Chevy and it’s customer loved the Chevelle, the customers because of the low price and horse power, Chevy because of the sales. Now days a Chevelle is a highly sought after collector car. Finding a real good one is rare unless you want to play nearly a years salary.
Among those are clusters of the extremely rare. Within the production of the 1965 Chevelle there is an extremely rare version. That was the year Chevy took its brand new Mark IV 396 engine and hoisted it to the engine bay. It was the first of its kind (but not the last – the following year the 396 Chevelle became a regular model) with 375 hp and a 4 speed transmission. This was the special SS model of the Chevelle.
This was Code Z16 and only 201 1965’s were made with engine/transmission and trim, making this one of the rarest of the Chevelles SS.
I was just reading about the 2015 Mustang (yeah..they are planning it now) in the Oct 2011 Motor Trend.
It’s going to look great with a lower angled windshield and it will be lighter, but it will begin to lose it’s muscle car images, at least
underneath.
From the Motor Trend web site. 2-15 Mustang
The live axle will be gone, replaced with an independent rear suspension. Not really what you want to take to the track. There was talk that the live axle might live on in factory drag packs, but the tooling would be expensive and perhaps not cost-effective. We’ll see what actually happens.
Ford Live Axel
Independent Suspension.
But this is not focus of this blog entry. What I really want to mention was a side bar in the article. It is entitled “Icons on An Icon” “What should the next Mustang be?” Those interviewed were Jack Tenack who was a designer for Ford and global design vice president ( He actually drew the first proposal for the 1965 Mustang); Chris Theodore who was chief of Ford Motor Company’s North American product development (he left after a disagreement over the
suspension for the 2005 Mustang with Phil Martens); Tom Gale who had nothing to do with Ford at all, he was Chrysler design chief (now retired).
Generally Mr. Tenack stayed true to form, basically wanting small changes to the next issue of the Mustang, reinforcing the muscle car
image. He thinks all-wheel drive should be added as an option…that’s not horrible.
Mr.Theodore wants the new Mustang to have a 4 cyclinder…WHAT??? Yeah, get this, he’s like the V8 engines reserved for ‘specialty models”…can you say …hiss…boo??? “Hey, the 70’s called they want their paradigm back!!” Of course he led the charge to replace the live axle.
Mr. Gale thinks that we need to copy Europe and thinks the Mustang needs to be smaller. He says the Camaro is more similar to is predecessor then the Mustang is to its predecessor.
Drop me your thoughts. No V8? Live axle? Smaller ‘Stang?
I recent attended a showing of the latest Transformers movie (“Dark Side of the Moon“) and if you know anything about this series or of the cartoon of years gone by, you’ll know that the main characters are machines that turn in to robots. Most of these are vehicles, cars, trucks, semis and even military aircraft.
The car group included a lot of chevys this time, a Camaro which is one of the main stairs, an Impala and a Corvette (actually a representation of a prototype Corvette). The Corvette transformed into a rollerblading robot – which I thought unfitting of my favorite car.
There is the human hero and of course a hot model as his object of desire.
When the hot model was threatened or in harm’s way you could hear the audience get involved. But when an evil robot was about to execute the Camaro character the audience got really vocal. Kids cried at that images, thinking that the Camaro was about to get wacked, forget about the girl….just don’t hurt the car!!!
Yes we love your cars. Oh and the good cars – the Chevy‘s– saved the world again.
But that’s movies and you can just enjoy it with no lasting harmful effects..unless you are me or maybe it wasn’t me but the subliminal messages. I left wanting a Camaro, but not just any 2012 Camaro, but a yellow with black striped bumble bee Camaro.
It must be subliminal messages, I had the same desire after watching Will Smith zip through the empty streets of New York City in the 2007 Shelby GT500 Mustang in his move ‘I Am Legend’ yes the red with white stripes.
OK after all these years, after the car was gone. I stopped by the house. I was met by Al, short for Albert, not Alan, as Al informed me.
I told him that I had always wanted to check on the Grande and he informed I was a bit late. He said he didn’t mind answers a few questions.
So I asked Al how got the car and he said he bought it back in 1972 from some guy. “It was a nice car with an automatic.” Of course my next question was what was under the hood and he said ‘nothing’. “Took it out about 10 years ago and parked on the side of the house.” He told me he never got the engine fixed, ” ’cause it ‘cost too much.” He ended up letting the guy that did some work on it keep. “Ya know, it might have been a 302.” He said he didn’t really know want to do with the body and just ended up hanging on to it.
So I asked him where the car end up, hoping it was sent out to be restored. He said there was this guy from Texas that would stop by every now and then and ask if it was for sale. He drives large pick up and always has an empty trailer attached. This same guy that has stopped by a co-worker of mine, who has her son’s 70 Monte Carlo and her daughter’s 1969 Camaro sitting under her car port – waiting for some TLC and try’s to convince her that she should sell them to him. She chases him off each time, but he’ll swing by a few months later.
