Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i Classic American

As the summer rolls on, we should be grateful that even if we've not been able to enjoy car shows this year, with the easing of lockdown we have been able to get our cars and trucks out and take them for a spin. For some, this may be the first time they've been able to use their classic American vehicle for that long-dreamed-of road trip - if you do, perhaps you'll discover another dimension to your vehicle that you never knew of before (and I don't mean sat on the hard shoulder, mulling over why hazard flashers weren't standard on American cars until well into the late Sixties!). I know from personal experience that long drives, like those that were possible in Scandinavia before the ferries from the UK…

Ford's new Bronco is perhaps the year's most eagerly anticipated vehicle debut as the legendary off-roader makes its comeback after more than two decades away. The Bronco will go into production in early 2021 as a classic two-door and, for the first time, as a four-door version. Vehicles will arrive in Ford's North American dealerships next spring. Sadly, there are no plans to bring the revived 4x4 to the UK, although it's likely (hopefully?!) that more than a few will find their way into the country via independent specialists. Ford is capitalising on the rapid growth in rugged utility salesstateside to reboot a classic design. The look of the new model taps into the enduring popularity of the first generation, which ran from 1965-77. The design team, led by Paul…

We enter this world in uniform fashion. The means of egress, on the other hand, are infinite. Motor racing's original fame-chasing self-publicist, Barney Oldfield, did his best to duck out of the gene pool every time he drove his front-wheel-drive Christie V4 at the turn of the last century. Talesof his bravery, some of them of the tall variety, continue to cast a spell on motor sport fans. A similar level of intrigue surrounds the man who created this monstrous machine: John Walter Christie, himself someone who wasn't lacking in fearlessness. This serial inventor wasn't alone in building a 'front-dragger', but he went a step beyond anything that had gone before by siting the engine transversely between the front wheels. He did so more than half a century before Alec…

Following the successof the 45th Anniversary Chelsea Cruise in May, the Graffiti spirit returned to Chelsea Bridge a few weeks later for June's cruise. Turnout was even better than it had been in May, and there was a feeling of camaraderie as members of different motoring sects, from the more traditional cruisers in hot rods and American cars to fast Ford freaks, Volks folk and scooterists, convened beneath the balmy skies. Having said that, there wasn't quite the same carefree, easy-going atmosphere as in May. While this may be attributable in part to the general increase in traffic, May's roads having been virtually empty, a larger part of it is probably due to the unwelcome boy-racer element, popping and banging in their hatchbacks and going to great lengths to demonstrate…

During the Sixties, most American car manufacturers had UK sales and service representation of some kind or another. The Studebaker franchise was housed in London in a garage on the corner of Holland Road and Kensington High Street, with BM Group (Concessionaires) Ltd. It was to be the last address in Britain that would display, and have for sale, new Studebaker models. By the early Twenties, Studebaker Ltd was being operated by managing director Eustace H Watson, with works and offices at Pound Lame,Willesden, in North West London. Its showrooms in Great Portland Street offered a Light Six Landaulette with British-built body for £630 (in 1924), but was also available as a chassisonly, for £370. A Special Six Tourer and a Big Six Tourer were also offered at £575 and…

Founded in 1900 as the Dodge Brothers Company to supply parts and assemblies for Detroit's growing auto industry, Dodge began making its own complete vehicles in 1914. Its initial offering, the four-cylinder Dodge Model 30/35 touring car, was marketed as a slightly more upscale competitor to the ubiquitous Ford Model T. It pioneered many features later taken for granted, like all-steel body construction; at a time when the vast majority of cars worldwide still used wood-framing under steel panels, Dodge made steel construction standard. Likewise, 12-volt electrics were standard, while most cars were still making do with six volts well into the Fifties. Once the Dodge brothers had started producing their own vehicles, John Dodge was quoted as saying: "Someday, people who own a Ford are going to want an…

