phscollectorcarworld

PHS COLLECTORCAR WORLD IS ON A FIELD TRIP!

2013-06-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

By: Patrick Smith
That's right, I'm taking a tour through the hinterlands in order to find new interesting wrecks and cool cars to write about. Stay tuned, some more artifacts and finds are on their way.....

1975 Cadillac Eldorado: The Year of Living Audaciously

2013-06-07T09:48:00.001-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

In 1975, Cadillac was promoting the front wheel drive Eldorado with a series of color ads comparing their latest offering with one of their previous classics from the 1930s. To put the ads in context, classic car collecting got its start in the late 1950s with a few enthusiasts avidly scouring old garages and barns for forgotten heaps and paying cheap money for them. They were after everything and anything with a good name and quality construction, preferably coach built custom phaetons or a boat tail body. Failing that, a nice formal sedan would do. Locomobile, Peerless, Marmon, Packard, Lincoln and Cadillac were among the top makes being sought after. Later on the late sixties and early seventies, the classic car hobby had become a thriving business. Restoration firms like White Post in Hibernia and specific restorers like the legendary Dutch Schultz were used to get cars in top condition for participation in premium shows like Pebble Beach.

The Eldorado convertible is the casual fan's choice for investment. The hardtop offers some truly
rare options for appreciation.

In other words, classic car collecting was a rich man's hobby and a cool one at that. The classics of the thirties evoked a bygone era of bespoke construction and high quality attention to detail throughout. The interiors were real leather on the open cars and very nice cloth and wood caps on the closed cars.Carpets were usually wool. The trim on door handles and hardware was often luxurious, from the swirled gear shift knob to the Lucite bezels. The bright work could be either nickel, stainless steel or chrome. Some makes used German Silver which was a form of electroplating. Very few of the custom coach built cars were alike. Often you bought a rolling chassis and specified what body type you wanted from a catalog supplied by the coach firm. LeBaron was one biggie in the business.

Although a stretch of imagination in 1975, today's abysmal quality standards makes 1975 Eldorados look
like coach built classics of Yesteryear.

Comparing a 1975 Cadillac Eldorado to one of these classics was a stretch of credibility. Eldorados were mass produced assembly line cars. They made 35,802 hardtops alone that year and 8,950 convertibles.The production rate may have been low compared to a Chevrolet Impala, but there's no chance of it being hand crafted. That doesn't mean it wasn't a good car or even without quality. Eldorados did offer a high degree of individual options. Eldorado offered 23 colors in 1975; 5 them were optional extra cost FireMist colors. The FireMist paint codes were extra metallic content paint which required expert handling and finishing. You didn't want to have paint drop out, fish eyes or excess spray occurring on a 'Mist' Cadillac. It would be expensive to correct as a customer just wouldn't accept a minor blemish. Not at the prices they're paying. If you specified Special FireMist Paint, which was new for 1975, you paid even more and got show car quality finish. We'll go into pricing later; be sure you're sitting down.

Mosaic pattern cloth is Cadillac-ese for diagonal Hounds Tooth. The number one choice
for Men with Dubious Means of Self Support.

Interior upholstery options were extensive as well. You had three standard interiors to choose from; a choice of Mosaic Check Cloth, Monticello Velour or Metamora plaid/leather bolster combo. Mosaic Check Cloth really means hounds tooth with three combinations to choose from. Monticello Velour is supplied as a paisley design in six color choices and Metamora plaid and leather is...just wild. It's as if someone from Dodge Division sneaked in at GM one night and let loose.It might be the rarest standard interior version. The optional interior was Shirred Sierra Grain leather available in 12 colors. It's clearly the most desirable version to have and Cadillac planned to sell most of their cars with this. I suspect the Mosaic and Metamora interiors went on cars with raffish paint jobs and sold to young men of dubious means.

This outlandish plaid and leather combo is something more likely to be found in a Dodge. Note the rare
tube roll arm rest found on early production '75 Eldos.

Most of your Eldorados are going to have shirred leather interiors.

   The inserts for doors consisted of Distressed Pecan Wood Grain. It gave the interior a stately, sombre look similar to those Spanish end tables and the Mission furniture which was so popular in the 1970s.We'll ignore the fact they were plastic. The carpets were heavy shag pile and new for that year was a set of matching carpeted floor mats. Speaking of options, the Eldorado had a lot of them. The most expensive being the Astro Moon Roof which was close to a thousand dollars when combined with the vinyl cabriolet roof. A bare Astroroof was only about a hundred dollars less. Needless to say this was fairly rare and about as good as it gets on a hardtop Eldorado. Everyone clamored for the convertibles but as production was limited to just 8,950, we reckon a few Astroroofs were sold that year.Worth getting if the car has other nice features. Electronic Fuel Injection was new that year. So was Illuminated Key Entry.

    While the casual buyer still gravitates towards Eldorado convertibles, there is some room in the market for good hardtops to move upwards. Prices are as cheap as they're going to be. Getting a quality example before they appreciate is a smart move. Restoration isn't cheap and finding some parts like the early 1975 center arm rest roll is expensive. Get as complete and as good condition a car you can find and enjoy it.
              * Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA ARCHIVES.

Classic Car Care Tips: Keeping Your Shine On

2013-06-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

Owning a classic car is fun but it can be a lot of work. This is especially true when you're competing in car shows or do a lot of driving to cruise nights. Certain colors are high maintenance compared to others. Anyone who owns or owned a black car will nod silently in agreement. It'd be nice to know a few tricks to make your life easier when running a car through the season. Little things that can save you some down time between shows or even before heading out the door.

Austin Healey owner can't believe how clean and shiny his car is since he uses static killing
cotton bed sheets as a daily cover.

I think the number one pet peeve of car nuts has to do with keeping their car finish looking good. It seems that after waxing a car, it becomes a magnet for dirt and debris. That isn't far from the truth. Metal surfaces do get ionized from the cleaning process and the static electricity build up will attract dust particles like bees to honey. It even happens in the garage overnight. You drive in your steed after an evening at the car show and it's gleaming. Check on it next morning and a thin haze will have settled on it. Overnight dust particles settled on the car from the air and static electricity did the rest.Older garages with spackled or stucco surfaces are bad for this as well. A proper garage car cover is one way to go but it's a bit overkill. The enemy is actually static electricity.There are two ways to beat that.

Anti Static Straps: By hanging anti static straps from a low point of the car to the ground, you release any build up of static electricity from the car body. Ions aren't pulling the dust out of the air layer and making it stick to the paint anymore.
Cotton Bed Sheets:
Another nice trick that helps is using old bed sheet sets. They're thin, usually made of high cotton content and also disrupt the static electricity charge. They come off the car in minutes and are washable. This saves time and money as you use less of the minute detailer from this practice and aren't busy detailing as much. Best part is it's virtually free. Instead of trashing those old bed sheet sets they're getting a second life as day covers for the car.
Selecting a Good Car Cover: This isn't a luxury item. If you own a nice car with decent paint, protecting it is important. If you store your car indoors, you can opt for a medium duty cover which is breathable but not waterproof. The better ones are machine washable as well. Look for things like tags in the cover indicating FRONT. They're useful guides and save time. Make sure the gusseting isn't overdone. Some manufacturers put so much gusseting at the bottom that installing or taking off the cover becomes a battle. You're fighting to remove snagged material from exhaust tips. bumpers, licence plate frames, etc. If you store the car outdoors, a heavy duty waterproof cover is a better investment. However, make sure that the area your car is stored in doesn't get wind. On windy days, a cover will strip paint to bare metal in spots. In that case, you're better off without a cover. I've seen this happen to someone's poor Lotus Elite. That car cover looked like it was breakdancing on the car for 5 hours one day. Sure enough, when the owner took the cover off, it was rubbed to primer on the fender creases and buttresses.

Car covers have been around a long time. The latest ones employ breathable fabric to let air move around
and keep moisture out. The most economical line I've seen with breathable fabric is by Simoniz.

The Washless Car Exprience: Some owners hardly ever wash their cars anymore. You can't tell either. The rise of mini detailers and instant touch up wax in a bottle, makes car washing almost unecessary. You can get spray can wax or fluid in a spray pump bottle. Both do the job well. You need microfiber towels to do the buffing. That's it. I was sceptical of these claims until given a bottle to try out. It worked well. I also tried a spray can version of this instant wax and it did a good job. There was a bit more buffing work involved with it. If you store your car indoors or in a car port with a cover, these products are going to cut down your car wash times dramatically.

Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. All pics PHS MEDIA ARCHIVES.

Mustang II T-Roof Convertibles

2013-05-31T08:52:00.003-07:00

                                                                       By: Patrick Smith
    When Ford came out with the all new Mustang II in 1974, the excitement was similar to that of 1964. Well, let me rephrase that. The shock was similar to that of 1964 when Americans had never seen a sporty looking car sell so cheaply. A lot had changed in ten years. The joy of ownership had deflated by 1974. Could the new Mustang II revive it?

Here is a 1978 promo of Mustang II's new convertible T Roof car. Ford called them convertibles. Everyone
else calls it a T Top car. We call them rare and sexy.

   The short answer is yes. Anything fresh and different is going to have admirers. Ford veered off track with the massive restyle for 1971. Although it was fundamentally well engineered, it no longer suited the buying public needs. Returning to consumer surveys, Ford tapped hard and deep into the youth buyer's expectations from a car. They discovered a slightly more sophisticated buyer this time. Better quality interiors and a preference for good sound systems ranked higher than before. Sporty looks were still important, but plushness was demanded. Black vinyl bucket seats, huge tachometers and bulging dual exhaust tips weren't going to win over the new buyer.The Mustang II debuted and won buyers over.

   After a few years in the marketplace, the success of the Cobra II indicated buyers still wanted some kind of performance excitement, even in diluted form. The disappearance of the convertible body during 1976, America's Bicentennial Year created a perverse reaction among buyers. Annoyed at losing the choice, buyers snapped up luxury yachts pumped out by GM. A new option called the T Top also sold like gangbusters. Ford knew they had to do something along this line. Making the Mustang II a true convertible was out of the question. Too much structural rigidity was lost due to the unibody platform. The best they could do was a removable roof panel. Ford tried that idea with a show car called Sportiva. It was in fact, a Mustang II sports roof with a single removable center panel, leaving just a sail panel and front windshield.

   It looked sensational but for mass production, this design wasn't practical. The cost was too high. Ford instead looked at a proper T Roof system.What came out was something very similar to the Hurst Hatch Panels first seen on the Grand Prix and later on Trans Am. There was also a convertible concept car made but it was not released. Any convertible Mustang IIs encountered are post sale conversions. What was officially released by Ford were the following; flip open sun roof, moon roof which was discontinued in 1978, and a T Roof which Ford described as a T- Roof convertible. It is actually a targa roof design with the center bar design but you know how Madison Avenue types are. T-Roofs weren't available on Ghias or hardtops. It was a sports roof design option only.

Some cars had conversions done after sale. This sports roof has a two piece,
sideways lift smoked glass roof with center divider. It's essentially a sunroof split in two.
Ford T roof units are separate panels and go all the way to the drip rails as on Trans Ams.

The T-Roof option appeared in late 1977. Both Dearborn and San Jose plants offered it although by virtue of lower production totals, any San Jose example is going to be rare. The T-Roof wasn't cheap to buy. if you ordered it with a 2+2, Mach 1 or Cobra II you got a break on price and paid $647.00. If you ordered it on a stripped sports roof, you paid $689.00 for it. By contrast, a flip open sunroof was only $167.00. I guess you can see where we're going with this, T -Roof Mustang IIs are going to be loaded cars as a rule.

Shown here is Mustang II's flip open sun roof. Literature says it's a Ghia or hardtop feature only.

Spotting a T-Roof Mustang: Identifying a genuine T-Roof Mustang II isn't that hard but you should be aware there were aftermarket conversions being done at the same time. The smaller volume dealerships didn't have the clout needed to pull desirable orders all the time so conversions by an aftermarket firm was done sometimes. You can check the build buck tag on the car to see if it came from the factory as a T-Roof car. On Dearborn examples the tag will have TRF marked on it. A San Jose car will have TARGA marked on it. Another code you might encounter is FLP which is the flip top sun roof option.You'll likely to see this on a hardtop or Ghia. Those buck tags are found on the radiator cradle area on Mustang IIs.

Shown here is a 2+2 sports roof with T Tops. Option is also offered on base sports roof, Cobra II,
King Cobra and Mach 1.

RARITIES: Oddly enough, an expensive model like the King Cobra isn't likely to have the T-Roof option. One source states 547 were made with that option. I haven't seen this figure verified anywhere else but it's possible he obtained it from Kevin Marti as part of a MartiAutoWorks documentation package. A rare version of a T-Roof car is a Mach 1. They only made 6,719 Mach 1s total in 1977 so there's few of them to start with. Every one wanted a Cobra II so there's 1,948 of those to pick from. In 1978, the Mach 1 rose a bit in production with 7,968 sold. Cobra IIs were down a bit to 8,009. This is due to the new kid on the block, the King Cobra which sold 4,960 units in the Mustang II's final year. s you can see, 547 out of 4,960 cars isn't a lot of T-Roofs, but it's not super rare either.

