Words by Jeff C., CarShowz.com | Coverage by Rob W., CarShowz.com SEMA Show 2022 Recap & Coverage – We do not want to start off this article by mentioning the “C word”, however, stating the obvious it has had a major affect on the automotive aftermarket community over the past couple of years. With the […]
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The automotive industry and racing have gone hand in hand since the creation of the first mass-produced automobile. When racing turned into professional motorsports, the big three automakers decided to get involved as a way to market their newest vehicles to consumers. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, stock car racing exploded in popularity, and these cars became rolling billboards worth millions of dollars. It’s been repeatedly said that when a car did well at the racetrack on Sunday, it would be flying off dealership lots that Monday.
Cars like the Plymouth Superbird, Chevy Monte Carlo, and Ford Thunderbird were some of the best-known cars to dominate the racing circuit. It also helped things out to have major star power behind the wheel of these cars, thanks to Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon, just to name a few. We looked at some of the most influential cars in automotive racing history and how these cars changed the face of the automotive industry. You don’t have to be an auto historian to appreciate the relevance of these cars, so enjoy them right here.
The original Ford GT was a car built with a specific purpose in mind, and that was to dethrone Ferrari in world races. The car did exactly that and was one of the most victorious cars in the history of the LeMans. What made the GT special was not only its beautifully shaped aerodynamic design but also the powerful engine under the hood (via Ford).
The GT was such an instrumental part of automotive history that it inspired the movie “Ford vs Ferrari”. There has never been another car designed like the GT, and especially not without the interesting story behind it. In a way, the GT was the car that got the world into automotive racing on a major level.
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SEMA 2022 Extreme Vehicles Top 10 – During the Special Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas this year, I scouted out what I thought were the best “extreme” vehicle builds. So lowered cars and lifted trucks don’t count. I am talking vehicles that were designed for extreme sports. To qualify the vehicle has […]
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Introducing muscle cars to the American market brought power and performance to the masses. However, the rise in popularity of sanctioned racing saw the need for more specialized cars in the form of factory drag racers. These cars were made in minimal numbers and weren’t street-legal, but they had unreal quarter-mile times. They featured unique technology, high-compression engines, and rear slicks straight from the factory. These vehicles weren’t advertised in magazines could only be bought if you were in the know.
Today, we looked back at 40 fantastic drag-racing muscle car specials. Very rare, extremely powerful, and brutally fast, these cars shaped the history of the muscle car segment and helped establish legends on the tracks and streets. So get prepared for a quarter-mile ride of a lifetime and check out these cars right here.
In the early 1960s, Pontiac realized that racing helps sell cars and that the famous Detroit mantra “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” works. Pontiac had a sound basis for a fast Super Stock car in the form of a two-door Catalina and a potent 421 V8 engine, but it needed more. The model needed to add power and subtract weight (via Hemmings).
To do the latter, Pontiac’s engineers manufactured numerous aluminum parts like bumpers, fenders, hoods, and so on, saving 159 pounds from the heavy car. Moreover, the car got the nickname “Swiss Cheese” since they also drilled holes in the car’s frame to save a few more grams. With a high-compression 421 V8 engine and 410 HP, these Catalinas were lightning quick. The cars were used for two years, 1962 and 1963, and Pontiac built only 14 “Swiss Cheese” Catalinas, each given to notable drag racers of the day.
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This 1931 Ford Model A coupe is a five-window hot rod that was acquired by the seller in 2016 and subsequently underwent a cosmetic and mechanical refurbishment that included chopping the roof, replacing the frame and various body panels, repainting the car in black, replacing the seats, reupholstering the interior in black vinyl, and installing a 276ci flathead V8. Additional equipment includes a three-speed automatic transmission, yellow-painted 16″ steel wheels, nickel-plated front suspension components, a body-color sun visor, frame-mounted headlights, frenched taillights, and dual side mirrors. This five-window hot rod is offered in South Dakota with refurbishment photos and a clean Montana title in the name of the seller’s LLC.
