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Classic Car Events June 2011

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

1-3 June 2011 – Morris Minor National Rally at Knebworth, Hertfordshire, click here to get more information.

1-4 June 2011 – Three Castles Welsh Classic Trial, a three day classic car event with regular rally, driving tests and concours taking part in the ancient landscapes of Angelsey, Gwynedd and Clwyd in North West Wales. More information here.

3-5 June 2011 – Alvis International Weekend at Brooklands, Surrey, the birthplace of British Motor Racing with Alvis racing cars, featuring every one of the Alvis models manufactured during the years of production, with concours and driving tests. http://www.alvisoc.org

4-5 June 2011 – Klondyke Steam and Vintage Show at Draycott in the Clay, Staffordshire, engines in steam, open workshop, tractors stalls, hot and cold refreshments and more for a day out with the family. http://nsctec.co.uk

5 June 2011 – Bude Cornwall Motor Classic, the 2nd Classic Motor Show at the rugby ground of Bude, Cornwall for all classic cars and free to all entrants and visitors, with full bar and food facilities, situated next to the River Neat and close to the town centre, camping for entrants available if required. More information on the website.

5 June 2011 – 22nd Classic London to Brighton Run, start at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, Brooklands, Surrey with Sir Stirling Moss flagging the cars off, stopping point: Bluebell Railway, finish: Madeira Drive, Brighton, more information on http://www.classicmotorshow.com

Tags: car, Cars, classic car, Classic Car Events
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Give your Pride and Joy the Ultimate Destination it Deserves

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

You have a classic that’s your pride and joy. You have taken care of it for years; poured money into it, kept up with the maintenance; but despite your best efforts, one day every car will give up the ghost. The average life of a car is 13.5 years, and even though classic cars may far exceed that timeline, the day will come where you need to move on. But where are you going to go to dispose of it?

Classic Car © Roberto Verzo/flickr.com

Illegal scrapping is a large problem in the UK. Of the two million cars that are declared off the road every year, only one million of them are processed through Authorised Treatment Facilities and issued with a Certificate of Destruction. If a car is scrapped illegally, it is stripped of valuable parts then abandoned. Tyres pile up on the side of the road or in dodgy scrapyards. Oil and brake fluid are poured down the drain, causing immeasurable damage to our soil and our water system. Even more shockingly, some of these cars are unlawfully and unsafely put back on the road; leaving you as the unsuspecting owner likely to be liable for speeding tickets for a car you thought was long deceased.

So, how can you scrap your car safely? Giveacar is working to combat this problem as well as raise money for charity. They provide a safe, easy and ethical service that facilitates the collection of scrap cars. Then, depending on the age and condition of the car, it is either scrapped or sent to a car salvage auction. If it is scrapped then at least 85% of the car by bodyweight is recycled. A small administration fee is taken from the proceeds, then the rest is donated to the charity of the owner’s choice.

Giveacar has over 300 affiliated charities, from smaller ones such as Pathfinder Dogs to massive ones such as Marie Curie Cancer Care. Since January 2010, they have raised over £250,000 collectively for charity.

Tags: car, Cars, Classic Cars, Donate, Giveacar
Posted in News Facts | 1 Comment »

Retro Classics Stuttgart 2011

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

From 11-13 March 2011 the Retro Classics will take place again in Stuttgart. During the years this classic car show has become a central meeting place not only for classic car enthusiasts in southern Germany.

Classic Car © Martin Pettitt/flickr.com

In eight exhibition halls of Stuttgart fairgrounds not only older and younger classic and vintage cars, motorcycles and spare parts will be presented to the professional and private visitors. You will also get information about classic vehicle restoration, classic car clubs, museums, and model cars.

This year’s highlights will be the BMW Classic exhibition, which will show the company’s history during the last 90 years, and the reproduction of the first German electric car, the ‘Flocken-Elektrowagen’ built in 1888.

About 1,300 exhibitors are expected to present more than 3,000 vehicles. Click here to get more information about the Retro Classics 2011.

Tags: BMW, Cars, Retro Classics Stuttgart
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Ford Part 4

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

But even though Ford had the V8 they were still overtaken by Chevrolet in 1936.

Hydraulic brakes weren’t offered until 1939 and independent front suspension until 1948, over a decade after having been adopted by most American cars.

