Ben Klemenzson
View point
L OOKIN’ SHARP
Wow, August issue already! How didthat happen? How’syour summer been so far? Hopefully you’ll have been able to get out and about to lots of American automotive events, withorwithout a Yank –and best of all there’sstill plenty more left of the seasontoenjoy,withhopefully even better (read ‘dry’!) weather
This month’sissue covers thefull kaleidoscope of content that we like to bring Classic American readers, with something hopefully for everyone, from the awesome 1937 Chevypick-uptruck that picked up Best in Showatthis year’sWheels Day show (and which wasareal bonding experience for the father and son teamthatrestored it) to a stock Fifties Mercuryand averymildly upgraded 1970 Camaro.
Pete Lyonsmay be aname you’re familiar with if you have aloveofmotorsport and even if not, you’ll fndSteve Havelock’spiece afascinating tale
of motorsport journalism before the digital age. Classic American started back in the Eighties and indeed those were theglory days of the famous Chelsea Cruise, which featured in the magazine back in the day.It’sonly ftting, then, that a Classic American scribbler was on hand to catchthe 50th anniversary, which you can read all about on page 67. Last but notleast,Martin Mumford, our resident tech guru,looksatpainting wheels and trim in this month’stech feature, an area that can often let down an otherwise immaculate vehicle!
Ben Klemenzson, editor bklemenzson@mortons.co.uk
1951 Mercury Eight.
Image: Keith Harman
54 42 35 81
E DITOR Ben Klemenzson bklemenzson@mor tons.co.uk
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Kingstown ShippingVintage Tyres Carofthe Year CompetitionRound 2
Eve ry one loves aM ustang and this particular beauty caught our e ye at the re cent Beaulieu Custom and Am er ican show,w here the second heat of this y e ar’s Kingstow nS hipping- Vintage Ty re sC ar of the Ye ar competition took place.
Per formance/s pecial edition Mustangs such as the Mach 1a re probably the most soughtafter of all and Steve Hay wa rd ,f ro mB righton, has owned this particular Me dium Blue be auty for about three years and says it hails from Kansas City,M iss ouri originally
Featuring a351cu in Cleveland V8 motor, it’sundergone various per formance upgrades, such as MSD ignition and athree-inchexhaust system. Other nice period touches include the rear window louvres andair dam, plus Steve has added the handsomesporty wooden steering wheel, which looks very much in keeping with the car.The Mustang was originally ftted with air conditioning, although mostofthe mechanical side of that has been removedfrom the enginebay
Best of all, Steve isn’tafraid of using this magnifcent Mach 1and just recently drove it to France and back to take partinthe Lyons Historique event. This isn’tSteve’sfrst
Steve accepts the Car of the Year heat winner’sawardfrom Kingstown’sHollie Cowley
Steve withhis Camaroasfeatured on the October 2023cover of Classic American
Mach 1wears oh-so70s rear window louvres!
appearancein Classic American;you may recall his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS which appeared on the front cover of the October 2023 issue!
X-RATED: THENEW CORVETTE ZR1X
Just recently,Chevrolet teased the automotive world with anew C8 Corvette variant, showing off astylised ‘X’logo and leading to speculation that the Bow Tiebrand was about to drop anew ultra-high-performance model dubbed the Corvette ZR1X. Now,we’regetting our frst offcial look at the car in question.
Trumpeted as the most advanced Corvette ever made, the new Corvette ZR1X delivers1250 horsepower through acombination of boosted internal combustion and electric power,yielding an estimated 0-60mphtime of lessthan two seconds, and an estimated quarter-mile timeof less than nine seconds at more than 150mph. This is the car automotive pundits have been calling the Zora for the past several years.
Engine-wisethe ’Vette utilises the twinturbocharged 5.5-litre V8 LT7petrol engine, thesamepowerplant used by the ‘standard’ ZR1, rated at 1064 horsepower and 828lb-ft of torque, all of which is channelledtothe rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The LT7features apair of 76mm turbochargers and ‘dynamic anti-lag’ tech to give drivers immediate boost and sharper throttle response “incertain conditions”.
