Retro Thing

The Most Affordable North American Collector's Car

Here's a guest post from Michael Posner:

"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Chevrolet brand. Many models are being feted as part of the celebration, but one model that is often overlooked in the hoopla is the Chevrolet Corvair, the first and only air cooled, rear engined mass produced car made in America. Produced from 1960 to 1969, the Corvair was the subject, in part, of Ralph Nader's seminal work, Unsafe at Any Speed, which claimed that the original 1960 car was prone to violent unpredictable oversteer. While somewhat true, handling improved after 1960, and by 1965 in the guise of a second generation car, became one if the best handling cars made at the time (with a new corvette-based independent rear suspension).

Initially, the Corvair was sold in a plethora of models including coupe, sedan, wagon, and van, but most were abandoned by 1966 as sales dropped 50% due to the publication of Nader's Book and the introduction of the Mustang. GM carried on with the coupe and convertible until 1969, mostly to spite Nader, despite ever-declining sales. 

The Corvair was GM's response to the small car import threat, especially from VW. Fuel economy was over 20 mpg, and due to the engine layout the interior was as roomy as many larger cars with a wide, flat floor and a folding rear seat for added luggage. Despite its economy car roots, the Corvair was soon adopted by.the sporting crowd as a poor man's Porsche. GM responded by up horsepower from 80 to 180 by turbocharging the car.

The engine was a unique design, a horizontally opposed six cylinder boxer engine with aluminum heads displacing 2.3 to 2.7 liters, supported by two or four one barrel carburettors producing 80 to 140 horsepower and a single side barrel carb feeding the dual intake turbo. Three and four speed manual transmission were available, along with a powerglide two speed autobox. 

Since the Corvair was an economy car, it lacked power steering or brakes, but options included bucket seats, air conditioning, am-fm stereo and full gauges. Prices started in the low $2,000s up to a fully loaded model that barely topped $3,000. Two specialty versions were also available, the race-bred Yenko Stinger and the sport luxury Fitch Sprint, both of which are highly sought in the collector market. 

Over nine years, GM sold 1.75 million Corvairs, but the stigma of being unsafe made the car less desirable than other 60's collectibles. Today the Corvair is part of a vibrant collector car community and has earned the title of the most affordable collectible. As a new owner of a 1966 Corvair coupe, I have found it to be easy to drive, easy to work on, with a ready supply of parts availability and online and local support. For those looking for a cheap fun collector car, the Corvair cannot be beat.  -- Michael Posner"

The Camaro Super Hugger

The much maligned second generation Chevy Camaro just might be cool again. It was introduced in 1970 and remained in production for a bone-jarring 11 years. While some possessed angry 396 cubic inch V-8 big blocks, the Camaro's weight gradually increased over the years and its engine displacement shrank -- just like many of us.

As the 1980s wore on, old Camaros increasingly became the butt of jokes until they were handed over to a final generation of grunge kids before vanishing from the road at alarming speed. And now, 27 years since they ceased production, they're suddenly desirable again.

Mister Jalopy of Dinosaurs & Robots fame bought this particular 30 year-old car in 2007 with the intent of doing a little work and flipping it.

I can only imagine the looks of contempt this chunk of automotive history gets as it pulls up beside a foofy gas-sipping hybrid at a traffic light. And -- sadly -- it's probably the greener option, since the environmental damage done through its manufacture is long forgotten in the mists of time. Besides, I doubt they make fuzzy leopard skin print seat covers for a Prius (please don't prove me wrong, dear readers).

It makes me wonder. Thirty years from now, which of today's mass market cars will be sought after by nostalgic backyard mechanics?

Some Expenses Spared [Hoopty Rides]

The Lada Niva Returns To The UK

It's been 15 years since the Lada Niva was last imported into the UK, but that's suddenly changed with the introduction of two new versions of this classic Russian 4x4. The first, a utilitarian van, sells for £8695 and features delightfully stark metal panels where the rear windows should be, while its fancier family friendly stablemate retails for £10,974 and actually has rear seats and portholes for your darling sprogs to gaze out of.

Both feature a 1.7L 4-cylinder engine -- now mercifully equipped with Bosch fuel injection -- and the same delightful rubber interior flooring that almost dares you to clean it with a garden hose. Apart from that, not much has changed.

