Frazer looking similar minus some taillight treatment was more striking than, say, a 1955 Plymouth and 1955 Dodge. Of all the cars from back then, I always felt that Kaiser and Frazer didn’t mind hiding the fact that they were identical vehicles, sans some extra amenities for the Frazer. Meanwhile, the Big Three (Ford, GM and Chrysler) always had some sort of autonomous nature to them, be it interiors, engines or clearly distinct body panels.

As the years went on, especially in the start of the 1970s, manufacturers were hard-pressed to continue the “has to be different” styling, and even got to the point that one time while selling auto newspaper advertising, I came upon a 1974 “Plymouth-Dodge” seen at Ward Roadcap Dodge in Gratz, Pennsylvania. The owner quickly showed me a fresh-off-the-assembly line 1974 “Plymouth-Dodge” full-size model that was delivered with Plymouth badges on the passenger

side and Dodge badges on the driver side. This happened, I suspect, because in addition to the workers not in unison, C Chrysler was ready to deliver i new K-Car Plymouth its Reliant and Dodge Aries while the gas crisis was eliminating large cars with big V8s from the consumer demand list. f Kaiser-Frazer hisAs for Hen Kaiser and Joseph tory, Henry f Frazer released the first Kaiser-Frazer in S 1947 called the Kaiser Special.

Kaiser, the noted health shipbuilder and health-care HMO founder (the HMO is still active), partnered with former Graham-Paige CEO Frazer in 1946 to build the first all-new post-war-era car.

Correctly anticipating a post-WWII auto bull market, the duo leased a former Ford production facility in Willow Run, Michigan, and quickly built 11,000 cars in 1946 as 1947 models. This first Kaiser-Frazer to hit the market was ahead of all the other manufacturers in America by a good 24 months. In 1947, 100,000 Kaiser-Frazer cars were built and the company turned a near $20 million profit, which was huge for the 1940s.

Had Kaiser not been over-enthusiastic trying to upset the Big Three’s domination, he may have succeeded. However, going against the advice of Frazer, who had much car experience and later left the company in 1951, Kaiser overbuilt and over-invested in the company, which he then called Kaiser Motors. Kaiser then missed on his sales goals and was offset even more thanks to all of the new models coming from the Big Three. Through all the turmoil, however, Kaiser lasted until 1970 when the Kaiser Jeep Corporation (now its only model and very profitable) was sold to American Motors Corporation.

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PHOTO: WIKIPEDIA

CARS

1957 Chrysler New Yorker

CHRYSLER, Imperial & the war years

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q

: I would like to know more about Chrysler during the war years and about two cars my grandfather owned, a 1957 Chrysler New Yorker and a 1958 Chrysler Imperial. Both were beautiful cars that I remember as a teenager.

A: First let’s talk about the Chrysler and Imperial, both top offerings from Chrysler Corporation. Back then these beautiful cars produced during 1957 to 1959 not only looked good, they packed some real punch under the hood.

The New Yorker was Chrysler’s full-size, 126-inch wheelbase luxury model, joined by less-luxurious siblings Saratoga (also 126 inches) and entry-level Windsor, which rode on a 122inch wheelbase. However, if you wanted the true top-end MOPAR luxury car those years, it had

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32 | CARS WE REMEMBER

to be an Imperial, which rode on a 129inch wheelbase while the Crown Imperial limousine stretched out to 149 inches.

These Imperials sat atop the Chrysler lineup in luxury appointments and special, upper-class opulence. As for corporate pecking order, Chrysler competed with cars like Buick and Mercury while Imperial went head-to-head with Lincoln and Cadillac for consumer dollars (and did quite well).

In my early 1950s memories, if you pulled up to my grandfather’s economy and grocery store in Ranshaw, Pennsylvania, in a New Yorker or, better yet, an Imperial, you were held in high esteem. I most remember the dual headlights that began appearing those years and the rear tail fins, which grew bigger every year. This fin craze, which started in 1957, continued right on through 1960 and resulted in some greatlooking cars from the Chrysler family.

There were also some Chrysler Corporation bombs, as I recall the 1960 Plymouth rear fins. Thankfully, come 1961, the fins started to disappear completely and sanity returned to the car designer’s blueprints.

All of the Chrysler New Yorkers and Imperials in 1957 and 1958 featured the biggest Hemi engine available at that time, a 392-inch powerhouse with 10-1 compression. Windsor and Saratoga models featured the smaller but still potent 354 Hemi engine.

It was common in the mid- to late 1950s to order Chrysler-built cars with two four barrels on special cross ram intake manifolds. Chrysler was ahead of the curve in fuel and air delivery and didn’t mind taking chances on intake design when it came to making horsepower.

Notable, too, is that the first ever 361inch wedge big-block V8, known as B/ RB engines, arrived in 1958 in the Dodge line and 1959 in Desoto and Plymouth models. This V8 engine would grow to 383 inches and max out at 440 cubes.

Now, on to Chrysler’s WWII effort.

