Author Archives: Tim Sweet

They Made How Many? 1950

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Oh the cars of the 1950’s were great. So how did they start out that iconic decade?

Some fantastic car and shapes came out in 1950.

Leading the numbers game was Chevy and Ford with over a million each, Chevy with 1,498,590 and Ford with 1,208,912, not bad.

Plymouth was third with nearly 800,000 out of first place with 610,954, Buick with 588,439 and Pontiac finished up the top 5 with 446,429.

Here’s the rest of the 19 makers:

Oldsmobile – 408,060

Dodge – 341,797

Studebaker – 320,884

Mercury – 293,585

Chrysler – 179,299

Nash – 171,782 (produced it’s 2,000,000th car)

DeSoto – 136,203

Hudson – 121,408

Cadillac – 103,857

Packard – 42,627

Lincoln – 28,190

Kaiser – 15,228

Crosley – 6,792

Frazer – 3,700

Do you have a favorite?  I have a couple.  My first would be the Hudson, followed closely by the Studebaker with its bullet nose.

I don't know why but I love the shape of these cars. Here is the 1950 Hudson Commodore.

There is nothing more interesting than the Bullet Nose Studebaker. Here is the 1950 Land Cruisera.

What else went on in 1950?

Micro Cars!!!  Say WHAT???   Yeah!!!   The IMP – hailed as “The Little Car with the Big Future”. With an MPG of 10 miles per gallon and all fiber glass body, the hopes were high.  But the car didn’t sell and disappeared in the same year.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Parking Lot Spot Light 1939 Ford Coupe

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Well  I’m beginning to think that my local grocery store is really a car show 7 days a week!!!

Case in point is this ’39 Ford coupe I saw over the weekend.

Great Hub Caps, Great Paint.

You’ve got to love that split rear window.

Pretty stout looking tail pipes.

Besides the tail pipes I’m liking the chevron tail lights.

1939 brought hydraulic brakes to the Fords for that year.   Ford produced 487,031 cars that year, coming in second to Chevy.

Love the rolling fenders and the dog dish hup caps with the V8 log pressed into the centers.

Love the grill and the V8 and Ford badges.

You can't tell from my 'most excellent' photos, but there is a huge difference in the width of the rear vs. the front.

The V8 engine was the Flathead, which was originally developed in 1932.  For 1939 the flathead was the V8-91A, compression increased to 6.15:1, power rose to 90 hp.

This is a great looking car.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Selling Cars Part 1

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I love combing through ads for selling cars.  Every now and then you read some really good ones.

1.  ” 1960 Plymouth Fury donor car. Seems to be complete including chrome and emblems. Glass not broken. No bullet holes. Frame and floor pans rusted through. Guaranteed NOT to run. Absolutely as-is. Will help load; no hurry to move. Strip what you want and leave the rest if desired. No title. Worth ~$400 for scrap iron.”

2.   “I HAVE NO INTERIOR AND MOTOR IS ALL THERE BUT STUCK.”

3.  “…have to get rid of all my rides but a bike and my work truck.  I don’t know a lot about older cars like this besides that it runs and drives good and seems like a good deal to me.”

4.  “I purchased this car in late 2010 as a project car for my son and am now selling it due to his lack of fulfilling his obligations in order to keep it…..OH SNAP!!!”

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1955 Ford Sunliner


1957 Aston Martin – Restoration

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I ran across this on Classic Recollections. I’m not a Aston guy, but this DB Mark III is pretty nice. The owner did a lot of work on this thing. Nicely done! Oh, but cleaning those wire wheels…..ya killin’ me!!

Thanks for reading

Tim

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BUILD IN PROGRESS: 1948 Ford F1

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BUILD IN PROGRESS: 1948 Ford F1.

The Lockheed Lakester One More Time

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I thought I’d share the an interview of Ed Pettus (previous owner of this unique vehicle) conducted by Dave Rasdal in is column “Ramblin'”  in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa  Thegazette.com.  I’m interested in his next project.

The Crow Lakester

 

When Ed Pettus finished building his bullet-shaped Lockheed Lakester a year ago, he didn’t plan to sell it. But, after a whirlwind tour of the car that’s a cross between a jet airplane, a Bonneville Salt Flats racer and a 1930s biplane, he changed his mind.

