About CarciergeGlenn

CarciergeGlenn

My father, now passed on, was a real car-guy. He'd been a "Ford man" until a 1960 Falcon needing an engine rebuild at only 3 years of age, made him switch to American Motors. He then moved on to used GM luxury cars, and when he could buy new in the 1970's, he went with Chrysler. All American. So it was that I also learned at his knee, that American cars were what you got. At some point in the mid-1980's, he told me he'd driven a Honda Accord and the car was light-years ahead of Detroit. I thought he'd lost his marbles, but later learned - after a new 1999 Dodge Neon head gasket going "kaboom" (thankfully under warrantee) being the last straw - that I would be happier moving on to "import brands" (in my case, Hyundai, Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf). I've now purchased a pre-retirement car, a new Chevy Bolt, made in Michigan so have sort of come full-circle. (Except I think the heavy lifting for engineering and development of the Bolt is by GM-Korea previously known as Daewoo....?)

CarciergeGlenn · ‎14-04-2021

Tom McCahill was my go-to every month, in Mechanix Illustrated, and when my father dug out his own collection of such magazines from when he was in his 20s (i.e. 1950's issues), when they were getting on towards 15 years old, I was in car-kid heaven. I enjoyed tests in British car magazines he'd bought, and reports by Floyd Clymer. (Look him up - fascinating life story).

CarciergeGlenn · ‎13-04-2021

I remember going to the dealer in 1964 with my father, who was a car-nut and family man, and seeing the new Mustang right around April or May that year. I recall my dad being disappointed that the 'stang would not suit us since my sister was 11 and I was just coming up to 7, and both growing quickly. I also remember being mystified as to which "trim level" was higher or lower - the chrome cove or pinstripe. "Neither" did not compute, since all other cars had some sort of delineation between low, middle and high trim levels on their exterior....

CarciergeGlenn · ‎07-04-2021

Wonderful story, wonderful car, Jay. Yes; I'm one of the few who knows about the Owen Magnetic and Mr Entz, but I'm not just the Hagerty Carcierge, I'm also an automotive historian. I also had a Chevy Volt and enjoyed it a lot. I've a Chevy Bolt now, pure electric, long range 259 miles (in between the two, I had a Nissan Leaf which had 84 mile range). The Bolt I bought new, the others used (they had the resale value graph which looked about like a lead balloon flying).

CarciergeGlenn · ‎26-03-2021

Being a Studebaker fan myself, I couldn't be happier for Jake. Good choice! Industrial Designer Brooks Stevens took a tired 9 year old design and breathed new life into it, working on a shoe-string budget. I think it's the best looking of all Studebaker Hawks/hardtop coupes. The original 1953 car was so far ahead of its time, Stevens was able to pull it off. But yes, the car was not very wide - this was due to the severe width limitations of the very old (some 19th century) buildings in South Bend which Studebaker were using the manufacture their cars.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎15-03-2021

Hagerty Drivers Club Carcierge and Hagerty Claims have worked together for years to compile a massive list of restoration and repair shops. Here are some Hagerty Expert Repair Network rated shops in the greater Detroit area to contact to see if they are interested in the world - tell them the Hagerty Carcierge sent you. Master Works Automotive Services in Madison Heights tel 248 583 0590, 8 Mile Collision and Glass in Farmington Hills tel 248 888 0538, Action Collision in Troy tel 248 583 7755.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎08-03-2021

Thanks for contacting us about shops. I found no Hagerty Expert Repair Network rated shops within 50 minutes drive time of your location, but I did locate two shops you could consider. Antique Car Restorations of Beverly appears to have mechanics on staff. https://www.classiccarrestorationsbeverly.com/ 445 Rantoul Street Beverly, MA 01915 Phone: (978) 998-4709 Cape Ann Auto Body are on our lists and appear to have mechanics on staff. http://www.capeannautobody.com/ 19 Grove St, Essex, MA phone 978 768 7333

CarciergeGlenn · ‎03-03-2021

Try Cadillac Parts Limited in NJ 856 753 6788, Dan's Classic Auto Parts in OR 503 234 6674, and All American Classics in WA 800 955 4999. Otherwise, your best bet is to join the Cadillac LaSalle club and search their classifieds and use any list of potential vendors they may have. https://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/

CarciergeGlenn · ‎26-02-2021

Yes, agree with geozinger. Too bad Generous Motors quit building the Volt; the Volt drivetrain and battery would have been perfect (both apparently were made in the US, both in Michigan, I was told when I bought my used Volt a few years back from a Chevy dealer).