You are correct that Chrysler, along with the other manufacturers, curtailed car production during World War II. The government got involved in January 1942 when it mandated that all U.S. car production be halted to concentrate on war effort production. Chrysler had already been building

CARS

All of the Chrysler New Yorkers and Imperials in 1957 and 1958 featured the biggest Hemi engine available at that time, a 392-inch powerhouse with 10-1 compression.

Windsor and Saratoga models featured the smaller but still potent 354 Hemi engine.

Here’s an ad for the entire line of the 1957 Chrysler Corporation family of cars. Included are Chrysler, Imperial, Plymouth, Dodge and Desoto, all sporting new “cab forward” aerodynamic designs and some very large tail fins. A ‘57 New Yorker four-door started at $4,171, while the smaller Windsor began at $3,088. [ADS COURTESY OF FIAT/CHRYSLER]

military Dodge trucks for many years, and then followed with 31-ton tanks, Wright Cyclone airplane engines, anti-aircraft guns and parts, radar units, mine detectors and tugboats. There were no commercial 1943-45 Chrysler cars produced.

The cars returned to dealer showrooms

Here’s the 1958 Crown Imperial Limo, one of the spectacular cars Chrysler offered during the 1950s. This limo was built by Ghia Coachworks in Torino, Italy, in very limited numbers at a cost of $15,050. This price was over $10,000 more than the “normal” Imperial four-door.

in 1946, as Chrysler, Desoto, Plymouth and Dodge arrived identical to their 1942 designs. Then in mid-1949, the new Series II Chrysler Windsor and a new Dodge Coronet arrived. As for Desoto and Plymouth, they had to wait until 1950 for their new motifs to surface.

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CARS

Restoring a

MERCURY Montclair

By Greg Zyla

there,” I’d be very wary about taking a project like this on until you can look closer. You also note that the interior is in need of repair, so that’s a double whammy right there. A positive is the 85,000 miles — if the speedometer is not broken and the current owner is truthful to his/her best knowledge.

the owner’s region, how it was maintained, etc.

You will never really know until you start dismantling and finding out what’s really in there.

Q: I am tempted to take on a car restoraA restoration shop should be able to give you a “balltion project with a 1958 Mercury Montclair. park” estimate based on experiences with your model It’s the high-class Turnpike Cruiser model. of car. This is, however, an educated guess because I am wondering how much there are a whole host of probit will cost to restore a car lems that could be lurking under like this. It has the 383-inch, the paint. You probably won’t be 330-horse V8 engine with an able to get an accurate price quote automatic transmission. It is until the vehicle is completely in average shape and has been disassembled and ready for repair. garaged for over 20 years. It Remember, too, that a restoration has some rust here and there, shop is different from a body shop and interior work is needed, or repair center, and zeroes in on too. It seems to run good and classic and muscle car restorations. only has about 85,000 miles.

As for the restoration, you don’t A: Two engines were available have to do a whole vehicle at once. for the Mercury Montclair TurnYou can choose to do just one pike Cruiser that year. They came aspect, like a mechanical restoin V8 designs of 383 and 430 cubic ration, then move on to others inches, the latter in 360 or 400 as you get additional funding. If horsepower dress. A 312 V8 engine you are on a budget, work with was available only on the Medalist your shop to determine what you model that delivered 235 horses. can afford and how you can best The 1957 through 1959 Mercurys maximize your dollars spent. were similar in styling, and feaBe prepared, however, to find lots tured unique quad headlamps and of unseen problems on a car that Advertisement for the 1958 Mercury Montclair Turnpike Cruiser. This car came standard with a V-shaped taillights (some lowerwas built more than 60 years ago and 383-inch V8 that delivered 330 horsepower. [AD COMPLIMENTS OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY] priced ’57 models still had single-bulb has been sitting for two decades. I can headlamps). You could also order a Continental Kit From the info you have given me, it’s hard to tell almost guarantee you’ll find electrical problems someas an option and, overall, they were pretty nice cars how much work it will need. There will always be where in there. You do say it runs well, so that is a plus. and worthy of a restoration. Notable was the power unseen damage, especially electrical, underneath My advice is to move slowly and have an back window on the Turnpike Cruiser. Very neat. or hidden from sight. Even if two vehicles come expert come and look at the car before comHowever, here’s some personal advice, both negaoff the assembly line at the same time on the same mitting to anything, and that means even purtive and positive. If this car has been sitting in a garage day, each will age differently depending on a varichasing the car. Many mechanics can do a great for 20 years, and it already has some rust “here and ety of factors: where it was stored, the climate of job checking this Mercury out up on a lift.

More Content Now

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BUYER’S GUIDE

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CARS

EVOLUTION PHOTOS BESTRIDE.COM

of online auctions

By Craig Fitzgerald BestRide.com

I

’ve been looking at vintage cars on eBay Motors for close to 20 years now. In the very early days, it made sense and there was a lot of cool stuff to be had. But for a lot of reasons, it’s hardly worth looking at now.

BringATrailer.com, an aggregator of classic cars for sale since 2007, launched its own auction tool in 2014, and it’s turned into the greatest thing to happen to vintage cars since the dawn of the internet.

