Innehållsförteckning för September 15, 2025 från Old Cars Weekly

One of the most under-appreciated cars of the postwar era has to be the 1955 and 1956 Ford. Considering Ford built about as many full-size 1955 and 1956 cars as Chevrolet, examples of Fords from this era seem to be far less represented today than Chevrolets. Even if the two-seat Thunderbird of those years has robbed the full-size Fords of some of their own thunder, it still doesn’t make sense to me. I think most people will agree that 1955 and 1956 Fords are just as good looking as their Chevrolet counterparts. With the beautiful Crown Victoria and its stainless-steel roof band, Ford also offered a “halo” body type that Chevrolet lacked. Fords also offered V-8 power, so its performance wasn’t lacking. Fords were well-built cars during this period, too,…

This story was initiated as the result of a random, seemingly inconsequential act on my part. I gave my copy of the Jan. 1, 2024, issue of Old Cars to a friend, because of its cover story about a 428 Cobra Jet-powered 1968 Torino. My friend owns our featured Fairlane 500 of the same vintage, which also has the 428 CJ, thus the reason for giving him the magazine. A couple days later, that friend called me to tell me an incredible story — he had drag-raced with the original owner of the featured Torino, Billy Ray Sullivan! That was not all, though. That Torino was bought from the same dealership from where his Fairlane was purchased, with only days separating the purchases! Ordering a Cobra Jet On April 17,…

Paul Bellile has grown used to the delayed reactions. When he rolls up in his vintage camper, he knows most people are probably thinking to themselves, “That’s a nice old camper, and a pretty nice Chevy pickup underneath it.” Then a few moments later, it hits them: “Hey, that’s not a pickup! That’s a Blazer!” Sure enough, somebody actually turned a Hugger Orange 1972 K5 Blazer convertible into an all-in-one family camper. And that somebody was Paul’s dad Len, who bought the Blazer new from a local Chevy dealer in Hortonville, Wis. From there, the family had the K5 immediately shipped to a long-since-defunct shop in Osseo, Minn., that fitted it with a nice camper big enough for Len and his family of four. Some 95,000 miles and 53 years…

Walk a car show, cruise night or collector car auction and you’ll probably see far more 1955 and ’56 Chevys than Fords. While Chevy sold about a half-a-million more cars than Ford in those years, that doesn’t mean all Chevy models outsold their Ford counterparts. Case in point: The ’56 Ford Fairlane Sunliner convertible sold substantially better than the iconic ’56 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible. The numbers don’t lie. Some 58,147 Sunliners left dealer lots compared to just 41,883 Bel Air ragtops. Two-tone color combinations were the rage in those days, and both manufacturers offered similar colors, replete with the creative names of the era. For example, Archie Preast’s ’56 Ford Sunliner sports the two-tone Diamond Blue and Bermuda Blue combination that would look quite similar parked beside a Bel…

There seemed to be a lot of new car ads using airport settings in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Some of them were actual photos, and some were illustrations and paintings. This colorful ad looks like it was a little bit of both, as a handful of sweet new 1956 Chrysler Corp. products shared the runway with an unmarked F-86D fighter jet. Today we would call this a bad Photoshop attempt, but it seemed to work 70 years ago, and definitely succeeded in showing off the cutting edge “Forward Look” Chrysler family design.…

The American Automobile Experience museum in Kearney, Neb., houses around 150 vehicles on loan from collectors. There are multiple displays within the facility including a drive-in theater, as well as a pair of 1956 Ford Crown Victorias (one in “as found” condition and a twin that has been fully restored). Since the vehicles in the collection are all on loan, it is a fluid collection wherein the vehicles are regularly changed out, giving the museum a wide variety of vehicles for guests to enjoy. This wide variety includes trucks, classics and muscle cars, so there will always be something to appeal to museum guests. The American Automobile Experience museum is currently displaying six customs built for rock star James Hetfield, front man for the heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield calls…

Approximately 10 years ago, I photographed this Starlight Black 1963 Pontiac Catalina 421 Super Duty near Detroit. The Catalina had just undergone a systematic restoration to return it to its factory-original condition after its owner had acquired it. I met Jim Crawford back in 2008 while scouting a local car show and noticed his stunning green 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne in the distance. The hood was open and as I approached it, the massive engine with its “409” valve cover decals instantly caught my eye. After introducing myself to Jim, he told me the Biscayne’s restoration had just been finished. I asked if he would be interested in having me photograph the show-stopper for a magazine feature and he agreed. Jim also shared that since the Biscayne was finished, he turned…

As new kids in a new location, Mrs. Rotten and yours truly have found Montana’s car crowd to be quite welcoming. In a very short time, we’ve made some good friends. That began with talking to one stranger at a car show. Once I’d confessed to being new here from California, he encouraged me to drop in on a group of old car guys that meet for coffee six days a week. “You just be you, and go introduce yourself to the guys at the big table,” he said. It took a few days to get to it, but when I walked in early that morning, the joint was empty — except for the obvious car guys at the big table where I went ahead and took a seat. To…

Fall Carlisle will roll on Oct. 1-5 CARLISLE, Pa. — Thousands of car buffs from around the country will again congregate in south-central Pennsylvania for one of the country’s best collector car events — Fall Carlisle — Oct. 1-5 at the Carlisle Fairgrounds. More than 8,000 vendor spaces will be filled with a sea of car parts, accessories, collectibles and flea market treasures. The event also features a huge car corral, where hundreds of vehicles will be for sale by owner. There will also be a display of Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) cars near the stage, and a Women’s Oasis with vendors and artisans selling crafts, jewelry, clothing and other non-automotive goods. Carlisle Auctions’ two-day collector car auction on Thursday and Friday will also be part of the…

Getting 915 vehicles on the field during the June 13-14 Antique Truck Club of America national meet at Macungie, Pa., would have been an impressive feat, even without the heavy rains. Tents, shelters and sort-of-dry areas beneath trees became crowded as truck owners and spectators attempted to avoid the inevitable, but among those who literally braved the storm was Richard Cottrell. He’d brought his 1987 Autocar AT64F tandem dump from Ararat, Pa., and a careful look at its grille reveals that it still wears some small pieces of its history. 1987 Autocar AT64F “We bought that truck in May of ‘94,” he said, “the same day that my daughter was born. A friend of ours knew where it was and so we were able to acquire it. We needed a…

The “Moudy Auto Repair” sign on the front of the building only begins to describe the business being conducted at this location on Arkansas Route 367 south of Searcy. “Everything’s for sale,” exclaimed owner Vance Moudy. He and several employees work inside and outside of a large building with four service bays that were all busy with mechanical activity during our visit. The area in front and along the sides was nearly filled with vehicles, many of them complete and operable like those you could find on the back rows of used car lots in days gone by. Other cars and trucks available for salvaging parts are scattered throughout the front area and beyond a fence that bisects the yard. Customers are not allowed to “shop” alone now, but the…