Classic American Magazine January 2015

SAME CAR, SAME PLACE...

50 YEARS

LATER! 1964 THUNDERBIRD

ins Fmeet

285 JANUARY 2015

MUSCLE MUS SCLE The UK’s Number 1 for 26 years

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★CLASSIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE★

ir Bel A t le o r Chev 1957 300 ysler r h C 1969 yl g Vin in r o t Mo Show A M E S

1971 OLDSMOBILE 442

CAR OFEAR THE Y

ADING IN UTA O R H! F OF

L T I H F Y! T E G

1959 PLYMOUTH SPORT FURY

FINALS

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65 35 53

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Contents January 2015

Regulars

Features

6 12 14 16 18 20 76 78

22 1971 Oldsmobile 442 W-30 29 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 35 Off-roading in Moab 41 1964 Ford Thunderbird 46 1969 Chrysler 300 53 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury 58 Classic Motor Show & Car of the Year 65 Harley Davidsons 69 Motorvatin’ Vinyl 75 Malta US Car Show 88 Show report: SEMA 100 Show report: ’57 Chevy @ 57

News Letters The Muscle Car Files Across the Pond From Here to Obscurity Subscription Offer Back Issues Classic American Merchandise 81 Behind the Wheel 85 Project Pony 92 Discoveries 94 Readers’ Rides 96 Events & Cruises 103 Service Directory 108 Drive Buy 111 Private Classifieds 122 Next Month & Credits

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Sold a car and regretted it? So did Richard Biggs, however after years of searching, he found the perfect project for his retirement in the shape of this gorgeous 1971 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30.

And guess what? He ain’t selling it. Ever.

1971 Oldsmobile 442 Words: Steve Havelock Photography: Jonathan Fleetwood

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en or so years ago Richard Biggs from Bournemouth parted with his blue 1972 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 – and then kicked himself.

He told me: “It was a beautiful car and was mint. It was featured in one of Quentin Wilson’s books. I tried to buy it back, but the chap who has it wouldn’t let it go. Then I had a Cutlass for a while, sold that and couldn’t buy that back either.”

Although Richard has owned and restored many American cars, several of which have appeared in these pages, he still yearned for another 4-4-2. He said: “I’ve always liked the shape, especially the 1970 and ’71s. They just look so mean and muscular, especially from the front end with their split grilles.”

So, a tad over two years ago the hunt began.

Richard, then on the brink of retirement, decided that he’d go the whole hog and buy the high performance version, tagged the W-30. He recalls: “I started looking online in America but restored examples were really expensive. I then saw this 1971 W-30

advertised in Classic American in Wisbech, Cambridge. It looked fine, so I jumped in the car and drove up there.

“When I arrived, it didn’t look as good as it did in the photo. It had been stored a long time, probably in a damp garage. It had no working brakes, I could see that the chassis was manky and it had the wrong engine. It started, but wasn’t drivable. I knew it needed a lot of work doing to it, but I wanted a retirement project and, it being a rare car, I was prepared to take it on.”

Richard did the deal and the car was lorried home to Bournemouth. ❯❯

Jeep thrills

G R E AT American

Roadtrip

Done the fly-drive thing to California or Florida?

How about something completely different? Will Shiers goes Off-roading in Utah!

I

f your idea of admiring stunning scenery is hiking for 20 miles in triple digit heat with a heavy rucksack on your back, blisters on your feet and a severe case of Betty Swollocks, then you probably won’t enjoy this. If however you prefer to view your vistas through the windscreen of an air conditioned car, then we have just the holiday for you. Moab, Utah, is located smack bang in the middle of the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. The stunning scenery in this part of the world ensures that the town is a firm favourite

with outdoorsy people, while the hundreds of miles of rugged dirt tracks that weave through the canyons created by the mighty Colorado attract the off-roading fraternity. This place is the Jeeping capital of the world.

We have always held the belief that the best off-roader is absolutely any rental car – but on this occasion that’s not strictly true. While there is nothing to stop you from having a go at any of the trails in your rented Cadillac Escalade (other than a potential fine if the renter finds out), we

wouldn’t recommend it. To get the most out of this area you really need a modified off-roader, with big fat tyres and raised suspension. And fortunately an entire industry has set up in the town renting such vehicles.

We borrowed our Jeep Wrangler from Canyonlands Jeep Adventures, but other companies are available. In fact you can’t walk for more than a city block in Moab without passing a parking lot full of brightly coloured Wranglers for rent. ❯❯

classic-american.com 35

Trail rated Jeeps are the ones Jeep recommend for off-roading.

OFF-ROADING There are hundreds of trails to explore in the Moab area, and the most popular ones are featured in free publications available at rental locations. They are marked according to ease of navigation, and being relatively new to offroading, we opted for a couple of ‘easy’ trails.

Potash Road and the Schafer Switchbacks are 25 miles long, and are expected to take anywhere from four hours upwards depending on how many photo stops you make.

