By the late ’60s, VW was in a legitimate full-on panic about replacing the Beetle: somehow, they never really managed to figure this out. The Beetle was just selling too well for too long to worry until it was almost too late. Eventually, the Golf saved the day, but there was a brief moment where it looked like VW’s salvation would be much weirder.After VW bought NSU and Audi in the late ’60s, the much more conventional water-cooled, transverse front-engined Golf/Rabbit was derived from NSU/Audi designs and saved VW’s bacon, as well as set the company’s fundamental technical DNA to this day. But this was a sort of last-minute desperation plan. The goal of replacing the Beetle as VW’s core product went back much further, and almost culminated in a surprisingly sophisticated and unusual car, the EA266 prototype.
I don’t know about every car gal and guy, but I don’t enjoy shopping as a rule, clothes, gifts and food shopping is a chore!! To be honest shopping for new or used cars is not a great time for me. At times, even car parts shopping can be annoying. I’m much happier when I get what I need and get back to wrenchin’.
But today was different. Today’s shopping experience was…well…the perfect setting for my kind of shopping.
There is nothing like a 50 degree day here in Southern Arizona and a junkyard where the newest cars there is 1970. The weather was perfect for climbing over cars, that would normally be like walking on a 150 degree griddle in the summer time, wading through a sea of 1930, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s hub cabs and trailblazing through the tall weeds in search of my next project car.
Yes the 1970 Mustang is gone – living a life of leisure in a collection in the mid west and the 1984 C4 is in the hands of a Corvette lover – south of the border. And after clearing the purchase of a new project car with the she who has to put up with the mess and I am on the hunt.
Today I met up with my brother-in-law and my nephew and we did execute a perfect car guy’s shopping excursion.
This was a good sign!!!!
The salvage yard has been in place for 60 years or more, I’ve known the owner for nearly 30 years and recently the place was damaged by some huge flooding issues. The owner isn’t in great health is clearing out some of the desirable cars.
The car gods were shining some light for this shopping trip.
He was mainly a Ford car, restoring and collecting Model T’s (including a Model T doing duty as a tow truck) so there are a lot of Fords – Comets, Fairlanes, Falcons, Ford Customs, Thunderbirds and on and on. There are a few MOPARs there as well, including a 1971 Charger and a Satellite with a 400 under the hood. There’s a few Chevys as well and Covairs, Impalas and 50’s Caddies and some very cool military Kaiser Jeeps.
We covered a lot of ground and I’m look for a complete car – mostly. Here in Arizona the heat is not kind to the interiors, so they is little doubt that an interior will be a necessity. I need to it to have the basics – good frame – engine, front and rear ends in-tack and depending on the car good glass.
So what caught my eye (beside everything I mentioned above)?
1961 Comet – Nice little 2 door car with 6 cylinder under the good (oh yes there’s room in there for something bigger for sure!!!).
Nice straight body – got to love those tail lights!!!
Interior is mostly there!
There was also this Mercury Cougar, clearly used for a race car based on the stickers on the side and the tires.
Cougar!!!!
I also found a car I’ve been interested in getting my hands on for a few years and that’s a 1970 Thunderbird.
Here are a few more shots from the yard.
While I’m waiting for the owner to give an idea what he wants for the cars I’m interested in, the hunt continues!!! This was a great day!!!!
Racing game enthusiasts may have been dismayed when Bandai Namco delayed Project Cars from its holiday release. To ease fans’ wait, the publisher has released a set of screens showing off the racer’s new tracks. Project Cars‘ new tracks are the Mazda …
We’ve all seen optimistic “project cars” listed for sale online–worthless run-down husks whose owners still believe there’s value hidden somewhere between the rust and the missing parts. That’s why you need to read this eBay listing for a BMW Isetta …
Dec 15, 1861 Charles Duryea was born in Canton, Ohio. He grew up to be an engineer and with his brother Frank, they began production bicycles. By 1893 they test driving the first U.S. gasoline powered vehicle. It was a used horse drawn buggy they purchased fro $70.00. It sported a single cylinder 4HP engine with friction transmission, spray carburetor and low tension ignition. The car was then stored in 1894 and found and given to a museum.
Charles and Frank – left to right in there first car.
1894 Duryea
These brother went on to create Duryea “Motor Wagon Company” and produced 13 hand-made cars out of their garage. These were the first commercially produced automobiles in the U.S. This wasn’t their only ‘first’. The Duryea car won the first American car race and was involved in the first traffic accident. Charles and Frank parted ways in 1898 and Charles died in 1938. Frank formed the Hampden Car company. To actually produce the cars brother Frank sought out the services of J. Stevens of J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company. This eventually lead to the Stevens-Duryea cars being produced.
This is the Model C Touring car. Production continued until 1927.
New York City creates the first one way street Dec 17th 1791.
Ford names Lee Iacocca as president 10/18/1970.
Dec 20, 1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented. The original patented was by Robert William Thomson who invented the first pneumatic tire but apparently never caught on, however, John Dunlap’s did.
