Car collector chronicles 07 16

A GDYNETS® PUBLICATION © 2016, G. DAVID YAROS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Car Collector Chronicles ®

Volume IX, Issue 7

Exploring:

Ca

 Car Collecting Today

High RPMs

 Classic Rides  Reports From the Field  Oldsmobile (1897-2004)  Cadillac (1902- )  Allanté (1987-1993)

 Corvair (1960-1969)

◄ = Clickable Link

IN THIS ISSUE: High RPMs

1

Speedo Displays

2

High End Auctions

4

Bucket Lists

4

8 July is Collector Car Appreciation Day. This is the 7th year for the event.

To my surprise there are celebratory activities planned throughout the month in both the U.S. and Canada. A listing of all those events may be found here ◄. The provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan have even gone so far as to declare July “Automotive Heritage Month.” The day also has its own Facebook page ◄.

Beginning this month Paris has banned all 1997 and earlier cars from being driven in the city from 8 a.m.-to-8 p.m. weekdays. By the year 2020 this ban will have been extended to encompass all cars built through the 2010 model year.

Could this ban have anything at all to do with the

®

Pics to Ponder

CCC® Forum EMail:

◄

OldsD88@gmail.com ◄

4

5

Brits decision to bail out of the EU? July Automotive Milestones 1-1956 "Bunkie" Knudsen named Pontiac G.M. 2-1992 1mm Corvette built 3-1945 1st post-war car produced: a white Ford Super DeLuxe Tudor sedan that goes to Pres. Harry Truman.

3-1952 Crosley production ends 8-1909 1st Hudson built 8-2016 Collector Car Appreciation Day 12-1982 Last Checker is built (1st Checker built in 1922) 14-1955 VW Karmann Ghia debuts 15-1903 Ford takes 1st order 16-1935 OKC gets 1st parking meter in U.S. 23-1901 Olds iss’d design patent for Curved-Dash Olds 23-1903 Ford sells 1st car 24-1929 2mm Model A built 26-1945 Kaiser-Frazer Corp. organized 29-1909 Buick acquires

Cadillac 29-1916 Nash Motors Co. formed 30-1863 Henry Ford born, Greenfield Village, MI 30-1898 1st Automobile ad in magazine (Winton Motor Co) 31-1928 Chrysler buys Dodge

- Top down weather, Yea!

GDYNets® on the Web Find GDYNets on the web:

Auto Dealerships

July 2016

s

CCC -THE FORUM ◄-A web site to discuss the newsletter, the hobby and our cars.

Car Collector Chronicles® ◄ Saved 62 ◄-Our 1962 Olds convertible, Ransom Eli Olds and things Oldsmobile related web site.

The Gray Lady ◄-1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville web site.

SAVED 62: A website devoted

to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible. The site also has a lot of information on Oldsmobile cars and the company founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

THE GRAY LADY: This website features our 1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville, lots of Caddy information and an extensive repair library.

DAVE’S DEN: ◄-A site devoted to a myriad of interests.

Foremost is extensive information on the “Steel City” of Gary, IN. There are also offerings on steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 assault rifle, of course Oldsmobile, and the tragic story of the murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. George Yaros.

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 2

Speedo Displays

“. . . [O]ne may make the speedometer fade to black

It is common knowledge that my ride is a 1962 Oldsmobile. Not as widely known is that its speedometer does not use a needle to indicate speed. Instead, it makes use of a rolling drum that changes colors depending on the speed being traveled.

Green is the color for all speeds below 35 m.p.h.

36-to-65 is indicated by orange, while anything above 65 m.p.h. causes the color to change to red. I like to tell the tale (actually a true story) that one may make the speedometer fade to black by going in excess of 120 m.p.h. You can, take my word for it!

by going in excess of 120 m.p.h.”

In my naiveté, having only seen this style of speedometer on an Olds, I thought the rolling ribbon speedometer was unique to Oldsmobile. I do know Olds used such from 1959 through 1962. While this type of speedometer was very easy to read, it was not necessarily noted for its precision.

Now being shall we say long in the tooth, I have come to learn that the ribbon or drum type, needleless, speedometer was not unique to Oldsmobile. Nor was its use limited to offerings from General Motors. Chrysler Corporation also featured this style of speedometer in some of its cars. Likewise, several foreign car manufactures incorporated this device.

At GM rolling ribbon speedos were used by Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. I have not found any indication they were ever used by Cadillac. The same may be said by me as to Ford vehicles. If I am wrong in this regard, do enlighten me.

Chrysler Corporation put the ribbon speedometer in some of its Dodge and Plymouth cars.