With zero to 60 times in the 16 second range, this isn't the ideal motorway cruiser. But that's OK, because carrying on a conversation over the road noise would be a definite challenge at 70 mph, anyway. One last minor detail: they're all left-hand drive.

I know it's crazy, but I want one. In bright orange.

Autocar's First Drive of the Niva 1.7 [thanks, Peter!]

Your Very Own Triumph 2000 Police Car

You just missed a chance to own a 1971 Triumph 2000 that once served with the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary. Upon learning its history, the seller set about dressing the car in 1970s police livery. The result is guaranteed to draw a crowd (and perhaps a few laughs).

He installed a vintage magnetic police roof box and explains, "This has an operational light that works with a remote switch and battery. The box also lights up in the dark through the same switching independently. There are also roof spot lights and an aerial which are for show only. All the roof equipment has magnetic fixings which means there are NO holes drilled or re drilled in the roof.

The car is drivable with all the roof gear connected, but only up to 50mph. Not too sure at what speed it would start to get shifted, I haven’t been brave enough to try!! As I said before though, its very easy to take off, place in the back and fix at the show."

The 1,998 cc 6-cylinder won't get you anywhere in a hurry, but with less than 60,000 miles on the odometer there's a fairly good chance you'll reach your destination sooner or later.

Honestly, if I were an eccentric millionaire I'd be hard pressed to choose between this and a vintage ice cream van. It was recently listed on eBay starting at £1,500, but looks like it sold privately. I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a period police drama sometime in the near future...

Triumph 2000 White Police Car - Tax Exempt

Where Are All The Compact Trucks?

The pickup truck has been a fixture in North America ever since the days of the Ford Model T. Back in the early 1980s, skyrocketing interest rates and a dodgy economy led to massive popularity of compact trucks such as the Ford Ranger and Chevy S-10. They were inexpensive, fuel efficient and big enough to haul bikes, tools and construction material. Their low box height and reasonably compact frames made them easy to load and ensured that they fit standard garages.

Jump forward three decades, and Ford has announced that 2011 is the last year for the Ranger in North America, while General Motors hasn't offered the S-10 compact since 2004. Even former compact car giants like Toyota and Nissan are pushing bewilderingly massive trucks in the USA.

The dearth of small trucks is especially strange when you consider that all of the major auto manufacturers have recently introduced affordable and very fuel efficient sub-compacts in North America -- the Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2 and Toyota Yaris, to name a few. They seem to recognize that small and affordable vehicles will be the cornerstone of their product lines in years to come. So why hasn't that thinking impacted the truck segment?

My guess is that the marketing teams at Chevrolet, GM and Chrysler crunched the numbers and concluded that full-sized pickups are far more profitable in the short-to medium term than spending billions on new compact platforms.

After all, a new compact truck would be priced lower, offering a reduced profit margin. New compacts might even trigger a costly price war as the manufacturers jockey for market share. And there's a very real risk that a good compact truck lineup would decimate full-size truck sales.

However, this is a woefully short-sighted strategy. If fuel prices continue to rise and disposable income continues to fall, many tradespeople and truck enthusiasts are going to find themselves unable to afford a massive 6.7 L-equipped 4x4 stump-puller. The only option will be something smaller and more efficient -- a product that no longer exists.

An empty market segment offers a massive opportunity, and I fear that foreign manufacturers may be the ones to fill the gap. Back in 2007, Kia Motors president Cho Nam-Hong remarked, "Isn't it time for Kia Motors to make inroads into the pickup truck market?" As the photo above attests, it probably is.

Cho Nam-hong. "Isn't it time for Kia Motors to make inroads into the (U.S.) pickup truck market?"

The Ugliest Ferrari

I spent the morning assembling synthesizer kits. After 50 or 60 packages, my consciousness began to wander down seldom visited neural pathways. I remembered a car mag article from the 1990s that listed a few "bargain" sports cars.

Bargain cars are often cheap for a reason -- dubious reliability, bankrupt manufacturers, odd paint jobs and so on. But one stood out. It was the 365 GT4 2+2, AKA the ugliest Ferrari I've ever seen. The article harped on about its performance, quad exhaust and sub-$25,000 price tag. But I couldn't get past its decidedly docile appearance.

