I hope you can view this article. Has some great cars – although the saying “keep the shiny side up” doesn’t really translate – these just don’t have one.
I’d love to spend time wandering around Cuba, just to look at the cars.
The Cars of Cuba: Photos and stories from Havana.
This is from Hagerty Insurance Company.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
January 4th, 2012 
aunik_aronno
Mopar, Chrysler Group’s custom parts branch, has announced that a modified 2012 Chrysler 200 and an altered 2012 Dodge Charger have joined its lineup. The 2012 Chrysler 200 Super S and Dodge Charger Redline are dressed in the latest Mopar accessories, giving each an “in-your-face” look. While the Charger already possessed bold exterior attributes even before Mopar’s help, the Chrysler 200 gets a little more self-confidence courtesy of two different packages that can be added on.
“The Super S is Mopar’s interpretation of the Chrysler 200,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “The extensive list of high-quality Mopar parts enhances the performance and appearance of our Chrysler 200.”
Two packages are available to dress up the 2012 Chrysler 200. The first is called Stage One, which is primarily an appearance package which refines overall styling on Chrysler’s smaller sedan. The Stage Two goes under the hood adding a cold-air intake and a cat-back exhaust system. A cold-air intake is added to boost engine efficiency and performance while a cat-back system gives that extra engine note that may be missing while rolling at lower speeds. Coil-over suspension is also added to enhance the overall ride feel.
The 2012 Dodge Charger Redline receives a few more options than the Chrysler 200 Super S. Mopar’s variant of the Charger is based off of the R/T model and can be dressed in three different packages. Stage One adds exterior styling cues such as a Mopar carbon fiber chin spoiler, “crosshair” grille, carbon fiber door scoops designed to enhance aerodynamics, and the interior also gets a few new accents. Stage Two is adds Mopar bolt-on parts to boost power, handling, and braking. These features include a cat-back exhaust system, cross-braces under the hood to enhance handling, and brake linings to bring the Charger’s Hemi V-8 to a halt quickly. Stage Three adds a 426 Hemi V-8 engine which holds the reigns to 590 ponies, 220 more than what’s found in the regular Charger R/T. Known as the “elephant motor” this lightweight aluminum V-8 shaves off more than 100 pounds from its cast-iron siblings. Cast-aluminum valve covers and billet fuel rails are also included in Stage Three of the Charger’s performance kit.
“Since the 1960s, the Mopar Brand has built a long history of adding power and performance to the Dodge Charger—and with the Redline, we Moparized the new Charger with modern-day performance and style while giving a nod to our storied past,” said Gorlier. “With three kits, Mopar offers a tailored choice for every customer.”
Both vehicles are set to debut at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week. Which vehicle are you most excited to see? Tell us which one you picked in the comment section below.
Any Alice Cooper fans out there? If you worship Mr. Cooper plus love classic ‘Stangs, the best of both worlds is about to cross the auction block at Barrett-Jackson this month. A red 1965 classic Ford Mustang with a 4-speed automatic 289 V-8 and only 35,915 miles. Supposedly fit his golf clubs in the trunk perfectly!
Here is an opportunity to own Alice Cooper’s 1965 Ford Mustang fastback with 35,915 original miles. Alice used this car for the Golf courses, going to the mall and dinner from time to time. We will include a set of Calloway golf clubs for the new owner of the car.
Source: [Barrett-Jackson]
When the Ford Mustang Boss 302 debuted as a 2012 model, Ford threw out many of the standard options in favor of performance-specific parts. This also included a number of color options, leaving buyers with fewer palette choices than a comparable Mustang GT. One of the most popular colors, Grabber Blue, was unavailable on the 2012 Boss 302 Mustang.
But it will be available on the 2013 Boss 302, as the recently-released 2013 Mustang guide revealed. Now we have the first pictures of a Grabber Blue Boss 302, thanks to eagle-eyed forum members over at The Mustang Source.
Grabber Blue first appeared on Boss 302 Mustangs in 1970, and it remains popular with Mustang buyers today who flock towards the traditional pony car color. So it raised more than a few eyebrows when Ford did not offer Grabber Blue on the 2012 Boss 302 Mustangs. Rather, Ford offered five other colors; Competition Orange, Race Red, Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat, Kona Blue Metallic, and Performance White.