Supplementing the V8 is afront-mounted electric motor generating 186 horsepower and 145lb-ft of torque, resulting in an electrifed all-wheel-drive layout. The electric drive unitis the same shape and size as the front-mounted motor found in theC8E-Ray,while the motor in the ZR1X incorporates strengthened internal components and tweaks to ‘energy deployment’ to provide an additional 26 horsepower and 20lb-ft of torque over the E-Ray unit. The Corvette ZR1X will engage electric power up to 160mph.
Handling and controlare elevated aswell,with drivers offered asuite of advanced driving software. This includes thePTM Pro mode,frst introduced by the C8 ZR1,aswell as modes forextended lapping, qualifying and push-to-pass power. Braking is provided by massive carbon-ceramic rotors (16.5-inches front and rear) pairedwith10-piston calipers in frontand six-pistoncalipersinthe rear. Properly applied, theZR1X will generate1.9Gof decelerating force between 180mph to 120mph.
Buyers will be able to choose betweentwo chassis confgurations, including atouringchassis and amore aggressive track package,the latter of which is outftted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tyres and afrmer ride. There’salso a fullcarbonaero kitcapable of generating up to 1200lb of downforce. All C8 Corvette variants arebuilt at theGMBowlingGreen plantin Kentucky.Further details on theZR1X, including pricing andavailability, are expected closerto the as-of-yet-unannounced launch date. Source:GM Authority/Jonathan Lopez.
Mid-mounted engine and four-wheel drive makefor supercar performance.
Expect 1250bhp and sub-nine second ¼-mile times!
Track package is also available for the ZR1X.
Full suite of advanced driving softwareisavailable for drivers.
Splendid weather put aspring in the stepofsome 13,500 people as they visited this year’sBeaulieu Spring Autojumble. To my eyes the event looked more buoyant than last year’s, which canonly be agood thing.There seemedtobe more cars for sale in the Automart and more in the classic car displays,helpedonce again bythe everenthusiastic Morris Minor Owners Club who were celebratingthe 75th anniversaryofthe lovable Moggywith200 cars on show
The National Motor Museum usedthe occasion to launch its latest exhibition.Icons of F1 is acelebration of 75 yearssince thefrst FormulaOne World Championship in 1950 and features aline-up of F1 carsfromeach decade since.Beaulieu also announcedthatat the Custom and American Show on Father’s Day,June 15, renowned custom builder Andy Saunders would be unveiling his latest creation named Daroo 1/3 which is inspired by acar built by the legendaryGeorge Barris for Dodge in 1967. Andy says he’sbeen burning themidnight oil to get it fnished, so we wishhim welland can’twait to see it.
SPRING AUTOJUMBLE Beaulieu,Hants
Yours for £18,500.
Over the years, the autojumble has been a barometer of the economic climate and society generally,bothgoodtimes and bad. It’shad to contend withbooms and recessions, foot and mouth, Covid, the rise of the internet and eBay,you name it, but the autojumble has soldiered on regardless. It has also constantly morphed according to fadsand trends in the world at large. When Istarted reporting on the event some 30 years ago, there were few home computers, no internet to speak of, no mobile phones, no emails or texts,noKindle and no social media. Hence, the autojumble wasagreat place to meet up withfolk you hadn’tseen for a while and catch up on allthe gossip.
It was also agoodopportunityfor me to browse and stock up withmotoring reference books and magazines. It was agoodplaceto see what was out thereand available and Iused to buy loads. They were darnexpensive too. These days Ispend alot of my time staring at a computer screen, but Imuch prefer the tactility of books. Ilike the smell of the ink and enjoy sitting comfortably in my favourite freside chair and ficking through thepages looking at the glorious period photographs. Youdon’tget that on acomputer screen!
Now it seems thatsuch books are completely out of fashion. Stall after stall had boxes and boxes of decent books for £2 or even £1 and
Words and photography: Steve Havelock
Lovely 1938 McLaughlin Buick 40 Special.
Radio controlled ’Vette.
1971 Drag Racer mag.
£5 for abox of paper. Funny signs galore.
Cool pumps but not cheap. Cute Schwinn tricycle.
Mesmerising wind machine.
Delightful 1930 Ford Model ARoadster.
they were hardly fying out the door.There seemed to be aglut of brand new Autocourse annuals which normally retail for around£50 for just £2. Maybe they had beenoverprinted or under-bought and were beingsaved fromthe shredder,but they were abargain. Andthere were plenty more likethat to be had.