CarciergeGlenn · ‎03-02-2021

Hello Gman1, our list of restoration and repair shops here at the Carcierge desk don't show any mechanics only body repair shops in the area that we know of. The Model T Ford Club International shows a chapter in New Orleans, but no phone. Write to the gentleman for information, I bet he has a known local mechanic. New Orleans Ted Munch 611 Chipley Street Westwego, LA 70094

CarciergeGlenn · ‎02-02-2021

Hmmm the first thing I thought of when I saw your request was the vendor known as Scarebird, but they don't show a kit for any Corvettes. www.scarebird.com is the website, and they offer CDC cut kits for all kinds of collector cars which then use commonly available modern components to convert old drum brakes to disk, usually leaving the backspacing and wheels entirely alone / stock. Perhaps they'd be interested in working up a kit, email them at tech@scarebird.com The cost of their systems is far less, plus you'd be assured of factory back-spacing to enable anything said to fit the car "as stock" would work, though on some of their kits, they do up-size wheels. However, you've got 15" wheels so there should be no issue - it's 13" and 14" wheel applications which they occasionally say folks have to move up 1" in wheel diameter to make it possible for the parts to fit without rubbing.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎02-02-2021

We haven't any materials on Mexican VIN numbers, but note from some of our World Cars books that GM de Mexico moved from assembly of kits to manufacturing, which means instead of just US type VINs on cars assembled from US kits, once actual manufacturing starts, it appears that GM de Mexico started doing their own patterns of VINs. Naturally, this is before all worldwide VINs were standardized to one pattern in 1981, so every company did it differently.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎01-02-2021

I live in Michigan, and the state (as well as many others) decided to ding EV drivers (I have had a Leaf, now as of last Saturday a new Bolt long range EV) to "make up for gas taxes." It's outrageously more expensive than it should be. I did the math (using the EPA's "MPG equivalent" and US DOT "average miles driven per car") and I'm literally paying 500% more than I should or about $125 extra for the privilege of driving an EV and not paying gas taxes. I wrote to the Governor to uphold my American Citizen's right to complain about taxes (LOL) and ended up with a nonsensical form letter and now I'm on her junkmail list and can't get off.... <sigh>

CarciergeGlenn · ‎25-01-2021

Living in England (courtesy of the US Air Force) in the mid-late 1970's, I remember being on the top of double decker busses in Ipswich, and going around the corner - with the bus only missing the jutted-out 2nd stories of ancient wood and plaster shop buildings downtown by a foot or so. Never saw any crunches against these buildings despite super tight thin roads and almost no sidewalks.... lots of the British busses used pre-selector planetary gearboxes, and depending upon the skill (or maybe mood) of the driver, they could be super smooth or..... somewhat less so!

CarciergeGlenn · ‎25-01-2021

Nice work Reggie!

CarciergeGlenn · ‎14-01-2021

Good article Jack, as always. Yes; as we get "un-younger" in our years, we do get a different perspective on life, that is certain. I don't use the "o" word (old) since my wife (a nurse) has had long-term nursing home patients who had 3 digits in their years and the last wasn't a zero; I can concur that's getting old, for a human being! But with age often comes wisdom, in being able to look at a rich number of experiences over time. Something none of us "gets" when we have fewer years, and that's just the nature of life. So I try not to look down on younger people, and while it is offensive to be disrespected solely due to age, it merely shows a lack of maturity and wisdom which naturally is part of life when not fully grown up. Sadly BMW must have grown-up (physically) adolescents for PR people, and let's just say the management approving this are complicit in it and leave it at that!

CarciergeGlenn · ‎14-01-2021

What a beautiful one-off. Literally. Lucky owner.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎31-12-2020

Dick Tufeld is a voice very familiar to everyone in my generation. He voiced Robot in Lost in Space (I'm talking about the 1963-1966 TV show here not the later movie). I had one of the earliest sets of all-season radial tires in 1982, made by an obscure US company called Mohawk. I was in Arkansas, in college, but there was occasional snow in the Ozarks. They were so incredibly "soft" (in terms of rubber compound) they only lasted 20,000 miles though. I've owned Nokian Hakapallittas within the last 10-12 years and yeah, they were phenomenal in Traverse City Michigan winter weather. Full snow tires.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎30-12-2020

https://www.borgward.com/ I actually believe they are in production and selling (in China, maybe Europe too).