GLOW PAINT OPTION: Hook up your T-Roof with an optional Glow Paint color and you're moving into rarefied air. Glow paints were high impact colors in either metallic or high pigment solids. You paid extra for those colors so it'll show up on the buck tag and door tag codes. Choices were different each year so consult a shop manual or paint book for details.
Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA ARCHIVES.

Project Cars: 1969 Dodge SuperBee

2013-05-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

Close up reveals obvious repaint in black and the wild SuperBee hood.

                                                                        By: Patrick Smith
     Project cars are always fascinating. I find it is especially neat to peek in on other project cars and live vicariously through someone else's wrench thrashing. You know that opening credits to Wide World of Sports, the scene where they narrate, 'the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat' as they show some hapless bastard rolling arse over teakettle as he strips the bunting off the downhill ski slope and proceeds to chalk up a broken bone record? Some project cars are like that. Actually most of my project cars are like that. So it's fun to see how other people's deals go down.

As found at a rural car repair shop many years ago.

Take this one for instance. It's a nice Dodge Coronet coupe. She's a 1969 model, don't let that funky domed hood scoop fool you. The tip offs are the rectangular side marker lenses. 1968 Coronets used bullet style markers. A closer look tells us more information. The barbell style grille with blacked out insert and bumblebee emblem means it's a SuperBee. The front fenders sport 383 Magnum die cast call outs. The solid pillar between quarter window and door frame means it's a base coupe. So far, it's looking good. Dodge's SuperBee was their B body foot soldier in the muscle car war. They made 27,846 of them during 1969. That was the first year they offered a hardtop version of the car. In 1968 only the coupe was offered. No convertible SuperBee version was available in '68 or '69. It was supposed to be Dodge's budget bomber like the Plymouth RoadRunner.

The engine was in for some work. Something about bent pushrods. It was eventually rebuilt according to shop owner.

The 383 Magnum 4 barrel V8 was rated at 335 horsepower and usually came with a four speed manual heavy duty floor shift. In 1970, to save money the three speed heavy duty floor shifter was standard equipment. Both were Hurst sticks but the Pistol Grip was only for the four speed cars in 1970. A column shift 727 was the basic automatic transmission offering. The floor shift mandated bucket seats and a console. Let's look at this car closer and see what's going on. The first thing we can see is a six digit licence plate. These pics were taken awhile ago and the car may have been off the road awhile. More on this later. The next thing is the minor bump on the driver side fender. A neat vertical crease that didn't break the paint. Likely this was from something falling on it in the garage with a tarp or blanket over it. There is evidence of prior paint and bodywork on the driver side fender as a couple of cracks and minor rust marks are evident.

It's hard to find old 1970s era interiors now. Check out the column tach, equalizer and black
carpet that faded pink from sunlight.

The inner door panels have been removed and we can see black paint on the inside as well as the outer panel surfaces. It may well have been a black car from the factory. At this point, we'll never know.What we do know is this car wasn't abandoned. In fact, I spoke with the shop owner whose premises this car was resting in and he mentioned that the car was in for service. Apparently the 383 V8 had some minor bent pushrod troubles and that was what had sidelined the car in the first place. Anyway it was in for a complete going over and I gathered the engine was going to be redone.

I wonder if this one was ever fully restored with new paint and interior?

Since these photos were taken, the engine has been rebuilt and the car left the shop. It may even have been repainted and a new interior installed. I wonder if the owner changed the hood for a proper 1969 double scooped one or just left it as is? At the time, these Heinz 57 assemblages were kind of looked down upon as 100 percent factory restorations were all the rage. Nowadays it'd be qiute welcome at a cruise night as a Day Two or 1970s to early 1980s street machine. The only sure constant in this world is change, which is as good as a rest!
* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA, all rights reserved.

Getting a Replacement Car Key with Transponder on the Cheap

2013-05-23T17:43:00.002-07:00

                                                                      By: Patrick Smith

   While late model cars are very convenient to drive and use, there are some things that are really annoying about them. One of those things include the car key with the built in lock buttons, emergency alarm and trunk release remote. These keys if you lose them, are hellishly expensive to replace. Dealers want ridiculous money for one. The joke is you can buy a perfectly satisfactory one off the Internet for way cheaper and do the conversion of transponder and remote control battery pack and push buttons yourself. Some cars like the late model Hondas have a real problem with cracked key grips due to a flaw in the design where the two halves of the plastic push button fob meet. There is only one screw holding these two pieces together. Repeated use over time will stress the plastic and metal threaded screw as you turn the ignition on. Eventually the two halves of the case will break around the screw head and the key will become a limp, barely usable piece of junk.

The Honda key fob often cracks around the screw hole at base of key shaft. Repeated use of key
eventually splits the case in two, requiring a replacement.

Ordering a replacement key fob for the transponder is easy. Just make note of your style key fob and record any details regarding style and model. Search the web for your version of key fob. You usually have a choice between basic key blanks with the two halves or a fancier version with the actual car maker's logo available either in press on metal decal or plastic emboss. Order the key fob and when it arrives, you take apart the old key fob using the right size jeweller's screw driver. On late model Hondas the Phillips head screw is used. Pry apart the two case halves gently, taking care not to dislodge the metal key shaft. On this style key fob, the shaft is encased in a thin wedge of hardened plastic. It will hold the key firmly when both halves are bolted together but once that seal breaks and the halves are apart, it's easy to bust the key shaft loose. You don't want to do that if you can avoid it. If it does happen, keep the key shaft somewhere safe.

The green boxed area is where the transponder is located. Tearing away outside wall with pliers
is safest way to remove it. Pry it loose from bottom side with pin or toothpick.

    Once the two halves are apart, pull out the battery pack/remote button unit and install in the half contains the cut outs for the pads. The next part is the hardest bit of the whole operation. Removing and transferring the transponder. Look inside the two halves of your key fob. You'll notice that one side has a raised plastic square molded along the edge of the fob wall. This is your transponder case. Inside and under that black plastic lid is the chip. It'll be a rectangular chip with some printing on it, (usually Phillips Electronics or some other micro processor maker). The transponder is inside a well and is often glued in place at the bottom. The safest way to remove the transponder without damaging it is to peel away the outer plastic wall using pliers. Take your time, remove it a piece at a time. The top cover is a thin strip and lifts off. Peel away the wall from the top and work your way down. You'll see the transponder soon. Use a toothpick or a thin needle to jar it loose from the base.

   You don't need glue to fix the transponder into the new key fob. It will fit snugly enough inside without it. Place the screw in the hole at the base of the key shaft and carefully screw it together after clicking the two case halves together. A word of caution here; replacement key fob halves often are more brittle plastic than factory originals so do not thread the screw down flush. You could crack the case and introduce a stress point where the key fob will bust open again.Ideally you just want the screw head level with the plastic, not below it or countersunk.

Although they look alike, the valet key is cut differently from master key. Use the master key shaft even if it's loose
and apart or else you won't be able to access a locked fuel tank, trunk pass through or even more important features on an expensive car.

All the remains now is testing the remote functions and getting the key shaft cut. Once the test functions work, take your key blank to an authorised independent key cutter and give him the original key fob with the shaft. He needs the full working version, not the valet key which isn't cut identically to the proper fully operational key. Valet keys are missing a couple of particular cuts to prevent some features like the locking fuel door and the trunk pass through area from being accessed. On higher end cars like Mercedes, BMWs and Ferrari's, the fully operational key allows the valet switch to be locked on. The other important detail is the shaft on factory cars are very tough, usually CNC cut, so it has to be very accurately done. An original key shaft is going to make job go well. Using a re cut key is making it dicey. Honda key shafts are very stiff to begin with so to cut the replacement correctly, he needs the exact contours for duplicating.

Once he is done, you have a replacement key and for a fraction of what it'd cost to have a dealer do it for you. In our example, the blank key replacement was purchased online and shipped for about $17.00. The old parts transferred in minutes for free and the key blank was cut by an independent for $20.00. A little less than $40.00 total was our cost. Compare that to a dealer replacement and you'll agree it is a way more sensible alternative!

* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith . All Images PHS Media, all rights reserved.

Lost Star Cars: The Bee Gee's Maurice Gibb's Silver Cloud and Aston Martin DB6

2013-05-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

They were stars twice over. The BeeGees were top hit makers in the 1960s, followed by excess and crack ups in 1970. Then they reunited and worked their way up to the top in 1977 with their disco opus, "Staying' Alive." The Brothers Gibb were very fortunate to learn valuable life lessons and prove it was worth the struggle. Along the way, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb enjoyed fame, fortune and the good life. One of the perks in the good life was owning some truly righteous automobiles.

The Bee Gees and Donna Summer defined Disco and 1970s music.

Two of the Brothers Gibb were very much into cars; Maurice and Barry had excellent taste. Born on the Isle of Man, near England, the Gibbs lived in Manchester then Australia. The Gibbs were already involved in singing before they reached Brisbane, Queensland in 1958.Barry, Maurice and Robin continued their singing act. During the early 1960s, the Bee Gees sang on the ABC network (Australia Broadcasting Corporation). They had some tense moments when Beatlemania hit Australia in 1964 but In mid 1965, it started happening for them. "Wine and Women" broke into the Sydney charts at #35 eventually hitting #19. They did well in Australia but they realised England was where they had to break big.

They reached England in 1967 and within months they were signed and released a hit record. The Bee Gees were able to really enjoy themselves by mid 1968 and that's where our car oydessy begins; with Maurice Gibb buying a Rolls Royce convertible. It was a beautiful Silver Cloud drophead convertible featuring coachwork by H.J. Mulliner. The Silver Cloud era of Rolls Royce had three phases and Maurice’s car falls into the third phase from 1962-1965. The new for 1963 design of Silver Cloud featured larger twin two-inch SU carburetors instead of the previous 1 3/4. The compression ratio went up to 9:1 and the crankshaft was nitride hardened to prevent cracking. Externally, the chrome plated wheel trim was replaced with stainless steel starting in April, 1963. The front seats became wider for January 1964 and by June the headlamp bezels started using the RR monogram.

Maurice Gibb with his 1964 ( at the latest) Silver Cloud drophead. Note no RR monogrammed headlamp bezels
and the wider front seat, this places it between January and June 1964.

    Looking at Maurice Gibb’s car, we can see it is no later than a June 1964 built car. In spite of the press release touting Maurice as having bought a brand new Silver Cloud with his earnings in 1968, the absence of monogrammed headlamp bezels and wide front seat gives the date of this car away. It was a well equipped car at the time and British bespoke workmanship was one of the best in the world at this time. Maurice’s Silver Cloud appears to be finished in black. Once source claims it was black but as the photograph is black and white, it’s hard to be certain. Rolls Royce also used dark blue. Maurice also owned an Aston Martin DB6 and a Morris Mini Cooper S. Maurice was very much a party goer at the time and indulged in a fair bit of drinking in the late 1960s. Sadly, he crashed the Rolls Royce against a tree one evening. The car was damaged but not extensively. You have to realize the grille of a Rolls Royce was exceptionally stiff and combined with the front bumper and steel bodywork, a tree in the city isn’t going to do a lot of damage. The Ringo Starr Rolls Royce coffee table with glass top produced in limited edition in 1969 required 4 men to lift it. Does that give you an idea how strong these grilles are?The car was most likely repaired and life went on.

    Maurice decided to get straight after meeting and marrying Lulu. The band was in trouble at this point with Barry and Robin drifting apart and being consumed with spending sprees and drug habits. By 1970, Maurice was down to one car, his Aston Martin DB6 and quit boozing to excess. Barry and Robin started working together again to make albums. It was a long road to success again with Saturday Night Fever in 1977.

      Strangely, Maurice Gibb’s Silver Cloud hasn’t reappeared. We know where Barry Gibb’s collection of Rolls and Bentleys went. His 1963 Bentley S2 MullinerPark-Ward convertible has been on auction as well as his 1965 Silver Cloud Mulliner-Park-Ward Chinese Eye convertible. Maurice’s Roller is missing. Someone owns it, there’s no question of that. The Silver Clouds have long been established as collector cars since the early 1970s. The question remains who owns it?

    While we’re pondering that one, here’s another cool ride with a Bee Gee’s connection that has slipped away to obscurity. In 1978, The Bee Gees were on top of the charts again with a smash hit LP, Saturday Night Fever. To reward the band, their manager, Robert Stigwood, presented them with a platinum 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham sedan. The paint was platinum silver as was the full vinyl roof. The interior wasn’t silver though. It appears to have been dark red or maroon. This makes sense because silver would fade very quickly in Florida’s sunlight. Of course, metallic silver paint would fade too, but this was a promotional gesture, not a gift planned for lifetime use. Which brings me to my next point….what happened to this Cadillac? It doesn’t appear to have been kept by any of the Gibbs. In an interview with Maurice in November, 1979, he relates, “Before I was 21, I had 3 Rolls Royces and two Aston Martins. Now I have one Rolls Royce in London, a station wagon in Miami and a Cadillac Seville…that’s it.” The Cadillac was an all new redesign featuring the downsized body from 1977 so it likely was released into the car dealer network and sold as a demonstrator. Platinum by the way, was a standard Cadillac color in 1978, code 15.

