Maserati – Chrysler TC Club

So not unlike many restoration projects I’ve worked on, something often pops up that makes you have to set some part of the work aside and tackle some unexpected.  That’s about the same with writing as frequently as I do, multiple articles all nicely lined up and a couple fillers nearly ready to go.  Then BAM!!!   Up pops a car show or a I read something I want to react too.  As it is with this piece.

I wish I could just write all day, every day, but I have a “paying” IT job which is a 7 days a week job and manage to squeeze out all the normal life stuff including ‘honey do’ list as long as I am tall.

So while tackling one of those tasks this past weekend, I happened upon a small cluster of cars at end of the a very large parking lot that normally adjacent to a COSTCO.  At first glance it looked like a group of a flock of Chrysler Lebarons.   But I was wrong, well sort of.

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These cars are the offspring of a collaboration between Chrysler and Maserati.  I wrote a piece a while back on the Maserati/Chrysler TC (http://wp.me/p2YxYx-14x).  Check that out.

Mindful that I have frozen seafood and burgers sitting in back of my wife’s Lexus (it has a bit more cargo room than my C6), I planned on just saying hi a grabbing a couple of shots, but you know how car people are!!!

I asked if I could take a few shots with my Android phone and a couple of the guys said sure.  Then a guy approached me and I said “Hi.”  I told him I had thought it was a local LeBaron club when I first saw the cars.  Well the gentleman was  Mr. Hemi Anderson,  TC America Tech expert in all things TC.  Hemi let me know that although they were similar in appearance the underpinnings  were different –   different wheel base and all.  He assured me that the TC was the original design and that Chrysler came up with the Lebaron as cheap alternative.   His TC had about 11K miles and he drives it only on long drives – like this one (he hales from just outside of Vegas) or his annual Florida drive.   He was a wealth of knowledge and I wished I didn’t have a car full of groceries to get home or I could have spend a few hours going over every car with him.

Here’s a few shots:

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Those Wheels are similar to the ‘plastic hub caps” that are on my son’s Lebaron.

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There were a total of 8 cars and waiting for more to show up.

 

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I do like the wheels…I think they’d look good on my son’s Lebaron.

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Removable Hardtop with ‘Opera’ window.

You can find this car club at http://www.chryslertcbymaseraticlub.com/.

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

chrysler tc by maseratichrysler tc by maserati

TOTD: Will More Models and Sales Water Down the Maserati Brand?

In my opinion the real watering down of the brand occurred in the 80’s under the ownership of de Tomaso, with the launch of Biturbo (and all the models based off of it) and the Chrysler TC by Maserati. TrollHater 5pts. Its possible. Look at how watered

Auto Factoids for the Week of Feb 2, 2014

2/4/1913- Perlman patents the demountable tire rim

(Few years later – Feb 24, 1925 Lewis K. McClellan got a patent for his improvements.)

Perlman

from http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/05/dayintech_0521/:

Back in the earliest days of the automobile, radiators were brass, headlamps had wicks, cars were made as much of wood as metal, and wheels and tires were a single unit. The tires were solid rubber, and the wheels were wooden hub-and-spoke setups not unlike what you’d find on a horse-drawn wagon. Each one was affixed to the car by a single nut, and they were, for all engineering purposes, treated as a single unit.

The tires were about the width of a business card and provided roughly the same level of grip. On the upside, they were pretty darn tough. But, like everything else on a car, they would eventually wear out. At that point, you had to replace the tire and the wheel, even if the wheel was just fine.

Perlman knew there had to be a better way, and he found it.

His demountable tires (patent No. 1,052,270) worked pretty much like the ones on your car right now. A bead — that’s the inner rim of the tire — held the tire against a groove machined into the wheel. The friction of shallow notches kept the tire from rotating on the wheel, though some early applications used a cumbersome screw-clamp system.

The only downside was the tire-and-wheel assembly had to be balanced to prevent vibrations and ensure a smooth ride, but that wasn’t a big problem. Today no one thinks twice about it (except when they forget to get it done).

Perlman’s invention led to the adoption of pneumatic (inflated) tires, which provide much better performance. It also allowed automobile owners to choose their own wheels, which is one of the most common ways of customizing one’s ride.

 

From the U.S. Patent Office

From the U.S. Patent Office

US1527321-1

From the U.S. Patent Office

 

2/5/1925 Ethyl Lead gas goes on sale

100% Leaded!!!

100% Leaded!!!

 

2/5/1970 AMC buys Kaiser Jeep

Now every knows AMC and  that the Jeep went from there to become an part of Chrysler and now is technically part of Fiat, but not too many people, outside of Jeep collectors where it was before that time.   Kaiser Jeep was created out of a merger between Kaiser-Frazer car builders and Willy’s Overland company.  Willy’s Jeep was famous for the jeeps built to support WW II.  Willy’s also made cars, but both companies (Willy’s and K/F) stopped making passenger cars in 1955 and continued to manufacture Jeeps, including the famous Jeep Wagoneer – the first soccer Mom vehicle, and the CJ, under the name Willy Motors.  In 1963 they changed the name to Kaiser Jeep Corporation.  After the AMC purchase the company Jeep Corporation was formed as a subsidiary of AMC.

1967 M715 Kaiser Jeep 1967_CJ-6_ Kaiser_ Jeep_01

 

2/5/1846 – The founder of Dunlop tires birthday  – John Boyd Dunlop – Dreghorn, England

2/6/1951 – Kaiser introduces it’s Silver Dragon

The Silver Dragon or Dragon was a option package on what was actually just the Kaiser Manhattan.  It had vinyl upholstery that simulated alligator and Kaiser was afraid that customers were shy away from the cars thinking actual alligator was used so they called it Dragon skin and the model was tag as “Dragon”.