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Yet Ford did sell a one-of-one Grabber Blue Boss 302 Laguna Seca Edition Mustang at the Barrett-Jackson auctions earlier this year. And judging from these pictures, the standard Boss 302 Mustang looks just as great in Grabber Blue as we thought it would. Grabber Blue will be joined by School Bus Yellow as well. Gotta Have It Green will also be offered on 2013 Mustangs, though no word on if the Boss 302 will also have the option. However, if Ford is keeping with the tradition of offering Grabber colors in the second year of Boss Mustang production, well why wouldn’t they offer a Gotta Have It Green option?
Ok…I sorry (not really) but I have to consider what my readers like. And to date one of the most read articles on my blog is the piece I did on the Mustang II King Cobra http://wp.me/pKHNM-uY . (Go ahead you know are going to go read it!!)
So I’m going to do a series on the Mustang II (after all I’m project managing the restoration of a 1975 VW, I could spend sometime on that era Mustang). We’ll touch on the 4 and 6 cylinders and yes there was a 302.
So we’ll start with a history lesson.
1973 was the last year for the more powerful and larger bodies Mustangs. Ford may have thought they were going back to the original size Mustang and the 1974 version was in fact close to that size. The 1966 Mustang had a wheelbase of about 108 inches ( 181.6 inches in total) and the 1974 was 96.2 (175.0 inches over all). Compare to the 1973 which (depend on which version) was 187.5-190.0 inches over all.
The generation ran from 1974 to 1978 and sported some collectible cars, the King Cobra and Mach I…yes Mach I’s in a Mustang II.
Here is a quick look.
 1974 Cobra II – You Love it…I know you do. |
 1974 Mach I ok…sure..Pinto like. |
 1978 Mustang Cobra II – Excellent Looking |
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Dec 16, 2011 the last produced Ford Ranger. This isn’t just the end of the Ford Ranger, its the end of the Cologne V6 and the closing of a plant that has been producing car since 1925 – over 25 million. The last Ranger was a fleet car going to Orkin Pest Control – yawn – couldn’t have been a Raptor or and F150 Harley Davison version.
2012 V6 Ford Ranger - The last one.
The plant produced armored cars during WW II and 50’s Fords, early Crown Vics and Galazies. It also produced one of my favorite cars the Ford Sunliner.
1955 Ford Sunliner
Sunliner
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Sorry MOPAR fans, I got sidetracked. Let’s continue with the Dodge’s use of the 318.
Dodge didn’t get a V8 until 1953. That first engine was a Hemi with 241.3 cid and only 7.1:1 compression. They called it the 241. It was improved upon for the next couple of years and very cool names like, Red Ram and Super Red Ram.
Approximately 1956, Dodge began using the 315 with the Polyspheric chamber. (Here is the link from my earlier post on the Polysheric head: http://wp.me/pKHNM-gy)
It wasn’t until 1960 that Dodge began using the 318. This was, again, the Polyspheric chamber, and it came in two versions in 1960, a 2 barrel and a 4 barrel, with 230 hp and 255 hp respectively (of course) and both a 9.0:1 compression (that pretty good compression rate). The 318 was used in the Dart Seneca, the Pioneer and the Dodge Phoenix got the larger of the two 318s.
The 318 carried on through out the ’60s with the horsepower hovering between 230 and 260. Of note during that time was where the 318 was used. I was surprised to find, such as, in 1968 the Dodge 440 Coupe used the 318 (not the 440, which even non-MOPAR peeps know about that one).
The most cars sold by Dodge was the Dart throughout the 1960’s. There were actually 3 sub-models of the Dart, the Sencea which had 3 different trim levels, the Pioneer which had 5 different trim levels and the Phoenix which was the most upscale sub-model with 4 trim levels. The engine options were either the 225 slant six or the 318.