1959 Ford Thunderbird © exfordy/flickr.com

Attempts were made to offer a smaller and cheaper V8 with 137ci (2245cc) and a 227ci (3720cc) straight-six but neither was successful.

In 1943 Edsel Ford had dies of cancer and Henry Ford, being in his 80th year, took over again. That meant a growing empire with little leadership or financial control. In the late 1945 things began to change though when Henry Ford II, fresh out of the navy, took over as president. He even brought a group of high-flying business brains from the air force and business became profitable again.

For the cars the only improvement in 1945 was a larger version of the V8, now with 240ci (3933cc). The new Fords weren’t launched before 1948. The new cars did not only have a new styling but also independent front suspension. To keep up with the other car manufacturers a new overhead-valve V8 engine was also needed. It didn’t arrive until 1954 though.

In 1955 the Ford Thunderbird was launched and became the most exciting car for that year. It had a standard V8, manual transmission and wind-up windows which made the Thunderbird a more complete car than the Chevrolet Corvette. It was named a ‘personal car’ by Ford and had a pretty good performance thanks to the 198bhp V8.
The Thunderbird outsold the Corvette by huge numbers and even the 1958 four-seater was more popular than the Corvette.

Tags: Cars, Ford, Ford Thunderbird
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Bremen Classic Motorshow 2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

As every year, the Bremen Classic Motorshow 2011 (4-6 February, 2011) is the start of the new classic car season for many car enthusiasts all over Europe.

Bremen Classic Motorshow © El Caganer/flickr.com

It is the first big classic vehicle fair for older and younger classic cars, motorcycles, spare parts and restoration. 550 exhibitors from 11 countries will show their exhibits to visitors from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Scandinavia.

Both visitors and exhibitors value this ambitious and high-quality event in this very special atmosphere.
A special show on the Bremen Classic Motorshow 2011 will focus on German cars with special coach built bodies produced only in small numbers by major German coachbuilders. These cars form an important part of German automobile history and once used to be real dream cars for many people.

The Classic Motorshow will be open daily from 9am to 6pm.

Click here for more information.

Tags: Bremen Classic Motorshow, Cars, Classic Cars
Posted in Events | 1 Comment »

Cadillac Part 4

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

The V16 was followed by a V12 in 1930 with a wheelbase that was shorter by 8in (20 cm).

It was more successful with over 5,700 cars being sold in 1930/31. And besides the mass-produced Fisher body styles, the semi-coach-built Fleetwoods were still available.

In 1938 the V16 was renewed and equipped with a new monoblock engine which at 185bhp and a capacity of 433ci (7096 cc) was slightly more powerful than the original V16. It was not only Cadillac’s but the world’s final V16. In three years little more than 500 were sold.

The cars though that were really making profit were the V8s. In 1936 a new lightweight V8 was launched. It was available as 330ci (5408cc) in the Series 50 and 348ci (5703cc) in the Series 60/70. For the cars a choice of three mass-produced body styles available: sedan, coupé and convertible.

Even though they were totally different to the coach-built V16, they doubled Cadillac sales to over 25,000 in 1936. Throughout the 1930s Cadillac managed to update the cars regularly with features like hydraulic brakes, independent front suspension or all-steel bodies, and in the late 1930s Harley Earl’s protégé Bill Mitchell also changed the styling. The 60 Special Cadillac introduced in 1938 based on the Series 60 but had a longer and lower look. It was not only 3in (8 cm) lower but also had a 32 per cent larger area of glass.

Cadillac Series 61 © exfordy/flickr.com

Besides being Cadillac’s best-selling model, it also was style setting for most American cars in the late 1930s. And as this was not unnoticed by General Motors, the 61 in the following year used many of its styling features and shared its body shell with Pontiac, Oldsmobile, La Salle and Buick. In 1940 the La Salle and V16 operations had been dropped, the V12 had already died three years earlier.

The 60 Special, 61, 62, 63 and long-wheel based 75, all with V8 engines, were built until 1942 when Cadillac, as well as most of Detroit, ceased civilian production. When Cadillac resumed in 1946 it faced a backlog of demand and in that year over 66,000 cars were sold and as the order books were still full, it was clear that the company had to concentrate on production rather than innovation in the first post-war years. The pattern was set for the next three decades.