 

Produced from 1951-1953

Produced from 1951-1953

1953 Kaiser

1953 Kaiser

2/7/1942  – U.S. Government “requests” (orders) auto makers to switch to wartime production and stop building cars.

2/7/1958  – The car world is introduced to the 600 Automatic Transmission  – Dutch DAF

The first continuously variable transmission (automatic) developed by the Dutch car manufacturer DAF (although one was used in England circa 1923 – guess it wasn’t a big hit back then).   DAF produced some ‘cute’ cars:

The 600

The 600

The car that made the automatic transmission popular.

The car that made the automatic transmission popular.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

kaiser jeep

Wheels Classic Cars: Buick 3800 V-6 Engine

1964, but in an era of cheap gasoline many motorists preferred a V-8. Thus, when GM found itself with more sixes than it needed, it sold the Buick V-6 rights and tooling to the Kaiser-Jeep Corp. in 1967. K-F named it the “Dauntless 225” and used it in
1969 Kaiser M715 – M7.3

“My goal was to build an expedition vehicle. I had been shopping for a truck to design and build for sustained off-road travel,” says Kevin Mackie of Milpitas, California. The story of how he ended up buying and building this ’69 Kaiser M715 began with

 

 

C7 Tussles with a Tesla

Instant torque…yeah….but still wouldn’t cause me to run out and trade in my Vette for Tesla.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

c7 corvette

Twin-Turbo HPE C7 Corvette Rips Off Wicked Burnout

Attention Australia, please just give us a moment here. We know that you are the undisputed brake stand and burnout kings of the planet. We’re not going to argue with you. Instead, we want to share this fine tire-shredding clip produced by the folks at 
Tesla surges in Consumer Reports’ best-liked car ranking

That’s because Tesla (TSLA) has made a big leap in Consumer Reports’ latest brand perception survey. The electric carmaker is now the fifth best-perceived brand among American car owners, jumping from 11th last year. More traditional — and well known 

Hess Gas Stations and Their Trucks

I have a bunch of other posts ready to publish..ok…fine but they are started…including Auto Factoids, The Bridgestone project, a couple of Drive By/Parking Lot Spot pieces but just had to stop and type a bit about Hess Trucks.

I recently got the latest issue of Hemmings Motor News and flipping through it I saw this article on Hess Gas Stations and the promotional toys they sell.

If you are from the North East you will have seen the Hess stations.

If you are from the North East you will have seen the Hess stations.

I remember these stations as a kid, always seemed bright and clean.  I also remember getting the Hess trucks as gifts. We weren’t well off so they were usually a Christmas gift and I think we mainly got them from one set of grand parents. I remember playing with them inside and outside and they didn’t last very long and we never considered saving them.

This is the first model my father sent my son.

This is the first model my father sent my son.

When my son was born my father began sending one every Christmas to him.  He loved getting them and would play with them a bit, but that was about the time computers and gaming consoles became common place and began taking the place of playing, as we did when we were young.  For 14 years my Dad would sent one every year.  We still have all of them, even the 1982 pictured above (which is actually two years older than my son) original boxes and all.  My son would play with them a bit and then we’d remove the batteries and put them back in box.   They are all nicely packet and in the attic, ready for my son to pass on to his son/daughter.

They come in many different models – tankers, flat beds, 18 wheelers, police and others, and apparently are only available around Christmas time.  I didn’t realize that until I read the Hemming article, that explains why I got them for Christmas gifts and my son as well.

Hess started the tradition in 1964. The article further state that Hess is dropping out of the gas station business (Remember when they were called ‘filling stations’ or ‘service stations’?) and will concentrate only on refining  but the good news is they will keep the convenient stores and folks will be able to purchase the trucks at those location every holiday season.  Oh yeah….they are available online WWW.HESSTOYTRUCK.COM .

Do you have a Hess Toy Truck collection?  Drop us a note.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

hess trucks

Ace_Boogy1

Just saw a Hess gas station wow taking me all the way back to my childhood .. Hess trucks for days thanks gramma !

Parking Lot Spot Light – L88

Even if you aren’t a Corvette lover (WHAT?!??) you know or have heard of the L88.   This was the designation of a racing engine used by GM in the Corvettes from 1967 – 1969 (0nly 3 years!!).  (Now there was a LT1 – 88 hybrid dubbed the ZLZ – lower compression – same out put.)

The engine sported a racing-spec cam with high-flow aluminum heads.  Toss in a couple of upgrades and you are looking at a compression ratio of 12.5:1 and rocking it at 430 hp!!!

And doesn’t it look great wrapped in that two-tone paint job.

This beauty was at my local hardware store.   Yeah…I’d drive it there.

 

273

Yes that intake is the real deal!!!

 

Big Block L88

Big Block L88

 

 

 

 

recordoffer

1967 L88 Corvette fetches world record 3.85 million in Scottsdale: The January 2014 auctions have concluded an… http://t.co/Att1jz815N
AC_Automotive

AC Automotive: Barrett-Jackson: 1967 L88 Corvette Sells for 3.85 Million http://t.co/BLHuTjmCDZ #AC #auto #cars
‘Rebel’ L88 Corvette on the block at Barrett-Jackson

An amateur Corvette L88 team beat the world’s best GT cars in this world record holding No. 57 “Rebel” L88 Corvette. The story about how this amazing Corvette became a world- beater begins with two Tampa, Fla., businessmen, Dave Heinz and Or