“Blood Muscle” highlights seized vehicle sale | Hemmings Daily.
David Nicoll purchased his car collection with the blood of others – literally. During his time as president of BLS, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office maintain that Nicoll received $33 million in payments from a medical blood test bribery scheme that he personally ran for seven years, and which netted more than $100 million in total revenue. Per prosecutors, BLS would bribe physicians to send their patients for medical tests which were oftentimes unnecessary, to be paid for by insurers. Far from being sly and frugal with his ill-gotten profits, Nicoll was an extravagant spender. It’s on record that he spent $154,000 at a gentleman’s club, over $400,000 on sports tickets, $700,000 on an apartment for his “female companion,” and, most importantly, over five million dollars on cars.
See the rest of the collection @ “Blood Muscle” highlights seized vehicle sale | Hemmings Daily.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Ain’t Social Media Great? Converstation with Top Gears’ Rutledge Wood
Are you a fan of Top Gear? I am! Have been since it’s been on cable. Of course we don’t travel in the same circles, Rut has his Fox Sports gig(covering motorsports) beside all the Top Gear filming and promo events and I’m a wannabe writer, covering the automotive world. So it’s highly unlikely we’d cross paths and sit down for a car discussion. Unless????
That is what’s so great about the age we live in. On my twitter account (@restortation) I’m a follower (among many) of Top Gear and guys (Tanner, Rut (@rutledgewood) and Adam). Just luck let me catch a Tweet by Rutledge that mentioned that he had a Facebook event today where fans could chat with him.
So I closed my office door (yeah I was at work) and joined the crowd on Facebook. I actually got a few questions answered. Here they are:
Write a reply…
Tim Sweet: Who finds the cars you use in the show? Private individuals?
Rutledge Wood: I have found almost all the ones I’ve used…but I’m not in LA to go test drive them. We have some amazing producers that bust their butts for us. Huge support team…but we find most of them online. Craigslist, Auto trader, and even a few on ebay
Tim Sweet: Thanks…great!!!!
Tim Sweet: So who is the STIG…I won’t tell anyone….?
Rutledge Wood: honeslty…I have no idea. They wont talk to me. Never seen them.
Rutledge Wood: I want them to give me a hug
Tim Sweet: Everyone wants to hug the STIG
Tim Sweet: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. I got to get back to this ‘work’ thing I do every day…my C6 needs a super charger!!!! Take care!!!!
Rutledge Wood: Thanks! Good luck with the C6 !
Twitter and Facebook are great tools.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Two Time Trophy winner. 1970 Mustang
Elvis Presley’s BMW 507 set for complete restoration – Road & Track
I’m not sure they should restore it. Maybe just preserve it.
Elvis’ BWM 507!!!
Only 253 examples of the BMW 507 were ever made, and Elvis Presley owned two of them. The first, a white ’58 roadster, he famously gifted to his Fun in Acalpulco co-star Ursula Andress; the other, a ’58, has been in storage for over 40 years. Now, BMW Classic has obtained Elvis’s “lost” sports car and will give it a full restoration.This Bimmer’s circuitous history begins in March 1958, when the U.S. Army officially inducted its most famous Korean War draftee. While assigned to the Third Armored Division, Elvis met hill-climb ace Hans Stuck, who was racing a 1957 BMW 507 at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in southern France. Presley was smitten with the 150-hp drop-top. After having its 3.2-liter V8 rebuilt and a new four-speed manual gearbox installed, he leased it that December.
Read the article at Elvis Presley’s BMW 507 set for complete restoration – Road & Track.
Awesome car none-the-less.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Parking Lot Spotlight – 1958 Porsche – Survivor!
We all love vintage cars. On a trip to Dana Point, Ca this past weekend I happened to spot this beauty in the hotel parking lot.
This 1958 Porsche 1600 Speedster appeared to be all original. The seats appeared to be still clad in the original – nicely worn leather. This is the 356A which was a modification of the 356 body (from 1957) it was known as Type 2 in the factory (or T2).
This beauty is in the original color, maybe original paint, but interior looks stock, right down the thin rubber floor mats.
I did notice a couple of things – the steering wheel looks to be metal, they were originally wooden and the under the dash gauges of course are after market. As the 356 was track raced the wooden steering wheels were quickly identified as a safety issue. During crashes they would splinter and pierce the drivers body – some career ending injuries. They were often swapped out for metal.
