I've been fiddling a bit with the Vette. I have a few projects to do now that I've become a lot more familiar with the car in the last two and a half months.
Although the car sounds cool, the cheap aftermarket mufflers are completely rusted inside. The baffles are all loose with lots of holes. On the outside they look new. They are the source of most of the rattles.
The lumbar supports on the sport seats don't work. I can't hear the pumps run so inspecting electrics first on those.
Rear speaker amps are toast. Expensive so it's not high on the list.
Steve’s 1990 C4
Tranny service due. No biggie and not expensive.
PRNDL lights are out. Not bad considering it's 22 years old and all other lights work. I was amazed at the sheer number of lights inside. Courtesy lights and mood lighting. The interior alone must have 15 individual lights.
Drivers side headlight motor needs to be repaired. It works most of the time. LOL.
It's a pretty short list considering the age.
It pretty much sits in the garage. We are in the 100's (110 today) this week so it's morning and evening use. The ac does not work but it still has the factory seals on the service ports so I'm hoping for good news there. We do have R12 available here. I unbolted the roof when I got it and it hasn't been back on since. I always wanted a convertible and the coupe is a good compromise.
The most annoying thing about the car is the static electricity. It doesn't shock me or anything but dust sticks to it like glue and the California duster only moves it from place to place. I never thought about a "plastic" body in that way. The duster works just fine on my steel cars.
Chuck has customs, trucks and of course, muscle cars in his collection.
Automotive enthusiasts love to measure their beloved four-wheeled machines’ capabilities by using the term “horsepower.” Chuck Barnes owns a stable-full of true classic muscle — real horsepower — in his modern horse barn.
A few years back, this Barrington resident built a free-standing barn to house not only his family’s show horses, but also his personal vehicles, each packing enough stallions under the hood to intimidate even the brawniest of V-8s.
While Barnes sees beauty in his collection, the “huge eyesore” of a horse barn initially caused some friction between he and his wife.
“She used to be able to have a wonderful view from our kitchen of the animals grazing in the pasture,” Barnes said.
Despite the earlier conflict, Dawn Barnes has grown accustomed to the structure and even enjoys it now. “It’s true he blocked my view, but I’m over it. It’s such a wonderful place to have parties in,” Dawn said. “In addition to hosting a wedding in the barn, I’ve even had my own ‘women’s parties’ where I just invited my female friends to hang out.”
To be fair, Chuck did try to avoid obscuring the tranquil vista; he first added to the home garage, expanding it from two cars to accommodate four.
“It just wasn’t quite enough,” Chuck said. That’s when he began construction on the satellite structure, drawing on personal experience for inspiration. “In the ’50s, my dad owned a speed shop called Belmont Automotive in Palatine. As a kid I used to go hang out there all the time and would see some really neat cars.”
That passion manifested itself in the cool space Chuck spends most of his time in now. “All the memorabilia is stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. Even with millions of dollars, you can’t recreate this. Nothing here is bought out of a catalog. They’re real pieces — even the moose head!”
In addition to car parts, hand-painted signs and neon lights, the custom centerpiece is a wood-paneled bar that a cabinetmaker friend assembled. “We told him we wanted something as cool as the cars, so he made the countertop one large glass shadow box, illuminated by LED lighting.” The couple constantly changes the display, ensuring guests will see something new.
The entire building has air conditioning to keep things comfortable during the summer months and a special warming element for the bone-chilling Midwest winters: radiant in-floor heat. ”You can walk in here in February with bare feet and be nice and toasty,’ Chuck said. “In addition to efficiency, it also keeps moisture down and doesn’t kick up dust or dirt.”
Naturally, visitors don’t come just to see the fascinating décor, but also the rolling iron parked inside. One such creation is a 430-horsepower 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, packing a full emission-compliant LS E-Rod crate motor.
“It has full catalytic converters and passes the very strict California emissions test that will be mandated for all cars in 2014,” he said.
