Agree, once you've done that level of restoration, it kind of becomes like Abe Lincoln's axe to a significant degree. ... View more

Just turned 200K on my 2012 Challenger V6. I face much the same conundrum as you as far as the exterior goes; the interior is mint. While 10 years and 200K was the replacement goal, I’m now looking at another 4 years thanks to the elderly gent who totaled my wife’s car, which I was set to inherit. Should I repaint the hood? Should I repair the rust in the quarters? Or should I save the money for more of the preventive maintenance that’s gotten me this far (and for the inevitable front end rebuild-again)? I think the answer is yes. To all of it. I like the car, and I find it easier to stomach dropping repair dollars in the future on a car I’m still proud to look at. Just a thought. ... View more

Apple CarPlay — just what's needed right now for those already-distracted "glued to a screen" "drivers". 'Want to make roads safer? Go back to buttons and knobs for most controls. ... View more

Drop me a line: jbaruth at Hagerty. ... View more

Jack, If those Apple //e's get to be too much of a hassle, I'll take them off your hands. B^) ... View more

Great article Rob! My longest driving day ever, in time spent and likely in miles, was probably the 800 miles at 50mph, Iowa to Pennsylvania, on my way from Stanford to Boston, in my 9 year old '62 Falcon, that had hit 100k in Lovelock, Nevada, and had the kind of power where you floor it and it feels like another person started pushing. I think I stopped about three times that day, for gas, food, and bathroom each time. A bit later that summer, I was driving in France, and I was amazed at how--because of the traffic and the French driving--it took three hours for the back of my shirt to soak through--something that didn't even begin to happen crossing the country in 1971, when the US population was probably less than 2/3 what it is now. ... View more

Pretty sure the Starfire was an Oldsmobile model. Great looking barn finds. ... View more

Hey Jack, if you are still interested in an SR3, I've got what may be the highest spec SR3 they built when these came out ... it's gotta go. ... View more

Couple typos oops. Voice transcription is the best isn't it ... View more

As an integral part of the Product Planning team that created the original Dakota, I very much appreciate the positive comments about this “milestone” truck. I'm the guy who thought of the name Dakota, which comes from the Sioux word Da Koda, meaning "considered a friend," and that it was to many owners. It's particularly exciting to learn that the name may be resurrected in a new version of a midsize pickup. In the 1980s, our N-Truck team worked very hard to anticipate what pickup trucks would become as they expanded from “work trucks” into more personal-use roles. Although Hal Sperlich had a great idea in identifying and exploiting a gap in the truck market, we faced great challenges in implementing the program within the constraints of Chrysler’s corporate resources extant at the time and were innovators in keeping investment low. Later in my career, I was Program Manager for the amazing Ford F-150 Lightning Performance Truck (handles like a Ferrari but hauls like an F-150!), and that name is also reemerging. The exciting new F-150 Lightning EV, like the original Lightning, breaks new ground in terms of what a pickup truck can be, while retaining all the functional capabilities of the rugged F-150. Great memories of extraordinary trucks which shattered the mold of past pickups. ... View more

Nope, we meant J.C. Penney. ... View more

Exactly.  Cars like the Davis, the Playboy and Tucker were possible only because after four long years of war,  there was a car shortage.  A decent '41 Chevy, for one, cost far more in 1945-46 than  it did new.   Road & Track editor/publisher John Bond's observations i recounted above on Wednesday sum it.  Meanwhile, how many  times is Hagerty serving reruns? ... View more

Acme's here in my home town. They do good work. I didn't know about their workshop program, that's great. ... View more

Hideous. Don't care what's underneath. ... View more

Our new postal vehicles have that auto stop/ start feature. Seems insane to have the things fire up and then quit as they inch forward through our row of 4 mailboxes out front,. Wear and tear etc. ... View more

If you believe that, either you aren’t a car enthusiast at all, and maybe this a bot sent here to annoy me. Anyway, here goes. A Morris Minor is a neat, important car, with 40 or so horsepower on its best day. Your clapped out example makes considerably less. At best it’s the automotive equivalent to “self-abuse”. A D-Type is pure sex. 245bhp in base form, and the only way any Minor can go almost as fast with little effort is out the tailgate of a C-17. As we learned in “Crazy People”: Jaguar: For men who like getting handjobs from beautiful women they hardly know. The Morris topped at 73mph; the D-type 173. No way you can make up a 100mph difference. I agree you don’t have to be rich to have fun, but don’t get stupid. A 1978 Corvette, or an early C4 can easily be made fast, cheap. A clapped out Morris Minor is barely worth even restoring. And I won’t be fast. ... View more