The engine was a OHV flat four with 60 bhp, 1,582 cc and horizontally-opposed OHV four-cylinder engine (the four-cam “Carrera” engine was a more power/extra cost option for the 356A). It came with a four-speed manual transmission, torsion bar independent front suspension, swing axle independent rear suspension, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.
The production numbers were around 21, 000 for the period of 1955-1959.
Great tail lights!!
Now that’s what I like to see – bug spots….this car gets driven!!!!
Missing the ‘cage’ that often covered the headlights.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
1951 Chrysler New Yorker Is the Most Unlikely Rally Car – Carscoops
Ever wondered what’s it like to run a long-distance vintage car rally in a 1951 Chrysler New Yorker? Well, consider this: the car is as heavy as it is unbreakable.At least that’s what owner Jake Auerbach says in the following Petrolicious video about his 1951 New Yorker, a car that unfortunately hit and killed two deer at the same time during a rally and carried on like nothing happened.Bought from eBay, the car has an impressive racing pedigree. It ran in the famed La Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in Colorado. Since Auerbach and his father bought the Chrysler, they drove many miles in it, running the New York-to-Vancouver leg of the Trans-America Challenge in 2012 in addition to numerous other events.
IMPRESSIVE!!!!!
via 1951 Chrysler New Yorker Is the Most Unlikely Rally Car – Carscoops.
Check out this amazing story. Cool Car…Cool Story!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
2015 Ford Mustang GT output released
The 5.0-liter V8 is probably what fans are most excited to hear about — it’s good for 435 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. That’s a tidy 15 hp and 10 lb-ft increase over the outgoing model, and it’s within spitting distance of the 444-hp Boss 302. Not bad.
The two other motors aren’t too shabby, either. The 3.7-liter V6 gets 300 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, and the turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four EcoBoost puts down a very respectable 310 hp and 320 lb-ft. For some perspective, the V8-powered 2005 Ford Mustang GT put down just 300 hp, so we’ve clearly come a long way — and there’s no telling just what other, even hotter versions of this new Mustang are in the works.
Read more here:
via 2015 Ford Mustang GT output released.
2015 Mustang – 435 HP!!!
That’s an exciting car!!!!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Engine Line Up for the 1965 to 1975 Avanti II
The Avanti II was what was left of Studebaker car company (called Studebaker-Packard by that time) in the 1960’s . By that time all the car production for Studebaker-Packard was being done in Canada and South Bend factories were closed down. Nathanial Altman and Leo Newman (two South Bend Studebaker dealership owners) purchased the rights and the dies/tooling for the Avanti, after failing to get the financial backing to reopen the plant in South Bend and continued production.
The Avanti II
Of course Studebaker wasn’t making its own engine and the two dealers that pulled together enough funds to purchase the Avanti rights and dies/tools were in no position to start full blown engine production. So what’s next? Make a deal with a company to purchase engines.
The Altman/Newman team Avanti turned to GM for the power plant. So for 1965 – 1968 they opted for none other than the Corvette 327 cubic inch iron!!! Purchasing the previous year engines for placing in their new models – Now that explains why I often see the Avanti and the local drag strip during Test and Tunes!!! The 327 was an overhead valved, iron block that came with the stock bore and stroke of 4.00″ x 3.25″ and a compression ratio of 10.5:1.
Corvette Power Plant
Combined with hydraulic lifters, 5 main bearings and topped with a Carter (model 3846247) (for 1965) 4bbl carb produced 300 bhp at 5000 rpms. All that in a light fiberglass body!!!!!
The difference between 1965 thur 1970 327’s were the carburetors that were available. For 1966 it was a Holley 4bbl (model 3884505) , the remainder of production the hard working 327 was topped with various models of Rochester 4bbl carbs. ( 1967 it was Rochester 4bbl (model 3096631); 1968 a Rochester 4bbl (model 7028207); 1969 Rochester (model 7929203)
In 1969 Avanti II was blessed with an additional engine option. It was the Corvette’s 350 CID. This was an iron block overhead valve engine. 4.00″ x 3.48″ bore and stroke with hydraulic lifters and five main bearings. With a compression ratio of 10.5:1 and breathing through a Rochester 4bb carb the lightweight was but 300 bhp. (Same as the 327 – but there a lot you can do now with a 350 – again this may be the reason we still see them at the drag strips.
By 1971 the 350 was the only engine in the Avanti II and it’s configuration remained unchanged except the compression ratio was dropped to 10.25:1 and the horse power suffered to the tune of -30 hp, dropping to 270.
