Since I retired, my hobby has been to note when I find some of these cars again. The list includes a 1968 Hurst Olds, 1969 Trans Am, 1966 F85 L69 with a bench seat, 1970 Boss 302 sold at Scottsdale by the original owner, and my 1967 Z/28 sold at Scottsdale - I had sold it back in 1981. ... View more

Some of those actual cars I remember as a kid, I have found since I retired. ... View more

My first car was a 66 GTO I bought from my boss at the car wash for $150. It had a 68 350 4 bbl. I did not care a bit - it was a car. Upgraded to a 66 GTO 389 when a buddy wrecked his car. Not to make it more original, but it was a bigger motor with 69k on it. My next car was another 66 GTO. Couldn’t pass it up - 70 454 Chevelle SS motor. 15,600 miles on the body. Still have the protecto plate - original purchaser was a reverend. Next came my 67 Z/28. Original block was cracked, so they used a 327 block and all the internals, right down to the carb and distributor. It was actually Trans Am raced for several years, so things like springs and shocks had been upgraded. These were all cars I bought, drove, and enjoyed. Numbers matching and original - nice to look at, but never is something I placed a premium on for owning. Tributes / Clones are something I look at that when done right, can many times be as good or better than what rolled off the line. As long as the owner enjoys it, that is what matters. I can appreciate a car that looks the part until you open the hood just as much as a numbers matching original. You lose me completely when your 69 Z/28 has an auto, drum brakes, a 10 bolt, and a 5000 rpm redline on the tach, and tell me it’s a Z.   I can remember my wife’s cousin with a 69 350 two barrel swapping on a four barrel, then telling me it was an LT-1 and how fast it was. At the time, I had a numbers matching 70 Z/28 RS, with 4.10’s and an M22. I took him for a quick spin. Never heard another peep about the LT-1 he had. I do recall Holy Shi** coming out of his mouth as I shifted at 6500 rpm. Moment of enlightenment I guess. ... View more

One of the neighbor kids had a 69 with a 4 speed and the 428 SCJ. Triple black beauty. His girl friend wrecked it and blew up the motor in one fell swoop. Pretty sad ending for such a rare car.  There was also a kid whose dad owned an XR-7 GT - E with a 427 and a C6.  Being a teen in the 70’s I saw quite a few cars that were rare. But until the internet, you had no idea how rare they truly were. Between the insurance surcharge and the gas crunch, some of these were cheap to buy, but driving them was not at the time.     ... View more

As soon as you said idiot proof and only goes in one way, I knew you were in trouble. Simpler than the gear drive, but still a 50 50 deal at best. Those of us who grew up with points knew a match book cover can substitute for a feeler gauge. And you set the dwell before the timing. At times I have debated upgrading from the dual point on my old Pontiac to HEI, but I know what’s in there is not stock, and recurved. So although electronic would be nice, finding someone to recurve it would be a hassle.  Carbs are another mystery for some. Idle speed and screws are just the tip of the iceberg if you really want to dial one in. A buddy had a model T when I was visiting that wasn’t running right. All I needed was for him to tell me I could adjust it while he drove. What a difference. I just wonder how many drivers were killed trying to drive and adjust the carb themselves.  Engines need the same basic things to run right - whether a model T or a newer model with a computer. If you understand the old stuff, tuning with a laptop is not a complete mystery. Just your toolbox changes. So when you have valve adjustments, are you using the harmonic balancer? Or when the intake just closes, adjust the exhaust, and when the exhaust just closes, adjust the intake? If you are real good, you only need to rotate the crank twice.  My teacher was an engine builder. A hydraulic cam can be adjusted as basically a zero lash solid lifter cam for racing. Nice little trick to get a bit more out of your motor and if your started to get clatter, you knew you had some wear to look into.   ... View more

Smokey Yunick to me should have made the list.  What better example than his Omni, with performance and mileage? Plenty of offerings both showroom and aftermarket of innovation stateside. Factory offerings were often comprised of packages that included much more than just a cam. And our aftermarket includes packages to take a current LS and stand alone EFI and computer controlled transmissions, allowing you to put this in an older model. You can even use a laptop to tune them. With some boost, a person can have 1000 + horsepower, reliably. When you talk F1 cars and Rally cars, although we have COPO cars, our equivalent lies more in the aftermarket. ... View more

428, 4 speed, and buckets. That is one bad grocery getter!  There was a group around the Twin Cities that used to dress up wagons. One was a white and gold 455 Hurst Olds.  Another wagon I’ve never seen was a 1964 442. That year they actually made a few. ... View more

New inner wheel wells tells a story. Finding a correct motor is not easy. So restoring likely would be a money pit. Interesting that looking at eBay posting, that they bothered to put ‘48’ heads on it.  Like the ‘13’ heads, these came on more than just a  GTO, and both were found on cars with an automatic. Many of these cars are better to just drive and enjoy. Any similar 1969 or 1970 motor can be tailored towards RA III specs. The real jump was to RA IV, where the 4 hp was a meaningless number. And some parts, like the flex fan, were specific. ... View more

Interesting, but pricey. If it was cheaper it might be good in an old T Bucket. Article could be improved by some ball park costs of what else you’d need. ... View more

I remember being at Scottsdale several years ago and seeing a 1970 Calypso Coral Boss 302. There was a Maple Grove Ford sticker on the rear bumper. Got home, watching the auction recording, there was the original owner, a bit heavier and gray like me. I owned a 1967 Z/28 at the time we first met. Wished I had been there later in the week to see him again. His had the 4.30 gears in back, while mine was only 3.73’s. His was stock, while mine was an ex-trans am car with racing history. He used to joke about the trailer hitch on my car. Have a picture of the car in 1969, with a 1969 Z/28 with the crossram on the trailer.  I also have the picture on the Donnybrook newsletter that same year with my car going under the bridge at speed during a race. Bob kept papers current on the tow vehicle as the cross ram sometimes wasn’t running right. Both the Boss and the Z/28 were playing a game with horsepower back then. Headers and a bit of tuning, either could easily push over 400 horsepower.  These cars were crude by today’s standards, but were raw excitement and begged to be pushed hard. ... View more

Remember the Roadrunner ad, where they touted regular insurance rates? ... View more

Rarity does not always equate to valuable. And condition is everything. Interesting to see, especially that they definitely were a left and right pair.   This is like putting $10k on a roll of toilet paper during the shortage. Although the toilet paper would actually have some functionality should you get weary of the story.       ... View more

There was an auction near me last weekend that Dieter would have found a few subjects. A couple of the pictures had the trees taking over. And the description to bring a few friends and a chainsaw.  ... View more

Upgrading to dual master cylinder or disk brakes I view as a plus. I’m pretty open to things that improve safety and / or reliability for the most part. What I enjoy most is cars that look pretty original, but the things done to it make it so it the owner takes it out and drives it. Say you had a RA IV Pontiac, which had 4.33 gears. An overdrive transmission or swapping gears is a subtle mod. Manual steering to power steering also fits there.  I have mixed feelings on going to fuel injection vs. carb. A bit too obvious. ... View more