April 5, 1923 Firestone introduces balloon tires. Everything we’ve accomplished with our rides has greatly depend and relied on Mr. Firestone’s improvement. It was a combination of cotton cords infused with rubber that allowed for long distance driving without punctures.
Pneuamtic Tire
Balloon tire ad.
April 9, 1957 – Lotus’ first single seat race car. As far as I’ve researched Lotus had a single seat race car concept either in 1954 or 1955. The 1956 Lotus was a two-seater but usually had a single roll cage on the right side (drivers side). It seems clear that the 1957 Lotus 11 (or Lotus 13 unofficially) race car didn’t actually race in a Grand Prix until 1958.
Emulation is probably one of the most commons things in the car hobby. We see a car at a show or race and are instantly entranced by its siren song of looks, performance, and imagination-stimulating allure. And after enough exposure, commitment to building a duplicate becomes irresistible.
Ron Scott Jr. had always loved the vintage race look on classic Corvettes. Wide wheel flares, spoilers, race-style wheels and brakes, the growl of a powerful V-8 through headers and race exhaust, they all had him entranced to the point he wanted to build one of his own. He wanted a car he could not only show, but also take to track days and autocross events as well. After searching online, he found a suitable candidate on eBay to start his build with.
“I found the car on eBay for $35K. It was rough, with some bodywork completed and a second-gen LT1 out of an early fourth-gen Camaro sitting in the frame. It was pretty much a roller with no interior, wiring, or anything special. It was perfect for what I was looking to do, as we didn’t want to modify anything that was nice.”
Last week my wife had to sit for a certification exam for her profession. It was conducted over multiple days and held in Phoenix, AZ. That is about a 1.5 hours drive (unless I’m driving the Vette, just joking always, obey the speed limits kids!!) north of Tucson and it made sense to grab a hotel room and spend 3 days. While she was enduring the slow torture that they cleverly called “taking the exam”, I was left with a very rare, continuous span of free time.
I don’t know about you, but when I end up with unappropriated time and I’m in a hotel room, I don’t spend it watching HBO. I’ll jump on the WiFi and find some car action. This was a perfect time to find some local car shows or events. Just so happens on the way to the hotel I saw a sign, a few exits before the one we exited to reach the hotel, that read “Auto Museum”.
I gave that a Google and found the exact address. The museum was called Mel Martin’s Auto Museum – “Phoenix’s Largest Auto Museum” and it was only open from noon to five the next day and asked for a $5 donation. So I put that on my to do list and head there the next day.
The museum is on a one way frontage road. The building looks to be an old self-storage place converted in to businesses. The museum entrance looks unassuming and you wouldn’t think it large enough to house 60 cars and a ton of automobilia.
Here are some highlights:
What kind of car museum would you be without a Corvette or two?
This beautiful 427 is an eye catcher!
Check out Corvette Row!!!
Here is a Vette you don’t see anywhere!!!
The 1992 Lister Corvette
Great lines…barely resembles a C4.
Front end looks like a Jaguar’s
I think the 17″ wheels are great looking!!!
The hood has those breathing holes for a reason. The LT1 under the hood…yeah it’s Vortech Supercharged!!! 500HP and 454 LB-FT of torque!!! Only automatic produced.
It also included the 1978 25th Anniversary Indianapolis Pace car.
Only 15 miles on this well-preserved beauty! (No, I don’t know why I took the pic this way.)
Thanks for reading. More coming up on Mel Martin’s Auto Museum.