Harvey Firestone was born in Columbia County, Ohio on Dec 20, 1868. After high school Harvey worked for the Columbus Buggy Company . In 1890 before starting his own company making rubber tires for carriages. By 1900 he began marketing tires for automobiles and then founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of tires. In 1926 he published a book, Men and Rubber:
Sears, Roebuck & Co show off the Kaiser built Allstate, Dec 20, 1951. The Allstate was built on Kaiser-Frazer platform and marketed by Sears. It was a 2 door, fastback and came in a Series 4 and Series 6 with several different trim levels.
Let’s get right to the glory and the tragic historical events of this weeks Auto Factoids. June 10, 1927 the Graham brothers purchased Paige-Detroit Motor.
Auto Factoids – 1970 Mustang – Ford Assembly Line http://timsweet.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/auto-factoids-1970-mustang-ford-assembly-line/ December 1, 2010. Today is the anniversary of the assembly line created by …
The Collectors’ Car Department at Artcurial has discovered 60 collectors’ automobiles, all major marques dating
from the early days of the motor car through to the 1970s. Found following fifty years of lying dormant, the Baillon collection
will be sold by Artcurial Motorcars in the first part of the traditional sale at Retromobile Salon, on 6 February 2015, in Paris.
The forgotten Baillon Collection will be auctioned at the annual Retromobile event in Paris next February. The lots include some of the most desirable Ferrari’s and Bugatti models and is sure to provide a talking point for the classic car market for …
It will be the star lot of Artcurial’s Baillon Collection sale in Paris on Feb. 6 with an estimate of 10 million euros, or $12.4 million. Another example of this rare car, this time in smarter “concours” condition, sold for $15.1 million at Gooding in …
… « Depuis la révélation de la collection Schlumpf de Mulhouse, jamais une telle réunion d’automobiles emblématiques n’avait été dévoilée, mais plus encore, dans un tel état d’origine ! », a confié Matthieu Lamoure, Directeur d’Artcurial Motorcars.
MOSCOU – RIA Novosti/La Voix de la Russie Une collection d’environ 100 véhicules anciens de grandes marques – des voitures sport à celles de luxe – a été découverte dans une ferme en France, a annoncé lundi le magazine Artcurial Motorcars. Diaporama …
In the pantheon of lust-worthy Mustangs, the Special Service Package cars tend to hang out at the tip-top of the mountain. Fitted for police pursuit duty, the cars came from the factory with a bushel of parts to go faster and stop shorter. The two cars pictured here are reportedly the first SSP Mustangs ever built. Ford whipped them up in December of 1981 as test cars for the California Highway Patrol and the State of Texas. Of the machines CHP tested that year, these two were the only cars to pass the department’s performance tests. California ordered 400, and the SSP program was officially under way.
Owning one of these cars or any former police car is a great part of the car collecting/restoration hobby. But keep in mind there are rules for what equipment/logos, etc. that can be on these cars while they are driven on public streets. Each U.S. state has different rules, research those.
CHiPs, I met a few of those guys driving the roads of Southern Cal.
One of the cool things about cars from the 50 and 60 was each marquee had the ability and willingness to set their sub-brands apart from each other with design and power plant options. That is evidenced by the GM’s development of the 215 small block.
Used by Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile for powering multiple makes/models each GM subdivision add its own unique at aspects. For this post we are talking about the 1962 Oldsmobile 215 aluminum V8. The Oldsmobile version of this engine, although sharing the same basic architecture, had cylinder heads and angled valve covers designed by Oldsmobile engineers to look like a traditional Olds V8 and was produced on a separate assembly line.
Among the differences between the Oldsmobile from the Buick versions, it was heavier, at 350 lb. The major design differences were in the cylinder heads: Buick used a 5-bolt pattern around each cylinder where Oldsmobile used a 6-bolt pattern. The 6th bolt was added to the intake manifold side of the head, one extra bolt for each cylinder, meant to alleviate a head-warping problem on high-compression versions. This meant that Oldsmobile heads would fit on Buick blocks, but not vice versa.
Most of the 215’s produced 215 HP, however some models came with a turbo.
As is the case with the engine below which is for sale from a fellow gear-head I work with. It was pulled from a 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire and restored back to factory specs, with the exceptions of harden valve seats etc. to accommodate unleaded gas. It is set up for 7lbs of boost from the turbo. It was then stored, here in AZ.
If you are interested drop me a note at AGCARRESTORATION@COX.NET or timsweet@cox.net or just leave a post here and I’ll find ya!!
first-turbocharged-car-1962-Oldsmobile-Jetfire-engine-detail. The V8’s 10.25:1 compression ratio resulted in detonation or pre-ignition events, innocuously called knocking or pinging. Controlling the timing of the combustion …
The concept was not unknown at the time, of course — the Oldsmobile Jetfire engine had a wastegate, as well as fluid injection. (In fact, there was a switch at the bottom of the injection tank that automatically popped open the …
Here is the line up of Auto Factoids for the first week in December!!!
Nov 30 1960 De Soto ceases production. The last De Soto produced were really the Chrysler Windsor, most did not sale, even though dealerships continued to received cars after the brand was terminated.