Other interesting pieces are a 1960 Buick Electra 225; a mint, 11,000-mile one-owner 1978 Ford F250 High Boy; and a project 1957 Chevrolet Nomad that came from Australia.
“I’m going to add an air-ride suspension and a fuel-injected big block. It’ll be a high-end car that can be driven anywhere.”
Another ongoing build is a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, being built as a tribute to Chuck’s father. “It’ll be a period-correct superstock race car that will be raced in nostalgic events,” he said.
While this equine palace is packed, Chuck is already planning for future expansions to his stable of steeds. So the next time you hear a classic collector talking about his impressive horsepower numbers, ask him if he’s got it both under his hood, and under his roof.
Automotive enthusiasts love to measure their beloved four-wheeled machines’ capabilities by using the term “horsepower.” Chuck Barnes owns a stable-full of true classic muscle — real horsepower — in his modern horse barn.
A few years back, this Barrington resident built a free-standing barn to house not only his family’s show horses, but also his personal vehicles, each packing enough stallions under the hood to intimidate even the brawniest of V-8s.
While Barnes sees beauty in his collection, the “huge eyesore” of a horse barn initially caused some friction between he and his wife.
“She used to be able to have a wonderful view from our kitchen of the animals grazing in the pasture,” Barnes said.
Despite the earlier conflict, Dawn Barnes has grown accustomed to the structure and even enjoys it now. “It’s true he blocked my view, but I’m over it. It’s such a wonderful place to have parties in,” Dawn said. “In addition to hosting a wedding in the barn, I’ve even had my own ‘women’s parties’ where I just invited my female friends to hang out.”
To be fair, Chuck did try to avoid obscuring the tranquil vista; he first added to the home garage, expanding it from two cars to accommodate four.
“It just wasn’t quite enough,” Chuck said. That’s when he began construction on the satellite structure, drawing on personal experience for inspiration. “In the ’50s, my dad owned a speed shop called Belmont Automotive in Palatine. As a kid I used to go hang out there all the time and would see some really neat cars.”
That passion manifested itself in the cool space Chuck spends most of his time in now. “All the memorabilia is stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. Even with millions of dollars, you can’t recreate this. Nothing here is bought out of a catalog. They’re real pieces — even the moose head!”
In addition to car parts, hand-painted signs and neon lights, the custom centerpiece is a wood-paneled bar that a cabinetmaker friend assembled. “We told him we wanted something as cool as the cars, so he made the countertop one large glass shadow box, illuminated by LED lighting.” The couple constantly changes the display, ensuring guests will see something new.
The entire building has air conditioning to keep things comfortable during the summer months and a special warming element for the bone-chilling Midwest winters: radiant in-floor heat. ”You can walk in here in February with bare feet and be nice and toasty,’ Chuck said. “In addition to efficiency, it also keeps moisture down and doesn’t kick up dust or dirt.”
Naturally, visitors don’t come just to see the fascinating décor, but also the rolling iron parked inside. One such creation is a 430-horsepower 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, packing a full emission-compliant LS E-Rod crate motor.
“It has full catalytic converters and passes the very strict California emissions test that will be mandated for all cars in 2014,” he said.
Other interesting pieces are a 1960 Buick Electra 225; a mint, 11,000-mile one-owner 1978 Ford F250 High Boy; and a project 1957 Chevrolet Nomad that came from Australia.
“I’m going to add an air-ride suspension and a fuel-injected big block. It’ll be a high-end car that can be driven anywhere.”
Another ongoing build is a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, being built as a tribute to Chuck’s father. “It’ll be a period-correct superstock race car that will be raced in nostalgic events,” he said.
While this equine palace is packed, Chuck is already planning for future expansions to his stable of steeds. So the next time you hear a classic collector talking about his impressive horsepower numbers, ask him if he’s got it both under his hood, and under his roof.