“I do all of these projects and when I’m done, what do I do?” says Ed who with son Eddie Pettus Jr. has Eddie’s Rod & Custom in Cedar Rapids.

The Lakester, which I wrote about last July, is built around a wingtip gas tank of a 1950s Lockheed Super Constellation and has a steering yoke from a 1948 airplane. Parts came from 1930s Packards, a 1940 Ford tractor and a 1959 Chevy pickup. It has a turbocharged Toyota engine.

From shows in Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities, it went to Chicago’s World of Wheels, a two-month stay at the Experimental Aircraft Association museum in Oshkosh, Wis., and on display at El Mirage near Long Beach, Calif., where dry lake bed speed runs originated.

“I thought, you know, after that I’m going to take it home and put it in the garage,” Ed says.

But, as a fan of the famous Barrett-Jackson vehicle auction in Arizona, Ed inquired about selling the Lakester. Told it was too late, he sent information anyway and was surprised to become a last-minute entry. It went on the block Jan. 21.

But, this auction doesn’t allow sellers to set a minimum price — if the high bid is $100, the car sells for $100.

Ed had insured the Lakester for $100,000. Bidding opened at $10,000.

“We were a nervous wreck,” he says, referring to his wife, Kathy, and friends in attendance.

Bidding quickly rose, though, to $100,000. Two bidders pushed it to $170,000, the winner from Georgia adding it to his collection.

“We feel so blessed with what we got,” Ed says. He’ll use the extra funds to retire the mortgage on Ellis Boulevard NW property (home and vacant lot) destroyed by the Floods of 2008.

Unsure about what they can do with the property, Ed, 60, isn’t waiting around for another hot rod project. All he says is that it’s a unique truck. “Let people wonder.”

We are going to wonder.  Thanks for reading

Tim

Ford’s Windsor and Cleveland Engines Prt II

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Ok, so one engine plant is located in Canada and the other Ohio.  What else is different?

The 351 Windsor (biggest displacement of the Windsor family  – which included the 289 and 302) had a beefier block than the Cleveland, which in theory allowed for more abuse and longer life-span.

The Windsor also came first in the history  being used from 1969 to 1998.

The Cleveland was used from 1970 to 1974 (much, much shorter run), with 1971 bringing 351 C Cobra Jet.

Unlike the Windsor the Cleveland had canted multi-grooved valves.  It also required larger rounded intake and exhaust ports.

There is another major difference and that was how the engined were cooled.  No we aren’t talking water vs. air (these weren’t VW engines) we are talking about water flow.

Like the 289 and 302 the 351W used a front cover and water existed the intake manifold face of the cylinder head through intake manifold to the radiator.  The 351C don’t have the front cover.  The block is extended and the covered with a flat stamping.  Water existed the combustion face of the head and into the block and then to the radiator.  This is important to note, particularly for me.  Why:

The Cleveland and Windsor heads are interchangeable only with modifications to the water passage.  I currently have a set of 351C Cobra Jet heads to put on my Windsor family 302.  I’ll have to have those mods done when I have the heads rebuilt.

Not the same location as the 302 Windsor.

There you have the basic differences between the Cleveland and Windsor families.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Ford’s Windsor and Cleveland Engines

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I have a Ford and as I’ve said before, though the years (ok….40’s, 50’s and 60’s) they produced some of the more interesting cars with  some of the most powerful engines.  Of those engines the Cleveland and the Windsor were major players.

I’m not alone thinking that the only real difference between the two were the names each being made in the plant they were named after.  The Windsor was named after the Essex Engine plant in Windsor,  Ontario and the Cleveland Engine Plant in Ohio.

 

1914 Photo of the Essex Engine plant in Windsor, Ontario

 

Totally different plants  and countries about the only they had in common was displacement.

What were the differences?   That’s coming up.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1960 Sunliner

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I love the Sunliner the 50’s and 60’s models. Love the fins and the dual antennas on the 1960 in this vid.  Ford made some of the most innovative and well designed cars in the 50’s and 60’s.  I am a fan.

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Sunliner, posted with vodpod
Thanks for reading.
Tim