Where eBay fell apart In its earliest days, eBay was a great solution for putting your wares up online and selling them to the people willing to pay the most for them. But because it reaches the widest possible audience, it also reaches segments of the population you don’t want to do business with.

For vintage car sellers — or anyone with big-ticket items, for that matter — it’s even worse. Dimwits can bid on your item despite the fact that they have no money. Chislers can show up at your home having bid on your item, only to consider that binding transaction just the starting point for negotiation.

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CARS Bring A Trailer is a small community ity of like-minded people who all serve to keep each other her honest. Anything that shows up on Bring a Trailer er is of interest to that small community. If you post up p an all-original 1967 Camaro Coupe with a six-cylinder nder and a three-speed on the column, you’re not fighting for shelf space with a guy’s 1967 Camaro that looks like it crashed into the accessories aisle at the local parts store.

The cars are vetted to begin with.

For the seller, the bidders and the community at large, the most interesting thing about these auctions is that you get to see who’s bidding. Comments and bids are comingled at the bottom of the page. It’s like being at a live auction. The community is small enough that you begin to recognize the people bidding, and you get to see exactly what they’ve bid.

Unlike most physical auctions, bidders can contact the sellers directly to ask questions about the cars. Better yet, a potential bidder can post a question to the community, a group of people who are about as knowledgeable as vintage car enthusiasts get.

“Everyone seems to love the open communication from sellers in the comment stream. We wanted transparency to be the goal,” said Randy Nonnenberg, the guy behind Bring A Trailer. “The engagement of the community in the open commenting has really made it great.”

The format essentially forces engagement, and makes sellers and buyers communicate with each other.

“Sellers need to be engaged, and buyers have increased confidence and assistance,” he said.

Bidders have skin in the game ders. There On eBay, there is little recourse against bogus bidders. nning bidare countless stories online of sellers contacting winning m them. ders after the auction closes and never hearing from sh before Bring A Trailer makes bidders cough up a bit of cash railer the auction starts. To register as a bidder, Bring A Trailer puts a hold on the bidder’s credit card in the amountt of the bidder’s fee. It’s enough to weed out the bidders who are in it just to mess around when they’ve had too many beers on a Saturday night.

Sellers pay a reasonable $99 listing fee. That’s if their car is selected by BaT’s team of content curators. Like any one of the major classic car aucn tion companies — Russo and Steele, Barrett-Jackson d. or Mecum — a car has to be accepted to be auctioned. ar’s That means the curators have some sense that the car’s

going to do well at the auction, and that most of th the junk has been weeded out o time, good for both sellahead of ers an and buyers, respectively.

Y You pay the fee whether the car ssells or not. If it does sell, you don’t pay an additional seller’s commission. At any of the major auction houses, they’re making money on both ends of the transaction, usually to the tune of about 8 percent.

Most buyers pay a 5 percent auction fee at the time o of the transaction. There’s a minimum fee of $250 for less-expens less-expensive vehicles, and a maximum fee of $5,000 for cars in excess of $100,000. Again, that’s significantly less expensive than the 8 percent charged by a major auction house.

That low seller’s fee and low buyer’s fee means that BaT has to move a lot of iron, and it does. Its sell-through rate is 84 percent.

More to come Adjustments are happening on the fly as the Bring A Trailer team learns more about its new system.

“We thought that since so much action happens in the final hour, that an auction could last just a few hours. But that was not the case,” Nonnenberg said. “Our audience wanted the auctions to be open for a whole week. We adjusted this, and now the bids come in all week and are part of the comment conversation. It was not our first instinct, but it is much better for all.”

It’s been a busy few years. In the beginning, BaT only had the capacity to auction six cars a week, but four years later, there are currently 201 cars in the auction paddock ready for sale. All 201 have been curated to make them as interesting as possible, and each features an impressive photo gallery and videos to give potential buyers a sense of security that the vehicles are as good as they look. For tire kickers, it’s a lot of fun to watch.

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CARS

WHAT’S IN THE NAME Terms to know in the vintage car-buying game

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

Q

: I just read your story on a “tribute” GTO Judge, seemingly called that because it doesn’t have the original engine or is otherwise a non-numbersmatching collector car.

I’ve always thought that “tribute” in this hobby means fake. For example, someone takes a Mustang Fastback, paints it black with gold stripes, slaps on Shelby GT350 side stripes and emblems and everything makes it look like a real Shelby. But they call it a “tribute” or a “clone” car.

In the GTO case, did they take an ordinary ’69 GTO and slap on the Judge decals and stripes, or is it a real Judge with a non-matching engine or other drivetrain parts?

A: It is not a real Judge according to the vehicle identification number, thus it is a tribute/clone built from a very nice-condition 1969 GTO. However, with this said, and even though it is not a numbers-matching Judge, the car is as close to a real Judge as you can get.

Let’s start with “tribute,” “clone” and “fake.” All three of these terms have been used by car collectors, but “clone” is now not as popular in the collector dictionary and many times replaced by “tribute.”