Thirty years ago, Ireckon everycar on theroad carried maps or amap book. How else would you plan your trips and fnd your way around? Now everyman andhis dog has asat nav or smartphone, so has no need for them,although there have been tales of cars circulating theM25 foreverand aday,orending up in Scotland,as they blindly followed instructions.Personally,I like poring over amap and having anotebook to scribbledown directions, especially when on holiday.It’sall part of the fun. Not many folk seem to agree with me and there were boxes of crisp, virtually new OrdnanceSurvey maps for just£1 each. Not so many after I’d been at them!
Old photos and magazines seem similarly overlooked. Istumbled across afew National Drag
Racer mags, the front cover of one from late 1971 proclaimed “Garlits turns 6.34, quickest ever in world” and“Clive Skilton takes world 1/4-mile record.” Thatmust have been quite amonth. Paper of any description seemssoout of favour, although one chancer wasselling cardboard boxes of crumpled paper for £5 each. It made me smile, as did asign that said “I’m retired. Inow workfor my wife.” OneplaceIalways head for is the ‘nut and bolt man’. Ialways come awaywith afew bags of stainless-steel fxings andwashers as they are always useful. Tools too. There seemsto be atool now for everycircumstance andyou just can’thave enough tools.
Vehicles for sale included alovely maroon 1938 McLaughlin Buick Series 40 Special with a straight-eight motorand whitewalls for £18,500. All it needed was aviolin case. Acoupleof Harleyswere completeopposites.One wasa fully dressed, all singing and dancing 1971 for £13,750 and the other a2005 rat bike that
looked as thoughithad been pulled out of askip for £7500. Each to hisown
Ifound some unusual‘man cave’ items including arare Husky Motor Oils sign, some cool reproduction Route 66 petrol pumps that doubled up as tool boxes or display cabinets, atantalising framed pin-up montage andaniconic hotrod print dated 1976 by top American car culture artist andcartoonist, Robert LWilliams, who is still among us, living in New Mexico, age 82.
However,myheart was stolen by nothing you could buy.Hiding from the sun under atable was alittle elderly dogwearing asign saying: ‘Blind Dog’. He was avictim of the Ukraine war and was caught in abomb blast which also deafened him. Now,thankfully,hewas in asafe place. He made my day… ★
Patinated Husky Oilsign. 1971 Harleyfor £13,750.
Rat-look 2005 Harley for £7500.
Victim of Ukraine war
Winged pedal car and Goodrich tyredisplay
Framed pin-up montage.
Original 1930s train poster.
Robert Williamshot rod print from 1976.
Huge radio-controlled liners.
Mr Toad and Chitty mobiles
GENE WINFIELDMEMORIAL CRUISE
Sunday,April 27
Glenn from Hayling Hotrods at theBeach, Josh from TheSpur Gears CC and Tony fromOur Motor Month organised a26-mile memorial cruise from John’sCafe on Hayling Island to TheSpur Inn, Slindon, to celebrate the life of the legend that was Gene Winfeld (1927-2025). One of the most infuential Kustom car builders the world has ever seen, Gene had been building cars all his life in Modesto, California from 1951 right up until his death on March 4after abattle with cancer.
His passion was for doing things differently.Gene was atrue Kustom builder who liked nothing more than to share his knowledge and passion with people, often teaching them the skills necessarytocarry out aroof chop or to paint cars. He was atrue gentleman who always had time for achat and aphoto.
Gene’scars have been featured in Hollywood movies such as Blade Runner,Bewitched, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Batman to name a few…
He will be missed by the rodding and the greater American car community itself and the participants in the cruise paid tribute with their cruise on a glorious sunny spring day. In total 24 cars left Hayling, but by time they were halfway to the Spur Inn they had picked up another 19 cars, totalling 43 cars, causing chaos
and mayhem as members of the public slowed down to take photos and videos. On arrival they were greeted by another 25 cars and bikes! It was agreat feeling being part of it all and everyone thattook part had nothing but compliments for the event as the south coast car
community pulled out all the stops to make this an epic day
Organiser Glenn Blake has spoken to Jerr y(Gene’sson) since the cruise, who said he was amazed at the turnout and thanked ever yone for their tribute to his dad. Glenn also spoke with Charles from the Honyocks Car Club who wasa good friend of Gene’s, and he sent him the pics of them both in HHATB (Hayling Hotrods at the Beach) T-shirts, holding the poster from the cruise. Whatagreat way to say thank you to each andever yone of the car owners and the people who took part. Respecttoall! ★
Words: Glenn Blake Photography: Glenn Blake and Max Wolf
Hot rodatthe starting point: John’sCafe.