Right you are about the politics. However.. put a Trabant next to a Corvette at a car show or cruise night. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, will be looking at the Corvette. I see this happen all the time. ... View more

Oh wow, that's awesome!  ... View more

Hart was not driving during the Cuda wreck. Jared Black was driving and is suing Hart claiming car was unsafe. Anyway, yes his Salvaggio designed Road Runner is sweet. ... View more

I first read this on a Buick forum, of all places, because many of the (advanced age) hardcore Buick guys have become disillusioned with mother "gm" and turned to buying Challengers/Chargers for their affordable-ish, fullsize, full power fix. This is the story that made me find the Hagerty site and start reading "Avoidable Contact". And I'll say the same thing here that I said there, Jack: That was beautiful, and sad, and every car guy should have to read it. ... View more

I MUST have that Morgan. Oh my goodness, that has fun written all over it. And still combustion-powered. The only problem will be the price. I wonder if there's a bank I can rob...... 😉 ... View more

I saw the other car at Wayne Corini's F 40 a few years ago. His story that after painting it he brought it back to Leviston who told him to leave it in a garage. The garage had a dirt floor. He wouldn't leave it so he brought it back and keep it at F40. ... View more

The launch is the coolest and most fun part of a drag race. Awesome to see a car that leaves hard. Can’t imagine taking that out. I applaud anything that increases participation and getting races onto tracks tho. Parade Laps if necessary. Haha ... View more

I love the Hudson Twin H Power and the Buick GS. I've seen a few batwing ones out there, also very cool. The Mercury was a new one to me and all the old 70'd ones are part of my childhood memories. ... View more

Well I have a C8 and......no I don't but lots of guys write that. No one here...yet. Good technical interpretation and entertaining. Clear to me the mano-a-mano competition was not only behind the wheel, it was at the keyboard. "Brain eating fun" WT? I do not know how many owners of these cars track them; I speculate autocrossing is more common. So I would enjoy you providing that mano-a-mano, especially at a club event where the regulars might up the ante. Question: When will OEMs stop with the 60's Le Mans stripes? Do they have to force-retire generations of Marketing people? ... View more

I take a Euro size 45, does that make me cooler ? ... View more

Jack: I think you have forgotten the first and, perhaps, most formidable obstacle placed in front of the D3 platform: It was Ford's "Third Age" car. The company went to great lengths to talk about how they had designed the Five Hundred and Montego for aging drivers, and pushed story after story about engineers and designers wearing bulky suits that limited movement and glasses that altered their field of view so they could understand the needs of drivers as they entered this third age. (If I remember correctly, the ages were Youth, Middle Age, Third Age (a.k.a. Old Age), and -- eventually -- Death.) Some genius thought it would be a good idea to highlight this choice, and sell it to younger buyers as a plus because the vehicles were more ergonomic and easier to use. What was really sad, however, was that Ford had shown the 427 Concept one year earlier. Rear drive, high-waisted and looking like a Fusion on steroids, it had a thumping 427 cubic inch V10 under the hood, and nothing in common with the 500. There was good reason; it was a look at the design language of the 2006 Fusion, while the 500 had the look of an over-inflated second-gen European Focus in sedan form. ... View more

   Sounds like unrealistic expectations to me.  My classics have all been understood to be just that - never to be compared with the newer, more sophisticated vehicles that I use for specific purposes or daily driving.  If one climbs into a '66 automobile and thinks it should perform like a 2021 example, one just doesn't "get" what the idea really is, in my opinion.    Likewise, I'd never board a 1950 Piper Cub and expect that it was going to take me somewhere with the speed and comfort of a Boeing 777.  My advice: stop comparing and just enjoy the blast from the past!   😊 ... View more

It was lovely ... View more

I owned the exact car (black with blue interior) from 1987-1992. Although I did modify it, I did not install a turbo kit. If I recall correctly, I sold it for $2,500. Forty to sixty grand, dang, I wish I kept the car. Even twenty grand would be nice! ... View more

A better way to go is the Chevy Nomad prototype, based the the 1953 Corvette. Purists who oppose a Corvette station wagon love the Chevy Nomad, which was in production for years. An after-market wagon modification was available for C3s, and is not rare. A C2 four-seat wagon would be just fine. ... View more

