Innehållsförteckning för April 2021 från Classic American

We all know that the world is being dragged inexorably behind the wheel of electric cars and part of that carrot and stick approach adopted by governments and car makers alike has been legislating petrol (and diesel) cars out of existence, new ones at least. The boss of Dodge, Tim Kuniskis, was recently interviewed by CNBC, where he said: “The days of an iron block supercharged 6.2-litre V8 are numbered… they’re absolutely numbered because of all the compliance costs. But the performance that those vehicles generate is not numbered.” It sounds like the Seventies all over again, where the demise of performance-oriented vehicles (or muscle cars as we like to call them) wasn’t precipitated by a fall in consumer demand; those types of vehicles were mandated out of existence by…

Are you looking to buy a classic all-American sports car with a powerful, torquey V8, world-class handling and manageable dimensions at an affordable price? Seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well it isn’t. Take the case of the fourth-generation Chevrolet Corvette. Currently, on this side of the Atlantic, you can get into a good early C4, a 1984-86 model, for less than $10,000 and even the most collectible examples, like the limited-production 1996 Grand Sport, can still be had for $25,000 or even less in some cases, if you come across one. Today, a pristine condition Fox chassis Ford Mustang GT 5.0 goes for about the same money and while these cars have their fans (including me) in overall performance terms they are far less capable in stock…

Historics Auctions seem to be getting quite a name for themselves in the world of classic American cars and their latest consignment proves why, offering as it does a dazzling array of American metal. There are performance models like the 1969 Shelby GT350 convertible, or the big-block 1968 Chevrolet Corvette, as well as upmarket Fifties luxury, like the 1956 Continental Mark II that belonged to Vice-President Rockefeller. But it’s not all big-ticket items; there’s a modern Dodge Ram pick-up, as well as a Fifties Chevy truck, a Twenties Studebaker and several other interesting American vehicles lined up to go under the hammer on April 17. We take a closer look at them on these pages… 1969 Shelby GT350 Convertible This matching numbers Shelby GT350 convertible is presented in Acapulco Blue…

Sad news reached Classic American on the passing of automotive photographer Mike Key. Mike and his wife June were popular figures on the American and custom scene, as not only was Mike a photographer, he was a hardcore hot rod builder who had many of his creations featured in Custom Car and Street Machine magazines. Mike built several hot rods and modified Volkswagens over the years, but he’ll be most familiar to readers for his modified Corvette, Tangerine Dream, which featured in the October and November 2011 issues of Classic American. Seeing a 1931 Harry Miller-built V16 Indianapolis racer at the 1998 Goodwood Festival of Speed proved the inspiration and he acquired a Corvette chassis and running gear on which to base the project, using fibreglass bodyparts from Classic American…

It’s always sad to hear from Classic American readers whose vehicles have been stolen, so it gives us no pleasure to relate the story of Peter Valente, whose 1967 Camaro RS/SS 67 convertible was stolen last year. The Camaro is red with a black interior and convertible top, with the registration MDM 168G. Peter explained: “The car was taken from a garage block behind a fob-operated gate attached to a block on the river in Rotherhithe – my wife’s dad’s place. They stole it and had the audacity to come back an hour later for a Porsche 912... The police seemed unable to do much, although there was CCTV – not enough manpower etc. We even had some character try to blackmail us for information in exchange for cash on…

This big boat of a car must have had the salesmen at the Mercury dealerships scratching their heads when it was first unveiled. Mercury’s performance offerings up until then had been limited to the Mercury Cougar, offering as it did a compact size that could be ordered with some hot options. These included the Eliminator performance model, which could be had with a 290bhp 351cu in V8 or the hairy Ram Air 428cu in. There was also the Mercury Cyclone, but certainly nothing as big as the Marauder… Utilising Mercury’s full-size platform, it offered a glamorous two-door hardtop format with all the key late-Sixties/early-Seventies styling cues. There were the hide-away headlights up front and rear fender skirts which were optional on the Marauder, but standard on the X-100. All that…