Here are a few pics:
1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix
1960 Dodge Dart Pioneer
1960 Dodge Dart Seneca (I love the fins!!!)
At the beginning of this series I mentioned that I had 1970 Dodge Dart and that it did have the 318 with a manual transmission. There was only one version of the 318 for 1970 and it was has 230 hp and 9.0:1 compression with a bore and stroke of 3.91X3.31 in. That made for a pretty quick car, as light as it was.
Well, I bet you can guess what comes next. Yes a sharp decrease horsepower. By 1972 the 318 was reduced to 150 hp and by 1975 the drop was to 145. 1976 was the last we saw of the 318 used by Dodge. The 1976 Dodge Dart was the last year for the Dart, but it went out in a big way being offered with a Police Package Code A38. One of the options in this package was the 318 and it regained some of its muscle to the tune of 220 hp.
This concludes the series on the MOPAR 318. If you’d like to offer up an engine to see more information on drop me a comment here or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
So I left off with perhaps one of the worse fears, breaking it yourself.
Having it broken by someone else is only slightly better, YOU didn’t do it, so you can be mad at someone and chances are the signification other will lighten up, especially when they find you sobbing uncontrollably, laying on the hood your classic.
I have had that experience with my Mustang. Since kids might run across this blog I won’t use the language I might normally, when relaying this next incident.
I had just gotten the engine conversion done and I was happy. Some work on my part and fair amount of money got me to where the car had the power it needed. I’ll talk more about the modification and conversion later on. I think I had the car back for a couple months and one day…a rainy day….errk………..I live in southern Arizona ….what manner of horrible luck can you have to deserve such crappy timing? I was only a mile from home and I stopped at a red light. 10 cars in front me and as I waiting with them, I glanced in my rear view mirror. There I see a small white pick-up in the distance coming my way. As I watched, I realized that he was coming pretty fast. A nano second later I was 100% sure he wasn’t going to stop. I shoved the clutch in, dropped her in to first, cranked the steering wheel to the right, hit the gas and popped the clutch. Well, the additional power I longed for, now realized…spun the rear wheels, in what normally would have been an enjoyable manner, but right that minute I was wishing for the straight 6 again…(well..maybe not exactly). I was just able to nose the Mustang’s front end way from the car in front of me when I looked up and saw…(this was all happening in extremely slow motion – right now just playing it in my head..it seems like ten minutes at least) this white pickup starting to stop and then I felt the slam from behind. The force pushed the Mustang past the car in front of me by 3/4 of a car length. If I had not gotten the few precious inches just before the tires began spinning, I would have destroyed my 3 month old bored out 302 and all the hard work that went into the engine bay, electrical, and new AC would have been for naught.
Ok I’m going to stop here for the now. More tomorrow.
One more day until Corvette Auto X day. Taking my son with me, he’ll be grabbing some vids and pics that I’ll share.
Thanks for reading and thanks for being able to read!!!!
Tim
So restoring or modifying a car will have hurdles, no way around it; face ’em and deal with ’em. I think one could list them for days and still not cover them all. But let me cover the psychological ones that I’ve encountered. (Besides the dual persona necessary to own and own up to owning a Ford and a Chevy….oh, don’t worry, you read the multiples talk to one other…right?…whatever you say….Yes, they won’t have to read that again…we promise.)
Again, I’m sure there are many, but one by one, I’ll list mine and discuss. It’ll be good for us…I mean..me!!!
Most of these stem from always longing for that special car and then finally getting one. Now, if you pick up a “project” car, then chances are you aren’t going to get where I am until at least you have it running, driven it around a while, and developed that special bond. You know the bond I’m talking about, where you’ll do anything to spend time with it. Like, take the long way to work even though you might be a couple of minutes late or the “Sure honey, I don’t mind running to the store for you for the 14th time today. ” I don’t mind missing a little of the game.” That bond.
I bought both of my cars in very good to excellent condition. The Mustang was my almost daily driver, even when it was just a 6 banger, and the Vette replaced my Celica as the daily driver..by design. So, I developed the bond pretty quickly.
This bond drives “fear”, yes, I said it…”FEAR”. Fear that something might happen to the car, a crazy fellow driver, a knucklehead in a parking lot, the old guy that leaves his shopping cart in the parking spot next to you on a windy day. All truly horrible, truly.
