Classic American November 2013

271 NOVEMBER 2013

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The UK’s Number 1 for 25 years

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★CLASSIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE★

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No. 271 November 2013

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1960 Pontiac

Pickup perfection 1968 Chevrolet El Camino

Time warp traveller 1974 Ford Maverick

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Contents

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47

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classic american

November 2013

Regulars 6 12 14 16 18

38 51 40

News Letters Tony Oksien Across the Pond From Here to Obscurity 20 Subscription Offer 44 Back Issues 77 Discoveries 80 Club News 92 Reviews 94 Readers’ Rides 96 Behind the Wheel 98 Merchandise 100 Events & Cruises 107 Service Directory 112 Private Classifieds 122 Next Month & Credits

Features 22 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom 29 1960 Pontiac Catalina 34 1974 Ford Maverick 40 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 47 1968 Chevrolet El Camino Pick-up 51 Designer Brooks Stevens Biography 54 Classic American Auto Club GB Show 56 Goodwood Revival 59 Pendine Sands VHRA race event 65 Damn Yankees Summer Slam 68 Corvette Club UK Nationals Show 70 Canamania Show 72 Karl’s Kar Klinic 82 Mustangs at Brooklands Show 86 The Real First Mustang

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Classic American Magazine, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs, LN9 6LZ

cA News in association with

TEL:

01743 232200

Dave Barlow’s 1958 Chrysler 300 won in 2012.

United approach as classic

show reaches milestone

More than 250 clubs will bring the best of the best in classic motoring to the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at Birmingham’s NEC, and as the event hits 30 years old there’s going to be a special theme too.

The UK’s biggest and best classic motoring event is held from Friday, November 15, to Sunday, November 17, this year and the ‘twist’

WIN

is ‘classics reunited’ – giving visitors the opportunity to find the cars they used to own.

With more than 1500 cars on display, Britain’s best motoring clubs pull out all the stops to showcase rare and exciting marques – ranging from prewar through to retro classics, American muscle cars to Japanese performance, European elegance to Great British sports cars and many more.

Tickets to the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show!

Classic American has got together with the organisers of the Classic Motor Show to offer five lucky readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to this prestigious, must-attend event for petrolheads.

To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to the show simply answer the tie-breaker on the form below, or enter online after Thursday,

November 11 at www.classic-american.com Tie breaker: When does the Classic Motor Show take place?

(A) November (B) July (C) January Closing Date: November 4

tickets to the Lancaster insurance cLassic motor show WIMrN/ Mrs / Miss / Ms (please circle) First name

Surname

Address

Postcode

Email On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may decide to contact you by post/phone regarding information relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you do not wish to receive such offers please tick this box ■ On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may decide to email/fax you regarding information relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers, please tick this box ■ On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may permit third parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact you by post/phone/fax/email regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers please tick this box ■

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The centrepiece of the car displays is the Meguiar’s Club Showcase, which brings together the best concours cars from the club’s events throughout the year before crowning a winner as ‘Car of the Year’ (Wonder where they got that idea from? Ed).

The winner is announced on the Sunday.

Other features include the jam-packed Live Stage hosted by the Discovery Channel’s Wheeler Dealer presenters Mike Brewer and Edd China, with restoration challenges, special guests such as Sir Stirling Moss, and the fun filled classic game shows.

Silverstone Auctions returns with its sale of classic cars, motorcycles and memorabilia, which has been expanded to two sale days.

Viewing will take place each morning with a sale in the afternoon. The impressive Restoration Theatre has a team of mechanics ready to show visitors exactly how to tackle all aspects of restoring a cherished classic car.

As well as the impressive car displays, visitors can also enjoy the Classic Motorbike Show featuring special guests, stunning bike club displays, a Pride of Ownership concours and a Vintage Wall of Death.

Across both events, more than 600 trade stands sell a wide range of parts, spares, tools, motoring services and memorabilia while the popular autojumble and bikejumble are havens for mechanics looking for that elusive motoring component.

Ticket prices range from £18.50 when purchased in advance. For more information visit www.necclassicmotorshow.com

Help cHoose tHis year’s Footman James car oF tHe year competition winner!

