Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Sports Car Market posted on all the big recent auctions in the south, which demonstrate that at least at these venues, prices are holding.

RM attracted record bidders and made over $18 million; Russo and Steele moved $17 million; Kruse saw $4.6 million in action, Gooding $32 million, and Barrett-Jackson had sales of $60 million (according to SCM).

The fact that something in the economy is posting good numbers is encouraging–though it probably means the $10,000 genuine Cobra many of us daydream about…ain’t happening.

…For some. Eleven below is a bit crisp for most of us, but this diehard cyclist had the sidecar-equipped Ural out yesterday morning.

A sidecar is a near must in a low-friction environment like snow–keeping you upright and lending a little traction for going uphill too. This sidecar has a driven wheel with its own brake.

What that extra wheel won’t help with is the frigid, frigid wind flying at you like a flock of samurai swords. Not only does this rider have a constitution like the Founders wrote, he’s also got some very effective winter riding gear.

Kudos for staring Old Man Winter in the face on a subzero morning and saying, “Think I’ll take the bike.”

It’s no news flash that cell phones cause accidents. Why? Because they’re distracting. In fact, there even more distracting than they need to be–a lot more.

By 2009 most of us have had a few cell phones. While this device, like virtually all modern technology, is pitched as a time saver, a life simplifier, the truth of those descriptions curiously diminishes over time. Computer software follows the same path.

How? Pointless complification (the process of making something more complicated under the pretense of making it easier to use). Word processing software took this path in the 1990s. Every time you learned how to use one program, its manufacturer would release some new version. The original one had 10 features you never used; the new version had 50. And so here you are at your job trying to grow better and more efficient at it, yet your employer keeps handing you software every six months that makes you relearn everything you knew how to do, wading through new menus and features you didn’t use before and that now take even more time and effort to get out of the way–features that would start changing the capitalization or spelling of words on you or throwing in formatting you didn’t want or need. So you’d have to learn how to undo these invasive time-wasters.

Cell phones now do the same thing. Mine claimed freedom last week, leaping from its belt hook as I ran for the bus and disappearing forever into an untraceable lost-and-found, under a car tire or into someone else’s care until they realized I’d canceled the service and chucked it.

The new one looks nice but is twice as hard to use. Like the word-processing software of old, it now does uncountable things I don’t want or need. It’s a phone. The obvious things I want from it are a phone book to save numbers, a ringtones menu so I can set it to one I can stand, and immediate access to ringer volume and vibrate as to hear it or not annoy others, as necessary, and for libraries or movies when it needs to make no sound at all.

These functions are buried beneath uncountable–unfathomable–others. Who would have thought 20 years ago that a time would come when you’d need an instruction manual to figure out your telephone? It’s de-progress, a great leap forward into the past.

And lots of people are trying to handle it from the driver’s seat. No wonder accidents rise. You’re trying to make a quick call from a “modern convenience” but some dope has made your telephone more complicated than your taxes.

On Saturday, I was lucky enough to get in on a vintage motorcycle enthusiasts outing to a private collection in Burnsville. WOW!

These are some of the most beautiful motorcycles I have ever seen. . . . wonderful examples from well-known marques like BSA, Triumph and Ariel, and then some rarer steeds, like a Brough Superior (the bike Lawrence of Arabia apparently rode), New Imperial, Rudge Ulster and a Vincent Black Knight.

There were delights in all areas, from the craftsmanship on the engine componentry, to the daring sweeps and shapes of the exhaust pipes, to the artistry in the faces of speedometers, tachometers and other gauges.

In recent years, hopping on a few modern bikes had moved my mind in that direction, prompting dreams of sprinter speed, acrobat agility and the confidence of sure starts and stops, every time. Humbug! This collection of bikes yanked my mind right back into the past–way back.

There must be a dozen bikes here that would make any classic motorcycle fan proud for life. The angles were not always ideal for a great photograph, but the subjects could not have been better. Rather than jabber on, I’ll let these iron horses speak for themselves.

New Old Stock parts are great–parts made at the same time as your classic but never fitted (and which sat on a shop or garage shelf for many years unused before surfacing to claim a high price from collectors). A 215 V8 bellhousing is a rare piece. I’ve had two for the four-speed gearbox over the years. One I sold–dumb–so I had to find another.

Bloodhound internet tactics led to the second but unlike the first I scored, from a junkyard on the West Coast, the second one did not have the clutch/flywheel inspection cover that bolts to the bottom. The stock piece was stamped steel. I hunted around a lot, including much lost sleep in eBay, without finding one.

Luckily, this rare part is back in circulation, thanks to Steve Schroeder of San Diego. He found a 215 posting on our site and got in touch. He told me he was planning to make a cast aluminum cover and now has done so. He also makes the four-speed bellhousing–including offset versions for Chevy gearboxes. When you can’t get new old stock, new “old” stuff will do.

The cast part looks great. The one I have could stand a little flat filing for a dead perfect fit against the bellhousing, but the stock stamped ones didn’t fit perfectly snug either–there’s no need, since this isn’t a fluid-filled chamber. And the best part about the new one is that you don’t have to clean 45 years’ worth of grime out of it. This part is so hard to find and Schroeder Enterprises as yet has no web page, so I offer the phone number here as a service to readers with 215 V8 cars. Because of this engine (and its Rover successor’s) light weight (320 pounds) and good horsepower (185 or so in stock, high-compression, 4-bbl form) it is a very popular swap still. Just look at the British V8 website.