Vendor: Andy Lerry/County Classics Telephone: 07595218406 email: andylerry@hotmail.co.uk Price: £25,999 The 1950 Studebaker Champion was first seen in May 1946 as a 1947 model year, with the new Champion as Studebaker's first new postwar offering. It featured up-to-the minute styling by the talented team of Raymond Loewy and Virgil Exner, building on the success of the original 1939 Champion. In order to liven up sales,Studebaker's Model 9G Champion for 1950 featured radical new styling features dubbed 'The Next Look', including the signature bullet-nose front and more pronounced rear fins. Under the bonnet, all Champions came with Studebaker's sturdy 170cu in/2.8-litre inline flathead six, which developed 85 horsepower, and sat on a compact 113-inch wheelbase. New double A-arm front suspension, with tubular shock absorbers mounted inside 'long-travel' coil springs, were a…

When we look back at the history of classicAmerican cars, the year 1970 stands out. It represented the last time that Detroit iron was largely unencumbered by emissions, fuel economy and safety regulations. I'm sure many of us would have given our right arm to be in the market for a new car stateside back then. With that in mind, let's say you were. Given the range of choices available, what would you pick? Here's my top four. 1970 Buick Estate Wagon The first one I came up with isn't your archetypal muscle car but rather the 1970 Buick EstateWagon. This car was sort of a one-year anomaly. It marked the first time Buick Motor Division had offered a full-size wagon since 1964 and the 1970 EstateWagon, despite sharing the…

How many of us have been away on holiday, relaxing, soaking up the sun and perhaps reading a copy of ClassicAmerican, when a classified ad jumps out and says, "Buy me!"? You turn to other articles, but that one car makes a distinct impression on you, and you decide that you've got to have it! That's what happened to Andy Lerry while he was on a holiday cruise, when he spotted a 1937 Buick convertible for sale: "It sounds a bit 'jet set', but I was on holiday in Croatia and was on the deck of a really lovely boat looking over the Adriatic. .. !saw the Buick for sale in a small ad and I bought it over the phone from a gentleman from Swindon. I sent him a…

The value of classic Mopars is on the rise and we've come across a number of former race cars that have been returned to stock guise in recent years - Peter Green's stunning '69 six-pack A12 Super Bee tribute is no exception. Having spent much of its first two decades in the UKknown as Woody's Wedge, this was a serious quarter-mile street/strip car piloted by Bri Wood. With racing duties firmly in the past, this Coronet now enjoys a fresh lease of life as Peter's show car and, when it's dry, it's often his daily driver too. Peter has been into his American classicsfor as long as he can remember; Highway Patrol, Whirlybirds and Cannonball Run among the usual inspirational suspects. "Films like Get Carter, Vanishing Point and Two Lane…

The small but adequate premises at the BM Group in Kensington High Street had enough space for offices, stores and a workshop, as well as a showroom for about six cars, plus a petrol forecourt on the Holland Road side. A very attractive 'low mileage, one owner' 1963 Lark Daytona two-door hardtop stands for sale in the front showroom area. No indication of price is on the car, or whether it was a V8 or a six-cylinder. The chances are it was the' 169 cubic inch 'six'. All in all, a very nice package, with standard three-speed column shift transmission and power brakes. The six-cylinder Lark Daytona was ·available with Flight-O-Matic automatic transmission, if ordered from new. This '59 Lark two-door station wagon would have proven itself an able workhorse…

1. Imperials have a better than expected survival rate, with far more residing in salvage yards than you would expect. In fact, this is the eighth 1962 example I have photographed, more than double the number of Cadillacs and Lincolns from the same year combined. Why? Because they're so strong that they're banned from demolition derbies! Look at the rust-free bodywork on this Californian example. 2. The Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, which was a converted passenger car, was sold between 1930 and 1960. It was eventually killed off by the arrival of the rear-engined Corvan. This rare 1953 example was photographed in a Texan junkyard. 3. With its opera windows, continental spare tyre boot lid and vinyl roof, the Lincoln Continental Mk IV (1972-1976) was the epitome of Seventies personal luxury.…

There have been many iconic film and TV featured cars, but few are as recognisable as the 1968 Highland Green GT390 Ford Mustang Fastback that appeared in Bullitt, driven by the King of Cool himself, Steve McQueen. Given the perennial popularity of the film, generations of viewers have marvelled at the gradually unfolding car chase between Police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt and the hitmen in their black Dodge Charger. However, unlike many movie cars that simply disappear or are repurposed for later productions, much is known about the so-called 'Hero' car that McQueen drove during the making of Bullitt. After sale and a couple of owners, including a real detective (!), from 1974 it went into long-term ownership by the Kiernan family, who so loved the car they even resisted several…