Memorial cruiseorganisers Glenn, Josh and Tony.
Hot rods en route to the Spur Inn.
Jerry Winfeld and Charlesfrom HonyocksCCwith posters.
Final destination was theSpur Inn, Slindon.
EVENT REPORT
AMERICAN SUPER STOCK RD 2
May 10/11
Melbourne Raceway,York
Round two of the American Super Stock Revival series was verymuch abattle of elapsed times, strategy, breakouts and above all–red lights. After aweek of track conditioning many of the weekend’scompetitors across all classes were picking up personal best ETsand higher mph fgures than ever before.
With 12 equally hot muscle cars and apatina’d ole truck sitting on the block, thrashingitout over four qualifying sessions and an LCQ (Last Chance Qualifer), topping the A/SS charts was Howard Holmes at the wheel of the family-owned (for more than 25 years) 493cu in big block Brodix headed Dodge Coronet R/T just 1500th off a7.85 dial at 7.865s. Also using all his 493cu in horsepower to maximum
RED LIGHTSA GO-GO!
effect was revival series leader and round winner Craig Elliott. Here, he dialled in his mighty Plymouth Savoy to run a7.27 andran 0.023 over at 7.293s.The ‘Lemon Drizzle’ lady Sara Unsworth took her Mustang to a6.934s (on a6.90 dial-in) followedby Lee Chiles’ Plymouth Valiant and the ‘Bloody Nova’ ChevyofJared Heathcote. The only driver to dip under their chosen dialwas Hollie Rae Chandler’s ‘Dinky Dart’byjust three-thousandths of asecond; 8.997s on a9.00 dial-in!
With the feld now set and six highly competitive races on the cards, no one was geared up for what was about to come next Through to Round 2were Lee Chiles, Craig Elliott, Glynn Dunford,
Where to see them race!
Round 4– July 12/13 –Mid Summer Shootout -MelbourneRaceway
Round 5–August 2/3–August Extravaganza -Melbourne Raceway
Round 6–August 30/31 –American Super Stock Finale –Melbourne Raceway
Alan Feasby,TylerSmithand Hollie Rae thanks to two foullight starts and sheer determinationtowin whatever the cost. The twolosing out were Nick Martin’s‘Downtown Duster’ and Jared’s Chevy Nova who both drilled the ‘tree’ hard Sara’sMustang moved several inches before the GT’stransmission criedenough, and as for the big Yanks of Howard Holmes and Mark Savage –well, they bothsimply ran out of real estateatthe topend
From the six still in with achance, only Lee Chiles fell foul of thetree. He knew he hadtoshave the bulb against young Tyler Smith and his incredibly quick Mustang GT.But really.A-.031 from the fve-time champ. Come on. Alucky break indeed for the Smith family.Holly Raeagain upped her chances with afast reacting .086 which helped to
maintain the gap between her and Glynn Dunford’s‘Deathtrap’ Nova; 9.088 (8.99 dial) to achasing 7.587 (7.50 dial). This left Alan Feasby’s streetable ‘Fox’ Mustang against Craig’sbig bold Plymouth who, on the handicap, had to breach atwosecond headstart. He couldhave done it, but a7.456/84.65 mph (7.20 dial) just wasn’tenough to seal the deal to Al’s9.720s.
So,with the unevenness of the ladder at the start, the ‘lucky dog’ bye fell in favour of Tyler,leaving Hollie to face Al in an almost heads up green light drag race. Sadly for Al, his mildly tuned 302 fooded as he mashed the loud pedal, handing the win to Hollie, or so he thought! Hollie, who was by then in sweet victory mode, didn’tlet off the pedal and broke out of her 8.99 dial with what she thought
AlanFeasby and Hollie Rae Chandler,taken by Hollie Rae.