So cool to see stories like this, kids giving back to dad certainty must fulfill a dream. Noting compares to the sacrifices one makes for family members. Words of wisdom from mom, ‘We can’t have a convertible with a baby,’ so he gave it up and they bought a station wagon.I'd bet many a memory was shaped by that wagon as well. ... View more

I also owned a DeLorean. It was a fun car, but yes it lacked power. A few points though: DMC-12 was the pre-production name. It was never sold as the DMC-12. That’s why you won’t find DMC-12 anywhere on the car, the owners manual, the certificate of origin, nor any official advertising once the car was in production. All documents (again, AFTER production started) simply refer to the car as the DeLorean.  The charges against John weren’t dropped. He was found not guilty. It was proven that the FBI entrapped him. ... View more

Years back, I worked for a guy who, like me, had three sons. He said he told all of them "Here's the deal. I buy your first car. It'll be a sh*tbox. You'll pay for all the upkeep." I really liked his clear no-nonsense approach. Unfortunately, in practice, it was usually more difficult than that. ... View more

@DeLoreanTech, are you responsible for this build? If so, please reach out to me at npetroelje@hagerty.com. Would love to chat about this build! ... View more

So Ford sold out the eluminator in a week, that's nice for them. The story fails to mention how many motors were in that first sellout run, 10 ?? 15 ?? It doesn't look very automotive. It looks like it should have a glass top and a few drink coasters. Gary ... View more

Just awesome. ... View more

I wouldn't say it is the ugliest - the giant spindle that lexus has is pretty awful too lol That being said, the grill doesn't look as awful as on the 2 door M4, the longer body helps hide some of the offensiveness of the grill. ... View more

I got the point. Don't let the fun-killers win. While I was amused at your Spinning Rock take, I'm surprised you didn't go Uncle Tom McCahill? I'm catching up on these during lunch, maybe I just haven't read it yet... ... View more

Talk about a strong healthy relationship! Money not withstanding that is a badass thing to do in any open vehicle. I can handle bad seats, limping over unpaved paths and even breakdowns but competing while cold and wet?? I will don all my hats just to take them off to this amazing couple. ... View more

You might note that Bentley is dropping the W12 so you can’t buy one snd they are moving to all electric like most of the rest of the industry. Jack tends to only see Jack view but not what really is going on. I was guilty of the same thing till I started to see what was going on in development in my industry. This told me this was no longer a false start and with the billions invested there is no real going back. I am not an EV guy but I really understand we’re this is going and we will see a major historic change over the next 20 years. There are still some things to discover snd solve but they will be. How we deal and approach vehicle will change much. We have seen how electronics have transformed our lives in many ways the automobile is just one more area.   Just like now. I sit with a OLED TV only a fraction of an inch thick floating on a lowered mount in front of my fire place with an advanced sound system attached. The picture is delivered by satellite and they are now charging me to watch what was once free. That while  I type this on a touch sensitive screen on my I pad over a global web that can reach even a space station. All of this is electronics grown from roots in the Apollo program in less than 50 years. The development has accelerated tech more as time goes by.  I see just some of what they are working on now and nothing can be discounted anymore. The profits from these electronics are great and more will be mining the electronic gold that has been discovered.  ... View more

The 'E-Type' would be the closest. "why do the British drink warm Beer? _ they have "Lucas Refrigerators" Ha ... View more

I like Henry Ford's "Fairlane" home garage in Dearborn with the rotating floor that allowed him to pull straight in, then drive straight out! ... View more

Prototype Windshield posts are curved _2+2 were straight ... View more

with gravy & dumplings. ... View more

Oh, I don’t believe the rich need our help disposing of their wealth, most successive generations after the original rich guy/gal squander the money. If you didn’t work hard for it, you don’t value it. Countless lottery winners have proved this, too. Only 20% of wealth is generational, 80% gained through a good idea or hard work. And squandering wealth distributes it better than the government ever could. ... View more

Hi Darold> I am in Canada (Sarnia Ontario) and another fellow looked into this for me earlier this year and realized that Hagerty does not insure classic motorcycles in my area (Ontario, Canada). ... View more

You're right, of course! ... View more

The stuff done to it make the engine look way more modern than a flathead usually does. Pretty cool work on this vehicle. ... View more

Love the illustrations with these articles. Fantastic work! ... View more