In 1985, I was employed as a Media Group Supervisor at Young & Rubicam - Detroit...Lincoln-Mercury's advertising agency. We entered two cars in Brock Yate's 1985 One Lap of America - a new Merkur XR4ti and a FWD 1984 Mercury Topaz 5 speed manual, 4 cylinder coupe (which was Y&R's mailroom car, hastily equipped with rally equipment by Gene Henderson - well-known POR rally driver). I was one of the three driver team in the Topaz - we drove 8,800 miles in 8 days, mostly at 80 mph whenever possible, through snow & ice across the northern U.S., rain coming down through WA and OR, desert heat in NV and more heat across the southern part of the U.S. Going up the east coast and back toward a Detroit RenCen finish line, we encountered fog, then more ice & snow. That was one tough little car - never put a foot wrong and no problems - we finished in 4th place, behind two Audi 5000 Quattros (overall winner driven by John Buffum & Walter Boyce), and an AWD Blazer - our Topaz was the highest ranked two wheel drive finisher. That Topaz might not have been flashy, and was somewhat underpowered, but it sure did the work in an impressive and unassuming way - tough & solid car!! ... View more

...totally agree the base XL with 230 mile range and more basic charging options is not where the volume will be - but even if you get the high-end 300 mile range battery pack, plus premium charging & nicely optioned truck - $70k still compares very favorably to almost any other E - truck coming out in the near future.  Not to mention advantage of F-Series being a real, proven, top-selling truck to begin with - and the large Ford dealer service network.  I can't see how these new independents are going to effectively compete in this E-truck category.  While GM has the higher priced and more powerful / capable Hummer coming out, I don't see anything in the way of an upcoming competitor that's viable in the RAM lineup either.  ... View more

While I'm still not an E-vehicle enthusiast - the starting / base price estimated at $40,000 is a real game-changer in this category - and that's before the $7,500 tax credit you get from the gov't! That makes it less expensive than most regular gas powered F-150's, not to mention almost HALF as expensive as base level E-Trucks from GM (the Hummer) - or Tesla with its yet-to-go-into production, ridiculous looking "Darth Vader truck", or others allegedly coming to production from small independent manufs like Rivian, Bollinger, Lordstown Motors, etc...glad I don't have any investment $$'s in those small start-ups! ... View more

I always hate seeing a Chevy engine - or Chevy crate engine - in an old Ford hot rod...boring, no imagination! Always more interesting to see a built Ford flathead V8 - or other 1950's V8 engines that are built-up...early Mopar hemi, Buick nailhead, Olds Rocket, etc. While I'm at it on hot rods - also really disappointing when you see a nicely done hot rod, then look at the interior and see it upholstered in "burlap" - cheap looking synthetic tweed material...to me, leather looks the best in these rods! ... View more

...landing an Alitalia 747 in Hamtramck would be quite a trick, and sure to throw the locals into a quite a panic! To clarify, these specially equipped 747's could carry 56 Allante' bodies each, and they were flown into Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, MI (Detroit's main airport, a.k.a. DTW) - they unloaded in a very visible area. I remember coming-in from various business flights, and seeing one of these unloading - all those beautiful Pininfarina bodies in different colors - as I went to my car in the "Big Blue" parking deck. I was working for Car and Driver, and Road & Track at the time (owned by the same publishing company), and had one of the 1990 4.5 L engined ones (in red, of course) - for a couple of weeks - it had good power for its time, and what a luxurious, sports tourer it was - particularly with the top down! ... View more

To me, part of the charm of owning a classic car or vintage sports car is keeping it largely original - so you get the experience of driving it the way it was originally engineered and built, which gives you insights into another place and time. If you want a glorified golf cart, then just buy one of the modern electric transportation appliances that manufacturers currently offer - don't screw-up a vintage machine doing this!! ... View more

...Graham Hill was 43 when he co-drove this Matra MS 670 with Henri Pescarolo to victory at Le Mans in 1972...and Graham is still the only racing driver in history to win "The Triple Crown of Motorsport" - properly defined as the 24 Hours of Le Mans; Formula 1 Grand Prix World Championship (1962 BRM, 1968 Lotus/Ford); and the Indianapolis 500 (1966 Lola/Ford). This particular Matra is an iconic sports racing car for the French - can't believe that some French billionaire will let it leave the country - it will be interesting to see what happens at this auction, both in terms of how much this Matra MS 670 goes for, and to whom! ... View more

Brilliant idea & execution by GM!  Hello to Shaun Bailey -  we used to work together at Road & Track! ... View more

The 1921 Duesenberg looks awesome - great design and love the way it sits so low to the road!  The pics of this car are in front of the A-C-D Museum in Auburn, Indiana.  If you have never been there, it a must for any car enthusiast.  This it the original Auburn Auto Company HQ building - the restored art deco showroom is amazing, as are the cars from all three marques on display there.  The upper floors of this building have many additional classic cars and company displays,  In another building right behind this one, there is the National Auto & Truck Museum - in a building that was originally the L-29 Cord plant.  Give yourself enough time - easy to spend several hours looking through the A-C-D Museum alone!  It's all very close to the Auburn exit off of I-69...just a mile or so east of exit...like a time warp! ... View more

I've always used non-ethanol "recreation gas" in my old cars - here in Michigan it is most easily found at Speedway stations, and is 89 octane.  This works well in my 1955 Ford Crown Vic, 1968 MGB/GT, and 1967 Austin Healey 3000 MKIII 3000 - all with stock engines.  For winter, I also add Sta-Bil, before a long last drive of the year.  This has always seemed to work well - the cars are stored for 4 to 6 months.  I hope everyone can still get out for that "last drive" before they have to tuck their "babies" away for the winter! ... View more