Now 1946 generally wasn’t that exciting as far as new car models. The war just ended and the many of the car manufacturers were recovering from the wartime conversion, they had a lot of Uncle Sam’s money, but no much time to make “new” tooling for creating new sheet metal. So many of the cars were just spruced up. Chrysler was not different.
Their main offerings was the Royal series, Windsor series, the Saratoga series and the New Yorker series. The Royal cam in 3, 6 and 8 passenger and a Limo!!! The Windsor came in 3, 6, 8 passengers and the Town and Country tossed in there was a 2 door convertible. The Saratoga came in 3 and 6 passenger and the New Yorker came in 3 and 6 passenger and the Town and Country 4 door and 2 door convertible.
1946 Convertible
46 Royal
There engines were basically 6 cylinder and 8.
The Royal and Windsor engines was an L6. It had a cast iron block with a bore and stroke of 3.438 x 4.5. It displaced 250.6 cubic inches and had a compression of 6.6:1 (not huge when the shipping weight was 3,000 plus). It was able to produce 114 hp and sported four main bearings, solid lifters. It was topped with either the Fluid Drive (B-B VE1 – Ev2) or Vacumatic (E7L4) carb.
The Saratoga and New Yorker had an L8. This engine too, had the cast iron block, but displaced 323.5 cubic inches and sported a bore of 3.25 and a stroke of 4.875 inches producing 6.7:1 compression. With the 5 main bearings, solid lifters and topped with B-B E7A1 carb could produce 135 hp.
In some cases, a slew of random images just don’t do a build any justice. Case in point, this well-done footage of Yannick Sire’s dual-engined, open-wheeled speed machine. As a gearhead, you’re probably well aware that the birth of hot rodding was nurtured from the sunny west coast of Southern California. It’s there you’ll find custom rod builders like George Barris and the infamous S0-Cal Speed Shop.
Following along in their footsteps, Yannick Sire is not only taking inspiration from those before him but indeed, pushing it beyond most peoples comfort levels. We couldn’t help but post such an amazing build. Although this might not run bottom 11s at the track or clip an amazing lap time during an autocross course, its pretty awesome.
If this doesn’t inspire you, we aren’t quite sure what will. For the most part, we’ll let the video do most of the talking on this one. West Los Angeles rod builder, Yannick Sire has reinvigorated the West Coast’s tradition of radical street rodding with his full-custom hot rod, a hybrid creation of many different parts from different cars.
Sire, is truly an inspirational genius. Sire even hand-crafted each of the 16 individual header tubes himself.
The real trademark, however, of Sire’s custom rod are the two, 450-horse Chevy small-blocks, both outfitted with a heavy-breathing set of Air Flow Research (AFR) cylinder heads. Not only does this combination sound amazing, its equaling out to fire-breathing 16 cylinders.
Sire’s wheel choice consists of a 20 x 9.5-/20 x 10.5-inch front/rear combination from an ’02-’03, BMW X5. The Continental tires are P275/35R20 and P315/35R20, respectively. The front suspension uses custom, unequal length A-arms with second-gen Camaro, two-inch drop spindles.
Since slowing down is just as, if not more important, Sire upgraded the braking system to 14-inch Corvette Z06 on all four corners. Stering is handled by a Subaru STI rack-and-pinion. At the front of Sire’s V16 rod are a set of QA1 coilovers with a rate of 650 lb/in, and the completed vehicle weighs in at an estimated 2500 pounds.
For the last several years in the performance craft, we’ve had made the general statement that there are two ways to make any car or truck go fast: make it lighter or else more powerful. In the case of Yannick Sire and his 16-cylinder hot rod, both principles have been exercised to the absolute extreme!
I love reading about cars. While reading a book entitled “CAR WARS” by Mantle, I ran across some interesting cars. So I thought I’d toss down some notes on them see what you think.
