Tag Archives: AutoBlog

Auto Factoids for Week of April 26, 2015 – Lamborghini and Willys

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Here are your Auto Factoids  (#AutoFactoids) for the last week of April 2015!

Light week for Auto Factoids unless you are Lamborghini or Ford fan.

Ferruccio Lamborghini was born on April 28,  1916 in Renazzo di Cento, Italy.

From humble beginnings

From humble beginnings

to

the Legacy

The legacy continues

 

April 29, 1953 – Willys is purchased by Kaiser-Frasier

Willy (Willys-Overland) was purchased by Kaiser and the name was changed to Willys Motor Company and moved the plant from Michigan to Ohio.  That same year Willys established an assembly plant in Brazil and imported the cars back to the U.S.  When the U.S. curtailed the import of assembled cars, Willys shipped all the tooling for the Aero to Brazil and produce and sold the cars there and they were built from 1960 to 1962.  After a redesign in 1963 Ford bought the Willys factory and produced the Aero until the early 1970’s.

1955 Willys Aero

1955 Willys Aero

1971 Aero (Ford made)

1971 Aero (Ford made)

 

April 29, 1959 – Ford Motor Company produces it 50 millionth car!!!

That car was a 1959 Ford Galaxie that came out of the Dearborn factory.  It was a white 4 door sedan with the 292, engine.  It was actually a Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie and the first time Galaxie was used on a Ford car.  Fast forward – but not too far – and the Fairlanes, Fairlanes 500, and the Galaxies were to become monster muscle machines in the mid to late 60’s!!!

Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie - 50 Millionth Ford

Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie – 50 Millionth Ford

The 50 millionth looks a like the 1959 Mercury Montclair

The 50 millionth looks a lot like the 1959 Mercury Montclair

 

Thanks for reading #autofactoids.

Tim

lamborghini factory

willys factory toledo

Indy Driver Sam Schmidt hits the track again piloting a C7 Corvette!!!

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You’ll love this story!!!

 

Sam Schmidt, who has been paralyzed below the shoulders since slamming into a wall 14 years ago, always believed he’d never drive again. On Sunday, he will–in a Corvette he will control by shaking his head and gnashing his teeth.

Schmidt was a promising driver with 27 Indy Racing League starts when he went into the wall at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida on January 6, 2000. He knew he’d never race again, but one year later he returned to motorsports with his own team, now known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. He’s enjoyed a measure of success as a team owner, but driving seemed out of the question.

via This Quadriplegic Racer Drives a Corvette by Tilting His Head | WIRED.

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

sam schmidt

IndyCar team owner Sam Schmidt drives nearly two laps on Long Beach course …

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Sam Schmidt took a spin around Indianapolis Motor Speedway last spring, his first time behind the wheel since being paralyzed in a racing accident in 2000. He had a tougher challenge Sunday: Navigating the twists and turns of the …

Auto Factoids for the Week of 4/19/15

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Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for last full week of April 2015.

April 22, 1954 – Nash and Hudson merge to from AMC

When does this:

NashRambler

Nash Rambler

PLUS THIS:

'53 Hudson Hornet

’53 Hudson Hornet

EQUAL THIS?  :

Javlin

Javlin

Well that’s the equation formed when Nash merged with Hudson and produced AMC.   AMC (American Motor Corp) produced some of the most memorable cars of the ’60’s-’70’s.  Although they often used components from other makers, they did have some unique sheet metal.

Gremlin X

Gremlin X

1975 Pacer

1975 Pacer

April 23, 1987  – Chrysler buys Lamborghini.

Lamborghini was founded in 1963 and sold in 1974.  It changed hands in 1980, 1984, 1987, 1994 and 1998 and now sits under Volkswagen Group ownership and managed by their Audi division.

Interesting how once buying Italian car companies, Chrysler is now owned by one!!!  I guess you need to be careful who you buy, some day they might help you out by returning the favor!!!  Chrysler is now owned by Fiat and Lamborghini is now owned by the Volkswagen Group via Audi.

chrysler buys lamborghini

 

April 25, 1970 – Mazda began importing cars to the U.S. for the first time.

1970 Cosmo

1970 Cosmo

They’ve come a long ways in the eyes of the American buyer.  Not sure if it was the “zoom..zoom” commercials or the cute little “girls” car Miata or dominating a lot of local SCCA racing meets – drat!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

1975 AMC Gremlin “Tested” on Ignition (W/Video)

On this week’s episode of Ignition, we celebrate the 45th anniversary of an iconic piece of American automotive history, the AMC Gremlin. Despite its peculiar design and strange proportions, owners of the Gremlin seemed to really love this car, and …

 

Auto Factoids for Week of April 12, 2015

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Just got this out for the week!!   Here is your Auto Factoids (#autofactoids) for April 12, 2015.