Tags: 60 Special Cadillac, Cadillac, Cars
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Cadillac Part 2

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

The first move upmarket was the four-cylinder 303-ci Model D which was launched in 1905. And even though the Model D only made up a tiny proportion of Cadillac’s production that year, it clearly showed where the company’s direction lay.

Later that very year the Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing was taken over by the Cadillac Automobile Company and Leland became general manager.

Leland transferred the precision engineering and consisting production standards he valued to car production and in 1907 imported the ‘Jo Block’ gauges from Sweden. They were invented by Carl Edward Johannssen, ensuring that every component was identical. So no filing and fashioning of individual parts was necessary until they fitted, they could be simply bolted on. This of course not only speeded up production but also made up for more reliable cars.
Leland’s British importer, Frederick S. Bennett, demonstrated that in 1908 by completely dismantling three single-cylinder Cadillacs, mixing up the parts and reassembling them into three cars, which started and ran without a hitch.

Cadillac 1910 © wikipedia.org/DougW

In 1909 the singles were replaced by the four-cylinder Thirty, which was cheaper than the existing four and a big advance on the single. The engine measured 227 ci, which was enough to give the car a reasonable performance. A range of three body-styles was available. Of the well-engineered and affordable Thirty nearly 6,000 were sold in the first year.

Of course the success didn’t go unnoticed and Cadillac was acquired by William C. Durant in 1909. Henry Leland, assisted by his son, remained at the helm for a while but when war broke out in Europe in 1914 he wanted to produce aero engines but was overruled by Durant. As furious as he was he and his son resigned and started to make engines themselves. After the war the Lincoln Company went on to built luxury cars but was soon facing bankruptcy and was taken over by Ford. As that didn’t work very well Henry Leland and his son Wilfred left the company within months with Henry going into active retirement.

Tags: Cadillac, Cadillac Model D, Cars
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Chrysler 300 Letter Series Part 2

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

The 300E models were equipped with Chrysler’s new Golden Lion wedge-head V8 engine at 392 cu in (6.4 L) displacement.

The power output was about the same but the loss of the Hemi and the recession still meant poor sales of 522 coupés and 125 convertibles.

The engine of the 300F introduced in 1960 delivered 375 hp (280 kW) as standard and to boost power at lower and mid rpms, a special “cross-ram” intake manifold was derived. Also a special 400 hp (300kW) “short ram” version was produced for competition. The 300F also had a new lightweight unibody construction and a sharper-edged styling. 969 coupés and 248 convertibles were built.

The 1961 300G was wider at the bottom than the top had different headlights, the fins were made sharper-pointed and the rear lights were moved from the fins to the tail below them. The cross-ram engines remained the same but the unreliable French manual transmission used in the 300F short ram models was replaced by a more reliable Chrysler racing manual transmission and cars with this transmission now are among the most rare and desirable of all letter series cars. Of the 300G 1617 cars were built.

The 300H of 1962 had no fins any longer and for the first time the plain (non letter) Chrysler 300 appeared. Except for a 300H badge, externally there was little difference between the 300H and the plain 300 and many options of the 300H could be ordered on the other models too. The cross ram intake was gone and the 300H again had an inline dual 4-barrel carb setup. The body was about 300 lb (140 kg) lighter and the car was faster than the 300G. Due to the loss of exclusivity and the fairly high price only 435 coupés and 135 convertibles were sold. 25,020 of the plain 300 were sold.

The letter “I” was skipped and 1963’s 300J looked smoother and more angular. The convertible and the “short ram” engine were now dropped and the only engine available was the 413 cu in (6.8 L) “long ram”, with a little more power than the previous model. The top speed was 142 mph (229 km/h). Only 400 cars were sold.

For the 300K of 1964 the convertible returned and the cars had a 413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge with a single 4-barrel carburettor, a regular intake manifold and 360 hp (270 kW). It was the new standard engine and the cross-ram engine became an extra-cost option available on the 300K only. As the baseline price was reduced 3,022 coupés and 625 convertibles were built.

1965’s Chrysler 300L was the final year of the letter series and the car was totally restyled. It had a sleek mid-1960s linear look and the cross ram engine was no longer available. For the first time every feature on the letter car could be ordered as option on the plain 300 the only difference was the ‘300L’ badge. 2,405 coupés and 440 convertibles were sold.

