Sometimes, a car shows up at a Concours that you wouldn’t expect to see. Citroen 2CVs don’t usually belong, unless they’re picture perfect. Most Malaise-Era cars aren’t usually welcome unless they’ve got a prancing horse, raging bull, or a trident adorning the hood. Well, say hello to the Wreath and Crest, packing a Seventies punch at Misselwood. A Fleetwood may lack the pizazz and the outright ostentatiousness of the Eldorado in 1976 but it was still the most expensive Caddy sedan on the showroom floor that year. This example has covered under 50 thousand miles and carries all of its original paint, bodywork, and interior to this day. I’ve been a fan of the ’76 for years, thanks in no small part to the fact that just a year later, GM turned the magnificent Cadillac into a shadow of its former self. Enjoy the photos of this big, mean, red machine. Continue reading 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood at the 2017 Misselwood Concours→
Sometimes, spotting cars in NY is like playing a twisted version of the lottery, where all you win is one number in the Powerball and just get back what you put in. This time, I at least won the Powerball itself, and got myself a nice winner. I must say, it takes some change to drive a Citroen in NY, and more so when its the hard-to-find H Van like this silver one.
No matter what your fancy is, some of the best cars from the famous Cannonball Run were on display at the Greenwich Concours this year. Whether it’s the homage #144 Polezei BMW M5 driven by Alex Roy some years ago across America (a world record winner), the Chevy Malibu police car (my personal favorite), or the Dodge Tradesman ambulance, there was a smorgasbord in attendance. They even had Dan Gurney and Brock Yates’ Ferrari Daytona in attendance–the winner of the second race, and one of the more infamous cross-country cars still around. These cars were true crowd-pleasers, and even Nick, who normally laughs at Malaise-Era stuff, found the Dodge to be amusing (especially when the open exhaust announced the sound of a completely un-muffled small block Dodge). Enjoy the photos of these offbeat rides. Continue reading The Cannonball Run! (sort of) at the Greenwich Concours→
Normally, I’m not a big Mustang guy. I usually go after Barracudas from the Sixties and Seventies, because I’m more of a Plymouth guy for that era. But, I make some exceptions, and Roadkill, my personal favorite YouTube show, resurrected this derelict, nasty, trashed old Mustang from a boneyard in Colorado, and got it home. I won’t reveal any details but for this–do not watch this one on a full stomach, because this is one of the most far-gone cars I’ve seen these two rescue. Watch it!
Even as you leave Greenwich, you’re bound to see some nice cars on the way home. This time, I only had to walk a few feet from the car to glimpse one of the finest looking sedans of the 1960s. This little Alfa 1750 was taking up space, and time, in the parking deck, and showing off its best lines while I took a few pictures. It’s a shame that they don’t make cars like this anymore. Enjoy the photos.
By December, the Mark VII was sitting in the garage, in from the cold but not forgotten. I got car parts for my birthday, including a new set of front air springs, a compressor, and rebuild kits for each front solenoid. While I successfully installed everything, the rear failed while fixing the front. Continue reading The Lincoln Mark VII Chronicles, Part IV: Back In The Saddle Again (briefly)→
Pontiac, before General Motors decided to kill the brand, made some of my favorite mid-priced cars. While some scorn and say that they were just Chevrolets with some extra body cladding, there was a time where that just wasn’t true. Back in the 1960s, John Z. Delorean wanted to put some pep in the General’s step–and he decided to use a time honored formula of taking a big engine and cramming it into a car smaller than normal. The new Tempest was a great candidate, being Pontiac’s newest intermediate in 1964, so it was chosen. Then, a 389 cubic inch V8 was bolted in, and the car was sent off to showrooms. Continue reading 1967 Pontiac GTO at the Misselwood Concours→
Three years ago, Nick and I met Mike Musto, a man with enough personality to fill all of Middlesex and Mercer County and a big fan of old-school muscle cars (my sort of thing). His new show, House of Muscle, is a show that’s absolutely worth watching. In this latest episode, he ends up in a little rural part of Alabama and shows us all some muscle car clones that aren’t perfect, but are a blast to drive and aren’t trailer queens. These are cars that are run hard, put away wet, and maintained the way the owners want, not how the collectors demand. It’s always great to see folks with old cars like these actually run them around and use them. While I own a car that’s far newer (my beat up Lincoln, which currently isn’t running thanks to an engine problem), it isn’t perfect either–and this man from Alabama deserves my respect.
Even though this Superbird wasn’t present at the Misselwood Concours, it participated in the Tour d’Elegance the day before. I’ve been a longtime fan of the wild wing cars, and this one certainly kept my attention. Sporting Tor-Red paint and bench seats, its unusual combination of a column shift and the wing car body was a fetching and unusual presentation. Continue reading 1970 Plymouth Superbird at the Misselwood Tour d’Elegance→
There’s something eerie about the Continental. This was a car that started Lincoln into a short era of understated class, just in time for the Sixties to start. Sales hit near-record highs compared to previous seasons and buyers absolutely loved the new look, so much in fact that it wasn’t until the glitzy and ritzy Continental Mark III came out in 1968 that Lincoln went back to the excesses we know and love today (as much as the early ones). This ’62 looked straight as a die and was ready for a night out on the town–even though it wasn’t even 10AM yet when I took these pictures.
Happy Birthday, America. You aren’t perfect, but I love you anyway. Just like this Cadillac. In 1976, the USA turned a nice, round 200 years old. Things were, to say, a bit off-kilter in the world of American cars. The muscle car era was dead and gone. Imports were starting to take the domestic companies’ lunch and dinner away. And safety mavens (or so they called themselves) had put to death the classic American big convertible. As safety regulations began to tighten more and more, less companies were inclined to build convertibles. By 1976, only one major American car company still had a convertible in their lineup, and it was Cadillac. Stubborn to the end, the Eldorado marketing team wanted to send their flagship (and it sure was a flagship, with sharp lines, king-size proportions, an incredible menu of standard equipment for the era, and a ride soft enough to keep a baby sleeping for hundreds of miles) out in style. Continue reading 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Bicentennial Edition at the 2017 Greenwich Concours→
Mind Over Motor 