April 13 1965  Pontiac 10-millionth

The car was a 1965 Catalina.

1965 4 door Catalina the 10th Millionth Pontiac

1965 4 door Catalina the 10th Millionth Pontiac

 

April 13 1904  Caddy assembly plant burned to the ground.  More info on this site:   http://www.car-nection.com/yann/dbas_txt/Factq-s.htm

 

April 14, 1927  First Volvo is produced

1927 Volvo "Jakob"

1927 Volvo “Jakob”

It had wooden (ash and copper beech) underpinnings, sheet steel panels, leather upholstery, live axles and long leaf springs – loosely based on an American design.  It had a 4 cylinder engine that produced 28 hp.

 

April 16, 1908  Oakland motors sells its first car.

I believe they actually began producing cars in 1907.

I believe they actually began producing cars in 1907.

 

April 17, 1964 Ford Mustang debuts

1964 2+2 Mustang

1964 2+2 – My favorite of the under 1968 Mustangs.

 

 

4/17/1969 Ford began selling the Maverick.  <cricket…..cricket…>  Come on..it was a good car and getting more and more collectible!!!

 

1964 Maverick

1964 Maverick – Proper mods and you’ll have a monster street car!!

 

April 18, 1955  Lincoln becomes a separate division of Ford.   Lincoln started out as a separate brand in 1917 with its plant at 6200 West Warren Avenue in Detroit, Michigan and was name after Abe Lincoln. They began business by producing Liberty aircraft engine with pistons purchased from Ford for WWI.  After the war the re-fitted the plant and produced luxury  Ford bought the company in 1922.
April 18, 1964  Sunbeam Tiger Debuts

 

Shelby Cobra was the inspiration for the Tiger.

Shelby Cobra was the inspiration for the Tiger.

 

 

 Thanks for reading

Tim

#autofactoids

 

Auto Factoids for the Week of April 5, 2015 – Lotus and Tires

It’s a light week for the automotive history. April 5, 1923 Firestone introduces balloon tires. Everything we’ve accomplished with our rides has greatly depend and relied on Mr. Firestone’s improvement. It was a combination of …
Auto Factoids for the Week of 3/29/2015

Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) to finish out March and kick off April 2015. March 29, 1980 – Audi introduced their all wheel drive 1980.

BangShift.com Chrysler 413

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The Chrysler 413 is an interesting engine because it lived a long life in multiple roles and a very wide range of equipment. Hot rodders like to think about the hot rodded Max Wedge 413 (that gave way to the Max Wedge 426) and luxury car people like to think of the powerful and smooth Imperials and other cars that were shoved along by it, and finally truck guys will tell you that the 413 was a stalwart gas power plant offered in big trucks until 1979. That is a heck of a run for a mill that showed up on the scene in 1959 and was used in cars until 1965.

The videos below aren’t about floating Imperials or sneaky big Polaras. Nope, the videos below celebrate the most BangShifty application of the engine in the form of the 420hp Max Wedge 413 as offered in a small number of Plymouth and Dodge models in 1962. Combating the Pontiacs and Chevrolets, the “Super Stock Dodges” were quickly recognized in songs and popular culture. The Beach Boys talked about the cars in their song “Shut Down” while Jan and Dean were singing about the “Little Old Lady From Pasadena” who happened to also be driving a Max Wedge powered Chrysler. Rated at 420hp at 5,000 RPM this engine was a harbinger of things to come from Chrysler who really took the gloves off the next year when they expanded the engine to 426ci and later when the Hemi was introduced.

via BangShift.com Chrysler 413.

 

Watch the guy shift the car!!

 

 

 Yeah..that’s right…using the automatic push buttons.

 

Chase the BangShift link above to see the other video and the rest of the article.

 

Thank for reading.

Tim

413 max wedge

Ford Reportedly Filed Patent for 11-Speed Gearbox | Automotive News

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We wonder when the number of gear wars will stop. It’s not something manufacturers are actually seeking to do (outdo one another by having more cogs), but the number is rising – the most recent report says Ford has already patented a 11-speed automatic gearbox; this is one more gear than they publicly announced.Ford had previously officially expressed its desire to equip the 2017 F-150 Raptor (pictured as design study concept below) with a 10-speed unit, but there had been no talk of an 11-speed one until now.However, even if Ford did file a patent, it doesn’t mean the gearbox will get made. Company spokesman for powertrains ambiguously said that “as a technology leader, we submit patents on innovative ideas as a normal course of business. Patent submissions help protect our new ideas but do not necessarily indicate future business or product plans.”

via Ford Reportedly Filed Patent for 11-Speed Gearbox | Automotive News.