The Bee Gees collect their 1978 Platinum Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for platinum sales of
their Saturday Night Fever album. Current wherabouts is unknown. Pic was taken in Miami.

Barry Gibb, likewise hinted he had pared down in an interview from his Miami home in 1978, although no specifics were mentioned as to what cars he owned. Robin lived nearby but his family was in England and he headed home as soon as the tax exile period was over. At the time of Maurice’s death, his car was a Pronto Cruiser. Most likely he owned other ones as well but that’s the only one mentioned in his interview. Given the men’s lavish taste for vehicles, it’s likely a few more cars have been through their fingers than the ones mentioned here and we’ll record that info as we come across it.The Maurice Gibb Silver Cloud and Aston Martin DB6 are still MIA and Lost Star Cars.

*Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. All Images by PHS Media Archives. Known photographer copyright image a, Ed Caraeff Studio, others unspecified.

Classic Car Thefts Part Two: How Classic Cars Disappear in North America.

2013-05-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

By: Patrick Smith
The first part of my article focused on car theft rings which operates overseas using shipping containers. These are large, organized crime rings and they deal with late model foreign and exotic cars. Classic cars are a part of their business, but it's mixed in with the late model Benzes, Nissan Pathfinders, Landrover Defenders and Porsches. There are a few big time rings that will handle everything and it's those teams which came up with the 'Grand Tour' concept of shipping very hot, very conspicuous rare cars through criminal controlled supply lines in balkanized countries. Another term for that mode of shipping is called 'dieseling.' Ironically it's a term derived from the penal system when problem inmates who are being kept out of easy legal access is shipped to another penitentiary by a circuitous route of buses with lots of stops at other institutions. Of course, criminals adopted the term for their own method of shaking the authorities off their tail.

A project car like this one will likely be broken up for parts when stolen. A more valuable example lie a 340 Swinger
will have VIN tags switched, a paint job or a few cosmetic changes and its registration altered before resale.

This time, we're going to talk about how smaller criminal gangs handle stolen cars that remain in North America. Classic cars are in strong demand in North America. It stands to reason some thieves operate on a smaller, regional scale and quite successfully. I'll be describing some of the techniques and the modus operandi so you can better defend yourself against these snakes. Before there were really slick electronic tracking systems available, classic cars were relatively easy to steal. All you needed was opportunity, a vehicle to boost and the right tools. Since older cars are missing the kinds of theft deterrents modern cars have, they're shamefully easy to hot wire.
Repo Men: A lot of car thieves learned their trade legitimately; as repossession men. There isn't much difference between the professional car thief and a repo man. One works for himself, the other for the bank.Other trades which teach budding car thieves a lot of tricks include; tow truck operator, skip tracing, credit collection agent, deadbeat tracer, bounty hunters. I'm not saying that every car thief has some training in these fields. I am saying that really good ones have been involved with these activities before when they were in the 'straight life.' Really good ones don't get caught.
Here's the deal with repo men. They're often college kids. It's night work or early morning work. The hours are quite chaotic. The pay isn't great. Usually they've had brushes with the law already. In the State of California however, repo men cannot have a record for theft. The California Department of Consumer Affairs checks the records of license holders of agencies that perform the repossession service for banks once all other means of settling payment has been exhausted. The Los Angeles Police Commission checks up on all employees working for prospective licensees in L.A. The prospective repo agent has to pass a background check and be able to post a bond. In that sense, they're still in the straight life. Only two things are blocked from repo men from the lawman's point of view; break and enter and carrying a concealed weapon. If they're inside the car and have the bank's contract to repossess, cops won't stop the repo man. It's a legal matter now.

Crude but effective, the slide hammer pulls out stubborn ignition assemblies, door locks.

Many repo men are involved in petty theft. Once a car has been repoed, any items of value that were inside of the car is usually nicked. The owner cannot prove easily that it was present at time of repossession.Likewise, repossessing a car sometimes involves cutting a pad lock on a fence gate
or perhaps using a hydraulic jack to trolley the car down the driveway or away from a stone curb if the front tires have been turned hard into it prevent a tow truck pull away. If the "owner" is a good skip or has fallen arrears on payments before, he likely knows a few tricks of his own to prevent the car being repossessed. It's a slippery slope down the path towards crime and climbing back towards the straight life isn't so easy. I'm not saying that all repo men turn into car thieves, just that they have excellent training for that lifestyle. In the 1970s and early 1980s it was better than 50 percent chance one would go pro on the wrong side of the fence.

very useful in the old days, the key cutter machine can make a duplicate of your key in a minute.One reason
to keep your buildsheet and phs invoice private.

   A word or two about tools of the trade. A slide hammer is useful especially for some european cars with good steering column locks like Benzes and Porsches. A lock pick set is often used. A key cutter wheel is less often used because it requires the key code. Usually a repo man has this beauty because the bank supplies the key code to help repo the car without damage. It's hardly used now but a few guys keep it in their tool box. Bolt cutters are so handy with padlocks and sundry nuisances. A hydraulic floor jack comes in handy too, a cordless drill, slim jim, a Ford starter relay, a Chrysler ballast resister, and a spare ignition barrel from each of the manufacturers is usually part of the tool kit as well. Other optional goodies include, pepper spray and a taser. A lof of these tools aren't used in quantity anymore by modern repo men since they're getting copies of the keys with transponders from the institution to help recover the vehicles. Old school guys keep their gear for those assignments where someone kited a check to buy a classic car and went on the lam.
Useful covers for Car Thieves:
   Another occupation that's helpful to car thieves is the aftermarket car stereo installation trade. Many high end stereos are expensive enough to warrant some kind of theft deterrence. They often are installed in nice restorations and new cars. Some of these installations are lengthy and take a day or so to perform. Your car is at the shop and what is going to prevent a thief from making a duplicate key or scoping your alarm system well enough to disable it when night time comes? In big cities a car theft ring uses various contacts to find and grab cars to fill their wanted list. Finders fees are paid to people who provide the info on cars to boost. Another business to watch out for are commercial property maintenance crews, particularly if you live in an apartment complex with an underground garage or parking lot.

    The firm may be reputable but sometimes a person is hired as a worker who is actually using the job to case buildings for cars. While repairs are being done to damaged concrete or maybe paintwork on a building, the prospective thief has time to go through the lot and look for suitable candidates. Another risk is the roofing trade. Established professional shops with steady crew aren't usually the ones involved. It'll be a smaller firm just starting out and hiring unknown talent from out of town who might pick up a car thief. While on the roof top, they can see into backyards and garages in a wide 360 radius. A visit later on by himself can check out the individual house and establish security systems if any. If it looks like a good prospect, the hit will probably happen not long after the roofing crew is done and on a different location. By now, you're probably convinced I'm paranoid. I'm not saying this is how all thefts occur, just that these are known methods from those who've been caught.The good ones don't get caught. Mistakes happen, but if they've done their job well, there usually aren't surprises waiting.

Making Cars Disappear: Once the thief has your car, he has to work it so it stays in his hands until he's ready to sell or part it out. If resale is part of the plan, the car's registration usually has to be altered. In some states it's easy to 'wash' a title. Florida has long been a notorious state for changing a stolen car registration. Other ways it can be done is by buying VINs and registrations for another car that is junk and transferring the data to the stolen car. Sometimes the engine and transmission partial VINS are wiped out or altered.A paint job will definitely come into play if its a project car or unrestored vehicle that was stolen. Sometimes these cars wind up in Indian reservations for sale.VIN tags and cowl plate tags are available brand new to reproduce. If the car's worth going through this trouble, it will be wearing new tags. A lot of times the cars just migrate to areas where they dissappear. Eastern St. Louis is kind of a Bermuda Triangle for stolen cars. Repo men have a hard time finding cars there. Chicago is another bad one. In fact, I neglected to mention in the previous article that Chicago is a well known shipping port for containers full of hot vehicles.

   The bottom line is common sense and an attempt to deter thieves is your best bet against a rip off. In a lot of cases the theft was preventable to some degree. Here are a few tips.
Park your car with the tires against the curb and turned sharply. This prevents a tow truck from slipping behind and pulling it out your driveway. The wheels being turned sharply makes the car arc widely. Usually he'll run out of room and have to give up or use a hydraulic jack and boost the front end off the ground.
Disable ignition system
Hide a cell phone in the car. A good model cell phone will be able to assist tracking the car if stolen.
Keep your insurance paid up. Like I said, if someone really wants it, it'll go.
                           *Article copyright 2013 Patrick Smith. Images by PHS Media.

How Classic Car Thefts Are Done

2013-05-17T10:34:00.001-07:00

                                                                    By: Patrick Smith

   It's an ugly truth but if you like your classic car a lot then some one else will want it too. That person might decide to steal it. Collector car theft is a growing problem in North America. Don't let this economic flu fool you. Classic wheels are stolen weekly.The recovery rate isn't very high either. Collector car theft is more specialised than a car jacking or chop shop theft ring. A fast turnover via dis assembly into parts isn't the main source of income. What happens to the car after theft depends a lot on condition, rarity and value of the vehicle. It also depends to some degree on the location of theft.

      Many theft rings operate on a car to order basis and steal cars by a variety of methods. One way is to use fake identity and addresses to secure a lease on a desirable new car. Once the car is released, it is loaded onto a container with others to be shipped overseas. With Mercedes Benzes, BMWs and Porsches, the usual method is your classic car jacking by gun or an opportunistic grab and go when a customer gets careless leaving the car idling at a shop while ordering a double latte. ( don't laugh it happens every week) Those cars use sophisticated wafer lock systems, pass keys and transponders, so you need the car intact with keys to get maximum value on the market. Resale values are often three to four times higher than USA in certain markets such as West Africa, the Ukraine and Baltic area, Japan and Australasia. In 1988, the resale value was only twice as high than the US. The bump and run technique involves hitting the car from behind and while the owner is examining the damage, someone else jumps into the car and takes off. The slickest operations rip off the keys from a parking garage or infiltrate a hotel valet parking system.

    This same group has no problem going after older classics. We're talking about a business organization with a 'steal to order' model. Older classic cars are often bird dogged coming from a cruise night or car show. Details are noted on storage and security. Once the residence has been cased, the hit happens. Sometime it's jet smooth under the guise of a tow truck hauling away a "disabled' classic car for service." Of course the neighbor is unable to provide the name of the tow truck service and if there was a sign and operator's number it will always be a false one. The author was nearly the victim of a flatbed truck style theft. I witnessed a Jerr Dan rig backing up to my driveway where my 1980 Turbo Special Edition was parked. He'd stopped and was about to exit his cab when I was at the corner in my car. Only the traffic light saved him from being caught. He spotted me and high tailed it out of there before the light changed. I asked around the various tow truck places about the operator number and it was fake.

   Some valuable cars like a 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible demands more blunt methods. One freshly restored example in a two car garage lock up with steel gates and fence. The thieves charged the gates with a truck and boosted the Chevy in seconds after disabling the security cameras. They left the late sixties Corvette behind. Only the Bel Air convertible was taken. A steal to order.

    A very valuable and rare car such as an early sixties or late fifties road going Ferrari will be handled slightly different. It's given a method of transport, jokingly referred to as the 'Grand Tour' by crime insiders. The container will likely be sent to a crime organization friendly zone such as Latvia or port towns on the Baltic or African coast. From there the car is loaded onto trucks and driven to European contacts for transfer to European customers. If it's an Australian, New Zealand or Japanese sale; the container diverted in that direction.

   It takes a little longer and costs more, but interception by authorities is highly unlikely in balkanized territories where law enforcement has little power. When you're talking about a rare 1960s Ferrari California Spyder worth several million, an extra $50,000,-$80,000 to make it happen is peanuts to the right buyer. Once it reaches the customer, returning the car is virtually impossible. Insurance companies are stuck with paying the claim. Even if the car is found later, the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in getting a car claimed as insurance property from Switzerland or Sydney with a foreign owner listed as property owner becomes tedious. You may be surprised to know that large tracts of prime Australian land is owned by Saudis.

    As you can see, it's become big business. If someone really wants your toy, it will vanish.The best thing to do is discourage it as much as possible. I'll let someone else verse you on the latest security and deterrent methods. I'm just giving some interesting info on where your car likely went once its boosted. Basically these operations share one thing in common; access to ports. Shipping plays a key role in moving the goods out of here. New Jersey has on of the larges ports on the east coast. It's a major center for stolen car container ship outs. Other cities well known for this activity include; San Diego, Oakland-San Francisco, Long Beach, New York City, Seattle, Montreal, Vancouver, Boston, Houston, Tampa, New Orleans, Newark, Norfolk, Philadelphia. As a result,vehicle thefts in the satellite cities of these major ports are notably higher than cities inland.

    Getting the hot cars loaded is one thing. Getting them past Customs Agents requires inside help. The Freight Forwarder is the man who arranges all the shipping documents. The thieves can either falsify the description of contents and take their chances on not being caught. Since many forwarders weren't involved in checking contents in the late 1980s, this ruse worked well. Really serious volume theft rings go the extra step and bribe a freight forwarder. This still works; a car theft ring was busted in Long Beach this year when Customs Agents found cars and SUVs inside containers marked as exercise equipment. Over 100 cars were recovered in that operation.