CarciergeGlenn · ‎30-12-2020

In fact, Borgward - a German auto brand dead for over half a century - has been resurrected by a joint Chinese - German effort involving the grandson of Herr Borgward, I believe. https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/companies-executives/article/22007010/electric-resurrection-longdead-german-car-brand-returning-to-roads I, being a Packard fan, would love to see Packard return - even though I'd have virtually no chance of being able to afford one new.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎21-12-2020

There are bumpers for sale on eBay, or you can contact Bud's Benz at 800 942 8444 as they could have them. MAcarbon has a kit but they are temporarily out of stock, they are at 650 489 4415.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎24-11-2020

David vs Goliath all over again, in an automotive sense, of course.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎06-11-2020

Cool little cars, plus bonus: Toyota reliability.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎02-11-2020

I had a Modular V8 in a daily driver 91 Lincoln Town Car and it was a sweet engine, even in its first year. I could pull 22 mpg on the highway in that big luxury barge, if I kept the speed to reasonable numbers.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎29-10-2020

At least Genesis actually also continues to build cars, and even offer them to the few of us in the states who actually don't want a too tall behemoth SUV.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎21-10-2020

The article made me smile with reminiscing. I was 7, in 1964, when my dad bought me my first model car - a '64 Ford Galaxie fastback hardtop, with a space for batteries and four headlights which lit up! I had a weekly allowance of $2 back then, and most models were $2 to buy, and by the time I was 12 I even had my own model making desk in my bedroom, which was pretty cool to my friends, who also made models! By the time I left home for the Air Force at age 18, I had 200 model cars in my collection. When I came home after basic training and school, on my way to England for my first tour, I went home to find my mom had thrown all but two or three of my cars out. "You're not a kid anymore, what's the problem?" I think a lot of moms did that, otherwise some of the more rare models would be less rare these days. I never did tell mom how much value those models would have had in decades to follow. I still have one 1966 Mustang promotional right here in my office, but that's the only one I still have from that timeframe.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎19-10-2020

Look at a map at plugshare and you might find what I've seen. Virtually no public chargers to speak of outside of major cities and towns in Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Kansas, New Mexico, etc etc. I have an 84 mile range commuter EV and in winter, I won't even drive it to the nearest public charger 20 miles away but only charge it from home. I'm not sure this EV will work well for people in fly-over country, but probably is only useful for folks in Europe with much closer proximity between "boondocks" and "cities". I remember seeing a Tesla up top of Glacier National Park which sat for days. I think the owner had to have it taken away as he or she had completely depleted the battery getting up the mountain.... what happens in the middle of nowhere when tow trucks refuse to go more than 75' off paved roads?

CarciergeGlenn · ‎14-10-2020

Wow, what a run! Super fun. When I visited the UK and went to Portmerion (where The Prisoner TV series was filmed in 1967), lo but we pulled up in our rental BMW 320i and what did I see in the parking lot? A Caterham Seven!

CarciergeGlenn · ‎12-10-2020

I owned a Citroen Dyane when I lived in England and it was a hoot to drive. It shared the basic chassis with the 2CV, and had a 602cc twin which later 2CV's also had. The top rolled back, both bench seats could be removed "for a picnic." It rode extremely well, but body roll was incredible - though I never felt unsafe. It wasn't even that loud at 70 mph (which took a considerable time to get up to). Amazing cars.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎05-10-2020

Funniest car ads I ever saw, were from a dealer. The "Trunk Monkey" series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW8iAVwt_Yc "I don't do probes."

CarciergeGlenn · ‎15-09-2020

Just bought a "caddy" and I don't mean a Cadillac, for our little RV trailer. Haven't used it yet, but yeah.... it will come in useful. Hilarious and serious at the same time, this article. Due to extremely outrageous annual tag taxes in Michigan for motor homes, we sold ours and got an ultra light RV trailer with shower and toilet.... yay. Pay once (forever) for trailer tags, done.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎03-09-2020

Lovely cars, much better than given credit for (or often times, not even known by folks who say they're car guys/gals). I wish I'd bought one instead of the BMW I did get (and regretted, then sold at a loss). I'd probably still have the Lexus...

CarciergeGlenn · ‎02-09-2020

Even with the prior BMW bones, Rolls-Royce seems to have been able to really engineer a Rolls-Royce. I was lucky enough to see a Silver Seraph at Hagerty HQ's drum along with an older Rolls-Royce, and was smitten by the Seraph. Here's a wonderful, short 5 minute video of a road test of the Seraph from 20 years ago. It's hard to believe the Seraph was introduced 22 years ago, "only the 9th new Rolls-Royce in its history." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T_1BzMQn3w

CarciergeGlenn · ‎27-08-2020

Well said. I look at the Toyota Century, and despite its size, I see what Packard might have been had it survived. Unabashedly comfortable, reliable, discreet and luxurious. Not sporting. Genesis G90 as well, but of course the Toyota is hand-built at a level which Rolls-Royce gave up when it set up a sort of a mass production facility in Goodwood (compared to what the cars had been of course), plus the Toyota (and I'm sure the G90) are - um, actually reliable. What a novel idea.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎25-08-2020

A full AMC line-up. No SUV's, car. Hear me out. AMC was purchased by Chrysler in 1987, so could be resurrected. Just as Plymouth could be. There's a dealer network, called Jeep? You know, the company AMC bought in 1970? Back in 2008, Hot Rod magazine did an April fools spoof, but to be honest, the cars don't look too bad! When the SUV craze ends (and it will some day), people will be wanting CARS again. Build them in the USA, you know, AMC stands for AMERICAN MOTORS CORPORATION. http://nspmotorsports.blogspot.com/2010/02/future-amc-concept-cars.html