 

Raptor - 11 speed?

Raptor – 11 speed?

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Tim

 

Ford is Working on an 11-Speed Transmission

Manufacturers start working on new technologies many years before we see them in production vehicles, and this patent from Ford points toward a new 11-speed transmission happening somewhere in their future. The official patent document was just …

 

 

Up Grade your Points & Condensers? – Engine Restoration

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I keep an eye on the several cable shows that relate to cars (“Counting Cars” is one of my favorites).   Most of them are short on technical details for restoring but they sure do put out some wonderful cars.  Budgets are everything.

I happened to catch a repeat of the other of the shows as they were working on a 1950’s vintage Caddy.  They were leaving it mostly stock except the engine and bagging the suspension to be able to lower it.

In the course of the starting up the engine they ran into a couple issues and one left the points and condenser fried.  As they showed the fried wire, I wondered “Why keep them?”  Seems to me if you are going to chop or lower and bag a classic, why not upgrade one of the weakest parts of the mechanical engine, the ignition system?

Weak Link

Weak Link

I learned from my Dad how to deal with points in particular (basically a condenser works or is gets replaces).  He taught me how to gap them and to take a bit of emery cloth to “clean” them up (hey money was tight when I was a kid) and re-gap them.  That’s really a lost art these days, but maybe for good reason.

 

This is commonly called a Feeler Gauge it is use to set the gap on spark plugs and points.

This is commonly called a Feeler Gauge it is used to set the gap on spark plugs and points.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the gauge or the technique you can still find ‘how to’ videos and gaping specs on-line, that doesn’t negate the fact that these are a common weak link (they will need to be replaced) in the over all functioning of your car’s ability to burn fuel properly.

The 302

The 302

Shortly after I installed the rebuilt engine in my 1970 Mustang (re-manufactured long block) the new distributor took dive.  I had done research on ignition systems and ran across Pertronix and decided to use one of their Flame Thrower modules and coil to replace everything under the distributor cap.  It was a good decision, there is no change to the appears of the engine, everything tucks under the cap and it becomes pretty much trouble-free.  I had no issues.

So tell me, would you keep the it old school under the distributor cap for your restoration or give it a chip?

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Engine tuning

magneto ignition systems, including poor battery supply bonding, points and condenser problems, distributor failure and spark plug gap. One feature was

Ron Scott’s 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Has a Split-Window Personality

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Emulation is probably one of the most commons things in the car hobby. We see a car at a show or race and are instantly entranced by its siren song of looks, performance, and imagination-stimulating allure. And after enough exposure, commitment to building a duplicate becomes irresistible.

Ron Scott Jr. had always loved the vintage race look on classic Corvettes. Wide wheel flares, spoilers, race-style wheels and brakes, the growl of a powerful V-8 through headers and race exhaust, they all had him entranced to the point he wanted to build one of his own. He wanted a car he could not only show, but also take to track days and autocross events as well. After searching online, he found a suitable candidate on eBay to start his build with.

“I found the car on eBay for $35K. It was rough, with some bodywork completed and a second-gen LT1 out of an early fourth-gen Camaro sitting in the frame. It was pretty much a roller with no interior, wiring, or anything special. It was perfect for what I was looking to do, as we didn’t want to modify anything that was nice.”

See the rest of the images and store @  Ron Scott’s 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Has a Split-Window Personality.

 

1963-chevrolet-corvette-drivers-side-view

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

super chevy show 2015super chevy show 2015

Auto Factoids for the Week of 3/29/2015

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Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) to finish out March and kick off April 2015.

 

March 29, 1980 – Audi introduced their all wheel drive

1980 Quattro - Not a bad looking car at that!!!

1980 Quattro – Not a bad-looking car at that!!!

Here are some specs for the Quattro:

Engine     2.1 L I5 SOHC 10v

Transmission     5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase     99.4 in
Length     173.4 in
Width     67.8 in
Height     53.0 in
Curb weight  2,844 to 2,976 lb

 

April 1, 1970 AMC debuts the Gremlin.

 

1970 Gremlin. Fastback or 'no back"

1970 Gremlin. Fastback or ‘no back“

 

I bet AMC never envisioned this:

OH...MAN!!!!

OH…MAN!!!!

 

Or this:

BTW..this doesn't end well!!

BTW..this doesn’t end well for the suspension.

 

 

April 1, 1964 Plymouth shows off the Barracuda – There were 23,443 Barracuda produced (called Glassback) and was based on Plymouth’s Valiant platform.

