Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Ok, this relates to cars only in a predictive way, but it’s amazingly cool.

Check out this video in which scientists use the best modern technology to investigate the best ancient technology (imaging science used to decipher writing on the ancient “computer” known as the Antikythera device):

http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/antikythera/

Ten years ago, my friend Bill was looking through one of my classics books deciding on the special car he would buy when the time was right.

What grabbed his eye, for better or worse, was the BMW 507, produced in very limited numbers (250-plus) in the late 1950s. He wanted a car that looked like that, but one that was a driver–something he could use whenever and not worry too much about getting stranded somewhere in a vehicle for which parts and service knowledge were at a bare minimum.

The solution was to build a tribute car and power it with modern running gear. A few shots of the car have appeared here.

Last week I got up to the shop doing the work, Vescio’s in Rogers, for a quick look and more photos. Figured I’d post them and another piece, since lots of readers and enthusiasts are building and restoring cars.

The charge was a car that looked like the BMW. It would be possible to commission an exact replica, but that would obviously be a much more elaborate and expensive mission. With an inch-for-inch duplication, you’d have to change every dimension and contour a little or a lot on a donor car, or build large portions of it from scratch.

These photos show both sides of the challenge–how some changes are fairly easy and do a great deal to evoke the 507, and also how other changes present a bigger challenge and would require comprehensive modifications to basic things like how the doors open, how the top functions, etc.

This project began as a motorless 1958 MGA (replacing wood flooring with steel being an obvious early move). The main differences between that and BMW’s little drop-top appear in the nose and tail. The MGA nose lays back, while the 507’s leans forward at the prow.

The headlights, grille area, bumper and turn signals here are pretty close. The edges are a little sharp, yet. What appears here is an all-metal initial rough in. There will be further metal massaging and everything will be smoothed with a skim coat of filler.

To my eye, the profile looks good. It’s sleek, elegant, sexy. Front and rear sit in harmony and the lines hold up. It’s a bit different from a BMW, however. The main difference is that the center of the MGA, longitudinally, is higher. It crests more, whereas the 507 is flatter across the middle.

The effect is to make the BMW look wider and lower. It may in fact be a little wider but the flatness accentuates the difference.

The back of the Bimmer is a bit boxy. Fabricator Mike Jensen approximated the 507’s top quarter-panel line, yet to make the profile identical, without raising the trunk, would create a fin on the reproduction because the more crested center MGA section would be further from the top of the quarter panel. It would be possible to raise the trunk and flatten it some to be more like the BMW but then the more crested front end would not blend as well. It would feel more like the front of one car grafted to the back of another. What Jensen and Vescio’s are doing is a compromised approach, which suits the slightly curvier tribute car. When you undertake your own creation, it should stylistically consistent to itself.

Retaining the MGA’s cockpit allows use of the factory hood frame, top and side windows. Going for exact reproductions of the doors, etc., would necessitate a custom top.

We talked about a good front bumper and reader Gary suggested a Mustang. He wins. I never talked with Vescio’s about it, but they homed in on the same car. What appears here is a Boss 302 bumper with about a foot sectioned out of it.

For power, it’s getting a Chevy V6 and auto-box. The swage line does not appear across the doors yet because Mike is working with the steel portions first, and will then switch over to the aluminum panels–doors, hood, trunk.

How cool is this?

Finding a unique look that’s also appealing is every car maker’s goal. You want the public to know your car from others, so they’ll seek it out; yet you can’t get so off the beaten path that people chicken out and buy something plainer. It’s a spin on the old Hollywood quest: we want something familiar that hasn’t been done before.

This ‘71 D-series wagon turned up in front of Sovereign Grounds, a coffee shop by my house, and just begged for a photo. People were walking around it, staring, smiling and wondering what the heck it was.