Just over 500 of these angular 2+2s were produced between 1972 and 1976. Beneath the hood lurked an utterly impressive 12 cylinder engine that put out 340 bhp -- enough to push it from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.4 seconds. It was also strikingly fast, with a top speed of 155 mph. In the pre-SUV sport wagon era, this was probably the only way you could take the kids along for a Sunday afternoon jaunt. But you just know they were snickering in their leather rear seats.

It is interesting to note that this wasn't the only weird Ferrari design to wear the 365 badge. The 365 GT4 Croisette was a peculiar estate wagon prototype. Mercifully, it was led behind the barn and shot before reaching production.

1972-1976 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 [TopSpeed]

Beck 904: Remaking A Classic Porsche

Just over 100 Porsche 904s were manufactured under the Carrera GTS name, starting in 1963. The car was never intended for mass production and was built only to satisfy GT race requirements. Not surprisingly, demand for this futuristic supercar far outstripped supply.

It was Porsche's first fibreglass body, and the combination of a sleek lightweight chassis and mid-engine power plant proved formidable on the racetrack.

Alas, owning one of the originals is a prohibitively expensive proposition. Chuck Beck has a long history of manufacturing quality reproductions of the Porsche 356 and 500, and he stepped up to the plate to bring a 911-powered replica of the 904 to the masses.

The Beck 904's air-cooled 3.164 L six-cylinder puts out 250 hp (net) mated to a 5-spd transaxle. A curb weight of only 1,740 lbs ensures ferocious performance, with a very respectable 0-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds.

The Beck 904 doesn't come with niceties such as satnav or air conditioning, but it offers a chance to drive a surprisingly authentic remake of a classic Porsche at a cost of around $50,000 + drivetrain.

Incidentally, Peugeot complained about Porsche's use of a zero in the middle of their model numbers, arguing that this was a hallmark of the Peugeot naming scheme. As a result, the Porsche 901 was rebadged the 911 and only Porsche race cars carried a zero from that point on.

Beck 904: The Ultimate Replica

The Jaguar E-Type Celebrates A Half Century

As a young boy, I was obsessed with aircraft. More specifically, British WWII machines like the De Havilland Mosquito, Bristol Beaufighter, Hawker Hurricane, Boulton Paul Defiant and the formidable Supermarine Spitfire.

The style of these machines hard-wired my brain to love the sleek and aggressive lines of the Jaguar E-Type, which paid homage to the fighters of a generation earlier. When it arrived at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, the machine appealed strongly to successful 40-something year-olds who were in their early 20s during the war.

Driving a spitfire to work was out of the question. But if you squinted just right, the massive bonnet of the E-Type could pass for an engine cowl. Even Enzo Ferrari fell under its spell, declaring the Malcom Sayer design, "The most beautiful car ever made."

Over the course of 14 model years, some 72,000 E-Types were manufactured in three series. The Series I machines debuted with a 3.8 L Jaguar XK dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) inline 6-cylinder engine. They're my favorite version, with glass-covered headlights and a distinctive mouth opening in the front, along with signal and tail lights that seem to have been tacked on above the bumpers as an afterthought.

By the time the last E-Type rolled off the assembly line in 1974, the wretched wide-collar excesses of the early seventies had wrought a 5.3L 12-cylinder V12 engine that drank its way thirstily through the oil-starved OPEC Crisis. The more powerful engine was accompanied by more capable brakes and power steering as a standard feature.

All good things come to an end, and the E-Type was replaced in 1975 by the XJ-S -- an angular touring car that hinted at the sterile, straight-edge design that was to dominate much of the next decade.

Oddly enough, the last E-Type wasn't built at Browns Lane. It was hand assembled by Ray Parrot in 2008, cobbled together from a vast array of spare parts that had been languishing in storage for over three decades. It took 8 months of hard work, but over 95% of the vehicle was crafted from factory new components.

[Update from Martin in the comments... A Swedish designer, Bo Zolland, paid tribute to the Jaguar E-Type by designing the Growler E. Quite stunning!]

Return of the Morgan Threewheeler

In 2009, the Morgan Motor Company celebrated their centennial by producing a 2/3 scale pedal car version of the classic Morgan Threewheeler. Now they're back with a full-sized road ready model that would be at home in the garage of any grown-up Biggles fan.