Craig Elliott. Credit:ADImages
Glynn Dunford. Credit: ADImages
Hol. Credit: Mike Burrowes
Hollie Rae Chandler.Credit: ADImages
HowardHolmes. Credit: ADImages
Mark Savage. Credit: Rik Kirk
Nick Martin. Credit: Mike Burrowes
Lee Chiles. Credit: Mike Burrowes
Championship standings after Round 2
SS164 Craig Elliott –159 pts
SS287 Tyler Smith –145
SS87 Lee Chiles–132
SS984 Alan Feasby –128
SS165 Hollie Rae Chandler –117
SS47 Jared Heathcote –112
SS943 HowardHolmes –103
SS289 Sara Unsworth –91
SS468 Glynn Dunford–66
SS69 Mark Savage –55
SS494 Nick Martin –43
SS601 Al Platt–43
SS32 Hol –42
SS55 Nick Gunby –42
was awinning 8.973s. Her look of disbelief was apicture in itself!
With the fnal set and the dial-ins registered, the two latemodel ’Stangs got it on at the tree as the 2.26 handicap took control. But Al was too quick on the green and by two-thousandths (-.002) the race was all over as Tyler shot off into the distance to a7.310 on a 7.34 dial. But hang on amo. Tyler
also broke out! But on the frst or worst rule Al committed the ‘worst’ infringement in drag racing, handing the win to Tyler.Wow.You couldn’tmake this stuff up.
A/SS would like to take the opportunity to thank Fiona ‘The Fantastic’ who all weekend long
kept the racers in check while updating the qualifying and eliminationboard, also making sure that everyone was in theright place at the right time. Topjob, Fi.
Check out American Super Stock on Facebook andfnd out how YOU can get involved, having fun with what your American muscle car was built for!
A/SS is grateful to Billadeau Speed &Automotive for sponsorship support along with associates Ace American Autos, Goodale American Speedshop, DC’sHotrods &Harleys, Down to Earth Auto Electrics, Engine Data Analysis, John Sleath Race CarsLtd and Renegade Racing Fuels.
Redneck Howard.
Sara Unsworth. Credit: Mike Burrowes
Tyler Smithtakes charge. Credit:Mike Burrowes
Richard Heseltine
From obscurity here to obscuri
Alfa RomeoTZ3 Stradale
What’sthis?AnItaliancar in Classic American?!?!... Notsofast, all is notasitseems…
Words: Richard
Heseltine
Images: RM Sothebys
For full disclosure, this is an Alfa Romeo. Yes, we appreciate that this is amagazine dedicated to the best things ever to emerge from the US of A, and Alfa Romeo isn’tanAmerican brand. Please bear with us. Yousee, this striking GT is –brace yourself– a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X in lingerie.There is little Italian about it. It is acar that confounded Alfa fans and Mopar typesalike when it frst emerged in 2010. Even now,it baffesasmany as it bewitches,thatisassumingthat it is remembered at all. How,precisely,did this most steroidal of Detroit muscle carsbecome an Italian exotic?
It’scomplicated. The car was conceived by Atelier Zagato Studio. It was intended to celebrate Alfa Romeo’scentenary, the two silverbacks of Italian car manufacturinghaving enjoyed asymbiotic relationship from theoutset. This new machine would also honour theTZline of sports-racing GTsthat slayed giants on track and in rallies back in the 1960s.However, while they were lithe road-racerswith tubular frames and peaky four-cylinder engines,thisnew variationonthe theme was to be signifcantly larger; more of aluxurybruiserwith allthat entails.
There was alink between Alfa Romeo and Chrysler,too. Sort of. Ish. The former’sparent
companyFiathad entered into a strategicpartnershipthatby2011 –ayear after the TZ3Stradale was launched –resulted in the Italian industrial giant acquiring a53.5% stake inChrysler (which in 2014 became 100% ownership). As such, theidea of areskinned and rebadged Chrysler kind of made sense if youjumped through enough mental hoops frst.And it really was aViper to the point that the platform and running gear–complete with the all-aluminium 8.4-litre V10 powerhouse –remained unaltered.