The first one was called the Tatra T87 and it was actually a Czech car, built in the city of Koprivnica. During WWII it was occupied by the Germans. Stories have it that the V8 was too much for the German officers could handle and “so many were killed the German high command” ordered the factory to stop producing the cars.
After the war of course the Russians, by agreement with the Allies, got control of the Czech country and had the Tatra T87 produced. The Tatra painted in Russian colors were used to smuggle out scientist from behind the Iron Curtain. Part of the agreement with the Allies was that each party was allowed to drive from Austria to Czechoslovakia freely. The West German intelligence would transport the “specially painted” T87’s in an enclosed van and then unload them, grab the scientists and drive back to Austria in Tatras painted with Russian colors unchecked.
So what the heck did this cars look like? What were the spec? Take a look!!
The finned T87
Image is from the Lane Motor Museum
It was powered by technically advanced 2.9 liter air-cooled overhead cam V8 produced 85 hp, and had a top speed of over 100 mph. (Image from the Lane Motor Museum)
Listen if it’s a Corvette and you want to make it go faster…I’m fine with that. Who cares, why you want to make it go faster?
From http://www.corvetteonline.com
What would possess someone to create a Corvette with over 2,200 horsepower? Does it really matter? With an amazing feat like that, we didn’t think so. Take a look at the unbelievable Top Speed C5 Z06 that has over three times the amount of horsepower as a modern ZR1 at the April Ohio Mile event in the Wyldfantasies Media Studios video above.
Built by Hinson Motorsports, “Record Hunter” is among the most powerful Corvettes we’ve ever seen and there’s reason for that. Bringing the car to its astounding 2,246 HP rating at 7,800 RPM is a massive build the crew completed back in March.
Under the car’s hood you’ll find a 427 cubic inch RHS Aluminum Tall Deck Block assembled and machined by Butler Performance. Stuffed inside this block are aluminum connecting rods, Diamond pistons and a Callies Ultra Center Counter Weight Billet Camshaft, as well as a custom high capacity oil pan from Doug Lee Engineuity.
Making up the engine’s top end are TEA-ported Trick Flow 245cc heads, Crower roller rocker arms, COMP Cam pushrods, a custom COMP solid roller camshaft and a GM EFI carb-style intake manifold. But these components alone aren’t what gives Record Hunter its massive amount of horsepower.
That extra boost comes from an intricate custom turbocharger system featuring a 118mm turbo, custom air to water intercooler, Tial wastegate and blow off valves, and a 5-inch downpipe all working to the tune of 34 PSI manifold pressure.
Of course, a build like this makes for extra fuel needs, which the team has dialed in using a Holley Dominator EFI system and Bosch 160 pound-per-hour injectors, as well as a regulator and fuel pumps from Fuelab.
The whole build is backed by a RPM-built TR6060 transmission with a SPEC twin disc clutch and an RPM ZR1 differential with Quaife LSD.
Surprisingly, the Corvette looks relatively like the C5 production car it started out as, minus the modified hood, roll cage and custom adjustable rear wing, of course. But obviously, looks can be deceiving. And 18-inch wheels from True Forged Wheels wrapped in Hoosier R6 rubber make sure that as much of Record Hunter’s power as possible is delivered successfully to the ground to turn heads like no other C5 can do.
After completing the build in March, the Hinson Motorsports crew took Record Hunter to the Ohio Mile, an East Coast Timing Association event in Wilmington, Ohio on April 29th to see what it could do. As the first standing mile event the Corvette raced at since its build, the April Ohio Mile proved to be a great tuning opportunity for the crew since the mile race was speed-limited to 150 MPH.
It may not look too far off from stock, but Record Hunter packs nearly 2,000 more horsepower than a stock C5 Z06.
As the car’s name suggests, future goals for Record Hunter are to set new standing mile records. With a car potentially capable of topping out at over 250 MPH, we’re sure Hinson Motorsports will be making history with the car this season. Be sure to watch out for Record Hunter at any of the standing mile events this year. To check out some in-car footage of the first standing mile pass the Corvette did since its build, watch the video below.