What Happens Now: In the early days of vehicle tracking systems, thieves used to steal a car, park it somewhere isolated for a day to see if it had a tracking system such as LoJack installed. If the car wasn't recovered, the thieves loaded it on a container with other cars and shipped it out. With the progress in detection ability of LoJack and other active geofencing systems, the thieves don't bother waiting anymore. The thefts are done quickly and within the hour the car is loaded on a container and is prepped for shipment overseas. In other words the thefts are done in or very close to a port city. Once it gets to the overseas location, recovery success falls rapidly. Either it takes the "Grand Tour" or is unloaded in criminal friendly territories such as West Africa, Vietnam, the Ukraine and certain Caribbean islands. Speed is of the essence now. If you don't start tracking the car in a port city, it's likely off shore by the next 24 hours.

Where They End Up:  Vietnam, West Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Bratislava, Croatia, Belgrade, Latvia, Lithuania, Turks and Caicos, Saudi Arabia.

*Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. The data concerning 1980s theft ring methods are from                                      Motor Vehicle Theft Investigations: Emerging International Trends
               by Special Agent , FBI, Mary Ellen Beekman & Detective Micheal R. Daly, NYPD.

1953 Dodge Regent Sedan

2013-05-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

                                                                              By: Patrick Smith

   When the post war era began, the big three manufacturers didn't have to do much to get sales rolling again. They ressurected 1940s tooling and made a few minor changes to trim and sold as many as they coyuld roll out. The pent up demand was huge. It wasn't until 1950 when they had to make major changes or become lost to market forces. Supply had caught up with demand and there were competitors besides Ford and GM to choose from. Dodge came out with new styling for the 1953 Coronet. In Canada, the line up had similar bodies but quite different names and trim. In fact, Canadian Dodges were specialised semi custom jobs using Plymouth bodies with Dodge front end and trim. The 1962 Fury built in Canada used an entire Dodge dash complete with the logo.

1953 Regent was basically a Cranbrook body with a Coronet Six cylinder front clip added.

Dodge was more subtle in 1953. The line up in Canada was Kingsway, Regent and Crusader. The Regent used the Plymouth Cranbrook body and paired it with a US Coronet six cylinder front clip with different hood trim. Under the hood, the big inch Chrysler straight six was used. 1953 was the last year Dodge Canada issued a Regent using the Cranbrook platform. For 1954 they switched to the Savoy model.

All metal hubcaps on the Regents were Canadian only items.

The 1953 Canadian Dodge full wheelcovers were unique items not used on any US model cars. They were big, shiny metal discs with little in the way of ornamentation on them. At least in 1954 they were dressed up with some red accents. You'll notice the Regent hood trim is different to the Coronet. The Coronet used a wide emblem with a prominent V dividing the center. The Regent used a less ostentatious Dodge crest like what is used on the Meadowbrook sedan. Both cars got the Ram's Head hood ornament.

The Coronet grille was used with basic Dodge crest and Ram's Horn ornament.

Inside the dashboard is what you'd find in a Plymouth Cranbrook. The steering wheel is Dodge sourced however with the full horn ring finished in the center with the red Dodge crest. You'll notic the radio block off plate in chrome for the lower push button register and above in black where the dial would be. Radios were tube driven back then and quite large. If someone didn't order a radio some creativity had to go into designing block off plates. Radios were still a luxury feature and not many base model cars had them. By the late 1960s, radios were way up in sales and less attention was given to styling nice block off plates. The deliberate, unattractive styling was seen as way to sell a basic radio where previously a buyer skipped on it.

Inside it was a Cranbrook dashboard with Dodge steering wheel. Again, the centercap is different
from the American Coronet offering.

Being a Canadian car, many trim pieces are locally made. The rear lamp lenses, the radios (when ordered) hubcaps, generators, electrical wiring system, interior upholstery and the engine were all made in Canada. The hardest part of restoring one of these cars is finding good quality Canadian only trim and parts.Production was relatively low to start with and many cars have rotted away or have crushed. The survivors often have serious wear on their parts as well. I thought I'd show a decent example still running its original six cylinder engine and body panels. The interior door panels were reupholstered many years ago as was the headliner. The bench seat base is original but the rest of it has been redone as well.

A big Chrysler six cylinder flathead engine was used in Canadian Dodges.

Canadian Jaguar Dealership list circa 1968

2013-05-12T11:34:00.001-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

The final part of our special research archives covering Jaguar dealerships, the 1st installment covered the American franchises known to exist and represent Jaguar in 1968. This included the Pacific region and Hawaii. This installment covers Canadian dealerships. It should be noted that British Leyland had assumed control during this time period and that manyt of the dealerships listed here aren't Jaguat exclusives but carried other product lines as well including but not limited to Austin-Marina, Triumph and Rover. The seperation of Jaguar exclusive dealerships didn't occur until much later on when the brand was better established and more able to exist solely on Jaguar and Leyland only products. This wasn't the case back in 1968. A word or two about the list below should help you. Each image is fairly high resolution and to read the individual dealer names, all you have to do is click on the image to render it larger and fully visible. You'll notice that in the Canadian list, some Provinces have a Regional Office while others do not. The Regional Office system does not exist in the American list.

1970 Chevelle LS6 454 Convertible- Valuation Analysis Update

2013-05-10T10:47:00.003-07:00

By: Patrick Smith
When it comes to rare blue chip muscle cars, the LS6 Chevelle convertible is a long standing member of that club. Rare when they were new; a genuine factory big block high horse convertible is a must own piece of the Hot 20 muscle cars. The trouble is finding one. When you do, the price is going to make you light headed. If it needs restoration, you'd best lie down on the floor when the estimates are given. Seems these cars were just so much fun to drive when new that owners flogged them mercilessly. Few have survived. LS6 convertibles come in two varieties; restored garage queens and rolling sheds.The garden variety restorable LS ragtop just doesn't exist anymore in most towns because car fanatics have been scouring the bushes, back lanes and peeking inside garages since 1985 looking for one.

Back in 1970, true muscle car fanatics looked at convertibles with jaundiced eyes. Convertibles were heavy. Added weight meant slower ETs at the drag strip. Often convertibles were optioned out with other extras adding unwanted weight. The ideal Chevelle SS was a stripped hardtop with a bench seat. A truly serious speed addict ordered the cheapo sedan model for more weight savings.That was possible in 1969 using the 300 series but I haven't seen a 1970 version yet. In truth, you didn't need to go that far because at 460 horsepower, your biggest problem wasn't weight, it was getting traction.Chevrolet saddled their hottest car with puny little 70x 14 wheels, "pizza cutters" as Wooderson would say. Then there's the secretive nature of the LS6 option. Not advertised and virtually buried in fine print, this was the Doomsday engine for serious driving. Insurance companies made you think twice just by virtue of insane premiums.

If a Unicorn was black with white stripes, this LS6 Chevelle would be it.

As a result few LS6 ragtops were made. The usual 12 year depreciation cycle wiped out some of those cars. Some lost their engines in races and were crashed. The survivors are so rare owners can almost write their own ticket for re sale value. Noted collector, Alan Aerts, has a prime Cranberry Red example with white top and black stereo stripes. A few big shot collectors and Chevelle fans have these cars. The average enthusiast does not. So when a nice one shows up for auction, it's worth taking notice. A triple black four speed goes on the block at Mecum's event soon. Described as Lot number S159, this car looks fabulous. Equipped with the basics collectors want in these cars such as bucket seats, console, four gear, stereo striped hood, cowl induction system and ultra desirable black on black paint/interior codes, this car is built to please.

450 horsepower V8 was the biggest Chevrolet offered for one year only.

Of course there has to be a catch. The engine is described as a correct code instead of numbers matching. This is hardly a surprise if you think about the intended purpose of the LS6. No one in 1975 thought about the value of a car if you grenade the engine. You just shoved another block in there and kept on trucking. They weren't worth much due to the recent gas crunch and general anti performance car attitude going around at the time. Vanning was cool, hot cars were OUT. So if you can live with a replacement engine built to factory specs this is a nice possibility.You can drive it hard without worrying about scattering the engine. The other catch is the price. Mecum estimates valuation between $275,000 to $325,000.

The classic black bucket interior showcases the four speed and console.

This is a high estimate especially for a non numbers matching convertible. In my Chevelle SS valuation article posted this spring, I observed recent sales at Dana Mecum's Spring Classic event where an LS6 convertible sold for $260,000. Worldwide Houston Classic Auctions sold an LS6 convertible two years earlier for $236,500. The price jump at the low end of Mecum's estimate is $15,000 but if you look at Worldwide's figure the increase is $40,000. If we look at the high end of Mecum's estimate for LOT S159, the spread is $65,000. Is it reasonable or a hype job?

This red and white restored LS6 convertible sold for $260,000 in 2012.

The car is an automatic with power windows, brakes, steering, gauges, tinted glass, cowl induction and console.
Yet the sold price is much less than the lowest estimate proffered by Mecum on LOT S159. Is a four speed going to
be the magic bullet that pushes the car past $290,000?

Looking at the $260,000 Mecum sale from Indianapolis Spring Classic event in 2012, we see a freshly restored red car with tuxedo bucket seat interior and white stereo stripes. It is a TH400 console shifted automatic and well equipped with power steering, power disc brakes, power windows, tinted glass, gauges, cowl induction hood and tilt steering. No mention is made of a numbers matching engine so we can assume it too is a replacement block. Compared to the triple black convertible this car is a very good deal. We have to remember though a premium is paid for four speed cars. Is it a $15,000 premium however?

There was another LS6 almost identical in appearance at a Mecum auction but no sale result was recorded.
It may have pulled out before it began.

     A curious thing about muscle cars is what options get attention and what options don't. GM cars are fairly basic in standard form.According to one value guide, cowl induction adds a 5 percent bump in price as does rally gauges.A four speed transmission is a seven percent bump up in value. Power windows are rare but only add 3 percent to value. Most dealers don't bother tallying options and adding percentages. They'll use the highest value posted in NADA guide with all sorts of options checked off whether it came factory or not. We'll see in this example that it doesn't matter either way.

   Looking at the red LS6 convertible as an example the base value for an LS6 convertible without options is $216,000. All those power goodies should place it theoretically at $244,080 according to Collector Car Market magazine. Actual market demand that year placed it at $260,000 or 16.33 percent higher. Remember, this was a non numbers matching automatic LS6 car! The only lesson learned here is an old one. Value guides are just starting points. Seasoned appraisers use their experience in plotting valuation and actual sales of similar vehicles Priec guides cannot factor inall the important variables, nor can they update themselves to the rapidly changing market when its on an upswing or free fall.
    That's the appraiser's job. I can tell you from experience you have to live and breathe this hobby to get it right. I consider the estimate ventured by Mecum for Lot S159 to be a bit optimistic. While two aggressive bidders may clear the low end just past their $275,000 estimate, the $325,000 high end is wishful thinking. Otherwise the owner could be in for a rude awakening.We'll certainly find out soon enough. I'm putting my neck in the noose and guess this car will hit $285,000-$290,000 maximum. Any more than that is overpriced in today's market. The best part of this auction is it may flush out a genuine numbers matching example.

Update: Lot S159 a No Show?
Since this article was posted, the auction has run and this vehicle isn't listed in the auction results. Neither the Lot number or picture of car appears. I asked some PY board members who attended this auction if anyone had seen or heard the sale price. NJSteve replied that this vehicle was pulled from the auction due to problems with papers. No specifics were mentioned so this could be anything from a licence problem to a documentation problem. Interesting however that this is the second time a triple black LS6 ragtop has been a now show at Mecum events.We'll have to wait longer for a genuine car that actually crosses the block for pricing.
                       * Article copright 2013 by Patrick Smith. All Images by Mecum Auctions USA
                                     picture copyright belongs to Mecum Auctions USA.

GM builds Cadillacs in Shanghai--Mitchell and Estes Roll Over in Their Graves

2013-05-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

                                                                  By: Patrick Smith

       I knew it was a matter of time. Back in 2003 when I was a classic car magazine editor, I ran a department called Detroit Beat. In it we covered news items from the American car manufacturers. I recalled one PR release ln which Chevrolet made a big to do about releasing their new cars with gold Chevrolet logos. In the same release almost buried in the print was the line that the cars were to be assembled overseas in Korea and China. We had in a nutshell, the game plan for General Motors in the final years leading up to the millennium. Celebrate the past years via polish and make it cheaper via Asian labor. I wondered how long it would take before China would be making our Cadillacs?

     As it turned out, less than 12 years. Buicks are already being made there for a hungry Asian marketplace still turned on by the lustrous Flint name. Cadillac is eager to build a commercial base in the Asian luxury car market which has grown 12 percent in one year alone. Currently Mercedes Benz and BMW are the preferred names over there. Cadillac is erecting a new plant in Shanghai to assemble the Asian market Cadillacs. It is a big, ambitious project coupled with a long term game plan to release a new Cadillac model annually from now until 2016.

