Spec Clutches

 

This is the Clutch I’ve added to my Corvette.
I have the stage III
check out video:
http://spectvonline.com/featured_landing.php?reset=true

 

Auto Factoids for the week of Sept 23

We have a couple of debuts’ this week and a couple of Birthdays.

First up on Sept. 23 in 1969 the iconic and now recreated Dodge Challenger.

From this:

1969 Challenger

And this:

The Iconic General Lee

To this:

The 2012 version.

Virgil Exner was born on the 24th of Sept in 1909.  Who was “Ex”?    A car designer.  Oh…ok…of what?  Just a couple of designs, like all of these:

Studebaker Champion
Studebaker Starlight
Chrysler C-200
Chrysler 300 letter series
Chrysler 300 non-letter series
Chrysler New Yorker
Imperial 1955-1961
Chrysler Diablo Concept with Ghia
Plymouth Savoy
Plymouth Belvedere
Plymouth Fury
Plymouth Suburban
Plymouth Valiant
Dodge Coronet
Dodge Firearrow Concept
Desoto 1961
Desoto Adventurer
Bugatti 1965 concept with Ghia
Mercer-Cobra 1965 concept
Duesenberg 1966 prototype with Ghia
Stutz Blackhawk

 
Bill France was born on the 26th in 1909 in our nations capital.  Mr. France was an American race car driver. He is best known for co-founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of United States-based stock car racing.
The final debuts was on Sept. 26, 1967 when AMC released the Javelin.

1967 Javelin

Thanks for reading

Tim

Tucson Cars and Coffee

 

DSC_6365 EDIT RS

Tucson Cars & Coffee July 2012

We were lucky enough to have a cloudy morning for this month’s Cars and Coffee. The diffused light that the clouds provide makes my job really easy! Enjoy the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 Jul This entry was written by Otis, posted on July 15, 2012 at 13:49, filed under Automotive, Photography and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. View EXIF Data

Post a Comment

 

FEATURE: High-Power Hybrids

Check out the Shelby connection with the Sunbeam.

 

This 1966 Sunbeam Tiger MK1A was eqiupped with a 260ci V8.This 1966 Sunbeam Tiger MK1A was eqiupped with a 260ci V8.

via FEATURE: High-Power Hybrids.

 

 

This 1966 Sunbeam Tiger MK1A was eqiupped with a 260ci V8.This 1966 Sunbeam Tiger MK1A was eqiupped with a 260ci V8.

Hemmings Find of the Day – 1972 Dodge Demon | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

Hemmings Find of the Day – 1972 Dodge Demon | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts.

 

Demise of Olds – What Happened to GM?

Often a comment sparks an entire blog entry.  Nothing gets me going more than a discussion about US auto makers, especially if I can lay out my thoughts about “what’s happened to (insert brand here)”.

In a comment to my Auto Factoids for the Week of Aug 19, 2012 (http://wp.me/pKHNM-1fG) Bill wrote:

“If I were in charge of GM, I would not have left Oldsmobile for death. I liked the idea of ‘Saturn-izing’ Olds into a Lexus level car. There might have been only one, or two models under the Olds badge, but I would not have left the world’s oldest car company for dead.

Oldsmobile was GM’s ‘experimental’ division both in terms of engineering and product marketing. Many automotive firsts such as automatic transmission (Hydramatic), OHV V8s, and even the ‘self winding’ car clock……….Which brings me to the time I find myself saying in many of my comments in your BLOG:
“What happend to GM????””

I’ve mentioned this before,  it never really made any sense to me why you would have so many divisions in a car company as GM did. Some say, it was to offer different levels of options that were affordable on up to expensive.  But lets take the Chevrolet for instance. At one time they had the Biscayne, Belair, Impala and Caprice (and I think that was the correct order from lowest optioned to the highest) as option levels and pricing to reach everyone. This doesn’t seem too bad. But now add in  the other divisions with Chevy being the lowest, then there’s Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Caddy and I think that would be the correct order for options and pricing as well.  A further break down in what as suppose to be different classes of automobile for different classes of society was the norm for those divisions as well.  For example the Tempest and La Mans, GTO were basically  the same car with different options.

I understand brand/model loyalty, especially at the initial merging/acquisition of a brand, but at some point that stopped being the only valid reason for keeping them separate.  By the time the ’70s and ’80s rolled around they all started looking the same.  For example take the Chevy Monte Carlo for 1978 and compare with the Buick and Olds of the same year:

78 Buick Regal

78 Chevy Monte Carlo

1978 Olds Cutlass

Minus the big tires on the Olds, tell me why I should purchase one over the other or purchase one at all (beside the fact they were fairly ugly)?

Frankly, I would have kept Pontiac over Olds any day but then again the difference between a Camaro and a Firebird in 2000 wasn’t much -but they are both gone now.

2000 Firebird

2000 Camaro

There just wasn’t much different.  They diluted the brand and it became impossible to find any major differences – unless you were a gear head and most consumers were not.

The necessity to cut cost and share parts made it nearly mandatory to have them all made from the same cookie cutter.

Now don’t get me started on the purchase of oversea brands and becoming a finance/mortgage company to defray cost.  (Did you know that at one time GM did more business in home/real estate loans then they did with their core car brands?

I rest my case.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Auto Factoids for the Week of Aug 19, 2012

Slow week this week in auto history.

This Tuesday, Aug 21 in 1897 Olds Motor Vehicle Co. incorporated.  Over 110 year later they produced their last car.

Here’s what the 1987 Olds looked liked.

The last Olds to come of the line forever was 2004 Alero RE. THE END!

GIVE-AWAY:

Add a relevant comment to this Auto Factoid and you be entered in the monthly Auto Factoid Give Away.

This month:

1/32 scale 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee (new in the box)

Engine Pic

Check out this 512!!!

OH MY!!!

 

 

In this!!!!

1965 Dodge Coronet

 

Oh in case you were wondering.   It’s for sale here:

 

http://showroom.auction123.com/powerhouse_car_international/inventory/9466/1965/DODGE/CORNETT/1965DODGECORNETT.html

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Auto Factoids for Week of Aug 12, 2012

Back by popular demand (Ok, not really, I just like doing them.)

But I’m going to add a  give-away on the end of each one.

On Aug 14 in 1877, Nicholas Otto gets a patented for his 4 cycle combustion engine.

From the ZweiRad Museum Otto’s 4 cycle engine.

On the same day Paris, France creates the first every license plate in 1893.  Or was it?  Sources agree that it in fact Paris, France but the date isn’t clear as some sources say it was Leon Serpollet of Paris, France, who obtained the first license plate in 1889.

License plates were first required in the United States by New York State in 1901.

There ya go.

A sad note on the very next day (Aug 15) in 1956 an early car manufacture ceased production.  Packard closed its doors.

It was a Packard Caribbean

In 1984 on Aug 16, John DeLorean was acquitted of cocaine charges stemming from an alleged deal to help raise funds for the car company. He worked at Chrysler, Packard, GM (responsible for the GTO) and then his company producing the now famous Delorean DMC-12.


Back to the Future.The company still exist – original parts were purchased and now lives in Humble, Tx. Find them here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/deloreanmotorcompany

Finally, in 1905 on Aug 18, Cadillac got it’s crest trademarked.

Caddy Crest Chart from http://www.cartype.com/pages/1051/cadillac

GIVE-AWAY:

Add a relevant comment to this Auto Factoid and you be entered in the monthly Auto Factoid Give Away.

This month:

1/32 scale 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee (new in the box)

1/32 Scale 69 Super Bee.

Thanks for reading.

Tim