In 1973 the engine was changed to the generic GM 400 CID, but before you get too excited, it had 4.13″ bore and 3.75″ stroke but it was strangulated by a compression ratio of 8.5:1 and even the 4bbl Rochester could not help much as it produced only 245 bhp.
For 1974 and 1975 fompression was dropped and the Avanti II struggled to produce only 180 horses. But you could still get the 4 speed manual Hurst shifter….so there’s that.
The first time I saw an Avanti II in person was at my local drag strip, during a charity race that I had entered by 1970 Mustang in (300 HP). The Avanti was a 1970 and mostly stock as far as I could tell and it looked great and sounded even better at the tree.
The Avanti continued on through various owners and still using the Studebaker chassis until 1987 and the GM’s 305 was used for a time. The Avanti continued on through 2006…but that is for another post.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept looks to the future of HUDs
Looking to add a touch of Gran Turismo or Forza to your daily commute? Jaguar Land Rover is developing a Virtual Windscreen concept that aims to do just that with a slew of driver assistance technologies designed to keep your eyes on the road, including a head-up display HUD that overlays the driving line featured in many virtual racers.As well as projecting key information onto the windscreen like speed and navigation, the Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept would also overlay the driving line and even a “ghost” car, which acts as a reference point from previous laps.
via Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept looks to the future of HUDs.
Virtual Windshield
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Selecting A Collector Car Based on Original Reliability Impressions
Well that title was longer type out than it was in my head.
A recent discussion over on my Twitter feed (@07C6Vette) had us discussing the collect-ability the Edsel. Part of the conversation dealt with one participates’ opinion/conclusion that Edsels were unreliable back in the day, therefore not desirable for collecting.
I would imagine that for some, that rationale seems prudent and I bet they believe they’ve saved themselves money and status by opting for a Ford or Mercury (in this instance) of the same era instead. I say they are missing out on some fantastic cars if they determine their selection based on original reliability.
Check out these dashboards!! Sure both are great (you know I love the painted dashboards) but the Edsel’s is just cooler!!!
 1959 Edsel Dash |
 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon Dash |
Clearly there are differences that may or may not be substantial to a collector. For me it’s not about just having ‘a similar’ car, it’s about the car.
Another example is the rep the British cars managed to obtain. For instance the MG during the 1970’s and 1980’s were tagged as being electrical nightmares and unreliable. Having direct exposure to a 1960ish and a 1970’s MG I would agree that electrically they were unreliable. Now days a quick trip online to a forum and you know someone has it all figured out and often times even a beginner can remedy the situation.
Trumph’s Stag sported a 3.0 V8 and that was its down fall. It was horribly unreliable. Everything from the water pump to cylinder issues right down to the Aluminum heads not matching up well with the iron block. But this are all fixable this day in age, but the all lead to the Stag making the top 50 worse cars ever. But it is a very collectible British car, just ask these guys Stag Owners Club.
Carb problems, cylinder problems, fuel problems for most collectable and semi-collectable cars can all be overcome by modern technology and in many cases, done in such a way as to not impact the value of the car.
I think it’s important to keep a car as original as possible, but I’m not putting them Pebble Beach Contour’s competition, so using modern tweaks to ensure it can get you from point A to point B – safely is important.
So do your research before you purchase your next collector/project and don’t just consider the reliability opinions surrounding the model you are considering.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Action Shot Contest – Average Guys Muscle, Classic Whatever You Got.
I’m a member of a lot of groups/pages on FB and they all are great, but I grow weary of the static, standing by the side your car photos!!!
Let’s see some action!!!!!
Average Guy’s Action Photo/Video contest starts today 7/12 and runs through 7/19. Let’s see your classic/vintage, muscle, race car (even just your daily driver) in action. There will be at least two categories – still action shots and videos.
Only a couple of rules:
1. Be safe.
2. It has to be you and it has to your car.
3. It has to be an action shot either a still photograph or video.
Something like these:
Auto crossing with my C4 at Bondurant facility.
Auto crossing with my C6 Sports Car Club of American (SCCA) Sole Class.
Lining up my ’70 Mustang at the drags against a Ford Focus!!!!
There will be prizes given away, including car art take by one of the artist on http://wp.me/P2YxYx-19F and we’ll check the budget for some on-line auto parts gift cards as well.
Get you pics or videos to us either on our FB page https://www.facebook.com/AGCarRestoration or email them to AGCarRestoration@cox.net or timsweet@cox.net.
This should be fun!!!!
Tim Sweet
AGCarRestoration@cox.net
CAR ART