The word “fake” was always the most unpopular for a non-numbers-matching car, and used mostly when an owner was trying to pass off his car as “original numbers matching” when most of the eduAdvertisement for a 1967 Plymouth GTX, which came in either 440-V8 or 426 Hemi V8 variations. cated collectors knew better. Through [AD COMPLIMENTS OF FIAT/CHRYSLER] the years, many unscrupulous sellers sold

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CARS The Pontiac GTO Judge appeared in 1969 and today is one of the most popular collector cars on the market. [AD COMPLIMENTS OF GENERAL MOTORS]

Author’s 1972 Dodge Challenger is a tribute 440 R/T and in no way original.

[ZYLA COLLECTION PHOTOS]

so-called “numbers-matching” vehicles to unaware buyers. However, now that the hobby has evolved and everyone seems more educated, tributes, clones, fakes and numbers-matching vehicles are not as big a problem as they used to be.

To explain what a tribute is, I have a 1972 Dodge Challenger R/T tribute, powered by a high-performance 440 (plus 0.4) TNT engine that came out of a 1969 Chrysler. Considering the big block engine was not available in 1972, nor was an R/T model, most everyone I run into knows this is a tribute car. So, let’s just say a tribute can be any car that is not original by any means and does not have correct-year parts.

In my opinion (which I stress), this is where a clone is different from a tribute and, in many cases, a more desirable car even though the word “clone” has been replaced by “tribute” in what I hear at the car shows I attend. In my dictionary, a clone is a car that is correctly representative of the year it was produced but does not have the correct engine/transmission, or a few other ancillary parts. So, if someone has a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere and puts a 426 Hemi engine in it, adds GTX badges, hood scoops, rear valance, exhausts, etc., with a 4-speed and Dana rear or a Torqueflite with an 8¾ rear, then this would be a nice GTX clone because you could go into a dealer back in 1967 and order one just like it. So, I’m still a fan of

I know this is all a bit confusing, but the hobby pretty much identifies and polices cars that fall into these categories with proper money values attached to fake, tribute, clone, correct and numbersmatching efforts.

the word “clone” because it represents a car that was available in whatever year and sits with the same mechanicals as a numbers-matching GTX. Now, I mention the VIN plate because this is also important. When you see what looks like a bucket of bolts or a junk car being sold for $15,000 on eBay, it’s because the VIN designates it as a real, rare muscle car like the above-mentioned 1967 GTX Hemi. Whoever buys it can put it back together in original form, with a numbers-matching replacement Hemi engine from 1967 and a correct transmission that relates to 1967. When completely finished, the new owner can advertise the car as a ’67 GTX with 1967 parts, but usually explains to the new owner it is a correct engine but not the one that came in the car.

So, can you call it numbers matching? Some say yes, others no, but the

car is worth quite a bit more on the market regardless its nomenclature.

(Popular now is the word “correct” in regards to engine and transmission).

I know this is all a bit confusing, but the hobby pretty much identifies and polices cars that fall into these categories with proper money values attached to fake, tribute, clone, correct and numbers-matching efforts.

To assist, there are many professional appraisers who can tell you quickly for a fee exactly what you are looking at. To me, an original numbersmatching car is the ultimate, but right now I’m happy I have a Challenger R/T tribute in my garage.

In ending, be it tribute, numbersmatching, fake or clone, the hobby is so much fun nowadays regardless of proper names. It is stronger than ever and I expect it to be even stronger as the years go by.

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PHOTOS: WIKIPEDIA

5

CARS

VINTAGE SUVS

By Craig Fitzgerald

that live up to the name

BestRide.com

Sport utility vehicles are a shadow of their former selves. They’re gussied up in tuxedos and tails, when they used to be fit for strapping a deer to the hood and sticking the boat in the water. We searched the files at BestRide.com and found five vintage SUVs that get it right:

1979 Jeep Wagoneer

1985 Ford Bronco II

Somewhere along the line, the Jeep Wagoneer turned into a faux-wood, leather-trimmed, pseudo-luxo barge, but it its earliest days, it was a roughand-tumble, vinyl-trimmed truck that only had air conditioning if you were a Rockefeller.

This one’s particularly cool because instead of the full fake wood treatment that later Wagoneers got, the 1979 edition had just a simple spear of faux maple running down the flanks. The hubcaps and skinny whitewalls are a welcome departure from the alloy turbine wheels and white-letter tires most of these trucks had later on.

It’s also got Jeep’s original Quadra-Trac four-wheel-drive setup, Jeep’s trade name for the Borg-Warner 1305 and 1339 gear case. It was one of the earlier attempts to offer full-time four-wheel drive that would operate on dry pavement.

Unlike a traditional transfer case, the Quadra-Trac was a chain-drive system introduced in 1973, for trucks like this one that used AMC’s specially adapted TH400 automatic transmission. Quadra-Trac had a differential that shifted torque between the front and and ont a nd rrear, earr, a ea nd up with a you could lock the setup vacuum switch.

