Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Minnesota, what has become of your fearsome winter reputation? Only the 3rd of May and already the snow is gone. Oh well, if it’s too late for fun on two skis, I guess we can start trying on four wheels.

The Buick Club made a fine effort at the fairgrounds today, doing with warm weather one of the best things possible–hosting a show of cool classic cars.

Here’s a sampling of the some of the fun on hand.

Always liked these dash-top mounted clocks. A friend and I pulled on from a Buick at French Lake–and he gave it away. Such is the car hobby.

Richard Bury’s 1926 woody depot hack is a one-off made with all 1926 parts–except for the wood.

Hot rod Lincoln (allusion to the song. The car itself looks very original–like only the top’s been swapped) sits next to decent Cord replica.

The ‘64 Skylark is a nice looking car in my book. Its aluminum 300 heads even bolt to my car’s 215 V8, an advantage since the 300’s intake valve is larger. David Johnson owns this find, still with original paint, upholstery and window sticker never, as far as he knows, taken off.

Mm. Love the dash on this Hudson Commodore.

This photo doesn’t quite do the ‘40 Buick justice. The back end is gorgeous–the sort of long, rounded tail that speaks to aerodynamics well before the car mags were talking about it.

Here’s another goody in the Buick–a classic Edmonds performance intake.

Wayne Johnstone’s 454 Vette is a cool and rare shade known as Corvette Bronze.

The ‘54 Buick’s tail lights are like no others–which is good until you have to replace them. My friend in the club, Tom V., saw a set for sale for $2000 apiece!

And here’s Dean, who climbed into this colander hoping to become adorable enough I’d take his picture. It worked.

A friend sent me this picture. His caption: “dumbest car ever?”

I’ve seen in the sheetmetal the late-model Jeep Wagoneer-based Jerrari Bill Harrah built and which is on display in Reno. This ain’t it. My first reaction to this vehicle was that it was a Photoshop job–blurry around the edges, “tire smoke” rising up by the wheel-wells providing some blur to the nose/body joint line….

Some net hunting will yield an answer for you, but without or before doing that, what are folks’ first impressions? From your 21st Century experiences, does this look like a real photo or a cut-and-paste hoax?

A friend spied this Lamborghini Gallardo in Singapore.

You know, that’s the trouble with Italian supercars. They’re just so ho-hum if you don’t dress ‘em up a bit.

Ok, it’s really a trailer, but cool, huh? Reader Bruce sent in these photos. His company, which builds truck bodies, thought it would be cool to make a retro trailer. They’re going to market it and their instincts and timing seem pretty sharp.

We’ve talked about fuel mileage lately–who hasn’t?–and ways to save gas. One reason people buy big is to accommodate the occasional heavily-laden trip. Well, maybe trailers’ll catch on as an alternative approach. You can buy smaller and wheel that way most of the time, and when it’s time to haul a big load, like that first trip of the season up to the cabin, you can hitch up the trailer and move a lot….

 

Obviously not every vehicle is suitable for pulling every trailer, or any trailer. A longer wheelbase is better than a shorter one for stability and preventing the “tail from wagging the dog,” and vehicle and trailer load and tongue-weight limits must be carefully followed.

(Please note that I am not related to or paid by this reader and I have not personally used this trailer. Stands to reason that if they build truck bodies, their design and engineering will be up to snuff.)

Freelance writing is not international banking. I have less Ferraris, Bentleys, Jaguars and Mopar Muscle cars than everyone with at least one. But it does have the benefits of freedom and flexibility.

Of course, these things run amok result in low work output. That’s why Frankie and Dean, my productivity consultants, are sure to hop up on my desk regularly to make sure work is proceeding apace. The best place to take productivity measurements is between a two-legger and his computer, ideally directly between the biped and his keyboard.

I write a lot of things for this blog, often while looking over or around a cat. If you like anything you’ve read here, thank Frankie and Dean for their constant vigilant oversight.

Before the auto show, I foolishly remarked to my wife that I hoped I still had enough charge in my digital camera to get a good batch of photos. Entered the main floor and snapped these, looped around the outside before discovering Chrysler’s display near the center of the room. There sat ‘54 DeSoto, ‘34 Plymouth and gorgeous 2800 mile ‘59 Fury with fins that would be at home breaking the surface of some lagoon beside a kayaker in National Geographic. I framed up the DeSoto, hit the “on” button, battery signal flashed empty and that was that. Dang.

But the battery held out long enough to snap a few fun vehicles, including several with classic ties, like Beetle and Camaro.

The rear-engined Mitsubishi is one of the company’s earliest and the Dakar rally 4×4 is as spartan and stripped down–and girded up–as when it raced.

As the Fast and Furious car chronicler, couldn’t resist snapping the new Skyline, seen here in RHD Japanese spec.

Scion’s display was also unmistakably F&F influenced.

Most of the cars are open for browsing and it’s fun to watch youngsters climb in for a gander over the dash–or up at it, depending on age.

This massive Jeep Rescue concept was interesting to look at, though a rescue driver with a car show background might leave a few lost hikers stranded: “I’m not driving through there–we’ll scratch the paint!”

It isn’t the sky or the air or even the ground that heralds classic-car weather’s return. It’s the road: icy, snowy, gritty, grimey pavement–not classics time; warm, smooth, shiny street–classics time is at hand.

Neenah Foundry was kind enough to install one of their cast-iron classics-weather indicators on my corner. While I am not the original owner, and therefore don’t have the manual, all classics enthusiasts learn to read these things early on. This display, grungy frosty encrustment, means “winter: keep treasured vehicle inside.”

This is the signal we’ve been waiting for. Water splashing over bars and dancing in the sunlight means “spring: commence summer-fun planning immediately.”

Thought folks might be interested in seeing how another half lives. My friend Mark was in Burma, where he snapped some of the odd and unlikely classics that have ended up there. They include this lineup of 1960s Mazda B360 pickup trucks. Probably get a good deal here–though shipping from other side of world extra.

This Benz looks like a W120 from the 1950s. Sharp car. (Guess I could have cropped Mark out, but that wouldn’t be nice, would it? “Thanks for the photos but, er, stay out of the shot, would you? We’re running a blog here.”)

Porsche 944 made it to Burma, though not clear if it’s a runner. The boy is Mark’s son and the green 4×4(?) is not something I recognize. Anybody know it?

These Willys Jeeps are likely war cast-offs. Not sure why one photo is black and white–artistic flair?–but it’s the same lineup, as zooming in on a higher-res version confirms.

And Mini Mokes are on-road/off-road fun in many countries stretching from England to Australia. I rented one Down Under in the ’80s. They’re about half go-kart, half Jeep.

**This line is from a Monty Python sketch. Can you name it?

There’s a car cruising south Minneapolis with the oldy-but-goody bumper sticker, “Horn Broken, Watch for Finger.” The sticker is a funny reminder that the horn is the only feature on your car that can offend people when you use it. “Turn signal broken, watch for finger” just doesn’t work.Â

Since most people don’t drive their classics daily, there isn’t a strong link between classics prices and fuel prices. In fact by a twisted form of logic that goes like this–we won’t always have gas, so I better get hold of the car I always wanted and drive it soon–gasoline becoming more dear might even help classics values.Still, it’s an interesting question. Anything critical becoming more expensive seems to have the power to slow spending across the board. Anybody thinking–or hoping–a rise in fuel prices will bring more classics within reach?