Before setting off we called in on Moab’s tourist information office. The previous day had been unseasonably wet and we wanted to check that our chosen trails were still open. We were told that they were, but were advised to take extra care when fording creeks. Then we called in at a gas station to fill our cool-box (supplied with the car) with provisions. From May to September temperatures can reach well over 100ºC, and you are advised to carry one gallon of water per person per day.

Getting to and staying in Moab Although Moab has its own airport (Canyonlands Field CNY), it’s tiny. Our advice is to either fly into Salt Lake City, Utah, or Denver, Colorado. Both are in the region of 250 miles away, resulting in a pleasant five or six-hour drive.

There are numerous hotels in Moab, but be sure to book ahead. Moab is a Mecca for off-roaders, cyclists, hikers and white-water rafters, and they tend to avoid the scorching summer months. Spring is particularly popular, and the hotels all double their prices to cash-in on demand. Expect to pay in the region of $120 a night for a room in one of the popular hotel chains in August, or $250 in May.

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Potash Trail is accessed via Highway 191, which itself passes some spectacular scenery.

There are red rock cliffs on one side of the road, and the Colorado River on the other. But don’t be temped to fill your camera’s memory card with too many photos here, as the scenery is about to get a whole lot better. The tarmac ends and a sign advises us that the steep uneven hill ahead is only navigable by four-wheel-drive vehicles. This is our cue to switch from 2-high to 4-high – which can be done on the move at speeds of up to 30mph.

When the road finally levels off you find yourself in the middle of some of the most aweinspiring scenery on earth. Above you are spectacular sandstone rock formations, and a long way below is the Colorado. But try not to be distracted by this incredible view, as the narrow road which has been carved into the side of a mountain is littered with rocks and requires complete concentration. Fortunately there are frequent pull-ins, allowing the driver to get out Don’t try this in any ordinary rental car - you’ll be walking home!

and enjoy the scenery too. We are an hour into the trip and haven’t seen another soul. With the Jeep’s engine turned off the only sound we can hear is the gentle hum of a boat on the Colorado, a couple of thousand feet below us.

There is plenty of surface water in this area. Our Jeep is painted a similar colour to the rock that surrounds us, and it doesn’t take long before the windscreen and headlights are exactly the same shade of orange.

We have been given some GPS coordinates to put into our sat nav, which takes us along a narrow track a few hundred yards off the main trail. You don’t want to do this detour in a hurry, because at the end of the track is a sheer drop to the river below. This is the exact spot where Thelma and Louise drove their 1966 Thunderbird over the edge of what is supposed to be the Grand Canyon. Although we take plenty of photographs, they simply do not do this spectacular view justice. It really needs to be seen first-hand to be believed.

BIG 1969 Chrysler 300

Words: Mike Renaut Photography: Matt Richardson

RED Not one to do things by halves James Finlon recently jumped into American car ownership with this fullsize 1969 Chrysler 300‌

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J

ames Finlon holds his brothers Brendan and Kevin largely responsible for his first foray into American car ownership.

“Brendan just turned up one day in a 1965 Pontiac Lemans with a 326cu in V8 and before long we all wanted a yank car of our own,” grins James. Inspired by tales their mother Peggy told of living in the America during the Fifties and Sixties and the cars she had owned, the Finlon home was soon further graced by Kevin’s 1965 Riveria and a customised 1970 Falcon which also belonged to Brendan.

Meaning now it was James’s turn.

“I didn’t really know what I was buying,” confesses James. “I spotted it on eBay, won it and we went to pick it up. Duncan ‘Cannonball’ Watts had brought it over.” ‘It’ is this 1969 Chrysler 300. “We got there and I

thought ‘what the hell have I done?’ it was huge,” laughs James. “It only just fitted on our car carrier. I really didn’t know anything about it – it’s my first American car but I’ve had a few classics before. Mainly I’ve driven Capris.

“It had steel wheels with hubcaps and would start but didn’t drive,” remembers James. “I had the automatic gearbox rebuilt and then the exhaust exploded – the engine was running so rich that it filled one of the rear boxes with fuel and vapour which suddenly ignited.

“Aside from that it just wasn’t right anyway and I couldn’t find anyone willing to work on it. Local garages wouldn’t touch it, or I just got messed about, so it sat for four months until I met Wayne Heathfield from Wizard Customs (07742 253397) at a car cruise.

“Wayne sponsors the Medway Cruise and once we got talking he agreed to take the Chrysler in and rebuild the carburettor.” The brake servo wasn’t working correctly either so Wayne fixed that. “It turned out the brake pipes were plumbed in the wrong way round,” explains Wayne, “I also repaired the electric headlight cover doors since they were sticking.”

After those fixes James began to enjoy his Chrysler, “I loved driving it but I was lost without a driver’s side mirror so I got one from the States – that was $350.” This highlights a problem owners of similar era Chryslers have often found, parts were shared with other models such as Chargers and Challengers and the value and desirability of the muscle cars drives up the prices of those parts. ❯❯

1940 Packard 1801 Deluxe Club Coupe

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