    Meanwhile at home the Cadillac brand has been diluted badly with ill advised forays into Chevrolet Corvette disguised cars, Denali disguised trucks and sedans which have gotten better, but still cannot match a good Acura or BMW. Maybe the Asian experiment will be a good thing for Cadillac. They need to learn how to make a quality car again. It seems management needs to be shaken up some more. Forty years of complacency has been very detrimental to GM. Indeed, it cost them the company. They lost it all in 2009 with a bankruptcy.If Obama's government hadn't unwillingly stepped in with a rescue plan GM and Chrysler would've been ancient history. Ford Motors didn't need salvation. Maybe being much smaller and family managed to some degree had a lot to do with this.

      Every time GM makes a bit of money, they get all giddy and start dreaming of grandiose ventures. Future planning isn't part of their package. Pension funds are ignored, dividends are offered and the same mistakes are repeated. Those of you who read the supremely ironic titled book "Comeback" by Paul Ingrassia and Joseph White in 1994 will know just how ingrained and resistant to meaningful change American car executives are. They do the very minimum required to turn a situation around and go back to self gratification as soon as the quarterly statements look good. GM isn't run by engineers, it's run by salesmen and accountants. Let's hope that the Shanghai Cadillac Corporation is run by engineers, preferably not ones from the manufacturing concerns that supply Dollarama stores with merchandise. Let's also hope Cadillac isn't planning to compete by selling the past to Asians instead of real workmanship. I think of the products that come from China and it gives me the horrors to think of a Shanghai Cadillac. The only reason I shudder is while GM says this plant will be producing Asian market Cadillacs, I wonder how long it will be before they ship them overseas to America in order to evade the union? Given GM's record with unions, this is a very real possibility.
                          * Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA Archives.

Your Basic Marauding Tiger, 1968 Style

2013-05-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

                                                           By: Patrick Smith

      For 1968, Pontiac unleashed a whole new Pontiac GTO on the unsuspecting masses. The car had flared hips ala Coca Cola. The grille had an exciting new hidden headlamp option. It was so popular many first time buyers and casual enthusiasts think it's standard equipment. The endura nose introduced mass produced body color bumpers to American buyers. The really good stuff was under the hood. The engine was a new tooling called the 400 V8 Pontiac.
    It'd be a mistake to call the 400 and bored and stroked 389 because it was actually a new casting with improvements inside and out. The cylinder heads are different. The oil gallery inside was changed to better accomodate high speed runs and prevent potential cavitation. The Quadrajet carb was in it's second year on the GTO model and specific performance versions were developed for the new Ram Air II engine which was Pontiac's round port engine. That year Ram Air went from being a basic underhood tray with knocked out scoop ports which could be ordered and installed at any competent dealer, to a factory package which was formidable.

It doesn't get much more basic than the clean open headlamp grill of a 68 GTO.

Inside there were some neat features that returned for one last go around such as the Hurst His'n Her shifter. The custom sport steering wheel offered woodgrain rim with a lucite center cap. The 1968 version had a shallower angle to the spokes, shortening the depth of the wheel and making it less deadly in a frontal impact. The steering column was also an energy absorbing unit. The hood tach returned with a new, slimmer casing better suited to the hood profile. 1968 was the last year for the Rally I mag wheel as Rally II took up more sales.

Typical Day Two interior includes Grant wood wheel, underdash gauge trio, superlift air shock gauge.

For every tricked out GTO we see in articles, there were four basic optioned cars sold. Not much attention is given to these regular warriors. It seems the glory goes to the Ram Air, Dual Gate consoled, hideaway headlight jobs. Indeed many cars were converted with these options after the fact. So it's a nice feeling to show you a more typical GTO with some Day Two mods to boot. This is what you likely came across at a traffic light in small town America during the 1970s.

Cragar S/S mag wheels dresses up the exterior of this clean Goat.

This 1968 GTO is finished in Alpine Blue metallic with matching Blue interior. It has the standard grille and open headlamps. There's no hood tach. Inside it's a four speed manual transmission with console, but the dash just has a tachometer. The left pod has warning lamps and fuel gage. You'll notice a few late sixties custom touches. The steering wheel is a wood grained Grant model. The underside of the dash has a gauge trio with woodgrain matching the dashboard. The interesting looking device on the right of the shifter is for the air shocks. Notice that radio is still stock and the plate hasn't been butchered? Outside the car sports a set of Cragar S/S wheels on blackwall tires. It's a serious no nonsense street machine. Maybe it's a bit plain but when it comes down to it, a four gear, V8 with tach and radio is all you need to go cruising.
* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA all rights reserved

British Beef Series: Lotus Europa- The Flying Breadvan

2013-05-06T10:19:00.001-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

These ladies are John Player Special gals, they're saying, "Where's the Europa?"
Shame it's a two seater only.

When you mention Lotus to casual car fans, the usual cars that come up are Elan, Esprit or the Elise if they're youngsters. A few serious old school die hards will fondly talk about the Lotus Seven or more likely, a Caterham variant. A new hipster will talk about Lotus's current Elise variant also named Europa. The original was from the 1960s. let's look further into this shall we?

Here it is, the 1970s era Lotus Europa Twin Cammer.

It all started in 1963 when Lotus was trying to woo Ford into going with them to help create a race car as part of Ford's "Total Performance" campaign. Ford at the time was seriously expanding their base of operations to include racing in all spheres of competition. Henry Ford II realised that Chevrolet's participation in spite of the AMA ban was under the table and that Chrysler Corporation wasn't playing by the rules either. The talk between Lotus and Ford didn't go as far as creating a new car. However, a body was created and it became the base of what was known as the Lotus Europa.

The earlier 1960s Europa had higher quarter panel sills, hence the 'Bread Van' nick name.

     The debut was in 1966 as a Series 1 Type 49. It was a mid engined glass fibre coupe using a Renault 1.5 litre inline four cylinder and Renault transmission. The car was light, quite fast and had a fantastic lateral acceleration ability. In other words, it handled like slot car on rails. A road test back in the day revealed a .94 g skid pad figure which is impressive even today. For a 1960s road car, this was phenomenal. Mind you, the early Europa was spartan. The windows were fixed, door panels were hollow, the dashboard was alloy and the construction was a peculiar deal where glass fibre panels were resin molded onto metal structural members. While it made for a light and strong body, repairing this was a major headache to insurance companies.

   The early Series 1 Europas were low production, only 296 were made. None of them were American sold units either. Later versions known as S1A and S1B had removable windows and a wood paneled dashboard. For the racing world,a limited edition Type 47 Europa was made. It used thinner glass fibre panels with wider wheel wells and extra engine ventilation ports. The drive train was completely different, using a Lotus-Cosworth 1.5 liter twin cam engine and Hewland five speed transmission. These race machines are very rare with about 55 to 60 estimated produced. A weird street version using the body of the 47 GT and the Cosworth engine but with the Renault transmission. Very few of those were done, less than 10.

Series 2: Starting in Spring of 1968, the second version of the Europa appeared and it was in better road going condition for the street driver.It had power windows, adjustable seats, nice upholstery and finished door panels with wooden dashboard. The resin bonding to structural members stopped as well. Now you could change out damaged pieces with bolts. This model was sold in America but the federal export model had changes made to meet ride height standards. By 1969, Europas were officially compliant and available as an import car in America. Equipped with the Renault 16T engine and transmission, about 3,615 cars were imported.

The Twin Cam Special: New for 1971, Lotus released a Ford Lotus engine with 1.5 liters and running two Stromberg carbs and twin camshafts. During production, an upgrade to the Renault five speed transmission was a much welcomed sight when supplies of the T16 derived unit were exhausted. One source states the T359 transmission was optional in 1972-73 then made standrd for 1974. 1,580 Twin Cams were made before Lotus switched to bigger vales in the engine. Another improvement was the Europa Special. It consisted of D'ellorto carbs and a Renault 5 transmission as well. These were hot cars, capable of 0-60 mph in 6.5 seconds and a top end charge of 123 mph. It could rip off a mid fourteen second quarter mile which was very good at the time.

The John Player Special Europa was limited to 200 cars. All the ones that followed afterwards
are Specials in name but don't have the plaques.

For September 1972, Lotus made Twin Cam Europas done up in the John Player Special paint scheme of black with gold accents. This was to promote Lotus winning the Formula 1 Championship for the year with their race cars sponsored by John Player Special cigarettes. In fact they were the first cars to use them. It was was a limited edition with dash plaque numbering each of the 200 cars made. Lotus was going to drop the promotion but it caught fire and as a result, the name stuck with Europa for the duration of the car's run to 1975. However, only the first 200 had the dash plaques. Other colors were available after those were made. Lotus had some of the most unusual colors around for the early 1970s. A lot of pastels, earth tones and nice solid shades as well. Lotus stopped making the Europa in 1975. They made 4,710 cars during 1971-75 and of those, 3,130 were Specials. It was the first black and gold 1970s special edition.
*Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS Media Archives.

Spring Classic Car Car Revival Tricks

2013-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

By: Patrick Smith

I feel kind of strange writing this article because so much of it seems to be common sense to me. I forget that I've been doing this since 1982. I also forget some of the neat stuff I piked up over the years. If I add the fact new members are joining the ranks of the hobby, or have moved from sunny climes to the northern rust belt. Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of folks who don't know the little tips and tricks to get their car rolling in the spring time after a season long siesta.

A quality automatic battery trickle charger goes a long way towards easing the start up process.

   After taking the storage cover off and removing the mice deterrents from the interior and engine bay, the next step is to prepare the car for ignition. Since I remove my battery and store it in the basement, I actually do something a few days before hand. I hook up a trickle charger on the low amp setting to restore any lost voltage from the battery. You can buy a device called battery minder which stays hooked to the posts of the battery over the season and automatically truckle charges it when it reaches below a predetermined setting. There are a number of brands out there now. I suggest getting a quality made unit so you get years of service out of it instead of two uncertain years of spotty use from an overseas knock off.

     After hooking up a good battery, the next step is to prime the carburetor for start up. I do this by adding a very small amount of gas stabilizer fluid down the carburetor venturis. I do it while pulling the throttle plate open. Again, we're talking about a small amount here, a teaspoon will do. If you've taken the step of putting gas stabiliser in your fuel tank last fall, it will help kick over as well by keeping the volatile component of gasoline usable over the winter. A quick check of the choke linkage being closed and the battery cables tightened and it's time to climb aboard and fire it up.

When using gas stabiliser to prime a carb, go easy. A teaspoon is the maximum you need. Stabiliser
should be in the gas tank from last Fall for best results. Do not use Ether. You can lose your eyebrows and car if it goes very wrong.

     Gasoline will have retreated a few feet from the carburetor inlet over the months. The float bowl will be low. This means you'll have to physically prime the carb before start up. On a factory stock carburetted engine, you merely follow the owner's manual for cold start up. Usually two jabs of the gas pedal and a twist of the key will cover it. On modified cars, a couple of extra tricks are necessary. If you have an aluminum intake manifold or performance carburetor like a Holley installed, you don't want to go overboard with priming. Aluminum takes longer to warm up than cast iron so the gas droplets are going to puddle a bit until it reaches operating temperature. Holley four barrels tend to dump a lot of fuel as well if they have the REO accelerator pumps so just prime it with one or two shots at most. If it doesn't catch after 15 seconds, then you should check down the carb to make sure it hasn't flooded before you do another prime. I don't user ether or those engine Quick Start solutions in a can. If it goes wrong, the resulting explosion can wreck your face and car.

   Once you get the engine going, let it idle for three minutes before engaging gear. The carb should come off fast idle to mid idle then warm idle. There are three distinct steps on Quadrajet carbs. Holleys have about the same steps but if the choke is manual, you'll be using a bowden cable and easing it out gradually until the rpm lowers. Alternatively, you might have a thermostatic coil spring inside a well for choke operation. It will act much the same way only without much input on your part. The car is ready to back out of garage when you can put it in gear without stalling or loading up the engine. On an aluminum intake manifold without a heat stove or blocked crossover passages, this might take up to five minutes on a cool day.

     Suppose you've got her moving around now.You're next step is a good twenty minute drive to get the fluids circulating. Experienced car guys usually do this trip in one go and stay close to home and carry their cell phones in case the car runs into trouble. If you've been on top of maintenance, nothing serious should happen. I give it a traffic light workout until the engine temperature gauge is warm, 190 degrees and the oil pressure is around 20 psi at idle. That way I know the oil is flowing well enough to protect the bearings when I accelerate briskly. The worst thing you can do is jump on the gas pedal when the engine oil isn't warm. It puts a real load on bearings. Once she's out of town, I go through the gears at road speed. Nothing fancy, just testing every gear. I also choose a stretch of quiet parking space where I can turn the car in tight circles clockwise and counterclockwise for about 6 turns each way. This spreads the posi additive across the clutch plates in the differential and keeps the posi working well. All that stuff settles to the bottom over winter and it doesn't get into the plates unless you're turning hard and making one axle do more work than the other. You should do the same thing after you've just changed your gear oil and added new posi lube.