1964 Barracuda - Glassback.

1964 Barracuda – Glassback.

 

April 1, 1961 the very collectable Amphicar debuted – I saw my first Amphicar when I was about 9 or 10.  Grew up on the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondack of upstate New York. The car drove down the beach and right into the water.  Coolest thing I’d seen up to then!!

 

 

The Quandt Group made only 4000 between '61-'68

The Quandt Group made only 4000 between ’61-’68

 

April 2, 1879   Walter P. Chrysler was Born in Kansas.

Walter P with a Chrysler Six

Walter P with a Chrysler Six

 

 

April 2, 1889  Charles Hall patent Aluminum.  –  It was actually a process made extracting Aluminum less expensive.  It involved passing an electric current through a bath of alumina dissolved in cryolite, which results in a puddle of aluminum forming in the bottom of the retort. (Come on…tell me you didn’t want to know that!!!!)  Unfortunately a French guy – Paul Héroult was working on the same process. (No way?!!?!   Way!!!) so the named the process after both “Hall-Heroult process’.

From a puddle in the bottom of a retort to the Ford F150….that’s progress!!!  Thanks Mr. Hall and French guy!!!

Inexpensive method for producing aluminum

Inexpensive method for producing aluminum

 

 

Thanks for reading.  If you like #AutoFactoids – share them!!

 

Tim

 

Jeffrey Faber · Top Commenter

Put on the top of the list the Walter P. Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills, which houses three floors of classic and concept vehicles. Currently, it is open only to employees of Fiat-Chrysler, and occasional special events. The Piquette Plant in Detroit …

walter p chrysler museum

 

Auto Factoids for the Weeks of March 15 and March 22 2015

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Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the week.   Actually, I’ve combined two weeks because I forgot last weeks and this week’s was limited.   So let’s start off with the week of the 15th (’cause going in chronological orders just seemed appropriate).

 

March 15, 1960 – Mercury/Ford/Edsel debuted the Comet.  The reality is that the Comet was to be a sub-model under Edsel.  With the Edsel’s demise the Comet was parent-less so to speak.  For the 1960-62 the car was simple badged as Comet.  The images below are those I took of a Comet I was interested in purchasing as a project car.

 

1961 - you can just see the Comet badge

1961 – you can just see the Comet badge

 

You can see the Edsel like instruments. Only badge is Comet.

You can see the Edsel like instruments. Only badge is Comet.

 

March 17, 1834 – Mr. Gottlieb Daimler was born in Germany.  He was an engineer and teamed up a guy named Karl Benz and together started a little car company.  I can’t recall the name!!!!

 

March 17, 1949 Porsche was debuted at the Geneva Auto Show.

 

1949 Publicity shot

1949 Publicity shot

 

March 18, 1858 Rudolph Diesel born in Paris, France.  In case you can’t guess he developed the diesel engine.

First Diesel Engine

First Diesel Engine

 

The first production diesel-powered car was created by Citroen called the Rosalie in 1933. (I always thought it was Mercedes-Benz but that didn’t happen until 1936!!)

Desiel engine

First production car diesel engine by Citroen.

 

 

1933 Citroen Rosalie - What a beautiful car!!!

1933 Citroen Rosalie – What a beautiful car!!!

March 18, 1923 Andy Granatelli 1923 Dallas, TX

Dude....It's Andy!!! "nough said"

Dude….It’s Andy!!! “nough said”

 

March 21, 1961 Jaguar  E-type was deputed

One of the best styles of the 1960's

One of the best styles of the 1960’s

 

March 27, 1863 Mr. Henry Royce was born in Alwalton, England. From aircraft engines to ultimate in high-end luxury iconic cars. You know the name Royce (as in Rolls Royce).

1933 Merlin - used in the Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito and the famous Supermarine Spitfire

1933 Merlin – used in the Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito and the famous Supermarine Spitfire

 

1933 Hooper Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Sports Coupe

1933 Hooper Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Sports Coupe

 

Thank to all the followers of #AutoFactoids.   Special Twitter give-away so follow me @AGCarRestore.

Tim

 

Auto Factoids for the Week of 2/22/2015 – Firebird …

Got a few huge debuts this week’s Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids), so lets get started. Feb 23, 1954 – Ford shows off the Thunderbird for the first.
Auto Factoids for Week of Feb 15, 2015 – SCCA, Nash-Healey

Here are your Auto Factoids (#autofactoids) for the middle of Feb, 2015!! Feb 15, 1944 – Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) was formed. For those of you that don’t follow racing you need to check out what SCCA does.
Auto Factoids for the Week of 2/1/2015 – Kaiser Week

Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the first week in Feb. 2015!!! I think we can call this Kaiser Week as 3 of our factoid are related to the Kaiser auto.