This was an exercise in recladding, the new carbon-fbre skin being applied to the existing hardpoints of the inner structure. Inside,the cabinarchitecture was pure Viper Only theleather-clad seats and dashtop plus the sprinklingofAlfa and Zagato logos gave the game away.The makeoverwas dreamedup by Zagato’s resident artiste, Norihiko Harada, and, while attractive, it perhaps veered towards caricature of the early TZs. However,hedid have amuch larger canvas to contend with.
Third-generationcompany principal Andrea Zagato said after its release: “Essential beauty was what we wanted this Alfa Romeo’scarbonfbre body to say.Because of the Fiat Group-
Chrysler/Dodge partnership, the TZ3 can be considered history’sfrst ‘American’ Alfa Romeo.” And the price of thiscurio? Acool $1m,or thereabouts. What’s more, only nine cars would be built (it remains unrecorded as to whether that many were sold). One even made it to the UK, albeit briefy,withJenson Button taking to the wheel during the 2012Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Tellingly,not all exotica built in small numbers appreciate in value. The car pictured here plus another TZ3 Stradalesoldinthe past few years for less than half the originalprice. There’s probably alesson in there somewhere… ★
Across the pond
When Ifrst visited North America, abandoned cars and trucks could be found in almost everyrural hamlet. Often, with abit of curiosity and persuasion, you were able to take acloser look at them and in some cases even take them home. Depending how long the vehicle had been there it could be anything from acomplete basket case, with little in the way of usable parts left on it, to acar or truck that had recently been pulled off the road and was still wearing nearly current registration tags. Most vehicles, however,weresomewhere in between. And it didn’tmatter which part of the countryyou were in, there were plentyofpickings. Times, however, have changed. Over the last 20 years there has been arapid decline in the number of old vehiclestobefound littering the countryside. Environmental regulations,changing land values, or retiring business owners with no succession plan; all of these are reasons why many of these operations have disappeared. Additionally,agood number ofthe yards that still operate and used to have asizeable stock of classic cars have either had much of their inventoryremoved or crushed to make way for late-model offerings,
Still out there
Evans is encouraged by stumbling across acollection of old cars in the wild…
which tend to generatemore money as salvage and for parts. For the yards that have gone out of business, much of their stock often has had asimilar fate, withmany cars ending up between steel jaws. Recently,there was big news over here withthe announcement that CTCAutoRanch, amassive classic car salvage yard located just outsideDenton, Texas was closing its doors for good, with the two brothers that ran the facility,David and Allen Williamson, stating they were retiring. Founded in 1990, CTC hadwell over 3000 classic and antique cars spread across several felds. It wasapopular place for pick ‘n’ pull enthusiasts, but in April 2025 CTC closed its doors for the last time. Agood deal of the inventorywas crushed and sold for scrap –acommon theme for many of these yards, thoughina Facebookpost, the Williamsons
did say that the vehicles being scrapped were the onesthat were truly beyond repair and could not be sold as project cars. While we’ve seen this happen right across the countryand it’soften diffcult to simply walk into ayard or visit afarm looking forclassic project cars or parts these days, if you’re patient there are still some diamonds out there. Recently,Iwas with my partner and her family helping move some items out of an old 53ft trailer on arural property at the end of adirt road. When we got there, we found that there were several old cars that had been left on the grounds, most of which were largely complete. There were acouple of 1947 Chryslers, a1974 Corvette Roadster,1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Convertible, 1989 ChevroletCaprice 9C1 and, buried in the weeds, amid1980s GMC chassis cab and aBuick Grand National!
How all these vehicles ended up there is amyster y, but I’ve started to do alittle digging.Most of them are still wearing plates, indicating that individuals or families still hold the title to them. It was areal treat to come across cars like these, since agood number of them are highly desirable for enthusiasts, though given how deep in the reeds one of the Chr yslers and the Buick were, these two might be abit too far gone to restore, plus the Olds, withits topmissing, might be little more than aparts car at this point. Nevertheless, it was areal treat to come across these cars andfor me, it turned the clock back 20 years or so. It also proved that while agreat number of discarded old cars have vanished from the North American landscape, thereare still some gems out there, including of course here, in theGreat Lakes. ★
1947 Chryslerin surprisingly good shape.
1974 Corvette Roadster
1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Convertible.
1989 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1.
Huw Evans
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