Classic American August 2016 preview

Win! A Draper Socket set!

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STING IN THE TAIL 1972 ’Vette

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14 PAGE MERCURY SPECIAL

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1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator

James Bristol LATEST SUMMER SHOWS: Footman IV / Beaulieu Classic Show / American Speedfest d Hot Rod / Goodwood Festival of Spee

SAM POSEY TRIBUTE

1973 Dodge Challenger

PENDINE Hot Rod Races

page American & Modified section

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Contents August 2016

Regulars

Features

06 12 14 16 18 20 22 36 44

25 33 38 47

98 100 108 110 114 132 134

News Letters Across the Pond Muscle Car Files Here to Obscurity Subscription Offer CA Shop Back Issues Canadian Mercurys Part II Club news Events Discoveries Ad gallery Reviews Drive Buy Private Classifieds

53 59 67 73 79 85 91

1970 Cougar Eliminator 1961 Mercury Monterey 1954 Mercury Monterey Sam Posey Challenger Tribute 1972 Chevrolet Corvette Tech Basics – Tyres Smokey & the Bandit Roadtrip Pendine Hot Rod Races American Speedfest FJ Bristol Classic Goodwood FoS

American & Modified 117 ‘58 Pontiac Laurentian 123 Beaulieu Rod & Custom

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PROJECT News PONY CLEANS THE BOARD Classic American

The 64½ Mustang restored

by Rob Woodall, which Classic American followed in the regular Project Pony instalments last year, took the Best Presented award in the Cheshire Classic Cars-hosted concours show last weekend. It’s curious to think that competing against all the exotic cars present at the event, the Mustang had the dubious honour of being the lowest-priced car both when new and now by a considerable margin! The beautiful Merc 300SL has a price tag of nearly one million, while the value of early E-type roadsters has risen close to £200k.

Ace restorer Rob Woodall and Project Pony.

More Over Here!

The latest pair of Over Here books have crossed the Classic American desk. These volumes concentrate on the Oldsmobile and Pontiac marques and are available from www. sgmpublishing.co.uk and are priced at £9.99 including UK postage.

Viper bites the dust (again!)

After 25 years, FCA pulls the plug for a second time on the Viper. Originally just a design exercise by Chrysler’s Advance Design Studios in 1988, it was Bob Lutz who made the concept a production reality, the first one appearing in the 1992 model year. Its 8.0-litre V-10 engine offered enthusiasts 400bhp and 465lb/ft of torque, and quarter-mile figures of around 12 seconds at 114mph.

In later years the engine grew to around 8.4 litres and top speeds exceeded 200mph.

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The Viper remained in production until 2010 when it was axed the first time…

Roll forward three years and the iconic car was resurrected in 2013 but it’s now been announced that the 2017 models will be the last. In true American automotive style FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automotive,) are offering five special editions of the last Vipers, which, according to the latest reports, have all been sold out. Will the Viper be back? Who knows, stranger things have happened!

ďŹ n the 1970 Mercury Words: Photography:

classic-american

Ivor Ellis, from Suffolk, wanted something a little different from the usual Fifties automotive fare of ’59 Cadillacs and ’57 Chevys and he got just that with this stunning 1954 Mercury Monterey.

The only problem was it took him 15 years to get it on the road!

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vor Ellis is a devotee of late Forties and Fifties Americana − the music, the dress, the cars − and requires little excuse to embrace and relive those times at jams and club gatherings. He is well into the scene and says: “Many friends own classic cars and Harleys, and if ever you have any problems with your car there is always somebody only too willing to give you advice. They are a really friendly group of people.”

So if you have the hair, the clothes and the friends, all you need is a set of wheels. Ivor started to trawl the ads in 1999 to find his and he eventually ended up at Dream Cars, of Battersea, London, but now located in Redhill, Surrey.

His attention was drawn to a dust-covered 1954 Mercury Monterey two-door coupe tucked away in the corner, looking a bit neglected, with the appearance of having been stored there for a fair amount of time. Imported in the mid to early Nineties from Beverley Hills, California, it was virtually rust-free. Ivor recalls: “There was something about the car that drew me to it. I really liked the colour scheme, Arctic white roof over Mercury green, and, as I wanted something a bit different to the usual ’59 Cadillacs and ’57 Chevys, it fitted the bill perfectly. It also used the rare Merc-O-Matic automatic transmission, a change from

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Next in line for some light restoration is the interior.

TREADING CAREFULLY

“We had a 1980 Trans Am with the same tyre fit as a modern BMW”

North Hants Tyres is one of the biggest tyre and wheel retailers in Europe.

Classic American dropped in for a friendly chat…

Words: Mike Renaut Photography: Matt Richardson

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lassic American went along to meet John Pettifor, the managing director of North Hants Tyres, to discuss everything you ever wanted to know about tyres and wheels, but were afraid to ask – and about the business itself… ❯❯

John Pettifor, North Hants Tyres’ MD.

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Image courtesy of: Universal Pictures

PART TWO

Love Smokey and the Bandit? So do we! So we decided to retrace their route in the ultimate road trip – Here’s the second part of that journey that so far has taken us from Georgia to Kentucky!

It’s almost 40 years since Bo Darville (aka Bandit) and Cledus (aka Snowman) accepted a challenge from Big and Little Enos to drive from Atlanta, Georgia to Texarkana, Texas, pick up a truckload of Coors beer, and return it to Atlanta in just 28 hours. Seeing as Smokey and the Bandit (1977) is one of my all-time favourite films, we thought it would be a bit of fun to replicate the plot – and last autumn that’s exactly what we did.

Following on from the previous day’s disappointment (it was closed at 3pm!) I return to Lyon’s Auto Salvage at 10am the next morning, and I knock on the door, several times. Eventually, a young man appears at the door, wearing boxer shorts and shielding his eyes from the sunlight. I explain who I am and what I want, and he tells me he’s been partying all night, got to bed an hour ago, and I’ve just woken him up!

