Corvette Graveyard in Upstate New York.
Corvette Graveyard in Upstate New York.
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Mercedes – AMG gets a boost of power. Engineers have upped the power for the 4.0 Liter engine via a twin turbo, 4 valve per cylinder and direct injection. Drivers can expect 503 HPs and 479 lb-ft of torque. Gone is the 6.2 liter.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
I saved the most iconic Chevy for last. America’s sports car and my favorite since being placed behind the wheel of my Uncle 1958 – the Corvette!!!!
That year the Corvette came in two configurations, 2 door sport coupe – T-tops were an option and the 2 door convertible.
Total produced coupes produced was 33,836 and convertibles numbered 4,829. Of all the Vette the C3 are my favorites along with C4, and C6 and C7.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Continuing with Baseball, Hot Dog, Apple Pie, Chevrolet and 4th of July theme….
Last post we touched on a rare Chevy but they made some great car in 1975…ok….maybe…not ‘great’, but there are some collectibles I think are over looked. (Keep in mind that I think just about any 2 door Chevy can be ‘all that’!!!)
Check these out.
How about the Malibu for ’75? It came in the S and Landau versions and with a total of 258,909 units built, there a good bet you can find used parts.
The Nova was on the decline design-wise, but you could get it in a V8 and a Super Sport version. There were 273,014 Nova’s built-in two door and (hiss…boo) 4 door configurations. Of that total 138,879 were six cylinders and 134,103 were V8’s. Within the V8’s 9,087 were Super Sport!!
There was a the Impala/Bel Air/Caprice platform. No I am serious!!!! The two door version are under rated and can be monsters in the right hands (the Bel Air only came in 4dr and wagon sub models). The Impala had the Landau, Custom Coupe and Sports Coupe with a total production of 176,376. The Caprice had Custom, Landau and the Convertible with 103,944 units coming off the assembly line. That totaled included 8,349 Convertibles.
Saving (arguably) the best two platforms for last the Chevelle series (which included the Malibu, the Malibu Classic, the Classic Estate [station wagon] and the Laguna) and the Camaro. The Camaro was still longish and sleek and the Chevelle etc was….well Monte Carlo like!!! Both came in 6 and 8 cylinder and had a few two door configurations. The Malibu and Malibu Classic and the Laguna Type S-3 having two door cars for the Chevelle and of course that’s all there was for the Camaro. The Malibu units totaled out at 63,530 (21,804 – 6 cylinders/41,726 – V8s) with the Malibu Classic production at 131,455 (3,844 – 6’s and 127,611 – 8’s) and the Laguna Types S-3 (think NASCAR) 6,714.
The Camaro came in the base model and the LT. There was the Rally Sport package which sources agree were about 7,000 produced. There is some issue with the total number of Camaro produced with number ranging from 141,629 to over 145K. But with other numbers like 145,755 had power steering and 29,359 with 6 cylinders and 116,430 with V-8s (totally 1445,789) We do know that there were 4,160 car built for exports.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Here’s a little 4TH of July twist for They Made How Many?
What’s more American then a Chevrolet?
Check it out:
This was a 1975 commercial and yes I know that other American cars (but feel free to remind me!!!! ) but this is just so American!!!!
You can see the a Vega, a Caprice, a Monza, a Nova and few other Chevy’s in the commercial.
Total American car manufacturing show that Chevy was #1 in car production with 1,755,773 units. Chevy was followed closely by Ford with 1,569,608, then a distant 3rd was Oldsmobile with 631,795 (Roughly 1 million less than Ford!!).
The rest looked like this:
Pontiac – 531,922 Buick – 481,768 Plymouth – 454,105
Mercury – 404,650 Dodge – 377,462 Cadillac – 251,549
AMC – 241,501 Lincoln – 101,843 Imperial – 8,830
Checker – 450 Avanti II – 125 Excalibur – 90 (what?)
Out of the 1.7 million cars that Chevy produced there were some highlights. Take for instance the famous 1975 Cosworth Vega two door hatchback with a total of 2,061 cars produced.
Number-wise that was a very low production, but did you know the rarest car Chevy produced that year was the unfamous 1975 Vega Panel Express. Total production was 1,525!!!
More coming up on 1975 Chevy production!!!
Let me know if you own when of these and drop us a note at: AGCarRestoration@cox.net
Thanks for reading.
Tim
I have always loved the look of the huge panel/delivery trucks or sedans of the 30’s and 40’s. The rounded fenders and either separate or incorporate headlights combined with the tall solid panel sides gave them a great look.
The terms panel/delivery were used on trucks as well as stations wagons (sedans) like Ford’s 1938 and 1939 panel/delivery trucks with the oval grille and I include even the windowed Chevy Suburban, Carryall in the late 50’s.
The 1938 Ford panel trucks were newly designed for that year. This included the oval grille and car like fenders. You had your choice of V8’s either 60 or 85 hp versions. It include cool options like oil bath air cleaner, oil filter and an available hot water heater…yeah in the truck!!!
