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
Cleveland Casting Plant where the Cleveland engines started.
Totally different plants and countries about the only they had in common was displacement.
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.
Right on the verge of the gas crisis, the ’74 models were a mixed bag of old school horsepower and new school power choking fog reduction hardware. This Impala was in fact still a V8 with the power of the a 1960’s 6 cylinder.
Now I love the Impala models and if you’ve read a recent post I wrote I think 4 doors are under valued and with the right tweaks can achieve the power desired to make them a muscle car.
This Chevy was sitting outside a local CVS store with a for sale sign.
4 door with stamped steel wheels and poverty hub caps
You are going to like this pics from Red Stripe Adventure’s blog. The lowered Lincoln in stealth black and you have to agree that Hudson looks great – in spite of the WWII aircraft theme.
Thanks for reading.
So I’ve gotten the new electrical connection installed on the switch. I now need to cut off the old switch and strip the wires.
Ya know it’s hard to take a video while you a squeezed under a car on jack-stands!!!
In this video you can see the striped wires.
Installing the bracket was easy enough except that it wasn’t formed properly and had to be bent. Keep in mind this is not ‘harden’ steel and too much bending will weaken it and when the reverse lever comes back will just push the bracket backward and not allow the button to be depressed enough to make contact and complete the circuit and turn the backup lights on.
Here it is all installed.
Here it is with the car in the reverse position. You can see the button depressed.
Here is a video shot.
And the intended results:
Now I’d love to tell you that all was well, however remember the bolt and the Sharpie mark I made on it so that I could gauge how far to screw it back in?
Well I was still pretty happy with the progress and I took the car off the jack-stand and started her up and backed out of the garage. That went well, but there didn’t seem to be a first gear once I decided to pull the car forward, nor second gear. She isn’t going to move.
So I’ve got the car out of the garage and right at the edge of the drive on the driver’s side. I have to get under the car and tighten that bold a few more turns. I end up laying partially on the drive way, partially on the rocks (we don’t have grass in your yards here..we have small, gather in you pants when you are laying on them, sharp rocks) and partially on one of your shrubs. Ok, lets not forget the glowing hot Hooker header pipes..yeah…just back out of the garage…no worries the hair on my arm will grow back. Any way, I tighten it just enough to get the car to go into second gear and pull it back into garage.
It had to go back up on the jack-stands for more adjustments, and I had to the switch off once to make adjustments to the bracket. But success was achieved!!!!!
As the Washington D.C. auto show took place, President Obama decided to make a visit. Truly impressed with the American muscle & sports cars. Though he checked out many new models and the likes of the controversial most iconic American sports car, Chevy Corvette(photo above), it seemed like the new Ford MustangShelby GT500 Super Snake; or simply Shelby GT500; is what really grabbed his attention by stating, “This is sick”.
This is my 500th post for Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing blog (my one and only blog). It has become a bit more board in scope than what I originally intended, but if you are a total car nut case, like me (my wife uses the “o’ word) and have AADD (automobile attention deficit disorder…..HEY..that could be REAL…you don’t know that it’s NOT!!) you want more than just a Chevy or more than just 1950’s cars. You’ll be drawn to others. (“Drawn” makes it sound like a slow process…but picture a disco era strobe light…yeah that’s a but closer to what I’m trying to describe.) I’ve moved fairly close to the edge, having a ’70’s car and a 2007 model and mixing technologies and brands, Ford and Chevy. (I need a MOPAR and a Citroen.)
Of course one of the fun things that keeps me blogging are comments, not so many posted here, but a ton on Facebook and Twitter and now even Google+. I like when a reader’s comment sparks a blog entry instead of just sitting there. That brings me to the subject of this piece.
Bill is a frequent reader and leaves comments on a regular basis. In my recent entry on the 1957 DeSoto Adventurer sold at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, last weekend Bill wrote this:
Bill
Submitted on 2012/01/28 at 6:12 pm
DeSoto was Chrysler’s Oldsmobile, and I think it was unappreciated both by the public and Mother Mopar herself.
Back when I lived in San Jose, CA (actually Santa Clara) in the early 1990s, there was a 1957 Adventurer 4 door parked in a driveway with four flat tires in a neighborhood near mine. I think the car had been registered last in 1979. The body, chrome, glass, and even the interior seemed in excellent condition, yet I knew the car needed more than just TLC to become roadworthy. Each time I passed that car I wanted to leave a note and see if I could get it cheap enough to restore.
I know that 4 door DeSotos would not be collectible, or bring the big money, but somehow this car seemed to be in good enough shape that it was worth saving from being just a donor parts car. I’ll be in San Jose on business soon, and will make it a point to drive by and see if the car is still there.
Have a nice day, Bill
It’s true that in the past 4 door versions of classic cars of the 50’s and 60’s lagged as far as pricing and collectivity. But that is changing. I as work to finish up my classic car auto appraisal certification, I’m finding that, much like the cars of 1910-1940’s, 2 extra doors aren’t hurting the price they’ll bring. Just take the trend of station wagons – sure at Barrett Jackson’s you’ll only see the two door(plus tailgate) and they’ll bring ‘bigger’ money, but 15 years ago, only crazy people had wagons restored. But the prices for cars like the Pontiac Safari wagon and the Buick Vista Cruiser (Sports wagon) are bringing higher prices. (Actually I think it was Olds Vista Wagon and Buick Sports Wagon.)
58 Safari Wagon
69 Buick Sports Wagon
I’m still quoted as saying that my Mustang, because it’s a coupe and not a fast back or a sports roof, will never to be worth what I’ve spent in restoring it. Interestingly enough, you can start finding them on the web and Ebay for $16k. One recently sold for a bit more than that and it to was a 302 with 351 heads and a wing. So these things are changing. Publications like Hemmings and others are often recommending the purchase of 4 door 50’s and 60’s cars. In part because they are well priced and with the after-market bolt ‘ons’ and drop in crate motors, you can take what was originally under powered 4 door and make it a rubber melting monster.
So go get those 4 doors. Winch them out of the barns and ditches, drag ’em home, restore them back to life and drive ’em!!!!
And I hope that Bill’s DeSoto (see I already have him owning it) is still there and at the least can grab us a few pics. And if you can get some contact info for the owner, I might add a pre-MOPAR to my driveway. Thanks for the comment Bill.
As it was a nice day, and the sun was threatening to make an appearance, I decided to pay a visit the the new-years dayclassic car show ‘Vintage Stony 2012′.
I’d been thinking of dragging my beetle out of hibernation early for this one but as I was a little late getting up, it remained in the garage.
I think this may be the third year that the new years day show in Stony Stratford has been held, and the first time I’ve made it along. I was surprised how busy it was, both car parks were already full and there were lots of people walking around by eleven o’clock when I got there.
Not too may Volkswagens around though. A few nice split screen vans and some Porsches, also a Tatra which was nice to see out and about. I’ve posted some pictures of the VWs and Porsches plus there are more pictures of other marques on Flickr.
This fantastic car sold for $225,500.00. See pic and video blow.
Year: 1957
Make: DESOTO
Model: ADVENTURER
Style: CONVERTIBLE
VIN: 50417567
Exterior Color: GOLD
Interior Color:
Cylinders: 8
Engine Size: 345