And Mustangs weren't just burning up the bids in the UK- this 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R has become the most expensive Mustang ever sold at auction. It sold for a whopping $3.85 million, beating the previous record-holder, the 1968 Mustang GT hero car that was driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Bullitt. This Mustang was made famous by none other than British racing legend Ken Miles, who was prominently featured as one of the main characters in the movie Ford v. Ferrari and drove this specific Shelby GT350R, nicknamed the 'Flying Mustang'. The $3.85m sale price now makes this the single most expensive Mustang to ever sell at auction. It's going to take a special Mustang to unseat the new record-holder, that's for sure!…

I cannot go through 2020 without mentioning that the Dodge Challenger has reached its 50th birthday, along with the third-generation Barracuda. Whatever your muscle car preferences, Chrysler's 1970 E-Body debutants demand admiration. The cars are not without their faults though - plenty of them, in fact - I do not have column inches enough to discuss them all thoroughly. A huge dilemma was that the cars were simply offered too late in a changing auto market where buyers' tastes, ever-increasing insurance policies and mandatory Federal directives slowly strangled the life out of big engine, HiPo muscle cars, yet their exquisite designs still stand up today. I will concentrate on the Challenger which, built by Dodge, Chrysler deemed a more luxurious E-Body than the Barracuda. At a total length of 192…

Paul Chamberlain loves cars. He's been around them all his life, since an apprenticeship among the Rolls-Royce and Bentley traffic at Jack Barclay's in London. In the years that have passed since then, and in 40- plus years of American car ownership, Paul has learned the kind of discretion that we would all like to employ- if we had the skills. "A nice car always speaks to you," he says. "I never really set out to buy one particular thing, but I try to say yes to the right cars when they turn up." This explains how Paul has ended up with such a diverse group of classics.He has American cars as different as a '39 Plymouth Business Coupe and a '76 Corvette Stingray, and you might remember his red…

Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson in 1995 I actually kick off with something non-American, but please bear with me. I'd always been a motorsport fan and one magical piece of history captivated me. In 1955, the year of my birth, a talented 25-year-old Stirling Moss and his 34-year-old bearded and bespectacled journalist navigator, Denis Jenkinson, won the highly dangerous and demanding Mille Miglia in their Mercedes 300 SLR sports car. This was a 1000-mile-long race on closed public roads around Italy, taking in towns, villages and twisty mountain passes.In places, they nudged 180mph. Astonishingly, they finished in 10 hours and seven minutes at an average speed of 97.93mph, a record time that was never bettered. And here I was, 40 years later, witnessing the reunion of Moss, Jenksand the Mere.…

JamesBond films remain universally popular, especially those starring Sean Connery. One reason for this is the use of vehicles in a variety of set piece car chasesand stunts. Model-wise, if a manufacturer has a Bond-related vehicle in its range, regardless of the film in which it appeared, they are generally on to a winner. This new for 2020 AMT 1:25 scale model kit from Round 2 Models is, inevitably, a revamp of an earlier releasewith new parts and box art. It represents one of the two-tone blue and white 1970 Ford Galaxie police cars that chase Bond in Tiffany Case'sred 1971 Mach I Mustang fastback, through the streets of LasVegas. Several Ford Custom 500 police cars were crashed in a car park and Ford cars featured prominently throughout the film.…

It seemed appropriate, given the Bullitt Mustang, to feature the antagonists' Dodge Charger, though none offered so far replicate the film car. As I'm a meanie and have limited space, I'm a particular fan of Oxford Diecast Ltd's 1:87 (HO scale) American vehicles. With metal bodies and extremely fine details, they're hard to beat for both quality and price. The hard transparent jewel casesare also useful for keeping the dreaded dust at bay. The three Chargers shown here are but representative of the selection Oxford has available in different colours and trims. Although essentially the same, there are a number of variations. The 1968 red one has lateral stripes across the trunk, minute 'Charger' emblems on the roof pillars and the rear panel. The grille, lights, bumpers and chromed trim…