Is the aerodynamic styling for everyone? Nope. But Citroen did sell a lot of cars in this series. I especially like the one-spoke steering wheel, though the model’s most innovative feature was its “hydropneumatic” suspension. I’ve read in more than one place the urban legend that you could take one wheel off a car like this and still drive it (albeit carefully and not for the long haul). In station wagon form, seems pretty handy too.

Dave Garroway was host of NBC’s Today Show and was also a motor sports fan. He bought a Jaguar SS100, fitted an XK120 motor and went racing.

He also, being a celebrity, fitted a very unusual interior–alligator. I’d heard about this car and read about it before I ever saw it.

Classic & Sports Car photographer, James Mann, took these shots of the car for the upcoming book I’m doing on unrestored cars.

What a wild car. The custom interior’s not for everyone, but it’s an eyecatcher. And you gotta love the SS100’s lines. Several different companies made the car in kit form–the highest form of flattery? (Except for those fake Porsche 917s, which never looked or sounded very good.)

I’m doing a little house cleaning lately and have decided that I do not need an Official 30th Anniversary 1983 Corvette in my garage. I never drive it–ever. I don’t think it even has any miles on it.

I’m willing to let it go very, very cheap. For a song maybe. Or less.

In fact, if anyone has an authentic Mickey Mantle baseball card, in exchange for it, I will relinquish to that person all right and title I have to this undriven 30th Anniversary Corvette.

All I ask is that before you agree, you take a quick look on the internet to make sure you like the way the official 1983 model looks. :^)

Friday a few motorcycle fans got together at Koppelin’s Coffee Shop on Hamline Avenue to drink (really, really, really good) coffee and talk bikes. Afterward, I hung out with a freelancing buddy and we mostly worked on book projects.

Somehow he happened to mention that his late ’80s Honda Civic got 50 miles per gallon. I know Lee knows cars. Still, I didn’t believe it. Fifty mpgs. Gas engine. Twenty years ago.

He had the car many years. He’s a car writing and editing and photography professional. He was sure. And he looked it up. He got 50 on the highway and low 40s around town.

Twenty years ago. (Wikipedia agrees for the 1500 cc ‘84-’87 car.) Wow.

Today’s Prius and Civic hybrids are rated between 40 and 48 mpg. Altima and Camry hybrids get 33-35 mpg. Gas Corolla is about 28/37; gas Civic today around 25/36. The tiny Honda fit only makes 28/34.

Cars have to be one of the few technologies (are there any others?) that have not only failed to advance but in some cases receded in efficiency over the last 30 years.

Imagine if computers got slower every year and held less data. Maybe I can get a deal on a TRS-80.

It’s summer again and those of us who spin pedals when we’re not pushing them to the driver’s side floor are out in force on our bicycles. Each spring this activity separates those motorists who know how to pass a bicycle from those who do not.

A technique that poses danger to both of us is to overreact to the cyclist’s presence and swerve all the way into the oncoming lane. That is overkill and creates a danger to three people–the initial driver, the cyclist and any oncoming motorist sure to appear.

Here’s how I overtake bicycles, which is the same way I like to be passed by cars:

1) slow down to about the cyclist’s speed.
2) watch for a large opening in oncoming traffic.
3) as the opening starts to draw near, begin to pull up alongside the cyclist. If the cyclist is not hearing impaired he or she will hear you. If there is impairment, hopefully the rider has a mirror to see you. (Some people bicycle while listening to music. Not safe, IMHO–that’s for the stationary bike. Use more caution if you see that the cyclist is wearing earphones.)
4) the law, last time I checked, requires a clearance of three feet between you and the rider. If you approach slowly and make your presence known, the cyclist will not make directional changes.
5) when your opportunity comes to pass, start from a place just behind the cyclist (within hearing distance), swing wide by at least 3 feet but not significantly more so that you can minimize encroachment upon the oncoming lane, and get by quickly, pulling fully into your own lane as soon as you’re safely past. I usually come back over after about two car lengths.

This approach puts the cyclist on notice that you are there and allows you to get by with minimum risk to everyone on the road. Other bicyclists who find this post, please feel free to offer your thoughts. Thanks.