   By now, she should be humming nicely. If she balks a little through the gears and is an automatic. Check your transmission fluid. It may be low. If the car is a bit sluggish, you may have bad gasoline. If you can, top up the tank. Some people store their cars with full tanks, other's almost empty. It depends on what they believe in and in some cases what the storage company demands in their contracts. Old gas can be a bit tricky to fire smoothly. I always find the fresh gas makes the car run better with more mileage. Even if the tank has stabiliser in it from last fall, the car runs well but I usually find I get more mileage with the next fill up.

Good to know; multiple carbureted engines that are still running with choke partially on
can do damage to your exhaust system.

I turned a $120 muffler into a glass pack in two seconds because I got on the throttle too early.
With plain steel exhaust systems, give them time to expand and seal up the joints before running hard.

    Another interesting tip you might want to know. Don't get on the throttle until that exhaust is fully warmed up. Regular exhaust pipes are soft metal; the joints and seals for header pipes and bolts holding them together expand at different rates. Eventually they reach maximum expansion and act as a sealed unit. If you go hammering the gas pedal when it's still warming up, two things happen. You'll eventually blow an exhaust donut seal and in some cases you can lose an exhaust pipe. I had a new set of duals on my six pack cuda installed one year. I got on it hard while still warming up. The engine was fine, but I blew out a brand new muffler.Too much raw gasoline from the choke still being partially closed dumped fuel and it lit up inside the muffler. I turned an $120 muffler into a glass pack in two seconds.

     If you haven't changed your oil and filter yet, do so before you put major miles on the car. Ideally you do the oil change just before storing the car away for the season. As long as it gets changed before mileage accrues no real harm done.So there you have it, some advice which could save you grief for springtime. I wish 'd known about the expanding exhaust system biz back in 1990!

* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. All Images by PHS MEDIA.

Corvette in 1960: Facts and Figures

2013-04-29T13:44:00.001-07:00

1960 was a year of firsts and lasts for Corvette. Last year for the chromed tooth grille and horizontal tail lamps.
It was the first year for aluminum heads, albeit so rare, that few cars had them.

                                                                           By: Patrick Smith
     The Chevrolet Corvette in 1960 was in a strange position. Sales had finally broken past 10,000 units, making profit a possibility. In 1957, sales were at 6,339 cars which was also a jump up from earlier years. Racing efforts and extensive R&D with Duntov and John Fitch helped improve the car. By 1959, the Corvette had two things going on which were diametrically opposed to each other.

Cascade Green went metallic for 1960 with a different paint mix. It's rare and desirable.

    In order to make the car more attractive to buyers who weren’t strictly into the racing or sports car week end lifestyle, the car grew larger. It gained weight as well; two mortal sins in the true sports car realm. Indeed, purists viewed the 1958 model with suspicion when the trunk lid was adorned with chrome strips and its general increased size.

      However, there had been some good changes as well. The new for 1957 Fuel Injection option was pricey but the car performed better with it when conditions were right. More tangible benefits included optional 15x5 wheels with dog dish hubcaps for maximum foot print ability, heavy duty cerametallic lining brakes with extra duct work making the front air scoops in the bumper pods functional. Quick ratio steering was also included if you bought RPO 684 race ready package. More changes appeared in 1959 with stiffer springs, metallic sintered brakes which were less aggressive than the true race versions, and oversized gas tank. However, these hardcore options weren’t being mass ordered by track fanatics. The truth is the average Corvette from that era was a GT cruiser.

Dual quad engines were on their way out, to be replaced by tricarb big blocks in the mid sixties.

      For 1960, the new changes included an aluminum head option for 315 horsepower. Cars with this option are rare as it was dropped when Chevrolet encountered casting problems with the high silicone aluminum content. The tail lamps molded horizontally on the rear fenders were in their last year of production. 1961 cars placed the tail lamps vertically using the new rocket booster ring bezels.

     Another new feature was an aluminum radiator which was included with cars equipped with high lift camshafts. The hottest engine option was RPO 579D; the fuel injected 290 hp engine. 579 cars got this engine. Ironically the 270 hp fuelie is much rarer with only 100 cars made. They were offered at the same price, so cost wasn’t the deciding factor. People just grabbed the better deal at the time.

      Speaking of deals, wouldn’t you gladly pay $182.95 for the 270 hp dual quad 283 engine option? That was the second most powerful set up just beneath the top fuelie engine. It didn’t cost $484.20 either! Seems only 2,364 buyers thought that was worthwhile.

      So, what Corvette options did sell in droves for 1960? The AM radio was a big mover. Out of 10, 261 cars, 8, 166 had the radio. The heater was a common feature as well with 9,808 cars having RPO 101. Courtesy lights were another favorite with 6,774 cars packing interior lamps. Seems white wall tires were a big seller with 9, 704 cars coming through. Windshield washers were ordered on 7,205 cars and the hardtop roof made it on 5,147 cars. It’s gets a bit difficult to make a case for the 1960 Corvette being a true sports car with those kinds of toys.

The painted cove in contrasting color was optional for 1960.

      However, not all is lost. The four speed transmission was optional with the three speed stick being base equipment. It was “only” $425.05 (yikes!) but 5,231 cars got it. The Positraction differential was relatively cheap at $48.45 and 5,231 cars got that goodie. Some real plush toys made it as well. Power windows were available and 544 cars got them. An automatic transmission was available. This alone would be enough to be considered non sports car material. We have to remember Corvette was trying to widen its popularity and automatic transmissions were a way to sell a car to someone who doesn’t shift gears. It seems 1,766 buyers were shiftlessly inclined. A surprising number of Corvettes were sold with the base V8. Looking over this data, I’d say the 1960 Corvette was more of a luxury GT machine than an all out sports car. The material was there to make it a real contender but most buyers fell in love with the Motorama Dream Car vision and were happy enough owning a facsimile of the dream.

     Appearance was one of the strongest features of the Corvette. Towards that end, the 1960 model delivered. You could order the fender coves to be painted a contrasting color for more drama. Sateen Silver was used on Black or White cars while Ermine White was used on all other paint codes. Speaking of paint codes, guess what was the biggest paint seller that year? Ermine White held the lead with 3,717 cars painted. The rarest paint color was Cascade Green with only 140 cars that shade. Cascade Green by the way, was a different formula for 1960 compared to earlier years. The 1960 formula is metallic. Roman red was second most popular with 1,529 sales. Tuxedo Black is somewhere in the middle with 1,268 sales.
It’s the greens and blues which are low production that year.

For 1961 there were a few changes made. The body was reinforced inside while a new rear deck was added. Little changes were done to the interior for the last two years such as different door panels and upholstery. The last of the dual quads made their final appearance in 1961. Chevrolet wasn’t done with multiple carburetion yet, but for now they were pushing fuel injection as the top option in power. The solid axle carrier era was coming to an end. Chevrolet was considering a move towards an IRS system. The Duntov and Bill Mitchell Sting Ray race cars and experimentals were creating the new template for what became the Sting Ray Corvette of 1963. One era was ending and a new one beginning.

* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS Media Archives.

Predicting Future Investment Cars---A Tricky Gamble

2013-04-28T13:25:00.001-07:00

                                                                        By: Patrick Smith

   When the stock market becomes unpredictable or is performing poorly (as it is now in the year 2013) investors seek alternative havens to park their funds. Real estate's a popular commodity as are art work and jewelery. Another popular resource for men is collector automobiles. This, I must admit, has always been a bugbear with me. I think part of it has to do with the romantic nature I have with classic cars. I don't think of money first when it comes to cars. My dealings with previous cars bears that out. I 've owned some of the best ones out there in the muscle car realm, but I didn't make a killing with them.

   The other problem I have with classic cars as investments is the unstable nature of their values. Simply put, collector cars are in the same risk category as aggressive growth mutual funds. You stand to earn a lot of money if you time your purchases and sell offs well. You also stand to lose a lot if you get it wrong. There's the rub. Whether you're buying and selling quickly in a hot market, you could be leaving money on the table when the fellow you sold to manages to flip it for much more two months later at a good auction. Conversely, you could buy a solid car at the peak of the market run and when the musical chairs stop, you could be left with an expensive car that suddenly has lost 20 percent of its value almost overnight.

     Some collectors take a more disciplined approach by trying to outguess the market and picking up future investments while they're affordable. I still get letters and emails weekly from all kinds of people asking me what the next big thing is. They range from dealers (who try to disguise their status using alternative emails) and casual enthusiasts to collector man ques who have about $10,000 to spend and are looking for a future hemicuda to snap up cheaply. If I had the answers, do you honestly believe I'd be spending time writing columns all day? I'd be cavorting in the Hampton's, sailing my yacht and teasing Ralph Lauren about his predilection for Bugatti Atalantics. The last time I checked my crystal ball it said 'Made in Taiwan,'

   The amusing thing is the men who make it their business to predict these things don't always succeed either. Some of the best in the business have been known to pick some real clangers. I just read a list by Dennis Adler; he'd done one for the Robb Report in 1995. One car Dennis selected as a future winner was the 1956-57 Lincoln Continental Mark II. Prima facie, this should be a sure fire winner. We're talking A One quality construction throughout the car. Some avante garde technology for the era, and very low production. Lincoln Division lost money on every one made. Only 2, 413 cars were made in 1956. The 1957 total, even lower at 576. At the time of the article (1995), a good quality example was a $30,000 car. Predictions were made that it would bring $100,000 for a good example. Eighteen years later, what is a good quality Mark II Continental fetching these days? The ever optimistic NADA value guide places a top shelf example with a/c at $79,900. A dealer will sell one for quite a bit less. Realistically you're looking at $60,000.

It should've been a super star investment. Rarity, power, coach built specs and classic status.
Yet, the 100,000 club has been a bit difficult to breach for the Lincoln Mark II. Eighteen years after the
prediction, the very best specimens are over the $100,000 mark. Most can be picked up for around $60,000.

That model didn't work out well for investors if they'd bought with the expectation of $100,000 selling price, but 60,000 over a $30,000 price is not too bad. It isn't great when you factor in what you could've earned elsewhere in an 18 year period, but that's the collector car world for you. One collector's rule used to determine future investment cars is to pick vehicles that are between 8 and 12 years old and search for likely candidates from that era. The reasoning behind this is the depreciation curve has run its full cycle. The car is at it's lowest ebb. If it's a collectible car, this will be the cheapest it ever gets. Another way of looking at it is any car older than ten years is theoretically on the rebound so if it has merit, you shouldn't be losing money. So much for the theory, what are we looking at in practice that fits those terms?

The 2001 Bullitt Mustang looks good as a colletor car contender. Many have been modified or driven
with high miles now. Start looking now to nab the best one while its still easy.

If I were a betting man, I'd be looking at the 2001 Ford Mustang Bullit. Low production run and the first time Ford ever made one of these. The Bullit Mustang has become a popular submodel and there is a 2013 version of course. I'd say the first run is the best bet. So many have already been modified that getting one that's pristine could be a bit difficult if you don't live in a big city. Seek the Highland Green version first, Although they made the most of these in that color, it's also the iconic model. Black and Light Blue somehow don't work as a tribute car. If you like the 2003 Mach 1 they're good bets as well. I'd also give serious consideration to the Ford Thunderbird roadster. The 2003-2005 models are the best picks simply because of better dashboard appearance and wheels. The limited edition T bird colors get prime picks for rarity, although if you don't like metallic greens or yellow, it could be an issue. The Bond T Bird is a nice model to consider. Check out my article on T birds for the complete dope on these cars.

The 83-87 era Monte Carlo SS is starting to catch on. Prices are still affordable but
getting one with matching numbers, rust free body and good interior is actually quite hard.

   If you're a GM fancier, the 1983-87 Monte Carlo SS is shaping up to be a bona fide collector's car. Oddly enough its the 1980s versions that are catching fire right now. They're still dirt cheap but finding good ones without rust, bad paint or wiped out interiors or engines is more difficult than you'd think. It'll take time to get one with all three pieces of the puzzle intact. A good numbers matching Monte Carlo SS without creased quarter panels, rusty frames and good interior is going to be money in the bank. There are a few things to look out for with this model but I'll be addressing them in a specific article very soon.

    Are there any Mopars worth collecting from eight to 12 years ago? In 2001 the hottest piece of property was the Viper. Looking further, I consider the 1992-2002 models to be in the collectible pool. They were the first of the V10 Chrysler super cars when Chrysler was still American owned and managed. Highlights from this era would have to include the ACR package on the GTS coupe from 1999. The 1996 GTS coupes which featured the cool lightweight aluminum suspension goodies and alloy wheels. Roadsters had to wait until 1997 to get those bits. The hard core, American crew will prefer the pre Daimler Chrysler era cars. That would be foolish because those early 1990s era roadsters were brutal and primitive. I'd only consider a 1996 or later model from the '92-2002 era.

   What about the Pronto Cruiser? Sorry, it was a bit pedestrian and mass produced to be considered yet. The Prowler stands a much better chance of collectibility, particularly the Plymouth badged ones.
If you'd like something really out there, consider a 1990 Lazer RT. A stunning front wheel drive Japanese-American rocket ship built in USA. Get the Lazer version and avoid the dumbed down and tech laden Talon four wheel drive versions. Finding one that hasn't been turned into a rice rocket will be tough right now. It won't get easier later on. I suspect they won't be cheaper either. That's my list. If you cash in big time, you can thank me later or send a couple of gold bars in the mail.
                        *Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS Media.