The seven finest classic American cars have been chosen – each a winner in its own right from American car shows up and down the UK – and now it’s up to you to help decide on the overall champion at www.classic-american.com.* All of the cars have been polished to perfection, with expertise and TLC lavished on them from the owners and they’re all an absolute credit to them.

All seven vehicles will be on the Classic American stand at the forthcoming Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham held over the weekend of November 15-17, so you can

We share your passion

We share your passion

get up close with some of the finest examples of American cars we’ve seen.

The winner will receive a £500 cheque and a prestigious, bespoke trophy.

Cast your vote by simply going to the Classic American website and clicking on the car that gets your vote to win... and don’t miss this unique 1947 Nash. opportunity to have your say in this year’s winner!

Footman James Car oF the Year 2013 heat Winners Wheels Day 1938 Ford Phaeton Custom owners: mike and Bernie Payne, hampshire

1939 Ford Phaeton.

1976 Lincoln Continental Mk V.

aaCI summer Nats, BIllINg aquaDrome 1950 BuiCk suPer owners: david and Lorraine Carr, sunderland aaCuK summer NatIoNals 1976 LinCoLn ContinentaL mark iV owner: terry Green, staffordshire

1965 Mustang Fastback.

stars & strIpes, tattoN parK 1965 mustanG FastBaCk owners: Geoff and Jenny Langston, manchester amerICaNa 1938 PaCkard suPer eiGht GoLFer’s CouPe owner: Bob mitchell, Yorkshire mopar euro Nats saNta poD 1969 dodGe CharGer r/t se owner: roger keys, Buckinghamshire

1950 Buick Super.

1938 Packard Super 8 Golfer’s Coupe.

1969 Dodge Charger R/T SE.

rally of the gIaNts 1947 nash amBassador owner: howard Wilton, somerset *Readers’ votes will account for 10% of the overall marks of this year’s competition. Closing Date: November 7, 2013

Collectors descend on Nebraska for Lambrecht auction It’s arguably one of the biggest news stories in the stateside classic car hobby for a number of years.

On September 28-29, legions of car collectors descended upon the small Nebraska town of Pierce in an effort to get their hands on more than 500 low mileage cars and trucks (many from the 1950s and 60s) that were once part of local dealership Lambrecht Chevrolet.

Ray Lambrecht, along with wife Mildred, ran the dealership for around 50 years, amassing a collection of cars and trucks – originally new inventory or trade-ins that were just never sold.

They closed up shop in 1996 but many of these vehicles remained, some stored in local buildings, while the majority took up residence in a massive field near a golf course.

On September 28, VanDerBrink auctions offered the entire inventory up in a liquidation sale. Given that the Lambrecht stock has been largely untouched for decades, many of these cars were never titled and barely driven (many had fewer than 50 miles on the clock). They were also largely complete, though the cars left out in the open were suffering from exposure to the elements, given the harsh Nebraska climate.

The highlight of the sale was a 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pickup, which boasted 1.3 miles on the clock and sold for $140,000.

Other high profile offerings were a 1978 Corvette Indianapolis Pace Car replica with four miles on the clock that sold for $80,000 and a 1963, 327 V8 powered Impala two-door hardtop with 11 miles on the odometer – that went under the gavel for $97,500. HE

Model

Citizen

This pillarless beauty must be a good example of the breed – after all, one craftsman used it as the ‘measurement car’ for a new scale model of Pontiac’s elegant design.

I

f you’re wondering why this handsome sedan doesn’t immediately scream ‘Pontiac’ in the way that a 1959 or later mid-Sixties models do, it could be the grille. It’s undivided, which sounds like a trivial point, but it’s a facial change that no other year of classic postwar Pontiac displays. Before 1959, they had various mouthfuls of chrome bars, bumpers and bullets, and from the arrival of GM’s wide-track styling in 1959, that centre division in the grille was almost a signature, right into the Eighties. Except this year.

So, that’s the nerdy bit over with. Refocus your attention away from the front end and take in the elegance of the overall shape. It’s a great example of how clean, uncluttered lines can promote good visibility and an airy cabin, all the more pronounced here in hard-top form. The two-door versions have even more dash thanks

to the sloping rear window line they can get away with, but there’s no denying the drama of the wraparound rear screen you get under the vestigial overhang. What with the almost equally wrapped windscreen and the car’s strongly accented front and rear deck-lines, it lends an almost reversible look.