Quadra-Trac is evidenced ced d by the lack of a floor-mounted 4WD selector, and the glove box-mounted vacuum switch that locks the front and rearr differentials.

Later Wagoneers routinely nely — and inex inexplicably — sell in the $25,000 25,000 to $35,000 range. Buy the same truck, ruck, without the horrid emissions equipment pment on later trucks, for half the money here. e.

When the Bronco II arrived in 1983, I hated it, but really nice early Bronco IIs in original condition never fail to turn my head now. As compact SUVs take over the market, the Bronco II is a reminder that there’s absolutely nothing new under the sun.

The earliest Bronco IIs were equipped with the 2.8-liter Cologne V-6, built in Germany by Ford Europe. It was the same engine that appeared in cars anywhere from the Ford Pinto and Mercury Capri to the TVR 280i/Tasmin.

Europe got mechanical or electronic fuel injection in their Cologne V-6s, but here, we were limited to a two-barrel carb. The best you could expect out of one of these engines was 115hp. That wasn’t all that bad, though, considering the Bronco II weighed only 3,300 pounds. The Renegade is almost 3,500.

Truthfully, with an automatic transmission, it could be pretty lousy to drive, but that changes substantially if the Mazda-supplied ransmission is five-speed transmission equipped. uki Samurai, the Like the Suzuki Bronco II was as on one e of the the early ear arly ly targets for SUV rollovers.

They’re tall and feature a narrow w tread width, and a lot of weight up high thanks to the full glass and roof in the rear.

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CARS

1986 Ford Bronco 1983 Mercedes-Benz G300 Austrian military vehicle builder Steyr-Puch was responsible for the G-Wagen, which was under development for use as a military vehicle as early as 1972. Refinements came in 1981 with automatic transmissions and air conditioning, but they’re a far cry from the luxuriously kitted G-Wagens you see plying p ying pl g the roads in wealthy enc enclaves today.

They had a lot more to do w with Jeep Wranglers than they did with Cadillac Escalades around the time this one was bu built. It features an inli line fi ve-cyli lind der di diese inline five-cylinder diesel and a five-speed.

Gett Ge ttin ing g on one e of these th Getting back in the 19 1980s presented all k kinds of issues, but a the 25-year mark as h come and gone, has you can drive one without worry that the DOT is going to show up c and crush it in your drive driveway.

First-generation Broncos sell for anywhere between $15K and $40K today. Second-generation Broncos were only around for two years.

Fourth-generation Broncos with their weird composite headlamps are an acquired taste, plus there’s the whole O.J. Simpson stigma.

That leaves third-generation Broncos, which benefit from being produced between 1980 and 1987 in great numbers. You’re starting to see fewer of these trucks around, though, and the price is on the rise.

The third-gen trucks got a major upgrade in the form of a Dana 44 Twin Traction Beam, finally allowing for an independent front suspension, which no other SUV was offering at this point.

It still has a solid front axle, but it pivots at the differential and uses more comfortable, roadworthy coil springs instead of the Blazer’s leafs.

Where you run into problems with the Twin Traction Beam is wheel travel off-road. There are also signifiant issues with keeping the front end aligned if you use larger-than-stock wheels and tires.

If you like the stock look of a truck like this one, though, less than $8,000 for a 1980s era SUV is a pretty decent price.

Harvester Travelall International Harvester used to build pickups and SUVs for ordinary Joes. From 1907 to 1980, IH had a line of light trucks that went head-to-head ead with trucks from the Big 3.

The most memorable e was the Scout II, which was the larger Chevrolet Blazer/Ford d Bronco competitor. But the big dog was the Travelall. IH built it from 1957 to 1975, and for that entire time it was really all lly y th the e on only ly c competitor ompe om peti tito torr in tthe he m market arke ar kett to n.

Chevrolet’s Suburban. avel av elal alls ls were wer ere e av avai aila labl ble e ea earl rly y Inline six-cylinder Travelalls available early 2, Travelalls were powered in the run, but by 1972,

by V-8s. Because IH engines were in short supply in 1973 and 1974, you could’ve purchased one with AMC’s 401-cubic inch V-8.

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10

CARS

orphan-brand future collectibles to buy now

You hear “They don’t make ’em like that anymore” a lot when you drive a vintage car, but it’s especially true when you drive an orphan car — one from a brand that no longer exists.

We’ve got 10 that you should think about buying right now, because their prices are only going up.

The truth is that all vintage cars are on the rise now. Hagerty Classic Car Insurance provides a valuation tool that shows trends in the collector car market, and even cars in their “affordable” index (like the AMC Javelin, secondgen Chevrolet Camaro and Datsun 240Z) have jumped markedly in the past years. Orphan cars are no different.

Most of these cars are brands that don’t exist at all, but a few are from brands ds that exist elsewhere and haven’t been sold in the United States for decades.

— By Craig Fitzgerald, BestRide.com

Oldsmobile Cutlass

Pontiac LeMans

There are two generations of the Cututlass already considered to be pretty y collectible: The 1964 to 1967 and the e y 1968 to 1972 version of GM’s A-body are already sought after, although they’re still among the most reasonnably priced GM A-body derivatives.