The ’41 Chevy Sedan Delivery was a new design for that year as well. It also incorporated the passenger car features and a six cylinder engine that gave you more horse power (90) then the Fords V8s. Chevy engineers solved a lot of issue with this model such as a new carb design to prevent the sudden stop stalling issues, newly designed water pump and a larger radiator to help with over-heating issues. It also sported hydraulic breaks, synchomesh trans, double-acting shocks, independent front suspension and vacuum-assisted gearshift.
I mentioned the Chevy Suburban/Carryall which are great looking with a lot of windows.
These were basically for transporting people. It was introduced in 1935 and in 1957 it had a lot of upgrades for example – hidden stairs and a new V8 – Chevy’s working 283 or the Trademaster 265. It had power brakes, power steering, Hyda-matic with overdrive and electric wipers. You had the option of rear panel doors or wagon tailgate!!!
I love this trucks!!! But restoration is costly and I have a real problem with visualizing what can be done with, for instance, cargo space for the ’41 Chevy. More seats? Paneling and shag carpet? (I group in the 60’s and 70’s van era!!!)
Got a good idea for the cargo space? Drop me your ideas in a comment for email me at AGCarRestoration@cox.net.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
It was saved by a former factory worker who got permission to remove it in 2012 shortly before the tunnels were due to be filled in – making it the last ever Mini to leave Longbridge. After not getting any sunlight for three decades, this 1275 GT needs lots of love in order to return to its former glory.
via How Much Would You Pay For A Secret Mini Found In A Dead Factory?.
Would you buy it?
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Big changes are afoot at Holden. After General Motors opted to shut down its only plants Down Under, its Australian subsidiary is shifting from a manufacturer to an importer of automobiles. The question on everyone’s mind, then, has been whether Detroit would keep its Australian nameplates in place, or replace them with global ones.
The word on the yellow-brick roads of Oz has been shifting back and forth, but the latest indicates that GM will kill the Commodore name when the replacement for the current model arrives. Holden’s only proprietary model, the rear-drive Commodore sedan, wagon and ute are set to be replaced by a front-drive model to be brought in from either Asia or Europe. And while Holden execs have been pleading their case, it now appears that – because the car will be so fundamentally different from the one it replaces – GM will push the same nameplate it applies to the vehicle in other markets rather than try to port over the Commodore name, killing it alongside the Falcon that Ford is discontinuing as well.
via Commodore name won’t sail on when GM replaces big Holden sedan – Autoblog.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Well I believe Mary Barra is cleaning house…which is good and bad.
DETROIT — General Motors is telling dealers to halt delivery of all 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Cruze sedans because of a potential airbag problem, hampering sales of the company’s top-selling car amid an end-of-the-month sales push.
Some of the cars may have a “suspect” driver’s side airbag inflator module, according to a stop-delivery order sent to Chevy dealers nationwide on Tuesday and obtained by Automotive News.
via GM suspends sale of 2013-14 Chevrolet Cruze for potential airbag glitch.
Read the rest at the link above, but I had to share this part directly:
The Southeast dealer noted that many customers who have dropped off their Chevy Cobalts to have ignition switches replaced are driving Cruzes now subject to the stop delivery.
Cobalts are among the 2.6 million vehicles being recalled for a defective switch that can slip out of the “run” position and cut power to the power brakes, steering and airbags, a defect that GM has linked to 54 crashes and 13 deaths.
“What am I supposed to do?” the dealer said. “Tell them to bring the loaner back now?”
Thanks for reading.
Tim
The Ten Worst Car Factories In History.
Remember the Volvo P1800? Well, you want the S version because it was built in Sweden instead of Scotland, along with many of the Chrysler-Rootes Group cars.ranwhenparked has more:
The Chrysler-Rootes plant in Linwood, Scotland was pretty terrible. It was constructed specifically to build the Hillman Imp (full disclosure, I actually kind of like that car, my dad’s British expatriate friend had one for decades).
Chrysler wanted to build the car at their existing factory in Ryton, but oh no no, the UK government had other ideas. With Scotland’s shipbuilding industry essentially dead (partly, OK, heavily due to government policy), the idea was to replace it with car production. So, Chrysler was denied the necessary permits to expand the Ryton plant, but was given generous subsidies to build a new factory in Linwood and really needed to build the car somewhere, so they went with it.
All their suppliers were still located in England, Linwood was basically in the middle of a vast no-man’s land for the auto industry, which led to high transportation costs and frequent parts shortages. The local workforce was inexperienced in car assembly, which led to poor quality and low productivity (the rush to get production going was also to blame, as it shortened training time). Turnover was high and labor problems were rampant – there were over two dozen strikes in one year alone. The factory operated deep in the red throughout its existence and was ultimately closed in the mid ’70s after only 13 years in operation.
http://jalopnik.com
Thanks for reading.
Tim