The refurbishment included removing the fenderless body from the frame, stripping it down to the bare metal, chopping the roof 4″, replacing the firewall, floor, rear quarter panels, windows, headlights, and aluminum door panels, and repainting the car black. Equipment includes a body-color sun visor, a vented decklid, frame-mounted headlights, and dual side-view mirrors. The taillights are said to have been removed from a 1940’s Hudson vehicle.
Yellow-painted 16″ wheels wear polished covers and are mounted with Firestone tires. Work performed under current ownership is said to have included nickel-plating the front suspension components and installing an aftermarket master brake cylinder and stainless-steel brake lines. Stopping power is provided by front and rear drum brakes.
The headliner, replacement bucket seats, and side panels are upholstered in black vinyl. The metal door panels are fitted with black vinyl inserts, and additional details include gray carpeting, a rear-view mirror, a floor-mounted shifter, replacement window regulators, and V8-logo embroidery on the headrests. Sound-deadening material is said to have been applied to the interior panels.
The aftermarket leather-wrapped steering wheel fronts a turned-metal dashboard fascia and Stewart Warner instrumentation that includes a 160-mph speedometer and gauges for oil pressure, water temperature, voltage, and fuel level. A Sunpro tachometer is attached to the steering column. The five-digit mechanical odometer shows 936 miles, and total mileage is unknown.
The 276ci flathead V8 was installed under current ownership and is equipped with an Offenhauser intake manifold and cylinder heads along with three Stromberg 97 carburetors, a Saldana Racing Products oil tank, and three-into-one exhaust manifolds. The engine was reportedly bored 0.125″ over, and additional components are said to include Egge pistons, a Mercury crankshaft, a Winfield camshaft, an aluminum radiator, and Johnson adjustable lifters.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via a General Motors three-speed automatic transmission and a Detroit locker rear axle. The replacement yellow-finished frame was installed and the driveshaft was replaced during the refurbishment.
Photos from various stages of the refurbishment are provided in the gallery.
Auto racing may improve the breed, and it’s also one of the three sports Papa Hemingway considers worth anybody’s time. Whatever his specific reasons for admiring it, motorsport has a way of creating legends not just of man but also of machine, leaving behind both tales for the record books and snorting, roaring, speeding artifacts. Those artifacts may display ingenuity of design and engineering but they also demand regular spirited exercise and will without hesitation wad your flesh into a ball if you think for one moment that time has defanged the beast.
All that preamble just to say we’re watching some race car videos this hurricane-y weekend. Not race cars in period, rather race cars as they exist today: cherished, studied, preserved, and potent. So let’s start with a recent video showcasing a one-off prototype for a Volkswagen rally car that recently emerged from obscurity to take some laps at Lime Rock Park.
The Legendary Golf That Never Was – Experiencing the VW A59
www.youtube.com
Ernie Nagamatsu holds court in this video discussing the history of the unrestored Old Yeller II Buick Special.
Old Yeller II Interview at Chantilly
www.youtube.com
As opposed to the Old Yeller video, this one following a Ford GT40 through several minutes of this year’s Spa Six Hours features zero dialog. Unless, that is, you consider the wail of the V-8 a full lecture.
Onboard: GT40 Racing SPA 6 HOURS – Highlights – HQ BRUTAL V8 Sound
www.youtube.com
I’ve talked about the weird things I want to do to some newer-vintage Cadillacs in the past, and I’ve also mentioned here that our family’s daily driver is a 1983 Cadillac Sedan Deville purchased new by my wife’s grandfather. It’s a really great car and I’m coming to like it a lot just as it sits. That said, I could envision giving into my tinkerer side with any number of Ford Panther or GM B-body cars from the 1980s—the Cadillac included.
Because I can’t lavish all that attention on ours (for both financial and sentimental reasons), I can at least use this 1986 Cadillac Brougham in our classifieds as a basis for outlining how I think someone really ought to build one.