The last generation A-Body (until 1982, when they became G-Body) Cutlass hasn’t found its footing as a collectible yet. But that day is arriving quickly. Not that long ago, a 1987 Cutlass in nice condition was a $5,000 to $7,000 car, but it’s quickly climbed in value.

A run-of-the-mill Cutlass Supreme will price out over $10,000 now, and one of the Hurst/Olds or 442 versions will be closer to $20,000.

The Pontiac GTO has been a bluechip collector car for years, but the LeMans hasn’t had a lot of interest.

That’s starting to change slightly, but the LeMans — and the even less sought-after Tempest — have the looks of the GTO without the stunning price tag.

These cars were powered by a range of engines including the superb 326cubic inch V-8, and a hot overhead cam inline six cylinder that could convince you were driving something from Europe.

Cars from the very earliest LeMans years are the least valuable. Most collectors are after the later stacked headlamp versions that came along in 1966, but the earlier cars are handsome in their own way, and still have the GTO’s GTO s mean profile. They They’re re an entry-level muscle car bargain.

Mercury Montego For decades, Montegos were nailed to the floor, no matter how nice they were, but values are slowly on the rise now, especially for the Coke-bottle cars from the 1970 redesign forward. They’re essentially the same car as the Ford Torino, but their pronounced Buicklike beak makes them visually more interes interesting than the Ford.

PHOTOS: WIKIPEDIA

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Plymouth Barracuda Hemi Cudas are constant auction fodder, but the first-generation Barracuda is the car that beat the Ford Mustang to the pony car punch. They’re cool, relatively inexpensive and a lot quicker than you’d imagine.

They’re also a smoking deal that can’t last much longer.

A few months before Ford launched the Mustang in April 1964, Plymouth pretty much invented the pony car market.

Beginning with the lowly Valiant compact, Plymouth developed a killer fastback body and dropped in a 273-cubic inch V-8, often with a four-speed transmission. It was exactly the recipe Ford would use for the Mustang, but for one reason or another, Plymouth was never as successful.

You can find a nice 1964, 1965 or 1966 Barracuda all day long in the $10,000 to $12,000 bracket. Second-generation Barracudas — especially with the smaller engines like the 273 — might be the greatest bargain in late 1960s cars right now.

They should be way more expensive than they are, given the price of your average Mustang, Camaro or Firebird.

CARS AMC Javelin

MG G MGA The MGA is the quintessential British roadster, yet it’s never attained the kind of values you’d expect.

Think of the MGA like a baby Jaguar XK120: They’re beautifully styled and replete with oldschool workmanship. There were a few special MGAs like the 1600 Mk2, but an ordinary 1500 roadster doesn’t trade for a lot of money, even 50 years after it was built.

MGAs also came in coupe form with a fixed hardtop. Their audience is even more limited, because anyone over about 5-foot-10 isn’t going to fit behind the wheel.

The AMC Javelin is in the same ballpark as the second-generation Plymouth Barracuda. They should sell for a lot more money than they do.

The Javelin has an incredible history in Trans Am racing, a fact that’s obvious in versions that feature a Mark Donohue script on the rear spoiler.

Part of the reason the cars don’t carry the value of something like a first-generation Camaro Z/28 is that they’re difficult to authenticate. It’s relatively easy to fake a Mark Donohue SST, and it’ss hard to determine it through things like VINs it and casting numbers.

Saab 99 Right ht now now, we we’re re experiencing th tthe e golden era of turbocharging. The fact that turbochargers are available on everything from family cars to fullsize pickup trucks is due in large part to this very automobile.

The Saab 99 Turbo was one of the first widely available automobiles — save for very rare versions of the Chevrolet Corvair — with turbochargers. They were never really designed to be performance cars, but family cars that could deliver surprisingly engaging performance.

The 99 was the predecessor to the Saab 900 Turbo, a car so wildly futuristic at the time that James Bond drove one in three John Gardner novels between 1981 and 1983.

Saab 99 Turbos destined for the United States were all two door sedans, rather than the more two-door familiar three-door “combo coupe” hatchbacks.

Willys Jeepster

Citroen 2CV Citroen is still in business around the world, but it abandoned the United States market a quarter of a century ago. The 2CV was as ubiquitous as the Volkswagen Beetle in France but it never caught on here, making them pretty thin on the ground these days. Yet they’ve never achieved the crazy prices that rare cars often do.

The Citroen 2CV had exactly the same mission as the Beetle: provide solid, reliable transportation for a nation torn apart by the Second World War. The deux-cheveaux (literally “two-horse”) is a front-wheel drive powered by an air-cooled, horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine, not unlike the engine you’ll find powering a BMW motorcycle of the same era.

The 2CV is the weirdest car you’ll ever drive, with a gear shift that sticks out of the dashboard, doors that open backward, windows that hinge upward — and the most compliant ride of any car ever built. They’re fun to drive, they can be taken apart with basic hand tools, and they can travel at pretty-near highway speeds.