Now here’s a brand you don’t see much in print. Nash produced some very distinctive cars and as many of you know the company eventually morphed into AMC that brought us some great models like the Javelin and some interesting cars like the Gremblin.
For 1957 Nash produced the Ambassador in a couple of variations, Custom 4 door and the Super Country Club 2 door coupe (all Series 80s).
1957 Ambassador Custom
The other offering was the Rambler, which came in a couple of versions as well, the Custom 4 door (Series 20) and the Rebel (that name rings a bell…yes? AMC Rebel?) 4 door (Series 30) and they added a station wagon as well, the Super Cross Country (Series 10 w/6 cylinder).
’57 Nash Rambler
Yup..the Super Cross Country Rambler Wagon
These were all powered by one of the following engines.
Ambassador V8 which was an overhead valve configuration with cast iron block. 327 CID with bore of 4 x 3.25 and compression of 9.0:1. Making 255 hp with hydraulic lifters and a Carter 4bbl WCFB-2593SA carb. Hey it had dual exhaust!!
Ramber V8 which was 250 CID, overhead valve, cast iron block power plant. The 3.5X 3.25 bore and stroke with a 8.0:1 compression ratio help produce 190 hp. It had no-adjustable hydraulic lifters and a Carter 2bbl model WGD-2352SA carb.
Ramber Rebel V8 which displaces 326 cubic inches rated at 255 hp and identical to the Ambassador V8 but with Solid lifters.
Lastly here was the Rambler Six. It was an inline (straight) 6 cylinder, iron block engine with a bore and stroke of 3 1/8 x 4.25 inches. This helped create a compression ratio of 8.25:1 and 125 hp. It was fitted with a one barrel Carter carb, model AS-2580S. There was an option that could be order that s was called the Power Pack which was really just a 2bbl carb that added 10 more horse power (135). That extra boost would help when hauling around 3034 lbs wagon.
So we talked about the 1974 the year of big changes and small engines for the Mustang, now designated as Mustang II. The entire idea was to return to the original roots of the Mustang, small every day car. A far cry from the 300 plus horsepower for the 1969-1973 Mach 1’s. Of course it was a good idea, even though most of us don’t think so then or even now, but take a look at the numbers.The 1974 Mustang II sold over 380,000 units, and not a single V8 in the lot and that was 3 time as many Mustang as were sold in 1973. Additionally, it was Motor Trends car of the year. Now just between you and me, the Motor Trend thing doesn’t do much for me (nor does the J.D. Powers award or any of the others) but it does work for some and judging by the numbers that sold at least 380,000 others.
In 1975 things changes a bit for the Mustang. The infamous 302 returned, making a V8 an option. But how as the possible? What occurred that would bring back the a V8? As mentioned above there were Mustang sold with V8 engines…”In the US“!!!! But our friends south of the border (for those of you geographically challenged, that would be Mexico) were in fact selling Mustangs with V8. Not many knew this was going on but once Hot Rod magazine got wind of it and put it in the front of its June ’74 issue, Ford decided that it need to “pony up” (come on now..that’s clever!!!!) and add the V8 for the 1975 edition of the Mustang II.
Your 1975 Mustang Line Up
The V8 was only available with an automatic transmission and was an option for the Ghia and the Mach I (even though the standard Mach 1 engine was the V6) as well as the other models and topped with a 2 barrel carb, it produced a whopping 122 hp or 140 hp depending on you proved the numbers.
So things were looking in 1975 although the number didn’t get even close to the 1974 model.
1975 Mustang Production Data:
69F Hatchback: 30,038
69R Hatchback – Mach 1: 21,062
60F Coupe: 85,155
60H Coupe – Ghia: 51,320
Total Production: 188,575
The total range of engine looked like this:
1975 Mustang Engines
2.3 L – 140 cid, I-4, 2bbl, 88 hp
2.8 L – 171 cid, V6, 2bbl, 105 hp
5.0 L – 302 cid, V8, 2bbl, 140 hp
Code
Y
Z
F
There were two transmission available a 4 speed manual and 3 speed automatic – but the 4 speed was not available for the 302. That might seem odd but it may have to do with a fitment issue.