1974 Jaguar XKE V12 Convertible

2013-04-26T09:49:00.003-07:00

                                                                   By: Patrick Smith
     When Jaguar released their stunning XKE in 1961, the sports car world was taken by surprise. Once again, the Coventry Cat delivered a cutting edge sports model that was cheap, sinfully good looking and faster than anything else in its class. You had to pay a lot more money to get a competitive car. As the 1960s progressed, the XKE grew larger, heavier and more tame as Americans added options such as air conditioning, an extra pair of seats, and automatic transmissions to their wish lists. By 1968, the XKE engine was nearing the end of it's usable growth cycle when emission controls, safety standards and upcoming features were being considered as standard equipment. Jaguar realised Americans were used to lots of torque over a wide rpm range. The straight six engine was more race bred and less likely to please if the decision was made to keep it in production for the XKE.

Finished in Regency Red, this XKE convertible was the last of the 1960s British super cars.

Instead, a switch to a bigger power plant was made. 5.3 liter V12 engine was chosen for use in the XKE Series 3. It debuted in the fall of 1970 as a 1971 model. The same engine was offered in the Jaguar XJ sedan series. The length of the XKE was increased by using the 2+2 platform as a convertible and coupe body. With the new displacement, the XKE was still a formidable player with a 0-60 elapsed time of 5.5 seconds and a quarter mile ET in the mid 14.6 range. The top sped is around 135 mph and that was recorded on at least two occasions with US test cars. It was still a relative bargain super car coming in just a hair under seven thousand dollars in 1971 for a convertible.

The V12 engine when taken care of, is good for a lifetime of motoring.
The tappets, timing chain and cooling systems must be maintained however.
Neglecting them will show up in power loss and ailments.

    A series of set backs in the automobile world made life difficult for the latest XKE. The OPEC crisis of 1973, an economic recession in 1974 hit America hard which happened to be Jaguar's prime export market. Sales were strong at first then weakened in late 1973. While it was never a situation where dealers had to mark down their stock, the later era XKEs weren't difficult to find either. Fortunately, Jaguar's success in racing with Bob Tullius held it in good stead. The XKE went out with victories and richly deserved accolades. By 1975 the car was history, a victim of modern manufacturing economies that were at odds with boutique built semi race cars. Jaguar only made 15, 287 Series 3 XKEs. Mr. Robson cites a total of 15,290 cars.
    True sports car fans never forgot the XKE. They've been steady collector's items since new. Once the standard depreciation curve ended in the mid 1980s for the last of the 1975 models, the cars were on a slow, but certain appreciation arc. Today, they're valued blue chip collector cars. Let's look at a nice 1974 model finished in Regency Red with Black interior. It is a convertible and is in immaculate condition as you can see. By 1974, Jaguar was winding down production of the XKE. The truth was no true 1975 XKEs were made, existing stock was merely sold off and Jaguar didn't announce cancellation in 1974 to prevent a backlog of dealer stock. The large rubber bumpers indicate clearly it is a 1974 era XKE.

This car has air conditioning, but the windows are roll ups.

Inside, the upholstery cradles you with sumptuous black pleated leather.Getting in and out of an XKE is a bit of a challenge. The extremely wide and high door sills makes swinging the legs over and out an exercise and women drivers will probably want to wear slacks to avoid a peep show. Once inside, the fun begins. You start the engine and while letting it warm up, release the massive parking brake which resembles a chromed baton.

This kind of top down will never come by as cheaply again.

   Once the engine is warmed up you ease it into gear and roll away smoothly. The whole operation goes like silk. As the oil reservoir is quite large, it takes time for the engine oil to reach operating temperature. As with any car, hard driving should be held off until the oil is warm to protect the bearings.
Once she's warm though, you can reward yourself with a good run through the gears and watch the scenery blur with undignified haste. If you find yourself stuck in the city for awhile on a hot day, just turn on the air conditioning. This car has one. For a brief period, you could get it all. Blinding speed, exceptional handling, style and have change left over from ten thousand dollars. Today, you'll be spending a bit more cash if you can find someone who'll sell!
* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA, all rights reserved.

Classic Car Diary: 1969 Pontiac GTO Birthday Present goes to a Deserving Dad.

2013-04-22T10:12:00.003-07:00

Joe Hopkins, (r) and his proud Poppa, Cary Hopkins (l) back with his favorite ride.

                                                        By: Patrick Smith
   There are birthday presents and then there are birthday tributes. One young man decided to get his Father an unusual birthday gift. His Dad used to own a nice Pontiac GTO when he was younger. It was a Midnight Green hardtop with white vinyl roof with parchment interior. It was an automatic 400 car. Like so many of us, Father had to sell it. Unfortunately it wasn't a deal where he passed it onto another owner for enjoyment. In fact, Cary's GTO was totalled one rainy night in 1978 while he was returning from work. There was nothing that could be done to avoid it. A Chevy Van was parked on the road with no lights or hazards on during a raging thunder storm. Cary reckons he was lucky to have walked away from it. The car was sold for scrap. Life went on. Joe Hopkins saw the inspirational video of two brothers trying to find their Dad's lost 1965 Impala SS. It gave him the motivation to do something similar.

The car after Joe and friends finished working on it in 2013.

Joe Hopkins is heavily involved with cars, even making it his living managing a family owned auto parts supply store business. You may have heard of Parts Connection if you reside in Texas, there are a few of them around. Joe's Uncle, Scott Hopkins, started that chain. Naturally Joe has toys of his own. He knew from various reminisces that his Dad still carried a torch for the old Tiger he'd sold way back then. Joe figured it was time to do something about that. Joe sold a performance truck he'd built to liberate some funds for getting a replacement GTO. He found one online and purchased it without having seen it in person! It was 1,000 miles away. A leap of faith? You bet. The car was pretty much as advertised luckily and formed a good foundation for a complete restoration. Joe wound up doing that restoration. He did it almost completely by himself in his garage, on spare time after work and on week ends. He did it against a 13 month deadline. His Father's birthday was April 21st, 2013. The project started on 04 05 2012 with the removal of bumpers and front end tear down.

The GTO as it arrived in Texas in 2012. A complete but tired car needing work.

There is a complete build thread dedicated to this car in the Performance Years forum under the 1968-69 GTO Tech section. I have included a link to it below. For a professed "good driver car," this build up is staggering in terms of quality and amount of work done.

http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694660

I cannot adequately describe the bone crunching amount of work, hours, trouble shooting and re doing of certain tasks to make this car go from an older restoration GTO needing "some work" into the replica of Poppa's cruiser in Day One condition. It's all there in the thread. You'll notice there are virtually no pics of Joe, the restorer. He was by himself for the most part. His wife helped Joe install the vinyl top so we see some snaps there. Joe had the exhaust done by Jerry at American Muffler in Liberty Hill, Texas and window tinting done by Sal's House of Tint, both are friends and experts in their fields.Otherwise the car was a "Kokamo" Joe production all the way. It had to be in order to keep it a secret from his Dad. It turns out with Pop working in the auto industry as well that many friends in the trade had to keep their lips buttoned for a long time!

This is the original interior of Pop's car when Joe got it in 2012.

The interior after Joe restored it.

Joe got the project done in time to give it a quick run down and trouble shoot. He gassed it up, drove it around at night them finished off the last details before loading it in trailer for the big day. He knew his Dad was talking about starting some goat farming again as a hobby. This proved to be the ideal way to reveal his new car present. Pretending he'd bought a prize goat to start off his litter, Joe led Pops to the back yard where the car was. Imagine his surprise when he saw the Billy Goat in Green and White! Here is the video link to that unveiling.
https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151352798480793

Quality of workmanship is remarkable. Done for the most part, by one guy in his spare
time after work and on week ends.Turned out better than quite a few resto shops.

   The silence and awe from Pops is telling. Unlike the smooth production filmed by a Chevrolet ad agency crew two years ago regarding two brother's quest to find Dad's '65 Impala SS, this video was done by family members. I've seen Pop's look before. It is the look of shock, mild incomprehension and unstable emotions when the enormity of what his son had accomplished started sinking in. It makes you tingle, it really does. That is my diary entry for today. I hope you enjoyed it.

* Article text by Patrick Smith 2013. All links and pictures property of Joe Hopkins,
                                           and is used by permission.

Classic Car Diary: 1980 Trans Am Inspection

2013-04-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

                                                                                   By: Patrick Smith
    April 19th 2013: Woke up to leaden skies with a threat of rain. How nice, I had an inspection to do in the city for a customer. He's bought a muscle car, a Pontiac Trans Am. I met him last summer when he appeared at one of the cruise nights. Frank Zupo and I usually gather at the shows for fun. We both have Trans Ams, but last summer I was driving the GTO. Anyway, this fellow was very enthusiastic about Frank's car. Little wonder, it's a nice example of a 1981 T Top car. Turns out he's in the market for a second generation Trans Am and was seriously looking. He told me what he was after and his list is fairly typical of most enthusiasts' desires in an F body; Hatch Roofs, Pontiac V8 power, rust free body and not requiring much in the way of paint, mechanical or interior work.

    As I said, it's a typical wish list but when he tacked on the price range in the seven grand mark, I winced a bit. I could see latching onto a hardtop with those features in the seven grand area but a hatch roof car is going to add a bit to the price. It used to be that the hatch panels only were worth and extra 5 percent according to Old Cars value guide. I always thought it was too low.

1980 Trans Ams in Ontario Grey aren't common sights nowadays. We suspect it's a fairly low
production color due to the immense popularity of black and metallic gold.

The marketplace apparently agrees. T Top Trans Ams are desirable and sell quickly compared to hardtops. The Pontiac V8 engine is also a big draw although it must be qualified by the statement that it has to be a 400. The 301 V8 draws less enthusiasm among fans due to the size and perhaps the taint of the turbo 4.9 engine. I started perusing the ads the same way I did when I was on the hunt three years ago. As I feared, finding good cars in that price range was well nigh impossible. I did come across a turbo V8 but it wasn't stock. Fortunately, our intrepid fan latched onto a good prospect in Brantford, Ontario. It was a metallic gray T Top car with 4.9 V8 ( the W72 option) and some nice features including power windows, custom red hobnail cloth interior, AM FM Stereo four speaker radio, tinted glass, rally II wheels, power windows, positraction axle and full decal set in gray and red. The car was well maintained with excellent crack free dash pad, full working gauges, good interior without tears and even the emission controls were intact.

The last detail is rather important in Ontario, Canada. It seems a lot of the Trans Ams have been modified by backyard mechanics with their penchant for home made exhaust systems and custom power goodies. The Ministry of Environment boys love handing out tickets for missing cat converters, air pumps and the like. It can suck the joy out of ownership. They really go after the Camaros and Trans Ams too since so many have been modified. This one has all the stuff still. He also got a bonus set of WS6 wheels with newish tires which is a very expensive upgrade if you were to price it out afterwards. I was on hand to vet the car and make sure the body didn't hide any nasty surprises like collision damage or extreme rust. It was repainted once with new decals in the original paint code. The lower parts of one front fender is a bit spotty but checking inside the trunk on the drop offs revealed no changes or patches.The inner frame rails and floor welds were solid. I checked behind the front fender as well as I could with my lazerlite and saw no rust holes or bondo. Hopefully it's just a bit of spot putty badly applied. I noticed it was sold new in Madoc, Ontario. That is up north of Belleville in farm country with gravel roads. Likely the lower quarters were peppered with stone chips, necessitating a paint job. The floor pans were perfect as were the rocker rails. It seemed to be a well cared for car without accident damage or rust.

This is closer to how the man's new car looks as delivered from the factory. He has the carmine hobnail cloth interior.

     The mechanic completed his safety inspection and gave him a list of required repairs. It wasn't a big list and the seller and buyer completed the deal. I was impressed that all the original pieces remained with the car after all this time. The steel speaker grilles for instance; usually they're tossed. The rally wheels, hatch bags, owner's manual was present as well. I guess the stereo went out the door though. Although he had to pay a little more in the end, I think the result was well worth it. He has a solid car ready to drive with the basic wants accounted for. Anytime you can pull off a deal like this under ten large, you're doing well. With a few details tended to, this car is only going to go up in value. He'll get his payback in fun the first week of driving, I reckon.

                                          * Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith.
                                     Image a by PHS Media archives, image b by TranZam.com

1970 Roadrunner: Budget Brawn in Burnt Orange

2013-04-17T13:28:00.001-07:00

                                                                    By: Patrick Smith

   By 1968, it wasn't easy to get a muscle car cheaply. The Mustang was still affordable but the power stopped at 390 cubic inches and that wasn't enough anymore. The GTO was often found on dealer lots with options pushing it high in price and weight. Someone needed to make an entry level performance car again and reclaim the field. Plymouth did that in 1968 with their Belvedere based RoadRunner. The concept was simple enough, choose an intermediate shell capable of running a big block without interference on horsepower and keep the doodads to a minimum. Supply only what's required for eyeball flattening performance and make the rest of it optional. RoadRunner came as a two door sedan with bench seats, manual shifter and a 383 Commando engine relabeled RoadRunner 383.