MUSTANG DISAPPOINTMENT Dear Classic American, Frankly I was underwhelmed by the pictures of the electric Mustang, just like other brands in style, i.e. a very ordinary, somewhat forgettable mode of transport. Norway is a small (in terms of population) but fortunate country that has indeed embraced electric cars big time. The ironic thing here (I managed to leave out the word hypocrisy!) is that aproaching 65-70% of its income is from petroleum and petroleum gas products, so the luxury of an electric car is more easily reachable at present than in other countries. Sadly we are expected to emulate them by 2030; there will probably be a lot of people unable to do so in this country, just as many poor people can no longer heat their homes thanks, it…

You might recall that we featured Simon Ringham’s customised 1940 Ford in Classic American’s April 2019 issue. When Matt and I visited to photograph his Ford, Simon pointed out the gorgeous 1959 Cadillac he also owned and I vowed we’d return to feature the Caddy. A year later, I saw Simon at a car show in torrential rain (he really does use his cars!) where he mentioned also having a 1960 sedan and that he’d just bought a 1961 convertible, so naturally we headed back to Wales. While I love finding out wherever possible the past of a feature car, Simon admits he doesn’t have much interest in history. When it comes to buying a classic Cadillac, condition is key. The cars are part of his business All Stretched Out…

One of life’s original thinkers, Bruce Baldwin Mohs made few cars. However, the ones he did make were nothing if not memorable. This entrepreneurial inventor from Madison, Wisconsin, was not one to do things by halves, that’s for sure. His resume had almost as many hits as misses, having variously conceived the instant milkshake, reflective strips used on motorway barriers and a variety of seaplanes. In the latter camp there was his motorcycle sidecar that doubled as a submersible and, it has to be said, his attempt at the ‘ultimate in luxury motor cars’. Mohs unleashed his first automotive design in 1968, the mighty Ostentatienne Opera Sedan. Strictly speaking, however, it was a commercial vehicle given that it was underpinned by an International truck chassis which also provided its 304cu…

In 1974, Plymouth sales literature proudly proclaimed ‘Fourteen years ago the Big Three introduced three compact cars. Of these three only Valiant survives.’ The continued good health of the Valiant after 1970, when both its rivals from Ford and Chevrolet had been dropped, can be neatly summarised in one word: Duster. Appearing in 1970, the Plymouth Duster was the curvaceous, muscular-looking fastback coupé version of the boxy Valiant sedan. On its launch, Hot Rod said it ‘qualifies as one of the best, if not the best, dollar buy in a performance car’. Handsomely styled and offered with a range of exciting performance and cosmetic options, it gave the Valiant platform a new lease of life that would help it survive until 1976. From 1970 to 1974, Dusters consistently dominated the…

When you’re lucky enough to own an eclectic and varied collection of high-quality classic American cars, it’s no surprise to expect that you might get at least one of them featured in a magazine at some time, but Martin Skipper, of Sandbach in Cheshire, is already batting a much higher average. Retired insurance investigator Martin owns six cool classics in all, and this unusual 1952 Mercury is the fourth car in his collection to grace the pages of Classic American, plus a shoot is already in the bag for feature number five (more on that in an upcoming issue). To date, he’s seen his ’47 Hudson Super Six in the mag, plus his ’55 Packard Patrician and a ’55 Buick Sedan as well. With a Ford Station Wagon and a…

Fred is a true motorsport enthusiast who has been photographing top tier American racing for more than 50 years. I first got in touch with him back in 2014 when he supplied some great early Seventies photographs which he had taken for the feature I wrote for Classic American on Neil Merry’s Tony DeLorenzo ‘Budd’ replica Corvette racer. Since then, he has provided me with many more of his photos for various features which I have written. With the dreaded coronavirus sweeping America, Fred had not been to any race meetings last year, so we thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and for him to recount some of his tales. He told me: “I was born in 1947 in Greensboro, North Carolina, just a…

HUW EVANS, BARRIE, ONTARIO, CANADA 1985 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am I’m sure, for many of you, 2020 has proved to be a very ‘interesting’ year for classic car ownership. For me, the absence of car shows and events has resulted in a very different experience, but I have taken an opportunity to at least stretch the legs of my beloved T/A. An initial start up and test-drive last spring following a long winter hibernation revealed a number of issues that needed to be addressed. The car wasn’t running all that great, something I primarily attributed to old fuel (even with stabiliser). I also realised that in the disruption of moving house the previous year, plus other work commitments, the Trans Am was in need of some TLC. Besides not running…