It’s hard to figure why the Willys-Overland Jeepster isn’t a more expensive classic car than it is, although prices are climbing year after year now.

They have everything going for them: convertible top, a very limited production between 1948 and 1950, Jeep heritage. It’s even got a song named after it.

But several things are working against it: They’re only available with four-cylinder engines — as all Jeeps were in those days — and they’re lacking the four-wheel drive that really makes a Jeep a Jeep.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking at things like Things — the Volkswagen from the 1970s — or dune bug buggies, the Jeepster could be just the ticket.

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Opel GT Like ik Citroen, i Opell is i still ill a strong brand b d in i Europe, but in the United States, Opel was barely functional.

Opel is a subsidiary of General Motors, and its cars are so widely recognized that they currently provide the basis for a lot of contemporary GM products (the Buick Verano and Buick Encore, for example). Between 1958 and 1975, Opel models were available in the U.S. at Opel dealerships, usually taken on by dealers who wanted something to compete with the other imports flooding the marketplace in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1975, though, it looked like Opel would really hit its stride. GM began pairing Opel with Buick dealerships, providing dealers with something small, fuel-efficient and sporty in the form of the “baby Corvette” Opel GT, and the BMW 2002-fighting Opel Manta.

The scheme never took off, though. Whatever the reason, Opel left quickly after 1975, never to return as a standalone brand.

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CARS

Companies like Reliable, MIG, Montway and Ready Logistics offer complete door-to-door pickup and delivery auto transport service. There are many other companies out there, so due diligence and customer reviews are more helpful in selecting the right company to deliver your dream car. [PHOTOS COURTESY OF RELIABLE AUTO]

Transporting

YOUR WHEELS How to ship a classic car

By Greg Zyla More Content Now

O

ne question I receive over and over in person and in the mail is, “What do I do when it comes to shipping once I buy a car online?”

I’ve gone through this process when I bought a ’59 Edsel from a gentleman in North Carolina about eight years ago. I did have several problems with the shipping, as the original summertime pickup date had to be cancelled. Then there

was a change in price upwards. I finally had the car successfully delivered (open trailer), but the experience wasn’t the best by any means. Unbeknownst to me, I used a broker that didn’t own any trucks and once I signed the original contract, I had no options concerning a more expensive reschedule.

To better assist my readers who may be in the process of buying a car online, I communicated with Max Matev, owner of MIG Auto Transport in Jacksonville, Florida. Matev has excellent blog reviews and gives numerous recommendations. He also names several competitors he feels are the most trustworthy,

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which makes for a more objective and “fair to all” column.

What to know about pricing Matev explains there are factors like ease of the route and seasonal fluctuations that can affect pricing. He recommends getting a quote beforehand for better budgeting.

“First, your auto transport process should start before you buy the car,” Matev said. “Get a quote for shipping so you can factor it into how much you are willing to pay for the car and especially so that you aren’t blindsided after the purchase ... In most cases, but not all, the closer the car is geographically, the cheaper the price.

“The next and most important step in the process is picking the right company. One of the biggest problems in auto transport today is that customers simply choose the cheapest company from a list on the internet. The problem with this method is that most auto transport companies work via brokers. These broker companies don’t actually own any trucks and their function is simply to find a carrier to move your vehicle.”

Matev says there’s a common price switch trick that some of the “bad brokers” use by quoting an impossibly cheap price.

“You receive a nice, low price and later the company raises it when they have a signed contract with your deposit,” he said. “So start things off right by checking out the reputation of your auto transport company. It is your No. 1 concern.”

“I recommend if the car is worth more than $100,000, go with enclosed transport.

You have to weigh out your decision based on the difference in price. And even if you are shipping a classic car worth $40,000, the enclosed delivery might still be the way to go as you receive excellent protection from weather.”

Max Matev, MIG Auto Transport, Jacksonville, Florida

Some companies Matev recommends (besides his own) are Montway Shipping, montway.com; Ready Logistics, readylogistics.com; and Reliable Carriers, reliable-carriers.com. Once you pick a company, buyers must decide on an open or enclosed trailer.

“I recommend if the car is worth more than $100,000, go with enclosed transport. You have to weigh out your decision based on the difference in price. And even if you are shipping a classic car worth $40,000, the enclosed delivery might still be the way to go as you receive excellent protection from weather,” he said.

Don’t forget Matev said an important part of the scenario is sometimes forgotten.

“You need to inform your broker so they know everything about your car,” he said. “Make sure to mention if the car is running and if not, and make sure the pickup location is accessible for the truck. Also, tell your company if there are any extra parts or items that need to go with the vehicle, any special modifications like lifted or lowered suspensions, and make sure the broker is aware of both your availability and the seller as for pickup and delivery (work schedules, upcoming vacations, etc.) You don’t want surprises for you or the driver.”

Another important area Matev pointed out is finalizing the contract and paying for the car.