The 1987 Cadillac Brougham isn’t technically a B-body. It’s a D-body, which is nearly the same thing but longer. Before 1985, this same platform was called C-body, but then General Motors decided it needed the C-body designation for one of its new front drivers, but couldn’t retire the actual C-body cars, so it resurrected the old D-body name for them.
It’s a great system, all designed for the 1977 model year and a well-engineered combination of handling, comfort, ease of operation, and safety. I’d be tempted to play with stiffer shocks, and perhaps a thicker roll bar (Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 pieces, perhaps) because I prefer a bit more handling at the expense of some luxury, but I could be equally happy with things simply as-intended.
The brakes, a typical front-disc/rear-drum setup with power assist, work especially well right out of the box and would have plenty of margin for more power.
Overall, the chassis needs nothing except a thorough inspection to ensure that everything is in spec and fastened securely. It’s one of the outstanding features of the car.
Typically, this ’87 wears whitewall radials and steel wheels with wheel covers—in this case wire-spoke wheel covers. That’s fine and appropriate, but I find myself called in a slightly different direction.
I’ve really gotten to enjoy the look of black-wall snow tires on our ’83 Cadillac. Those tires seem to lend a dignified, ’40s air to it. While changing out the whitewalls for snows, I also made two discoveries. First, I discovered the wheels are equipped with hubcap nubs to fit a standard 10.5-inch hubcap. Second, the brake dust also made the black steel wheels look body color, making me think that this car would look good with the wheels exposed and also sprayed Light Chestnut Metallic.
I found myself wondering how the Cadillac might look with dog dishes. Then I further discovered that some Pontiacs in the ’70s came with blank hubcaps that otherwise have a much more appropriate shape for the Cadillac body than a regular baby moon. I figure if GM itself condoned un-marked hubcaps, they’d be perfect in the absence of ‘caps bearing an actual Cadillac crest.
The factory engine from 1986 to 1990 was a 5.0L V-8, known to most enthusiasts as the “Oldsmobile 307” after the division that designed it and its displacement in cubic inches. It’s interchangeable with other low-deck Olds V-8s, including 350- and 403-cu.in. versions, but given that the ubiquitous LS swap has already reached the GM B-bodies, it seems ridiculous not to use the hardware that already exists to use the newer engine and all the hardware that has developed around it.
If this were our Cadillac, which has the 4.1-liter High Technology engine, I’d be tempted to go no further than the 4.8L LS that was installed in countless half-ton pickups and barely rates a glance from power addicts hunting for 6.0L engines. But because this was already a 5.0L car, it seems more fitting that the 5.3L used in heavier pickups and SUVs be installed here along with its associated 4L60E four-speed automatic.
The biggest challenges would be a matter of packaging: You can’t build a Cadillac and not have air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes all on board. Also, I’m unclear if the stock intake setup from a pickup truck will fit under the hood or if something from an F-body, a Corvette, or the aftermarket would be required to keep everything looking externally stock.
The rear axle is the strong GM 10-bolt. It should hold up just fine behind a mild LS and an automatic with stock-sized tires. If you really had to mess with it, you could consider adding a limited-slip differential.
Part of the appeal of a car like this is that it’s basically ready to go anywhere on a moment’s notice. The cold-weather instant starts of computerized ignition and fuel management are for naught if you’re afraid to go out in the snow. I love the Light Chestnut Metallic color scheme on this one and I wouldn’t change it, but ’80s factory paint has a deservedly bad reputation, so if it’s showing any signs of decay I’d go for a refinish in the latest materials along with having the whole thing coated internally with a product like Ziebart.
Perhaps my biggest complaint about the Cadillac is the lack of instrumentation. The only gauges are for speed and fuel. Everything else is a warning light. Surely there’s a set of appropriately 1980s (yet analog—is that too much to ask?) gauges out there that can help me keep an eye on things like oil pressure, battery condition, and coolant temperature. I’d love to have a tachometer, too, though space to mount any of these gauges appropriately is at a premium. If I were crafty with a 3D printer and computer-aided drafting, I might try to make an A-pillar pod to mount them.