A couple of weeks ago, Texas dude, stops by Al’s home and Al decided to get the Grande out of the yard and sold the man from Texas.
We talked a bit longer about my 1970 Mustang coupe and I showed him a couple of pics on my phone and then thanked him for his time.
I was ready an article in one of the many auto related magazines (can’t recall which one…I’m behind on my reading….a bit <<>>>) and the author was stating that it’s no longer the Mopar guys vs. Ford guys or vs Chevy, but now it’s just tuner vs. tuner.
I first realized that, he was indeed correct and secondly that it really extended into many more areas of life. But for now, I’ll stick with why I’m writing this.
When I was a kid (60’s and 70’s) there were clean lines. My Dad was a GM guy or more specifically a Chevy guy, his Dad had Mopars (but really anything that got him to a store for a ‘soda’ was fine with him). On other side of the family (Mom’s side) there wasn’t much going on there with my uncles (except one who introduced me to Corvettes at the age of about 4 or 5), except my grandfather who always seemed to have a Ford – actually they were always the huge Mercury Marques or similar Merc model.
So there were many discussion on which brand lasted longer, ran better, had more power and a very important are for ‘way’ upstate New York State, which one rusted slower (seems there were two types of cars no matter what brand – those with rust holes and those about to have rust holes). Now school was where things got hyped. Even as far back as grade school there were discussions about which car brand was better….I recall even then the full name of F.O.R.D – “Found On (side of) Road Dead”.
That was the core of a car guy’s or gal’s life back then. Even those that made a living working on them had preferences.
But that is all being lost. It’s hard to tag the exact cause or point in time this happened. However, I’m going to blame racing. Yup straight up, drag racing and oval track racing. The thought that a funny car is really a Mustang or the template fitted oval track car is a Camaro or a Camry, is merely an illusion. When the running of “real” cars stopped, the rivalry began to die.
Funny Car “Mustang” This is John Forces car…no offense intended
Not a Mustang
Camry Funny Car
Looks like the stang.
Ford Mustang
NASCAR Camry
NASCAR CAMARO
Coming up next: So where does the lack rivalry lead us?
Like you, I grew up in a GM only family. My dad bought Chevy Station Wagons (stripper Biscaynes) for family hauler duty and Buick LeSabres for his personal daily drivers. Each and every car he bought faithfully lasted 100K miles with only minor repairs and service.
Then, in the 1980s several things happened that destroyed car loyalty. One, all GM cars were exactly alike both in appearance and crappy reliability. My dad was devastated that his 1982 Buick with Olds 305 V8 was in the shop 100 days per year, each and every year of the 36 months he owned that car, then his 1989 Beretta was the same in reliability. Second, the Japanese, or rather JAPAN, INC, realized that turning cars into ‘appliances’ was exactly what America needed and wanted. Styling is not as important as 200K reliability and 60% re-sale value. Finally, Detroit failed the American consumer by trying to make big profits on SUVs rather than compete on quality car products. All of this contributed to the errosin of car loyalty.
I read an article awhile back that stated that the Asian brand cars have loyalty among themselves in that Honda people buy Toyotas and Toyota people buy Hondas, and some people only consider all Asain brands both Japanese and Korean, but American loyalty has boiled down to the large truck market only. Pick Up truck owners are loyal to only GM, Ford, or Chrysler. In fact, the article mentioned that MOST F150 owners are likely to own Toyota products as their car product.
For me, I was a “MOPAR, or NO CAR” loyal Chrysler buyer for all of my driving life. My first car was a 1969 Dodge Coronet 440 that ruled the street of my neighborhood (less the occasional MACH1 that would beat me). My second car was a Road Runner that never lost a race. Then I matured into a Plymouth Horizon, a Plymouth Laser, followed by a Shelby Charger, a Shelby Lancer, and the present day LeBaron Convertible. I bought Chrysler products because they were the underdog of the Big 3, because Lee Iacoccoa needed our support, because they were the most patriotic brand, and because they were the biggest bang for the buck.
The Daimler takeover ended that loyalty. The FIAT ownership makes permanent that I will not buy another MOPAR.
Today, I am not loyal to any car manufacturer. I can pretty much guarentee you that I won’t buy foreign in that I ‘follow the money’; in other words, Ford and GM money do come home no matter where the assembly point, or source of the car. I lean towards Ford products in that they did not take a bail out, Bill Ford is a family owner of the company, Alan Mullay is an engineer that realizes crappy cars do not sell, and the Mustang is still the very best Muscle Car for the money. Always has been, and I hope will always will be!