CarciergeGlenn · ‎14-08-2020

A friend of mine was in the US Army in the late 1950's stationed as military police, on the road to West Berlin, so the road was fenced in since it was through East Germany (this, before the formal wall was built). He says they would be stationed at a spot to guard the fence, and there'd be East German soldiers on the other side of the fence. Sometimes there'd be small gates. Sometimes East German soldiers would come through just for a smoke and a visit. He told me one East German soldier (who could not regularly get cigarettes) bummed a smoke, which was proffered, so lacking several hands - he just handed off his military rifle for my American friend to "please hold" while he smoked! My pal says he just examined the rifle, and was in total shock, handed it back after the friendly encounter and the East German guard had to get back to work - on HIS side of the fence.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎11-08-2020

1933 Volvo Venus Bilo.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎10-08-2020

IKA Torino in Argentina, was a facelifted Rambler American with ex-Kaiser Jeep overhead camshaft "Tornado" inline six. (IKA stood for Industrias Kaiser Argentina). 1960's-1970's. It's cousin, the Willys Aero, a recycled sedan from 1952-1955, was beautifully restyled by Brooks Stevens for Willys do Brazil. Early 1960's-1970's. Strangely enough, it became a Ford later...

CarciergeGlenn · ‎06-08-2020

Others tried various "alternative rotary" engines over the years, the most interesting one was the Isuzu rotary introduced around 1964, never built. It was sort of an inside-out Wankel with the figure 8 as the rotor and 3-sided chamber, with seals in 3 places inside the chamber rather than on the rotor! When asked at the Tokyo auto show in period, the engineers could not describe how it worked!

CarciergeGlenn · ‎08-07-2020

I agree with you Jack. This self-driving dream has been around so long, it predates me. This is a GM movie from 1956, predicting gas-turbine cars with self-driving by "19 and 76". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx6keHpeYak Listen carefully for the comment by the hotelier about "pre-digested food" ?! Yikes. I'm glad this predicted future didn't come to pass...

CarciergeGlenn · ‎06-07-2020

Nice article, James.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎10-06-2020

Wow! Good thing I saw this article. If I'd seen the car on the street first, I probably would have driven into a ditch after craning my neck.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎08-06-2020

1937 Plymouth, according to what I see in my Standard Catalog of American Cars by Kimes and Clark.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎02-06-2020

Chrysler Turbine car. I've been fascinated by that car since I was 6 and it first came out. Toyota Century V12. Just to cruise around in total luxury without people outside-the-know realizing what it is. Non-ostentatious. But wow, luxury. 1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk, black, red interior, supercharged, four speed, power front disc brakes, air conditioning, power steering, no radio. I'd want to listen to the supercharger and that great 289 Stude V8.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎27-05-2020

Most people aren't un-young enough to recall that the reason rust didn't completely kill the reputation of Japanese cars in the USA and Canada when they were newly introduced, is because American and Canadian and other imported cars rotted before your very eyes, if you lived where roads were salted or cheek by jowl of the sea.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎21-05-2020

Only because I'm a fan of the Chrysler Turbine Car will I mention the somewhat terrible movie from 1964, The Lively Set, starring James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, and Doug McClure. It has some interesting race scenes with some actual race drivers of various types actually doing some driving.

CarciergeGlenn · ‎18-05-2020

But wait. Pontiac V8's from 1955 through about 1958 or 1959, used reverse cooling. How can GM steal a concept THAT THEY'D HAD IN PRODUCTION DECADES EARLIER?

CarciergeGlenn · ‎15-05-2020

Luce R130, mid 1970's RX4 hardtop, the Cosmo 3-Rotor, Autozam AZ-1 and RX-8, I love them all! How do I chose?

CarciergeGlenn · ‎15-05-2020

Cool footnote about Bill’s Toyota and how it came about. I always wondered how much it cost to start a dealership for a then very minor player in this era. I was nine in 1966, and a gas station owner set up a Toyota dealership in a rural town west of Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula where I lived. Then a hailstorm came. My dad went to look at a new hail-damaged '67 Corona, and passed, got a new Rambler American instead. Dad said the dealer-owner explained that he only sold the Corona because they had the best chance of selling, and the Toyota franchiser even told him that. He only had to carry one set of parts for one Toyota line that way.... Never knew whether this dealer flourished or folded.....

CarciergeGlenn · ‎13-05-2020

GM succeeded with Corvairs 10 years earlier! Though one of them is still out in the swamp, I believe two or three got through the Darien Gap!!! With a lot of help....