But there is one thing worse: breaking the beloved thing yourself. It’s like accidentally stepping on your pet’s paw or knocking your child down while playing basketball. It can actually make you feel ill…right? Are you all following me? CAN YOU DIG IT? (from the movie Warriors).
Remember, I’m the Average Guy. I have a basic skill set; you won’t find me (Yet) pulling the tearing down an entire working engine. At least not alone and even then with much trepidation. I can’t image being deprived of driving my dream due to circumstances within my control; that’s just NUTS!!!!!
If you are on a limited budget, this multiplies the fear 120 fold…AT LEAST. You break it….you have to wait to get it fixed. Then your significant other is going to AT LEAST mention how much it might cost (over and over and over). “The commentary in this blog relates to a fictitious individual; any similarities or assumed similarities that might point to an actual person are merely coincidental and not intended to be projected onto my very understanding spouse.” (Love you..Honey!!!) (pst..how was that…pretty good, huh?..Yeah, that should cover my butt…JUST fine. Of course we have a very nice couch!!!)
OK..enough therapy for today ..more tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Two days into 2010 and everything seems to be going fine, so far. :^)
I promised some details on my 1984 Corvette, so here ya go.
1984 was the first year for the new, much-awaited body style. There were no 1983 Corvettes, depending on what you read, there were a few made but not in production and were sold. Each generation of the Corvette has been placed in to generation categories. These were designated as C1 (1953-1962), C2 (1963-1967), C3 (1968-1982), C4 (1984-1996), C5 (1997-2003), and C6 (2004 to ……).
The C4 took a long time to develop, starting in 1978 (we’ll do more details another time), and was very innovative. For example, it had the Z51 racing suspension (a fairly new development), all digital dash with graphs as indicators for mph and rpms, extremely low drag co-efficient, and all electronic shifting transmission. We’ll cover more later on.
My C4 is red and came equipped with 205 hp 350 Crossfire Engine (more on this engine later on), Z51 suspension, electric driver’s seat, traga top. Here is a picture:
The story of how I obtained the Vette is a good one. So go get a beverage and sit back and read. This is one of those stories that I’ve always read about and said “What luck that guy had…nothing like that would happen to me.”
THE STORY
Actually, it’s a pretty cool story on how I came to own the Vette.
Purchased my 1970 Mustang a while ago (picture attached) and I wanted a fox body Mustang to go with it.
I had a cherry 1995 Toyota Celica with Bella Niche rims and I put it up on Craigs List offering to trade it for a fox body.
I got a call from a lady living here in Tucson that wanted the Celica for her daughter. I told her I wasn’t interested in selling it and she said didn’t want to purchase it but to trade a 1984 Vette for it. (I thought “No one trades a Corvette for a Toyota.”)
In the course of 3 months, it was an on again off again deal. She wanted to give her daughter a car for Christmas, but her daughter wanted the Vette. But props to Mom, she wasn’t going to give a 16 year old that kind of car. In our conversations it was revealed that the daughter tossed a fit and said she didn’t want the Celica. Christmas came and went and in January the lady calls me again.
Finally, we set a time to meet, but still I was thinking either the Vette was trashed or something was up. I was also concerned that the perception might be that I took advantage of her, to me who in their right minds would trade an American icon car for an import? To my surprise we agreed to meet at her husband’s Auto A/C shop. So I started feeling a little bit better, at least her husband must know something about cars. So I showed up and things improved, the husband actually had a restored Ford Galaxy and another in the works. They got better when he stated that the Vette was his wife’s car and she wouldn’t drive it and it’s just taking up space. She bought it but never really drove it.
I was even more pleased when I found the Vette in excellent shape (recent repaint that wasn’t great but not too bad, I grew up in an auto body shop, so I know good paint). It was all original, only 32k miles with the Crossfire engine (I didn’t know much about the Crossfire..but I sure do now as I’ve recently rebuild the injector towers). Anyway, both cars went up on the lift and we looked them over and test drove each others. Vette had very good power, shifted a little hard, but not too bad. We agreed to sleep on it and within a week I was the 3rd owner of the C4. Title swap only.
Yeah, I know, this was one of those deals you only read about in a car magazine.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