Tags: Cars, Chrysler, Chrysler 300, Chrysler letter series
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Chrysler 300 Letter Series Part 1

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The glorious years for high performance cars were the years after WW2.

In Europe those cars were made by Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Aston-Martin. In the USA the Muscle Cars were born.

While GM built the Corvette and Ford the Thunderbird, Chrysler went a different way. The Chrysler letter series. Based on a 2-door saloon it was the fastest and most powerful American car for several years.

The first car of the letter series, the C-300 launched in 1955, didn’t bear a letter but can retroactively be considered the 300A. The 300 originally stood for the 300 hp (220 kW) engine.
The design was pretty similar to other Chrysler models as parts from other cars were used. The front clip and grille were taken from the Imperial, the mid section from the New Yorker hardtop and the rear quarter from the Windsor.
The C-300 was equipped with Chrysler’s most powerful engine, the 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower “Hemi” V8, fitted with twin 4-barrel carburettors, a race-profiled camshaft setup, solid valve lifters, stiffer suspension and a performance exhaust system.
It was the most powerful American car for many years and the first American production car to top 360 hp (270 kW). The cars were successfully raced in NASCAR and numerous international rallies. The interest it aroused was not reflected in the sales figures of 1,725 built though.

The Chrysler 300B launched in 1956 looked pretty similar with larger tailfins and smaller modifications. The engines were larger with two models of 354 cu in (5.8 L) Hemi V8 with either 340 or 355 hp (254 or 265 kW) and performance was a little better, being measured at almost 140 mph (225 km/h). Only 1,102 cars were sold.

The 1957 300C had a completely new styling with a wide front grille and fins. For the first time a convertible model was available too. The Hemi engine was upgraded to 392 cu in (6.4L) with 375 hp (280 kW). A limited edition of 18 cars had 390 hp (290 kW). 1,767 coupés and 484 convertibles were built.

The 1958 300D was the last model with the old FirePower Hemi. It was a 392 cu in (6.4 L) engine tuned to 380 hp (280 kW) as standard. 35 cars had fuel injection and delivered 390 hp (290 kW). The fuel injection system caused problems though and most cars were replaced with the standard twin-quad carburettor setup. Thanks to recessionary times only 618 hardtops and 191 convertibles were built.

Tags: Cars, Chrysler, Chrysler letter series, Muscle Cars
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Mercedes-Benz 300 S

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

The Mercedes-Benz ‘W188’ Type 300 S was first introduced at the Paris Salon in October 1951 and came as a 2+2 coupé, cabriolet or roadster.

This was one month before the serial production of the W186 started and enabled Mercedes-Benz to offer two top models at the same time.

Even though the W188 mechanically was similar to the contemporary W186, the largely hand-built care was marketed as one of the top luxury cars in the world.
The wheel base of the W188 was shortened by 140 mm compared to the W186 and the output of the 2996 cc engine was raised by 7.8:1 compression and triple Solex carburettors to 150 PS (110 kW/150 hp) at 5000 rpm. The top car‘s speed was 175 km/h.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 S was equipped with either 4-speed manual or 3-speed automatic, had front and rear drum brakes.

From July 1952 to August a total of 216 coupés, 203 cabriolets and 141 roadsters were manufactured.

The W188 was modified in 1955 and named Mercedes-Benz 300 Sc. The 300 Sc now had a “low-pivot” independent suspension in the rear and the addition of fuel injection. The inline-six now delivered 175 PS (129 kW/173 hp) at 5400 rpm. The top speed was 180 km/h. Additional chrome stripes on either side and chrome rims denoted the ‘Sc’ model. From 1955 to 1958 a total of 98 coupés, 49 cabriolets and 53 roadsters were built. The price rose by DM 2,000 to DM 36,500 (today that would be about EUR 83,000).

More specifications of the Mercedes-Benz 300 S:

Wheelbase: 2,900 mm (110 in)
Length: 4,700 mm (190 in)
Width: 1,860 mm (73 in)
Height: 1,510 mm (59 in)
Kerb weight: 1,760 kg (3,900 lb)

Tags: Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz 300 S, W188
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