classic car: September 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

Today in history

Today, in 1966, the Chevy Camaro was first introduced as the Panther. It was a new muscle car designed to go up against the Ford Mustang, but the first-gen Camaro was never quite the hit as that legendary car. But the Camaro did leave a mark on the auto industry that is still going on today. The new one may pose a threat, but only time will tell.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

More and More!

How many classic Chevys can there be in one neighborhood?!?! I just discovered two MORE old Chevys that are lurking in peoples garages! I just can't believe how many people around here are car enthusiasts like me! It's crazy!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Poll results

The results are in, and the winner of the best loved automotive failure is...

The Tucker Torpedo of 1948 with five votes, and the AMC Pacer comes in a close second with four, the Chrysler Airflow with three. I guess I chose the right cars for the poll, because nobody voted for "other"! photo from detnews.com

Bug ideas

If you had an old VW Beetle in rough condition and wanted to restore or rod it in a way nobody has ever thought of before, what would you do?

This is a racing bug, and I'm not completely sure it's even a Beetle! The photo is from 10 Tenths Motorsport.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

1977 Ford Megastar 1 Ghia

Do I realy have to explain? Fine, I will. This is a '77 ford concept done by Ghia (had ford bought Ghia by then?). if you neglected to look at the grille and lights, it could (almost) pass off as a modern concept! it looks a little like the Peugeot Moovie concept in the door... odd. Wow.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

They're Leaving Us (Finally!)

I don't know about you, but I hate almost every American car of the 80's, the exceptions being the Camaro/Firebird and the Fiero. I am happy every time I go by the metal recycling plant and see a new piece of junk waiting it's turn to enter the crusher. I hate 80's cars, and hope there will be none left to restore in the future. The photo is from www.ranlayracing.com.

Monday, September 22, 2008

JCB GT

Anyone in the construction business? Then you may be interested in this. JCB claims this is the world's fastest backhoe, and I'd have to agree! It goes 100MPH! The idea came from Frank Carson, a comedian, in 1985 with a joke about a 100MPH JCB. Just think what would happen if these went into production. No more waiting behind a 20MPH backhoe on a main road! It's powered by a big Chevy V8, making 1,300 HP.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

film reel

here are some car videos on youtube:
Ken Block rally car jump-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDi0MZJZ-w0&feature=related
need for speed carbon chase-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y1rxyE05_k

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Best car ever

What is your favorite car and why? Put your ideas in comments, please.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Dale

Ever heard of the Dale? If not, where were you in the 1970's automotive world? The Dale was the biggest automotive fraud of of the 70's, where "transgender" Liz Carmichael bought rights to a three-wheeled "commutercycle" that got 70 mpg. She formed the Twentieth Century Car Corp., and produced pamphlets and prototypes for their car. They got over 2 Million in investor's money, then were charged with fraud. Liz, actually just a regular man, not a transgender, was prosecuted along with many other top executives of the corporation. Just think, if one of the big three had bought those rights, would the Dale have become a reality? I couldn't find much on the web about it, but I found this photo at www.threewheelers.com/dale.html. It's sad that some people do that, pretend they have a car to build and take the money of people instead of making it. But yet again, depending on your style, it may be too ugly for you. Not me!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

project car site

It may not be your first thought for a place to search for a project, but craigslist.org has many project cars floating around dirt cheap. If you're looking for a project I'd recommend their auto section.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Discovering My Own Neighborhood

I already know that someone down the road from me owns a Shelby GT350 and a '67 Chevelle, another owns a '54 GMC panel truck, and another has a '84 Corvette. But today, I was surprised to find that one of my neighbors has a '70 Corvette Sting Ray and yet another owns a '57 Bal Air (what's with all the Chevys?)! I never knew so many people near me were classic car enthusiasts! You should check this out yourself, you never know what you might find!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Oldsmobile Curved Dash

There is a common misunderstanding that the Ford Model T was the first mass-produced American car. That, my friends, is completely wrong. In 1902, the Olsmobile company was on the verge of extinction. They had planned to go into production with a large horseless carriage. Lucky for them a fire destroyed the makings of that car. Needing something to save the company, they threw together this almost forgotten car from a smaller-than-the-original-car prototype. The car was an instant hit, and saved Oldsmobile. A total of 19000 were built in their run of production. Picture from www.howstuffworks.com

P.S. I finally found the picture button!!!!

contradiction

Where I live, I hear the throbbing engine notes of tuners that only come out by night racing around on the streets. Last night, I was thinking, why do these people race at night to avoid police and traffic, yet they have the largest engine throbs in history that attract police like flies? I think it's pointless.