Personally, aside from my gripes about instrumentation, I like everything about the inside of the Cadillac. My wife, however, finds the passenger seat uncomfortable over long drives. Perhaps something with better ergonomics could be sourced from the aftermarket or a later-model car and re-covered to match the rest. I’ll bet somebody, maybe SMS Fabrics, is holding some NOS Cadillac tan velour material from this era.
Cadillac never truly married its traditional luxury sedan with its more recent focus on high performance. That doesn’t mean we can’t. The parts are all there.
How do you like your Cadillac Broughams?
1. To celebrate this weekend’s Japanese round of the World Rally Championship, which returns after missing the last two years, the Toyota Automobile Museum will re-run its exhibition from last year focusing on Japanese carmakers’ efforts in WRC.
Through a collaboration between seven Japanese car manufacturers who have participated in the WRC, many rally cars of historical importance have been brought together for this exhibition. These vehicles, in combination with large manga background panels, generate a powerful 2.5D presentation. Visitors can sense the immediacy of the heated rally while appreciating the history of the WRC.
Photo by Anthony J. Bristol
2. The International Motor Racing Research Center recently profiled Don Cox, chief engineer for Peske’s race efforts at Trans-Am and at Indy.
When Cox arrived on the scene from Chevrolet Development he immediately started on a new suspension for the Javelin, which was bottoming out, running on bump stops virtually all of the time on track. Cox designed the entire rear end, which included the housing, axles, full-floating hubs, spool, linkage to locate the rear, and brakes. Cox pointed out to Penske the advantage of Girling disc brakes with Lincoln rotors.
As for the engine, Penske needed to develop special AMC engine components as the 290 CID was down 100 horsepower to the competition. Team Penske looked to Traco in California for all the engines for the 1970 season. Regulation limited engine size to 305 CID. Traco managed to shrink a 360 to regulation by destroking, while still making over 400 horsepower comparable to Chevrolet. But then there developed a litany of blown engines on the track caused by oil starvation due to G-forces when braking. Team Penske devised a dual-pickup oil pump with the secondary pickup scavenging oil from the uphill side of the pan, where it was accumulating during hard braking. Then, Cox had to address the strain of the dual-pickup pump which was wearing out the drive gears on the cam, affecting the distributor running off of the same gears, which was throwing off timing as the cars got further into a race. Cox found a solution by drilling new oil passages to feed oil to the gears.
3. The Jalopy Journal’s Jive-Bomber recently took possession of a number of streamlined renderings done up by a French company in the Thirties. The difference with these is that the company was using them to sell automotive paints, so they could be as fanciful and imaginative as possible. (via)
I learned upon further research that the René Villemer automotive paint company would create these sketches to show off their latest colors, sometime utilizing real vehicles, but often drafting made up transportation ideas from scratch like the examples below. One thing is certain, the French Art Deco is heavy here, and thankfully that whimsical streamline influence made its way to American auto design in the same decade.
4. According to a recent BBC article about the company, the reconstituted Alvis is simply building more of the cars that it once built before the 70-year break.
The cars are not reproductions, says company owner Alan Stote. “We’ve just picked up where the last cars were made and produced – you could just say it’s a long time between orders.” The cars carry Alvis chassis numbers and engine numbers which follow on from the last in the model sequence.
5. Finally, Australian auction company Shannons has launched a multi-part video series interviewing some of the most prominent designers of Australian cars, starting with Holden chief designer Leo Pruneau.
They say money and sense don’t always go hand in hand, and that’s the case with celebrity car collections. Celebrities are not the most financially sound people, and they tend to splurge on some crazy purchases. Take Paris Hilton for instance, with her steady stream of diamond-studded pink Bentley Continental models over the past decade. Migos rapper Takeoff was particularly proud of his car collection, which included a Maserati Gran Turismo and a Mercedes C63 AMG. But then other celebrities have chosen a non-traditional path for their vehicles, such as Jamie Foxx with his Rezvani Tank.