At the age 89, it seems Susan Manherz’s friend Bud has managed to outlive all of his siblings and immediate family members. During his advanced years, Bud didn’t see many members of his clan, but there were a few of them around. As late as the 1970s, he had at least two other close relatives still kicking.
These days, though, Bud is a true octogenarian orphan, at least until a long-lost kin comes out of the woodwork. Bud is only a car — a 1923 American — but the way the Manherz family talks about its colorful personality, you’re not so sure.
“If you look at him, it looks like the car has lips!” Manherz joked. “He just has personality. You know, sometimes when you’re looking for a car and you see one, it’s like, ‘That’s the one.’
“I know it sounds crazy to some people… He’s a little cantankerous at times. And he can be difficult. That’s why he’s Bud. He’s just a car with a lot of personality.”
The 1923 American touring became an official member of the Manherz family back in 1990 when Susan and her husband, Mike, stumbled across the car at a now-defunct collector car dealership in Gaithersberg, Md. The couple hadn’t been looking for any car in particular, but the idea of a 1920s car sounded appealing and “my husband has an uncanny knack for sniffing out old cars,” according to Susan.
“I think the man had traded in three cars for a new Jaguar, and the American was one of them. We looked in the door and just saw the top of this touring car that stuck up above everything … of course they were closed that day, but the next day we went out there and we just kind of nabbed it then. We took him for a test drive and he needed some tinkering and stuff, but we knew right then that we wanted him.”
At the time, the couple had no idea how rare the car was or that they might never see another American. When they began doing some homework on their own car, and the American brand, they soon discovered that Bud was pretty much one of a kind. “In the 1960s there were three Americans known to exist, and all the owners knew each other,” Manherz said. “One was an earlier car that wouldn’t look anything like ours. It had a painted radiator shell and it was smaller. We haven’t been able to track it down. The man who had it died in the early ’70s and nobody knows what happened to the car. The [third] car was the same year as ours, but it was pretty much a parts car. It wasn’t complete. The guy who had it sold it, I know, and we’ve never found out what happened to it.”
Much to their delight, the Manherzes have been able to find out plenty about their own American, however. They are the fourth owners and they have been able to retrace much of Bud’s tire tracks prior to 1990.
“It was purchased new by Frank Ritter on June 9, 1923, from Adams Motor Company of Rochester, N.Y. We still have all the original manuals and correspondence that came with the car when new,” Manherz noted. “Each owner of the car knew the previous owner. I know the original story of how the second owner got the car, and his son is still living and I talk to him on the phone… He bought it in 1955 and it had been up on blocks since 1930. The car was always in New York until we bought it, so he’s lived his whole live where it’s cold.”
There have been many car-building companies with the patriotic “American” moniker in their titles. One of the more successful early ones was the American Motor Co. of Plainfield, N.J. The company built cars from 1916 to 1924 and was also called American Six and American Balanced Six. Louis Chevrolet was vice president and chief engineer of the company during its early days, and in 1918 the Americans carried an “O.K. Chevrolet” signature badge to show that they had passed muster with the boss.
The company merged with the Bessemer Truck Corp. in 1923 and became the Passenger Car Division of Bessemer-American. That arrangement didn’t last, however, and the company quit building automobiles in the spring of 1924.
American was known mainly as a builder of solid, medium-priced cars with six-cylinder engines. The first offering in 1917 was a simple five-passenger tourer, but by 1923, five models were on the menu, including the big five-passenger tourer priced at $1,850.