1961 Windsor
1961 DeSoto
Way before that on Nov 30, 1900 Germany patented an automobile front wheel drive. Although this is a common historic fact, there is some evidence that the first production car with front wheel drive was a French car. There exists a French Patent around 1898 or 1899. The manufacturer was Société Parisienne and the car was the Victoria Combination.
It was a lightweight two-seater trailer,known as a ‘Victoria’, combined with the back axle and mechanical components of a motor tricycle, but this axle was placed in front of the trailer and steered by a long tiller on which the controls were located. The first examples were powered by 1.75 or 2.5 horsepower De Dion Bouton engines geared directly to the differential, but larger engines of this make were fitted as they became available.
1900 Victoria Combination
December 1, 1925 GM purchased Vauxhall. Vauxhall started out as engine manufacturer mainly for pumps and marine use (1857 – Alex Wilson). They began making cars in 1903. Here is a video of a 1903 Vauxhall. They are still producing cars using the Opel name under GM.
One more of it on a road test.
Back 1913 (just over 100 years ago) on Dec 1, Ford fired up the first continuous assembly line.
Ford’s Production Line
And just one day and 14 years later (Dec 2, 1927) Ford began selling Models A off this assembly line.
1927 Model A
Dec 3, 1951 is Rick Mears birthday – one of only three drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 3 times.
Rick Mears in his Formula 1 car
That round out the week. Thanks for reading Auto Factoids.
Tim
If you’d like to sponsor a week of Auto Factoids contact me directly.
There is something about abandon cars that creates a visceral response in a car guy/gal’s heart. For me it started as a little kid. As some of my readers know I grew up with an Auto Body professional, my Dad. Cars were always being worked on at home and at my Dad’s various shops. It was at those shops that I studied (really I did) the auto body repair books he used for finding and ordering parts, to memorize the front and rear of every car from the 50’s and 60’s and early 70’s. I could tell you coming or going the make model and year of every car I spotted.
Even before that I recall being captivated by the 1930’s pickup that we drove around my grandfather’s farm. It was not much more than two seats on a frame with a rusted front end, lift up sides hood covering the engine, no headlights or bumper. We called it the ‘Doodle Bug’ – don’t know why. Of course that 30’s pickup was well cared for, therefore not technically abandoned, so my first abandon car was 4 door Plymouth Fury 1958, yeah the Christine car. It sat across the road from our house in a patch of tall grass, like an island in the field that my grandfather would mow with the Doodle Bug. I recall asking if we could move the car to our driveway, but by Dad said “It needs a carburetor.” Not to be deterred, I talked my younger brother into helping me to make a carburetor. Our plan was to take a tin can and pieces of metal from an old fashion ice-cube maker (for the choke plate) and get it running. I don’t know what happened to that car (except that tin can just didn’t work) wish it was around now.
So that’s when it started. Now every time I see a abandon car, I feel the urge to bring it home and make it run. Actually, it’s more than that, I instantly can picture what it use to look like new and see the potential of what it could be again.
There’s the impetus for the this series. I’ve spent the last few years spotting and photographing these special vehicles during my wife and my many road trips, even touring around Europe.
This first is from our trip to Italy. You don’t see too many abandon cars sitting round Europe, there are some. For instance just outside of Florence, Italy we stopped at a petrol station and saw this abandon van.
Van outside of Florence, Italy.
This van about to reclaimed by Mother Earth! Best guess is that it’s VW made van. The only markings is the Autotre on the front fender, which is a use car dealership/ franchise I kept want to take a look at the engine and wonder if it would start. I then took a look around back and realized it was being used for storage of CO2 tanks.
One of my readers stopped by my Facebook page for Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing and dropped me a note about his 1971 Mustang Mach 1 he is restoring.
He wrote: “Guys – been lurking here and can’t get enough. I’m restoring a 1971 Mustang Mach 1 which I just made a video of – would be great if everyone could hit “LOVE IT” on the video link: http://bet.votigo.com/fbcontests/showentry/Ford-Contest-1/137096”
Here is the video he posted. Lot of work went into this car.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
RT @Motor_Roar: #MuscleCarMonday 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 http://t.co/3DDyjrJ8LN
I could spend all day taking pictures of every car at any car show I attend, but that’s crazy (or so I’ve been told…whatever!!!). So here are some highlights.
Some Corvettes:
C3 and C4 arriving…there was only 1 C4 in the field!!!
One of the beautiful 60’s vettes – this one a 1967
One of the beautiful 60’s vettes – this one a 1967
One of the beautiful 60’s vettes – this one a 1967
Got to love those PIPES!!!!
StingRay
There were multiple row of corvettes, here’s just one.
Taken in Tucson, Arizona Oct. 19, 2013. Beautiful day in Tucson, AZ. Over 600 cars! 1383526_10202333085394786_257906437_n. Tucson Classic Car Show – Oct. 19, 2013. N2HotRods, LLC. Design By yesimarobot.com.
Tucson Classic is having their 5th Annual Car Show on Saturday October 22nd from 10:00 – 4:00 pm. Location is the St. Gregory Preparatory School @ 3231 N. Craycroft Rd.