Under the skin, the platform and mechanicals were almost unchanged from the 1959 cars. This was no bad thing, as the Ponchos stood out even among some very memorable and exciting offerings from GM in that year for the combination of value, equipment, performance and (by 1959 standards) restraint they offered which made them Motor Trend’s Car of the Year.

The standard V8 was a capable 389cu in unit with considerable variation between the mill you got with a manual gearbox (215bhp in 1960)

Words: Nigel Boothman Photography: Dave McBride

and the one you got with the Hydra-Matic transmission – 283bhp at 4400rpm.

This variation in urge was created by a considerably higher compression ratio in the latter engine, which speaks highly of the toughness of the old four-speed Hydra-Matic.

This gearbox could trace its roots back to the first Hydra-Matic Drive introduced in 1939 for Oldsmobile’s 1940 model year. However, by 1960 it was heavily revised after the manner of the 1956 Jetaway transmission, with an extra fluid coupling and sprag clutches instead of friction clutches and brake bands. It was never particularly efficient or quick-acting, but it had a separate ‘Park’ position and it was tough and reliable. It was also expensive to make, so the 1960 Pontiacs were the last to get a four-speed automatic until the Nineties. ❯

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Owner: Graham Webber.

Ask Graham Webber about Pontiac evolution and he’d probably be able to give you chapter and verse. After all, Graham has had Pontiacs since 1973, when the sale of a pair of Ford V8 Pilots resulted in a 1937 four-door Touring Sedan becoming part of the family.

And he still has it, along with at least eight others at the last count. He has also been international director of the Pontiac Oakland Club, a post he held for 23 years. The 1960

Catalina has been with him since the turn of the century, which sounds a long time ago to those of us who grew up in decades gone by, but now it’s only 13 years.

“I saw it for sale at the Rally of the Giants and it was obviously a good car so I bought it,” he says. “It had been imported in about 1990 but I’ve never had a US history for it, so I don’t know much more than that. It’s never been off the road for more than a routine bit of

servicing or maintenance while I’ve had it, so it sees plenty of use.”

The specification is typical of a mid-bracket family sedan of the time, with touches of luxury very affordable when the base price was well under $3000. The car has an electric aerial for the radio, adding up to around $120 in options, plus another $108 for power steering, $43 for power brakes, $43 for the heater and defroster and $13 for the windshield washers. Get

Ah, now this is what we call a ‘working’ engine.

re.

No idiot lights he

Catalina sat below Pontiac’s top line l.

Bonneville mode

Words: Tony Oksien Photography: Dave McBride

Rob and Beverly Tyrell’s 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 takes the nostalgia look to a new level; but this amazing Mopar isn’t just all show and no go, it has some mighty impressive pass times too…

R

ob and Beverly Tyrell from Cambridge are the proud owners of this nostalgic looking 1965 Dodge Coronet 500. They’re certainly no strangers to the American and muscle car scene as they both happily enjoy Fifties and early Sixties ‘Americana’ with an emphasis on rockabilly music and lifestyle and most importantly drag racing.

They met each other back in 2007 and married in 2010; the same year they acquired the Coronet featured here. While Stateside for Bonneville Speed Week they married in Las Vegas at the Little Church of the West where Elvis and Ann-Margret took their vows in the 1964 movie Viva Las Vegas – nothing like keeping everything in Sixties mode.

The gorgeous ’65 B-body you see on these pages could easily be mistaken for a car from that era that’s just left the local drag strip in southern California… maybe Lions Raceway or even Pomona? The attention to detail is staggering, with the livery painted on to super straight panels and a period interior complementing the Dodge perfectly; the Tryrells have done a great job of turning the clock back.

Over the years Rob, a 48-year-old mechanic, has had in his possession some impressive machinery – a 1970 Road Runner that he owned for 20 years, a Dodge D100 truck, a 440cu in big block Plymouth Duster and he built a ’32 Ford coupe hot rod that also saw service on the drag strip. Yet Rob yearned for an early Mopar and this ’65 fitted the bill perfectly.

The car arrived into the UK around August 2007 and was driven and raced by Mark Lloyd, but it was at the Hot Rod Drags in 2010 over ❯

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