The ability to buy whatever you want is alluring at first until you waste the money on something stupid. That’s the case with most celebrities who have blown their fortunes on junk. Some of the cars in this list are downright atrocities, and yet the owners are proud to own them. Nothing’s worse than an ugly car, and some of these celebrities have taken ugly to a whole new level. A custom vehicle is a work of art but in the case of these celebrities, that art form went a little too far.
We’re not sure about this Lamborghini Aventador. The car was ruined compared to the beautiful factory example it once was. A bright purple paint job covered in graffiti is the first thing you’ll see when the car hits the road. The worst thing about it is that it glows in the dark. For some people, the paint job might be worth considering, but it ruined the look of an elite sports car (via 21 Motoring).
Not exactly a smart use of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but then again star rappers were never known for financial responsibility. This Lamborghini is a prime example of what you don’t want to do with a top-shelf sports car. The final product was so ugly that many Lambo enthusiasts would never be caught dead driving it.
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We watched, maybe with just a slight bit of envy, when the 1956 Packard Caribbean convertible pictured here found a new owner on Hemmings Auctions last year, selling for $73,500 (including fees).
Packard really went for broke in ’56 when it built these beautiful open-air luxury liners. It had to, because the once-great automaker was rapidly going broke, so it was pinning its hopes on the success of that year’s lineup—the flagship of which was this car. It was too late, and ’56 marked Packard’s end as an independent, yet, this car, manufactured in the face of impending doom for its builder, embodied all of the optimism of post-war America.
For starters, there’s the original base price of nearly $6,000 in 1956. That’s double the cost of many well-appointed Big Three cars of that era and was nearly half the price of a one-family home. The New York Times reported back then that a tight housing market caused median home prices to rise from $13,050 in ’55 to $14,508 in ’56. You get the gist; this convertible was strictly for the well-heeled.
For that sum, buyers—what few there were as only 276 of these were produced—got a treasure chest of standard equipment. There was, of course, power-assisted steering and brakes, power windows, power top, and the Push-Button Ultramatic transmission. You can’t have a discussion about these cars without mention of Packard’s innovative Torsion Level Suspension with its power Levelizer. These cars rode on full-length torsion bars on each side that connected the front and rear wheels, delivering a smooth ride. When the car’s level changed, because of passengers on board or luggage in the trunk, an electric motor, triggered by a sensor, would kick in and preload or unload a set of shorter bars that automatically maintained the correct ride height. It was a brilliant system in its day and equally so today.
Inside, there were reversible seating surfaces so buyers didn’t have to choose between fabric or leather—they could have either just by flipping the cushions. Should it get too chilly for just the cabin heater, Caribbean drivers could also turn on the front underseat heater for added warmth. Those seats were, of course, power-adjustable in Caribbeans.
As you’d expect, Packard went all in under the hood of these cars as well, with a 374-cu.in. V-8 breathing through two four-barrel carburetors. With 10:1 compression, these engines made 310 horsepower and a stump-pulling 405 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm. The standard push-button Ultramatic transmission was only a two-speed, but the engine’s ample low-end grunt easily compensated.
These cars were never really mainstream, but they were always highly regarded by collectors. Despite low production numbers, a few of these have sold recently (including the car sold by Hemmings Auctions). A black-and-tan example changed hands for $42,560 at Bonhams Amelia Island auction in March, for instance. In 2021, two sold at Mecum’s Indy sale in May, one for $82,500 and another for $73,700. With 42 sales recorded (some of which may be the same car sold at different auctions) over the last five years, classic.com says the average going price of a ’56 Caribbean convertible is $62,862, with a low price of $28,000 and a high of $121,000. Adjusted for inflation, the car’s original sticker price would be around $66,000—just over the average today. On the whole, 1950s American car prices have been flat over the last decade, and while that may change, buying one of the remaining few ’56 Caribbean convertibles out there in hopes of selling it for a quick profit might not be the best business plan. Instead, if you can find one, put the top down, put on an optimistic smile, and enjoy cruising in the most luxury ’56 had to offer.
Photo from The Hemmings Auctions