“I do not recommend signing a contract or paying anything until the seller of the car you buy receives your

check and it’s cleared by the bank,” he said. “You don’t want to pay cancellation fees for a deal that falls through for whatever reason. Truck drivers have very restrictive schedules, so if something isn’t ready they usually have to cancel and move on. There is rarely an opportunity for them to wait until a payment clears.”

The last thing to be concerned with is the condition of the car when picked up for delivery.

“With the technology we have nowadays, there is no reason for disputes,” Matev said. “Every carrier driver has a smartphone and can take pictures of your car at the pickup point to give you an accurate idea of the condition. This photo recommendation isn’t a requirement by most companies so you need to request photos to be taken at the pickup location.”

Matev said if you receive your dream car with damage, make sure you do not sign the inspection report. He noted that every carrier has insurance that will take care of any damage your car sustains during transit.

Call your broker so he or she can guide you through handling things correctly during the drop-off.

“And that’s it,” said Matev.

“The process isn’t scary and can be very cost-effective when compared to the cost of flying to a location and driving a car back home.”

Check all broker and carrier websites and reviews online (there are hundreds), and if you’d like to contact MIG about a delivery, call 904-5537367 or go to migautotransport.com.

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INSURING your collector car

1978 Chevrolet Blazer [FLICKR.COM/HARRY_NL]

By y Craig Fitzgerald BestRide.com stRide.com

I

n 2017, the Calgary Herald reported the sad story of Bert Curtiss, who lost a $3 million collection of vintage cars to a fire on his property in Olds, Alberta, Canada. His 27,000-square-foot dairy barn — housing hundreds of one-of-a-kind vintage vehicles, restored farm machines and collectibles — was

consumed by a blaze that took 33 firefighters from five towns and 140,000 gallons of water to extinguish.

The crushing part of the story is that the collection was uninsured. We got in touch with the experts to learn how to avoid such a catastrophe.

Collector vs. traditional insurance Insurance is something that nobody really enjoys paying for, but in times of catastrophe, it can at

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least help an owner recoup some losses.

Nothing will bring the cars back, but a settlement check can be the difference between rejoining the hobby at some point, or just walking away.

For some collectors, the cost of insurance seems like it would be too large to bear. If you worked with a traditional insurance company, that might be true. A full-coverage insurance policy from a traditional insurer on a vehicle like a 1978 Chevrolet Blazer is around $1,000 a year in Massachusetts.

That doesn’t take into consideration that most insurance companies typically insure cars like 2014 Toyota Camrys and 2011 Honda Accords, and have little to no experience establishing a value for, say, a 1927 International truck.

There are companies that specialize in collector cars. Hagerty Classic Car Insurance, for example, provides insurance for collector cars tailored not only for limited use but for the collector value that older vehicles enjoy.

Classic-car insurers typically write policies for cars that aren’t used as daily transportation. Companies like Hagerty, for example, require that drivers have an insured, registered daily driver in their name in order to get a policy for their collector cars.

The thing that sets these policies apart from traditional car insurance is something called “agreed value.” When you insure your collector car with Hagerty, you take out a policy on the actual value of the vehicle.

To a traditional insurer, NADA book value is what your car is worth, minus any deductible. Crash something like that 1978 Blazer, and you might be lucky to get a check for $5,000, based on the vehicle’s low retail value.

“Agreed value” on a policy from a collector

car insurer is — within reason — determined by you. If you wanted to be able to recoup the value of a 1970s-era truck, including the labor and parts that went into its restoration, you could agree on a value of $7,500.

If you were to have an accident in the truck and it was totaled, you’d get a check from Hagerty for $7,500, with no deductible.

If you could write a policy like that with a traditional insurer, it would cost thousands because a traditional insurer assumes you’re putting an average of 15,000 miles a year on your car like the average

2011 Honda Accord [WIKIPEDIA]

That doesn’t take into consideration that most insurance companies typically insure cars like 2014 Toyota Camrys and 2011 Honda Accords, and have little to no experience establishing a value for, say, a 1927 International truck.

American does. Hagerty assumes you’re doing just the opposite: You’re not driving it in the winter, you’re not using it as daily transport. As a result, the cost is — on average — 42 percent lower than a conventional, full-coverage insurance policy.

Other factors What about insuring a large collection like Curtiss’s?

“There are a lot of variables that would factor into what the premium would be for a collection of that size and value,” said Jonathan Klinger, Hagerty’s vice president of public relations. The cost varies based on the types of vehicles insured; whether the building is wood-framed, steel or concrete block; whether it has a fire suppression system; even how far from a fire station the building sits.

Given those variables, though, a collection like this one could average “between $10,000 and $15,000 Canadian dollars for an annual premium that would provide full coverage,” says Klinger. That’s about $7,500 to $11,000 USD. That assumes all of those vehicles are running.

Unlike your average car insurance company, a collector car insurer can write a much less expensive policy to cover the car for loss while it’s dormant during extended storage, or in the process of restoration when the danger of collision is much lower.

Classic car insurers can offer this flexibility, according to Klinger, because “claim frequency is definitely less,” meaning that collector cars are much less frequently involved in accidents. However, Klinger adds, “Severity is often more.”

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