American began calling its machines the “Smile Cars” in 1920, claiming that the cars provided millions of miles of happy motoring in the three previous years. Or maybe it was because the funky split front bumper resembled a mouth with a set of prominent lips. 1920 was also when the company introduced its 249-inch Hersehell-Spillman six-cylinder engine that provided 60 hp — a very respectable output for a middle-tier machine at the time. That figure grew to 66 hp when a 289-cid version of the Hershell-Spillman six was introduced two years later.
The wheelbases also grew to 127 inches and by 1923 you could get artillery wheels painted to match the body, or wire or disc wheels. According to Manherz, the cars were offered with a 25,000-mile “Around the World” warranty.
“Our car is an American model D-66 with the 66-hp, six-cylinder, 289-cubic inch motor. It has a 3 ½-inch bore x 5-inch stroke, and there is a Kellogg tire pump mounted on the transmission,” Manherz said. “We still have all the original manuals and correspondence that came with the car [when new].”
The second owner gave the American some needed repairs and TLC back in the 1950s and took the car on the 1955 and 1963 Glidden Tours, according to Manherz. The third owner purchased the car in 1965.
The Manherzes have never given the American a complete restoration, but they have worked hard to keep the car looking nice and running well — which hasn’t always been easy. Most of the leather in the window-less tourer is original. New carpets and a new soft top were installed in 2009. Following the 2009 AACA Fall Meet in Hershey, Pa., where the American got its Senior Award (it had earned a Junior Award earlier at Gettysburg), the couple had the valve seats and springs redone.
Susan, who gets most of the seat time in Bud, noticed the difference immediately after the valve work. “I always drive it. He’s my boy,” she laughed. “After we did the valve job, he’s full of power! It’s actually kind of scary. He’s running on all six and he’ll snap your neck back … When you think about it, it was a pretty powerful car for that time. The only drawback is the two-wheel brakes. You’ve gotta remember with all that power, you gotta stop! But it’s a fun car.
“It drives pretty nice, yeah. It kind of drives like a limo, or a crew cab truck. It has a big turning radius, but it truly is enjoyable to drive. What’s neat is that big fat steering wheel. You can really grip it. It’s fun.”
The Maryland winters are certainly milder than Januarys in Rochester, so these days the American is pretty much a year-round machine. Its owners are not shy about taking it out on any day of the year when rain isn’t in the forecast. That sometimes means bundling up with an extra hat or sweatshirt, but Susan insists that the car is comfortable even on chilly days. “Hey, with those side curtains you don’t get cold!” she joked. “Actually, on the carburetor it has a thing that you can turn so you’re not sucking in outside air. You’re just running off warm air from the manifold and he stays pretty happy that way.
“He likes it better when he gets out every two weeks or so. He’s never really put away for the winter. I have an oil pan heater in the winter to keep the oil heated up. Otherwise we put cardboard up by the radiator and we go out … It seems like if the atmosphere is humid or anything you’ve got to fiddle with the carburetor and if you don’t have it just right, he’s going to be finicky changing gears, or wanting more gas. You can usually tell before you leave the driveway how he’s going to be!”
The couple also has a 1937 Packard touring sedan and 1953 Packard convertible, “and those cars get driven,” Susan said.
The American makes regular appearances at cars shows in its area and participated in the 2007 AACA Vintage tour for cars born before 1928. Mostly, though, he is a Sunday driver, rolling easily around the local neighborhood with that familiar shiny mouth in front and smiling passengers inside — even if it’s a little cool outside.
Not many people who see the car probably realize it is the ultimate orphan, the last survivor of an obscure breed. He’d probably look great in a museum somewhere, or lined up alongside other ultra-rare survivors of various ilks. As far as the Manherzes are concerned, though, he’s a permanent member of their family, and he’s not going anywhere.“Oh, we’ve had lots of people [try to buy it],” Susan said. “No, he’s not for sale. You figure, I could never get another one. If he was gone, he’d be gone for good.
“And his personality grows on you. He’s part person.”