There may be people who visit this site interested in the cars and talk but not quite up to speed on some of the jargon that gets thrown around. An exhaustive dictionary would be exhaust-ing, so let’s start small . . . with a few common terms.

This is a reference we can add to as we go along and maybe, if it gains some momentum, even put a link to it somewhere on the page for new visitors.

As always, I invite readers to throw out any terms you don’t see here that you think are core to the hobby and worth noting. Or, since this is an open discussion, terms you find unusual, improbable or that confused you for a while until you got the gist:

carburetor: hunk of metal that bolts to the intake manifold and within which fuel and air are mixed. Cars don’t burn straight gasoline; they burn gas mixed with a lot of air (oxygen).

choke: device that, as the name suggests, reduces the amount of air drawn into the carburetor and mixed with gas when the engine is cold. Cold air is more oxygen rich than warm air so less is required for an optimum air/fuel mix.

distributor: takes high-voltage current from the coil and distributes it to each spark plug at appropriate time so that fuel/air charge ignited by spark plug pushes the piston down (rather than resists its rise, which damages the engine).

exhaust manifold:  part that takes exhaust (gases left after combustion) after it exits the exhaust valves and routes it to exhaust system.

head or cylinder head: part that bolts over a bank of cylinders and seals the combustion chamber. Inline engines have one head; vee engines have two. Flathead designs are just that–flat pieces of metal–while overhead valve and overhead cam engines have thicker heads to accommodate those parts. (A flathead’s valves are in the block.)

intake manifold: part to which the carburetor bolts (or carburetors bolt) that contains passages routing air/fuel mix to the intake valves.

valve (intake or exhaust): opens and closes to let air/fuel mix in (intake valve) and exhaust out (exhaust valve).

There are hundreds of additional relevant terms. . . . This just gets the crank turning.

At the classic car show the Buick Club hosted at the fairgrounds last Sunday, I talked with David Johnson about his very nice and very original 1964 Wedgewood Blue Buick Skylark (see two posts down).

David posted a good suggestion: Bring a kid to a car show.

As during all eras, there are plenty of things for young people to waste time on and get in trouble with. Cars and car shows give restless minds a positive outlet. They’re all about the cars and the joy of finding, driving, fixing, polishing and discussing them with other enthusiasts.

The hobby teaches hard work–to find parts and information and make repairs.

Fiscal responsibility–in determining parts and service costs, earning, saving and purchasing.

Discipline–to apply the parts and knowledge and make things work right.

Ingenuity and self-confidence–through encountering challenges, working through them and making what doesn’t work, work.

Humility and respect for others–as you gather insights and receive help from those with more knowledge and experience.

And a sense of fellowship with people of all ages. As anyone in the hobby will tell you, car shows bring together people from all views and income levels to share a common interest. How you vote, what you do, where you studied, how much you earn, what you read, whose music you like….None of those things by which we judge and are judged in the everyday world hold sway among a group of people who love cars. The rat rod built for six grand is just as legitimate and interesting as the half-million dollar Bugatti.

There is a young crowd taking an interest in the skills to be learned and camaraderie to be enjoyed in the car hobby, but there’s room for more. Next time you head out for a car show, see if any young people in your family or neighborhood want to tag along. Maybe someone will take an interest in the history, the hard work, and the satisfaction all those vehicles represent.

A few folks have posted comments that are slow to appear on the site. This is because the ebb and flow of spam is back to high tide. The website software identifies it as probable spam and prevents it from posting automatically, but I still have go through and delete it. Sometimes it holds up legitimate posts–I don’t know all the criteria it analyzes.

I get an email notification each time someone posts, including the spam, and sometimes I miss a legimate email notice and don’t discover it until I see the post inself in the approve/disapprove page on the website.

I’ll try to stay vigilant. Please note that only spam gets withheld. Everyone is free to agree or disagree with or improve upon anything said here so long as the language is appropriate for prime time. Thanks.