Submitting my rant for the day, Bill
RT @JERZEEBABY1: Auto racing returns to Trenton, NJ this weekend! http://t.co/j5p8i8dltS
RT @dustinlong: Covered Auto Racing RT @APSE_sportmedia: Retiring Bill Center 1 of a kind. Nobody outworked him. http://t.co/vasTGbmbY2 vi…
For over 8 years now I pass an enclave of homes that seem house a tribe of car people. Now this isn’t the pool and 3 car garage neighbor, in fact some have only car ports and some have nothing. I pass these homes at least once a day. Hardly a day or two go by without seeing a rolling classic or muscle project turn down the one of the 4 streets leading into the neighborhood.
I can list most of the cars that live there. To name a few there is the 1969 VW bug, often under cover, one home that has a 1984 Corvette Crossfire and a 1969 Nova and there is the 1970ish Camaro…wait for it…..wait…..mounted on a monster truck frame rig, a Monte Carlo (late 1970’s), a 1965 Mustang and a 1988 Fox body too.
However, there are 3 cars that make my drive. Knowing they are there gets the day started on an even keel, everything in its place. The work day can be (read as “usually is”) filled with chaos but it ends with these 3 cars everything is as it should be. Now two of them I’ve actually seen on the road and one of those at the drag strip. In order of appearance first thing in the morning 1970 Mustang Grande, 1970 Charger and a 1967 GTO. The Charger normally sits in the car port and often has the hood up and or is practically dismantled. The GTO was up on blocks in the backyard for nearly a year and has recently had shoes put on it was under the car port out front ( a good sign, I’m assuming).
This isn't "the" 1970 Mustang Grande.
The Mustang has never moved, in all these years not an inch. It sits next to the side of the house, inside the chain link fence, in full sun. Rust on the sides and the vinyl roof baked hard on the roof. The prickly pear cactus which started out as a mere 2 foot high cluster has grown to over 5 feet tall, nearly obscuring the car from the west side view. A couple of years ago a ladder was added next to the car and weeds have grown up to nearly covering it.
Since I love Mustangs, I always wondered about its story, what engine it had under the hood and what would happen if I stopped and offered to purchase it. (Of course that would be a tough sell at home.) And I kept reminding myself that I need to at least stop and take some photos for my abandon/project car writings.
Last week I was driving home and in reverse order from the morning drive, there was the ’69 GTO, ’70 Charger and a empty yard where the Grande has sat for years. It seemed the entire landscape had changed. Was that the correct yard? Did I just mistake the next guy’s house for that one? Was I on the right street? Those thoughts crossed my mind briefly. There was a lot of traffic and turning around to go back and look wasn’t going to happen, after the day I had.
I didn’t have to make a mental note to check tomorrow morning, it was part of my routine, I’d notice for sure it if wasn’t there on the trip into work. Sure enough as a reached what would be my first sign that the day was starting out with all the pieces in place, I saw exactly what I thought I saw the day before. The ladder was gone, the weeds and prickly pear cactus was gone and where the Mustang sat was a bare spot on the ground and against the side of the house. The 1970 Mustang Grande was gone.
This car wasn’t even mine but I have regrets, I should have taken a picture, I should have stopped and got its story and found out what was under the hood. It’s clearly too late for a picture. Did it find a new home? Was it going to be treated to spa like off frame restoration? Did it meet the crusher?
I wonder if they would mind a car crazy guy stopping by and asking about a car that isn’t there any longer? Does the readership want to know?
Thanks for reading.
Tim
From a reader:
I used to pass a 1970 base model Barracuda everyday on the way to work in the late 1980s in San Jose, Calif for years. It was a basic 318 auto, shift on the column with base vinyl bucket seats, white with no stripes, or trim, or spoilers. Just a basic Barracuda, but all orignal, and all complete. It needed mostly TLC, paint, and some interior work. It sat in the driveway with two flat tires for years. i finally one Friday night on the way home from work stopped and knocked on the door. The original owner was glad to show me the car and talk about his fond memories of the car. I ended up stopping by three, or four times over the year. We would talk MOPARs and bench race a little bit now and then.
Then one day I saw the house was for sale, so I stopped to ask. The Barracuda owner told me his mother had passed away (the homeowner), and the Barracuda was FOR SALE. I had to contain my excitement and proceed with the details. (I had just sold my 68 Charger for a huge profit, which I regret to this day, but that is another story for another day).
So, the owner pulls out this “Gold Book of Collector Car Values”; You have to remember, this is pre-Internet times; all cars prices came from some sort of ‘book’. He proudly shows me that the ‘high’ market value of the ‘Cuda/Challenger is $39,000. I say; “YES, that is for pristine, all original Hemi cars. This is a base Barracuda with a 318 that needs $3,000 work of work.”. We talk back and forth for two hours, and I finally throw out a $3,500 offer to break the ice (remember, this is 1989). The guy tells me to screw myself, and goes back into his house.
I left a few notes on the car for the next two months waiting to reconnect by phone, but he never called. The house sold, and I never saw that Barracuda again.
Thanks for letting me tell one of my many “one that got away” stories. Lets do lunch soon!