But fair play to him, because just when I’m expecting to have a door slammed in my face for the second time this trip (and justifiably this time too), he agrees to give me a guided tour of the yard. I’m incredibly thankful. This place is amazing, and has well over 300 cars ranging in age from the Thirties to the late Seventies. Everything is for sale, and can be shipped anywhere in the world. In a future issue we’ll show you what Lyon’s has to offer, but for the time being here’s a small taster (pics 1 & 3).

The rest of the day is a bit of a dead loss, with no roadside finds at all. The only highlights being a tour of the Jim Beam distillery (pic 2) and almost getting myself arrested for taking a photograph of a tank at Fort Knox (pic 6). Fort Knox is a massive army base, covering 170 square miles. Somewhere within it is the United States ❯❯

Words and Photography: Will Shiers

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Pendine Sands Pendine Sands, Wales

June 3-5, 2016

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Jim Turnbull heads the pack back down the beach.

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riday, June 3, and it was time to pack the camera bag and hit the road for this year’s Vintage Hot Rod Association’s hot rod races at Pendine Sands, South Wales. It’s never an easy task getting to the location even in a daily runner, but after a gruelling 10-hour drive through the Lake District and the Welsh valleys we finally arrived at dusk just in time to pitch up the tent and grab a couple of nightcaps at the Springwell Inn and catch up with all the familiar faces eager to race the next day. ❯❯ And they’re off! Traditional flag start, only at Pendine!

Johnny Diablo tries to get his 31 Model A ready to race!

Words & Photography: Jonny Wilson

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Following the recent success of our American & Modified supplements, we’ve decided to introduce a regular eight-page American & Modified section in addition to our regular content. Continuing things this month is this Pontiac Safari station wagon.

1958 Pontiac fari wagon Laurentian Sa ut Words: Mike Rena t Richardson at M y: ph ra og ot Ph

rd life so Station wagons live a ha agon isn’t finding a nice 1950s w 1958 Pontiac easy, which makes this more so since Safari a rare beast. Even eans it’s a the Laurentian badge m Canadian-built car… classic-american.com 117

Beaulieu Hot Rod & Drive-iin D

Beaulieu, Hampshire

June 19, 2016

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Best American: Jason and Annaliese Hadjipetrou’s 1950 Pontiac Silver Streak convertible.

Photography and Words: Steve Havelock

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elped by a fine Father’s Day forecast, this year’s event, again run in association with the Solent Renegades Club, was one of the busiest I have ever seen with more than 6000 visitors. I know I have said it before, but I really like this show. It’s lovely to see the hundreds of cars, motorcycles and vintage bicycles parked up on the lush grass in the dappled shade of the broadleaf trees that line the avenues, with the sounds of live music wafting through the air.

The red-frocked Aphrodites duo harmoniously sang mainly pre-war favourites while the natty, blue-suited Joey and the Jivers belted out rock and roll, which had many folk, including members of the Bournemouth Lindy Hop Club, dancing their hearts out in front of the stage.

And of course, it wouldn’t be the same without the popular wandering Mariachi El Mexicano band. The vintage village proved popular with scores of stalls selling clothes, old clocks and radios, luggage, hats, jewellery and knick-knacks.

For that authentic vintage look, the ladies could also have their hair and make-up done. For those who needed a breather from all the walking and dancing, a nice cuppa and a cream cake could be had in the vintage tea tent or even a trip around the grounds on the monorail.

One of the main attractions was a display from Hard Up Garage. Based in Fareham and run by father and son Derek and Sam Hard, they showed off and then fired up a couple of their raucous, flame spitting V8-powered rat rods.

Derek explained that the Thirties ‘bitsa’ pick-up was bought in America pretty much ‘as is’ but that whetted his appetite and he commissioned the 1931 Ford Model A General Lee from a ❯❯

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Paul Bussey

Drive

buy

Vendor: Mark Brazier-Jones, Buntingford, Herts Mobile: 07808187920 Price: ÂŁ14,950

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ndeniably attracting huge presence with its Elwood Engel-penned slab-sided styling, brightwork-topped wings and sill covers, the 1965 Chrysler New Yorker certainly cuts an impressive dash. Built on the C-platform, the New Yorker was incredibly well equipped option wise, not to mention offering excellent levels of interior comfort and great build quality.

There was a choice of powerful engines and the legendary bulletproof Torqueflite automatic transmission to hustle this leviathan along with the greatest of ease and aplomb.

Our Drive-Buy New Yorker is the four-door pillar-less model, powered by a 413cu in (6.8-litre) engine, which has been professionally converted to run on LPG and changing from petrol to gas is simply by the flick of a switch.

The tank has been fitted in the boot and sits where the spare would normally be mounted.

This still leaves a cavernous amount of stowage space available. The conversion has improved the car’s previous gas guzzling tendencies and it now returns a very economical 25mpg, which, coupled with the cheaper price of LPG per litre, has to be a good thing. The engine itself has been rebuilt with photographic evidence to prove the work was done.

This New Yorker has retained much of its originality bodywise, although it has acquired a bit of patina over the years, especially where

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panels have been continuously polished. Other stainless steel brightwork trim is very well preserved and free from damage. The interior has been completely professionally re-trimmed in a pale blue vinyl material, matching the original button back square pattern. This remains in good condition other than a tiny tear on the rear seat squab.

413 cu in motor is good for 340bhp.

SPECIFICATION

Engine: 413cu in V8 Power: 340bhp@4600rpm Torque: 470lb ft@2800rpm Transmission: Torqueflite three-speed automatic MoT: February 23, 2017 Mileage: 38,900