Ford Shelby GT500 vs Chevrolet Camaro ZL1! – Head 2 Head Episode 11

Here is another compare between the cars.

Breaking seems to be the main issue.

Funny they differ on which car would be better on the street.

Quarter mile was a blow out.


Thanks for reading.

Tim

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2013 Ford

 

Some great info on these two cars. Not sure they should be compared together.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Hemmings Find of the Day – 1972 Dodge Demon | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

Hemmings Find of the Day – 1972 Dodge Demon | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts.

 

Demise of Olds – What Happened to GM?

Often a comment sparks an entire blog entry.  Nothing gets me going more than a discussion about US auto makers, especially if I can lay out my thoughts about “what’s happened to (insert brand here)”.

In a comment to my Auto Factoids for the Week of Aug 19, 2012 (http://wp.me/pKHNM-1fG) Bill wrote:

“If I were in charge of GM, I would not have left Oldsmobile for death. I liked the idea of ‘Saturn-izing’ Olds into a Lexus level car. There might have been only one, or two models under the Olds badge, but I would not have left the world’s oldest car company for dead.

Oldsmobile was GM’s ‘experimental’ division both in terms of engineering and product marketing. Many automotive firsts such as automatic transmission (Hydramatic), OHV V8s, and even the ‘self winding’ car clock……….Which brings me to the time I find myself saying in many of my comments in your BLOG:
“What happend to GM????””

I’ve mentioned this before,  it never really made any sense to me why you would have so many divisions in a car company as GM did. Some say, it was to offer different levels of options that were affordable on up to expensive.  But lets take the Chevrolet for instance. At one time they had the Biscayne, Belair, Impala and Caprice (and I think that was the correct order from lowest optioned to the highest) as option levels and pricing to reach everyone. This doesn’t seem too bad. But now add in  the other divisions with Chevy being the lowest, then there’s Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Caddy and I think that would be the correct order for options and pricing as well.  A further break down in what as suppose to be different classes of automobile for different classes of society was the norm for those divisions as well.  For example the Tempest and La Mans, GTO were basically  the same car with different options.

I understand brand/model loyalty, especially at the initial merging/acquisition of a brand, but at some point that stopped being the only valid reason for keeping them separate.  By the time the ’70s and ’80s rolled around they all started looking the same.  For example take the Chevy Monte Carlo for 1978 and compare with the Buick and Olds of the same year:

78 Buick Regal

78 Chevy Monte Carlo

1978 Olds Cutlass

Minus the big tires on the Olds, tell me why I should purchase one over the other or purchase one at all (beside the fact they were fairly ugly)?

Frankly, I would have kept Pontiac over Olds any day but then again the difference between a Camaro and a Firebird in 2000 wasn’t much -but they are both gone now.

2000 Firebird

2000 Camaro

There just wasn’t much different.  They diluted the brand and it became impossible to find any major differences – unless you were a gear head and most consumers were not.

The necessity to cut cost and share parts made it nearly mandatory to have them all made from the same cookie cutter.

Now don’t get me started on the purchase of oversea brands and becoming a finance/mortgage company to defray cost.  (Did you know that at one time GM did more business in home/real estate loans then they did with their core car brands?

I rest my case.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Mustang II Daries 4

Now for Some Tunes

My car came with the standard AM radio, but around here, there aren’t any music stations on AM, just talk shows, so I needed to upgrade.
I wanted a 70s look and feel, so I bought a working 8-track AM/FM from another Mustang II owner. I also bought a new antenna off eBay because the one I had was all rusty.
My dad and brother weren’t available to help on this project and back then I wasn’t confident enough to attempt it myself, so I took everything to Best Buy and asked if they could do it. You can imagine their reaction when I showed up with a 77 Mustang and an 8-track player and one in-dash speaker! But they were up to the challenge (and promised to be careful) and they did an awesome job. Looking back, I can’t believe I want to BEST BUY, but it all turned out OK. Whew!
Eventually I was able to track down on eBay a sealed Ford demo 8-track from 1977 that came with the new models for that year that showed people how 8-tracks worked. It’s a neat piece to have with the radio.
Update: The one speaker in the dash has started to go out on me, so I’m hoping to replace it this summer (2010). I’ll try this project myself, so if you have any tips for me, let me know!

Auto Factoids for the Week of Aug 19, 2012

Slow week this week in auto history.

This Tuesday, Aug 21 in 1897 Olds Motor Vehicle Co. incorporated.  Over 110 year later they produced their last car.

Here’s what the 1987 Olds looked liked.

The last Olds to come of the line forever was 2004 Alero RE. THE END!

GIVE-AWAY:

Add a relevant comment to this Auto Factoid and you be entered in the monthly Auto Factoid Give Away.

This month:

1/32 scale 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee (new in the box)

1949 Mercury Coupe Custom For Sale

I have an acquaintance in the great state of Texas and contacted me and wants to sell his 1949 Merc Coupe.  So I’m going to list here and you can contact me directly for any more information.

I think this car is a beauty.

1949 Merc Custom For Sale

Some spec:

1972 GTO  Frame, Front end, Drive train and rear end.

Bagged suspension that rises and lowers – on board compressor and tank

Power steering and Title Iddit steering column and custom steering wheel.

Rebuild 350 GTO engine with Tri-Power 3 Duce Carbs) and Lunati street/strip cam.

Rebuild 350 Automatic Trans w/2600 stall converter – column shift with oil cooler

Custom PPG Black Hot Rod flat paint with flames and pin striping.

Full set of gauges

AC

and a lot lot more!!!  (see the image below).

Great looking coupe!!!

Art Work

Rear Art

Very Unique details!!!

Ok…..hold your breath for this next pic!!!!

OH….YES!!!! That’s Tri-POWER!!!!! Art on the hood and art under the hood!!!!

Custom Interior – On comfy Lincoln Seats – Diamond Tuck Upholstery

Here is the entire list of EXTRAS!!!

Many details here like Dual Electric Antenna, Dual exhaust w/Flo Masters mufflers, Lake pipes – still need the Y to connect up to the exhaust….read on!!!

You can contact me directly at timsweet@cox.net. (I’m filtering out the ‘crazies’ before I pass them on.)

IT IS A STEAL AT  $32,500!!!!!

You know you want this car!!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Engine Pic

Check out this 512!!!

OH MY!!!

 

 

In this!!!!

1965 Dodge Coronet

 

Oh in case you were wondering.   It’s for sale here:

 

http://showroom.auction123.com/powerhouse_car_international/inventory/9466/1965/DODGE/CORNETT/1965DODGECORNETT.html

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Watch a V12 being Built

This is another from YouTube.
As watchmaker in a past career I can really appreciated the skills it takes to make this engine.  Having it run when it’s completed is priceless.

Thanks for reading.

Tim