It was still possible in 1970 to get a base muscle car. This Roadrunner was one example.

The car was basic all over. There were no carpets....just a rubber floor mat. The dash gauges were simple with a ribbon speedometer. The car was big but rather light thanks to the unibody frame. RoadRunners were package muscle cars. You didn't just get a hulking V8 and 4 speed. The suspension, chassis, brakes and cooling system were upgraded too. Sales were hot. It had revived the marketplace and Mopar had a winner. For 1969, RoadRunner returned with a convertible offering. The Hemi was still optional but if you got that one, few cars could keep up with you. In 1970, RoadRunner was taken to the logical limit for that shell.

This color is Burnt Orange Metallic and was one of several extra cost premium paints.

1970 was the year the Ram Air hood was redesigned with a motorised door. The four speed shifter was Hurst as before but with a beautiful Pistol Grip handle. There were more colors and vibrant shades than ever including Burnt Orange metallic. The Rallye Wheels were new as well. For decals, RoadRunner offered a subtle side stripe compared to other cars. There was the RoadRunner dust trail side stripes which were a pair of gold whirlwind stripes across the length of the car with the RoadRunner at the leading edge. Very effective and cute.

The 383 Roadrunner four barrel V8 was the standard engine. 440 Six Pack or 426 hemi dual quad were optional.

   With bucket seats, console, rallye wheels and convertible options, you'd think the RoadRunner concept was in danger of being diluted. In fact, the model was gaining in strength with more muscle available than before. The 383 base engine anchored the entry level rung while a new 440 Six Pack option appeared for 1970 to fill the space between the 383 and the vaunted 426 hemi. The Six Pack took care of those cars that could polish off a 383 but were too weak to take on a hemi. Chrysler kept the RoadRunner idea alive with clever tricks including selling the base model with a three speed floor shifter. If you wanted the four speed, you paid extra for it.Here is a basic RoadRunner in automatic form.

    First off is the Burnt Orange metallic paint. It was a hip new color and this car came with it from the factory. You'll also notice dog dish hubcaps and painted steel wheels. This was standard issue as well. The car isn't a complete base model however. It is a hardtop . Moving inside, the interior is finished in burnt orange vinyl bench seats and carpet. There's no console and the 727 Torqueflite shifter is column unit. It does have a MusicMaster 2 watt AM radio. The instrument panel reveals no tachometer, again that was optional.

Bench seat, column shift automatic and blank pod where the tach would be reminds you of entry level status.

Inside the engine bay, we see more evidence of bare bones muscle. The brakes are drum units all around. The standard RoadRunner air cleaner, dual point distributor and heavy duty radiator tells you it's all about horsepower. Except for the color, this was what you most likely encountered on the back roads or in your home town. The only difference would be the color which most likely would've been one of Mopar's five shades of metallic green. For some reason Green was super common on muscle cars back then. This beautiful example was owned by Marc Chezepock, of Burlington, Ontario. It's a fine example of budget brawn in Burnt Orange.
* Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith. Pictures by PHS MEDIA. all rights reserved.

Real Gone: Canadian Auto Journalist- Gord Hazlett

2013-04-15T18:03:00.000-07:00

                                                              By: Patrick Smith

     Some of my regular readers probably wonder why there isn't a tribute or eulogy penned by me on the remarkable Gord Hazlett, Old Autos newspaper's legendary man of Canadian auto journalism.
In fact, a regular column I wrote, Wide Open Throttle was run in the same edition containing the many various heart felt memories, recollections and fond good byes for Gord. I'd like to start off by saying I only learned of Gord Hazlett's passing by reading the Old Autos newspaper. It took me by surprise. Sadness was also felt. I knew something else too. I wouldn't be able to write a farewell for Old Autos that would compare to the various writers who knew Gord so well and could tell a tale about personality much better than I could. You see, I joined the newspaper only 10 years ago.

      So while I do not have much in the way of special heart warming tales about the Grand Old Man of car lore, I did hold him highly in my heart for a good reason. Looking back I'd say it's the best reason I can come up with. Let me tell you of my few encounters with Gord Hazlett. It must have been in 2000 at the RM Fall or Spring Auction venue at International Centre when I first Mr. Hazlett. He was at the Old Autos booth with one of his books. I spoke with him and learned briefly what his area of specialty was. He was a mechanic during the glory years of the Automotive Century. I read his columns with interest. Although generations separate Hazlett and myself, the common bond was an interest in machines in general. That was the start.

     Over time, I got to understand the newspaper writers better. Gord proved to be a strong draw and for good reason. I particularly liked some of his phrases such as, "Well Sir,". That one always made me smile because the story that followed was usually a good laugh. Gord's writing reminds me of those Gasoline Alley cartoons. A warm reminder of a gentler, more innocent era where even the not so nice guys were amusing. You got the strong urge to somehow enter a time machine and be transported back to those days after reading one of Hazlett's stories.

    After I'd started writing for Old Autos, I'd see Gord at various car shows. I talked to him about some of the writers I'd read articles and pump him for information on them. You see, I'd not met many of the writers. That didn't come until about 5 years into the deal. I was always trying to run a business and rarely got time to go visit others for pleasure. But, Gord had helped me before going to the dinner party meet and greet. I'd ask him about Perry Zavitz for instance, and he'd tell me what he looked like, about his book and what kind of guy he was. The same went for other writers, some who lived far away.

      Gord Hazlett had met many of them and it was quite a credit to his wit to accurately give me thumbnail sketches of these writers who'd I'd only read about. Nate Salter is a particularly good example. Nate's byline has a hazy picture of himself standing near a car. It's hard to make out any features. Gord described Nate well enough that I could spot him across the room in a get together in Guelph. He wrote about cars for the love of it. He was involved in the hobby as an enthusiast. He drove a Pontiac, he could do now wrong. Remember when I said I hold him in high regards for a good reason. Well Sir, there you have it. Good bye Mr. Hazlett, it's been great to meet you one more time at the 2012 Dinner & Get Together. You won't be forgotten.
                                        * Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith.

Some Early Reflections on the 2013 Toronto Spring Classic Car Auction

2013-04-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

                                                                By: Patrick Smith

    It's a ritual that car nuts in Ontario and American border states go through every Fall and Spring.
A classic car auction held at the International Centre on Airport Road in Mississauga draws the crowds of fanatics, seasoned collectors, enthusiasts, dreamers and hopefuls for three days of cars, bikes, boats, trucks, you name it. I usually attend Saturday and Sundays sometimes if the right cars are there. Fridays I pass up only because there is a lot of memorabilia, which includes petroliana, garage signs, artifacts and collectibles for that man cave, garage or den. To my surprise I've learned that this segment is growing rapidly and the demand is being fulfilled with a memorabilia department Dan Spendick has added to his Collector Car Auctions stable.

    When I started covering the Toronto venue auctions back in 1990, it was run by RM Auctions in Blenheim. I remember it used to be at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. For years now, it has been held at the International Centre which was recently renovated inside.It's a good spot, close to Toronto and the border with the airport conveniently nearby and the parking is free. Not too long ago, RM Auctions expanded heavily across the border with their Auctions America brand and the Toronto Fall and Spring Classic venues was taken over by Dan Spendick. I was surprised and a little worried at first at what might happen to the show. A major renovation at the Centre and a new ringmaster for the auction? It seemed like a lot of changes at once. When I attended the first couple of auctions, my tension went away. Dan has lots of experience and contacts and the same crew of workers are used from before. The sour economy has made sellers reluctant about putting cars through auctions in America a few years ago. It's changing now. I'm happy to say that turn around was evident last Fall with a great sale rate.

   This Spring will likely show similar results. My first impression was how busy the place was. It was very difficult to get seats for the auction and likewise getting pictures of cars so many people were milling around. It was great to see that. My second impression reinforced an earlier one I got when I attended the first couple of CCP auctions. The rare and popular performance cars both European and American were well represented. Even getting a spot to eat a meal was difficult. Three friends of mine, the Two Franks and Joe, were out in force and had a good time. We got to see some nice Trans Ams for sale. The red 1976 storage find, a beautiful blue 1971 HO and a 1978 Y88 Trans Am. I even saw a 1971 GTO hardtop. I'll go into detail about these and other cars next week when the results come in.

   I counted the number of classic cars I'm interested in and compared it with the number of relatively newer cars that arrived for auction. To me, classic cars are American or European and made from turn of the century to the years 1900 to 1981. Using this arbitrary selection, I counted 164 vehicles on offer. I also counted 17 trucks including El Caminos and a Jeepster. The balance of the list covered a wide range of vehicles including a Tarpon boat with twin 200 hp Evinrude outboards, six motorcycles, limousines. There were 1980s to 2000 era European luxury and sports cars including Rolls Royce, Bentley Arnage, BMW 850i, Jaguar XJS convertible, Porsche Boxster, a 1997 Assegai Formula 2000 race car and a Boeing 767 jet plane. Like I said, a little of everything.

   Looking at the entry list I saw 164 cars I considered classic. Does that mean the remaining 100 or so vehicles aren't classics? Of course not. I'd say some of these were future classics in waiting. When we were buying muscle cars at auctions in the early 1980s, they weren't considered classics. They were just good buys as they flew under the radar of most except the dedicated few who were in on the secret. Then they went mainstream for a number of years drawing lots of ink, attention and money. Now we're seeing a transition from muscle cars being the super big draw towards newer vehicles. Some are mint cared for 1980s cars like the low mileage 1992 Mustang GT convertible with only 1,4498 kilometers finished in rare dark blue with blue top. Others like the Bentley Arnages are luxury exotics with the inflation taken out of the initial purchase price representing a great deal and a possible future collector's item. Speculating on a future clasic is a gamble, but a wise investor knows how figure the odds. It boils down to searching for future trends and growth areas. If you're just chasing shadows you wind up running backwards.
                                     * Article copyright 2013 by Patrick Smith

Shelby 427 Cobra kit car: Speed on a Budget

2013-04-12T14:29:00.003-07:00

By: Patrick Smith
When Ford wanted to compete against Ferrari in road racing, they collaborated with Carroll Shelby to create the Cobra 427. The 427 was an extension of the earlier 260 and 289 Cobras from 1962 to 1965. For the brutish big blocks, Shelby used an all new coil spring chassis reinforced to handle the 7 liter engine. There were no compromises for street driving. When a car cost $9,500 in 1965, it had better be race quality. The Cobra 427was definitely for the track as it was a 'take no prisoners' vehicle in terms of ride and finesse.

Real 289 Cobras are nose bleed priced, a BRM kit car is affordable and just as impressive.

The body was aluminum and the chassis was a tube frame design for weight reduction. You didn't get any luxurious extras like roll up windows or a radio. Options equalled "junk" in the racing world.What you got was a choice between the 427 or 428 engine depending on what kind of Cobra you wanted. The racing Cobras were called 'Competition' and used the 427 dual quad with close ratio four speed transmission. When Tom McCahill tested a Cobra 427, he found it a real handful to deal with in the city. He said 'only a full blown psycho would use this for daily driving.' He observed that the cooling system wasn't up to the job in traffic. Tom had tested 3 of the best US sports cars, pitting the 427 Cobra against the Corvette and Shelby GT 350 and found the GT 350 to be the best car for city driving. For raw power the Cobra was unbeatable.

Radio? We don't need no stinkin' radio!

Carroll Shelby made 52 Competition Cobras and had 34 unsold cars left over. He converted 31 of those to Semi Competition spec, making them street legal. The other 3 were sold as Competition cars to privateers.When Ford and Shelby parted ways in 1970, the Cobra became part of Ford's race history and no one looked at an AC Ace roadster the same way again. Today genuine Cobras in either small or big block form are fantastically high priced machines. They're investment vehicles now. What do you do if you want one of those but don't have a couple of million? Simple, build a kit car version. That's been the way since the 1970s when the first good kit car Cobras hit the streets.

One of the better Anglo American collaborations of the 1960s.

This fine example finished in metallic silver with black stripes belongs to Dave Thomas in Mississauga, Ontario. The tires are BF Goodrich radial TAs mounted on Cobra wheels. Inside the cabin is finished in black with full instrumentation, a wood grain wheel and big shifter. Instead of the usual chromed nerf bars, this roadster has black tow bars front and rear. This is Dave's first hot rod. It was purchased as a kit from BRM in September, 2003. Dave and his father built it up in the garage over the winter and spring over a ten month period. This particular Cobra uses a Ford 302 bored .030'' over and has 60cc aluminum heads, Ford Racing "Performer" dual plane intake manifold with a Holley 600 carb and a MAC under drive pulley system.

For track or street, it's hard to top the eye candy appeal of this clean Cobra.

The cam is a Ford Racing B303 unit teamed with Crane 1.7 roller rockers. This creates enough power to keep the Bog Warner T5 transmission busy. A Centerforce dual friction clutch send power down to the differential. This little buzz bomb can really fly with a 3.73 rear axle. Dave's father helped with the electrical work while Dave handled everything else on the car. It's a great low cost way to have a knock out ride everyone will lust for. That's what the hobby's all about.
* Article copyright 2013 by Patick Smith. Images by PHS MEDIA, all rights reserved.