I already have a 1967 Mercury Cougar (Motor Trend's Car of the Year - 1967) - base model upgraded with 289 4 bbl - C4 automatic.  Sits on a 3" longer wheelbase than 1967 Mustang (most noticeable in back seat floor area), otherwise shares most hard parts, which are easily obtainable.  I always thought of it like a period T-Bird combined with Mustang type of target.  That said - it was a prime competitor in Trans-Am racing that year - almost won the championship - team run by Bud Moore, cars driven by Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, David Pearson.  these 1st gen Cougars have great period styling, and are fun to drive, easy to work on...as with many cars of this era, be mindful of rust when shopping for one. ... View more

This article got me thinking about such discussions back in the 1970's.  I live in Michigan - plenty of winter weather - and salt!  Back then, the ideal winter beater was a Olds Toronado - with snow tires (on front wheels, of course).  Most of us just settled for rear snow tires on our then current regular cars.  A couple of winters I drove my MGB/GT on Michelin XAS radials - never had more fun driving in winter than that - could toss it all over and snap it back - traction not bad either!  Unfortunately, the salt did a number on the MG.  Fast forward to early 2000's - on a snowy day, I test drove both a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 4.0 I-6, and a Ford Explorer V8 - the Jeep could drive circles around the Explorer - which was terrible for AWD in the snow, even with comparable tires.  Alas - the salt did a real number on most of these vehicles back then - tough to find a good one...mechanical - electrical - body...nowadays. ... View more

When I owned a (then new) 1985 Merkur XR4Ti - I always wanted to put a new 5.0 litre Mustang GT V8 in it - like what it should have been in the first place - to make a real car out of it...was otherwise solidly built - stylish for the times - and great interior with Recaro seats. ... View more

Of the 10 nominated, I like the 1967 Mercury Cougar and 1965 Buick Riv with clamshell hidden headlights.  What about the 1930's Cord 810/812?  Awesome Gordon Buehrig design!  Also - 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, and 1967 Cadillac Eldorado - awesome!!  ... View more

....looks like it either wants to be a Rover (like the Explorers are trying to resemble) or certainly a JEEP...to get some of that market share.  It's exciting to see Ford produce something like this instead of their usual modern day focus on electric, autonomous transportation pods...! ... View more

For those of you that have never experienced Road America and Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin, i'd highly recommend it, and the Brian Redman International Classic is a great event!  Back around 2009, I was there when the featured focus was Can-Am cars - was actually part of a crew for a friend who owned and vintage raced a 1968 Lola Can-Am car - with a fresh big block Chevy in it.  The heat all weekend was oppressive, but what great memories!  I rode in the "other seat" in the Lola on a parade lap - we only got up to 100 mph once for a moment, but the roar of that big block right behind you was memorable!  What fearsome machines these were!  We all stayed at the beautiful Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake - whole town was a classic race car party all weekend - a great little resort town on a lake!! ... View more

...looks like these pics were all shot on Rotunda Drive - between Snow Rd. and Oakwood Blvd. in West Dearborn - across from the Ford Engineering Buildings.  Drove through there every day of school year back in high school - at Edsel Ford High School - a few hundred yards further down Rotunda...in my 1967 Mercury Cougar with 289 V8 4 bbl...the good old days! ... View more

Go Roger!  Those who are paranoid will just stay home - and miss out on the whole summer because they've allowed themselves to be victimized by all the media hype.   ... View more

I watched with an open mind, but even the magic of Chip Foose can't make this pig of a car good looking!  When AMC launched the Pacer, we all said it looked like a goldfish bowl on wheels, and that anyone driving one should wear a set of artificial fish gills to look the part.  The most interesting comment I ever heard about a Pacer was from an editor at Automobile Magazine when I worked there - we were at a restaurant in Ann Arbor, having lunch, and there was a black Pacer parked across the street outside.  He looked at the car and said; "you know the disturbing thing about a Pacer?  If you chop the top, from a rear 3/4 view it would look like a Porsche 928!! 🙂   ... View more

The Woodward Dream Cruise will go on - with or without "official / sponsored events" - and those who are still social distancing by the middle of August will just avoid it.  The businesses and police departments along the route have never officially like the event - so no new news there.  I have no problem with it going back to more like it was back in the early years...1995, 1996 - it was more about cruising and seeing old cars, less of a money-making, way too crowded, roads totally jammed with regular vehicles event.   ... View more

Mid-century instrument panels - my vote is for the 1955 Ford Fairlane "Astra-Dial" instrument panel, with see-through "dome" behind the sweeping speedometer...a one year only instrument panel - I'd attach a picture but the limited functionality of this haggerty newsletter format unfortunately doesn't allow for that...! ... View more

I worked in a sports car restoration shop while I was going to Michigan State University - 1970s - we worked on some interesting cars - two in this category were Iso Rivolta - looked like a more stylish BMW 5-series with a Chevy 327 V8; and Intermeccanica Italia - used Ford 302 V8...both beautiful Italian styled & bodied cars with American V8 grunt - back then we called this combo a "hybrid" - mid to late 1960s...   ... View more

Packard had a 352 cubic inch V8, as did Ford.  Before their V8's in 1955, Packard had a 327 cubic inch straight 8 - match to displacement of Chevy 327 V8 - and a 288 cubic inch straight 8 - close to a Ford or Studebaker 289 V8 in displacement. ... View more