People hunting 215 V8 4-speed bellhousings or the inspection cover can contact Schroeder Enterprises at 619-423-3523.

Back in the ’70s and ’80s there were cars everybody wanted to have–Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, Corvette, Charger, Challenger…. And then there were the cars that young people time actually did own, Gremlin, Pinto, Vega.

My wife’s family had Pintos when she was young, and so did one of my best friends growing up. His mom had a wagon, he had a coupe. Pinto was like the Beetle for non-import buyers. (We had a ’73 Beetle.)

Vega was a little more stylish, but like the Pinto, it didn’t make much of a statement with four-cylinder power other than, “no, I don’t want to race.”

Interestingly both of these cars—particularly the Vega—found a second more impressive life fitted with V8s. Swapping in a smallblock is so common with the Vega it’s hard to find one with its original engine. Seems most of the ones that survived got hopped up, many for use at the drag strip.

There 302 Pinto was also a popular hot rod of the time and a swap my friend Mark always wanted to make. Unfortunately his car got waterlogged during a torrential downpour at the Holland tunnel in New York City and he had to scrap it—water in the cylinders, whole lousy flood deal.

Rarest of the three, though equally unassuming, was AMC’s Gremlin, which sported 6-cylinder power, and actually had a V8 option from new beginning in ’72. I saw my first Gremlin as a gradeschooler and really liked the gas cap with its little namesake design. As years passed and I continued to check out Gremlins, the gas cap was often missing—maybe other kids who liked them weren’t hesitant to swipe one for themselves.

While nostalgia is a powerful force in car values, this modest trio hasn’t done much in the appreciation department. eBay has examples of all three for under two grand. If someone had fond memories of these models and wanted to a do a restoration by him- or herself, they wouldn’t be a bad place to start. A person could learn mechanicals, body work and painting and no matter how much you messed up any of it, it wouldn’t be a big loss in value—and any replacement parts would be cheap. (As would a replacement car.)

When the snow flies and the garage doors go down, it’s fun to pop into a shop and see what’s getting worked on out of sight. Here’s a couple goodies underway at Quality Coaches on 38th Street in Minneapolis. This is one of the few shops left that caters to British cars (among others). Owner Mark is a Moss distributor with old British parts kickin’ around, unused parts on shelves, and the same price for new ones that you’d get going to direct to Moss.

This Morgan has a long and interesting history. Its owner bought it when he was 16, decades ago. Rather than dump it when that was convenient, he held on, moving the car to many different parts of the country. It came to Quality in pieces (but not all of them)–and a little bent up from a front-end collision years ago. They had a body shop pull it straight; Lee Lawrence of Classic Iron Cars in Savage threw some beautiful British Racing Green paint on it and the motor’s been rebuilt too. This ‘53 uses a Jaguar gearbox–plenty strong for the 4-cylinder engine–so it was cleaned up but not rebuilt.

Here’s another fun little project–Subaru WRX turbo-four in the back of a Karmann Ghia. While the WRX is a world-beater rally car, the engine will push this VW (through a race transaxle) in straight lines: down the 1/4 mile.

This Mini Marcos is also an engine swapper. It originally had a Mini engine (old Mini, 1275 cc) up front, and now has a water-cooled motorcycle engine in the back. There’s a race class for bike-powered cars, for which this one was probably built.

And a final bit of tinkering for the day is this Yamaha moped, which my friend Randy is building as a pit vehicle. Randy runs an MG Midget in vintage racing–and has inspired a friend and me to try the same with a car I bought in ‘79, gave away in ‘04, and which has found its way back to me (more on that periodically).

Hope y’all got some fun stuff in the works.

Finally, a car** for this millennium that appeals to sci-fi, comic-book, art-deco sensibilities. In other words, a vehicle designed for economy that looks cool (in a cute-as-a-bug sort of way). This little sprite could easily have come from the props room for The Incredibles—a 3-D mockup for a security vehicle on Buddy’s island.

Or it could be kin to vehicles a team of stunt daredevils drove in an episode of Speed Racer. Could easily be tootling around in any illustrated sci-fi story, too, or maybe zooming underwater in an anime show.

While mainly designed for extremely stingy aerodynamic drag, the Aptera has a playful look. If left in 1/24th scale on someone’s desk, most guys I know would pick it up and either study it (more dignified) or drive it over some reports, ink blotter, and a laptop keyboard like a Hot Wheels (what I’d do).

It’s all electric and with its encased aeroplane-style wheels, it probably won’t make the short-list for MinnDOT plow drivers shopping for a good commuter. But you know a few people will have them for around the lakes in the summer. (About 4,000 people have put deposits on them.) And it’d make a great pick-up vehicle for guys who like the Judy Jetson type.

Will it make large scale production? (AutoblogGreen says they’ve delayed release from last October to next October.) Will it get market traction? Could a used one drop into the sub-$10,000 used-car price range I shop in? No clue. It’s way cool though, a modern microcar. If you get one, and I see you with it, I am shamelessly going to ask for a ride.

Had to shoot this picture of cat and apprentice mechanic (cook, writer, package wrapper, shoe-tier, dish washer…), Dean.

How much does this look like a guy with his elbow out the window of a car?