Foreign car manufacturers were also fond of the straight line speedometer display.

They were found in the Alfa Romeo, Jaeger, Saab and Volvo. On the next page I have presented pics of some of these ribbon/drum, straight line speedometers.

So, should you encounter a speedometer with no needle pointer in the future, you will have an idea as to what it is, and how it works.

Page 3

Car Collector Chronicles

Speedo Displays—Cont’d.

1960 Buick

1961 Buick LeSabre

“65 m.p.h 1957 Pontiac I do not believe the car would be travelling in excess of 65 m.p.h. while in [P] ark?

1957 Dodge Royal

1961 Plymouth Fury

1962 Alfa Romeo

while In [P]ark?”

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 4;;

High End Auctions Barrett-Jackson inaugurated a new venue last month at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. The first clue that things here may not be what they seem is that the auction is being conducted on the grounds of a casino. The nature of the beast there is that the house always wins! Right?

On one of the boards I frequent a poster living nearby went to the auction all three days and shared his experience. As he relates, “What an eye opener!”

Looked at the cars in detail on Thursday, awful paint jobs, awful bodywork, mouse sh*t in the carpets of cars like a Ferrari, a ‘69 Mustang fastback with 5.0 Coyote. Cars leaking oil profusely, needing jump packs to runnot start-RUN. Cars with 450 h.p. and 4 wheel drum brakes? The gas monkey GT40 was a jump pack car. $230k and they couldn't afford a new battery? Interesting how a car with below average paint looks STUNNING with 20,000 watts of light on it when it hits the stage. By the way, the aforementioned Mustang took 20 seconds of cranking before it began to fire. Then it ran like crap. Still got stupid money for it. Sad. At some point someone needs to do a web cam from the back stage to shine some light about what happens in these auctions. Get ready for some price reductions.

Another auction viewer added: “I just hope Wayne Carini doesn't try to sell another 69 H/O, like the last one. He keep calling it a Cutlass.”

Bucket Lists An item on the web caught my attention, along with 4,000,000 + other individuals. In the event you are not among that number, this is definitely worth checking out.

Well known car guy Jay Leno had the opportunity to check off one his bucket list items, getting to ride in the Hemi Under Glass with legendary driver Bob Riggle. Bob, by the way, is a mere 80 years young and still piloting a 2,500 H.P. motor! Let us just say this ride did turn out to be quite eventful. You are guaranteed to flip over this video. ◄

Auto Dealerships A year ago I purchased a used truck to replace my rusting 18 year old Nissan D21 Pickup. I went all out and bought a 2002 Ford F-250 Super Duty XLT; going from 4 cylinders to 10! It had a couple of problems I was not comfortable in tackling, namely the power door locks and the power side-view mirror. It appears that now days all dealerships charge a diagnostic fee. That they do irks me to no end. I can see the wisdom of such if you do not authorize the determined repair(s). I feel it should be waived where the a) repair (s) is/are performed and/or b) the authorized repair(s) exceed a minimum dollar threshold; say $500.

The first dealership I called wanted $115 to diagnose the problems. I took a pass and started calling around. I did find a dealer who would only charge sixty bucks. What a deal!

I ended up having to replace the power door lock actuators and the right side-view mirror. Let me tell you exterior power (towing) mirrors are not cheap!

What vexed more than the exorbitant part cost was the fact the Ford dealership was charging me more for the needed parts than if I had purchased them myself, online, from the same supplier the dealer uses, fordparts.com, and had them shipped direct to the servicing dealership! What kind of craziness is that?

My itemized bill did specify a dollar amount for labor, but did not state how many labor hours were necessary to complete the repairs. When I complained to the service manager about the overcharging for parts, I did also inquire as to the per hour labor rate. To my surprise and shock I was informed labor is billed at a rate of $120/Hr.! I can remember, having been one, when lawyers did not charge that much!

The bottom line here is, my questioning the charges was not for naught. I did get a refund on the parts overcharges, along with a free oil change in the future and a strong confirmation of my resolve to avoid using dealerships for repairs whenever possible!

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Car Collector Chronicles

Pics to Ponder There seems to be no end to the strange vehicle related things one is able to locate with little effort. This column will have plenty of material to present over time. Here is what we have for your July viewing: Who would do this?

Why?

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Ok, I’ve had my say for the month. Now it’s your turn! I invite/encourage submission of your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please help spread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should be sent to CCC® at OldsD88@gmail.com.

–– Now that you have finished reading the newsletter, if so inclined, like CCC® on Facebook® by going here. To UNSUBSCRIBE send an email to ==> OldsD88@gmail.com _______________________________________

-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM! COMING NEXT ISSUE:  TBD