Between 1909 and 1953, about 30,000 Morgan Threewheelers were produced in the company's Malvern factory. These fuel efficient little runabouts got over 50 mpg and were frequently seen at race tracks, even winning the French Grand Prix in 1913.

The modern version mates a 100 HP v-twin engine to a Mazda 5-speed gearbox. It weighs a scant 500 kg, making it a nimble performer capable of 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of approximately 115 mph. The body comes in eight colors, with a choice of black or tan leather interior. There's even a "bomb release" starter button to ensure a grin every time you start this magnificent vehicle.

As the company explains, "The success of the Morgan Motor Company was founded on the manufacture of an icon, the Morgan Threewheeler. This brilliant but simple design by engineer Harry Morgan (HFS) became one of the most successful lightweight cars of the early days of motoring.

Whilst the world is a very different place in 2011 the time is right to relaunch this exceptional design.  Young people may not have experienced the same thrill as the early Threewheeler pilots and perhaps cult status is assured for a car with such an emphasis on simple honest functionality."

The £25,000 (plus tax) Threewheeler will be available in March and meets US and European safety and emission rules.

Update: Morgan Threewheeler

Rare 1986 Ford RS200 Evo Up For Auction

First, some numbers. Zero to sixty in three terrifying seconds. That's faster than the famed Porsche 959 or a Ferrari F40. Ford produced two hundred RS200s in 1986, and only 24 were upgraded to the Evolution package. This example hits the auction block on March 12, 2011 and is expected to fetch well over $80,000.

From the auction listing:

420+ bhp, 2,137 cc 16-valve DOHC turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, five-speed manual transmission, front and rear independent double wishbone suspension, and four-wheel ventilated disc brakes. Held the Guinness record for “fastest accelerating car in the world” for 12 years.

This particular white RS200 is in very good condition with only 5,557 kms showing. Some minor stone pitting on the front end is the only sign of wear. The one thing separating this RS200 from a Group B rally car is the interior, which has been comfortably trimmed by Tickford. The interior has been fitted with grey carpeting, door inserts, red Sparco seats and a matching red leather XR3i steering wheel. Bidder beware – zero-to-sixty sprints in three seconds are not for the faint of heart!

Rare in the USA: 1986 Ford RS200 Evo [via Bring A Trailer, thanks Martin!]

Tapes Banished From Car Showrooms. Is The Wagon Next?

A recent story in The New York Times said that the factory-installed cassette deck is dead. I found that notable, but not that surprising. I mean, I was mildly surprised that the last car to have a cassette deck as an option was a Lexus, not a Buick, but is anyone shocked that there's not much incentive for manufacturers to offer tape decks in cars in 2011? (Tapeheads, you can still rock out to wow and flutter with a new car receiver, but your options are limited. Crutchfield sells four head units that play tapes. Best Buy, according to its website, sells one.)

An even more ominous headline in Fortune, however, caught my eye: The death of the station wagon. The essay is pinned on Volvo, which will soon stop selling wagons in the U.S. The last Volvo wagon being sold stateside is the V50, but it won't be around dealers for much longer. The company sold fewer than 500 of them here last year.

According to Fortune, "Edmunds.com, the online-car buying site, lists 115 kinds of SUVs and 92 types of crossovers but only 31 varieties of station wagon. Even that count is suspect. It includes a Ford Flex, which is a minivan in disguise, and the bizarre Dodge Caliber."

Unlike Fortune, I actually think there's good news for American car buyers who dislike the compromises inherent in SUVs and crossovers. From what I have seen, there are plenty of new wagon-like cars out there. They're just not all called wagons.

Acura, for example, recently introduced a new TSX wagon, but it prefers the term "Sport Wagon." The five-door flavors of the Mazda 3 and Subaru Impreza are called hatchbacks, but you sure would have a hard time explaining the difference. And more hatchbacks are arriving every year, with companies like Mitsubishi and Kia recently bringing five-doors to the U.S. The Germans still seem to be selling wagons — or at least trying to. And some of the oddball Japanese boxes-on-wheels like the Nissan Cube and Scion xB might not be wagons, but I am not sure what else you can call them.

I doubt the station wagon will ever regain its total grip on American suburbia, but I think it's too soon to call the wagon dead. The name might be passé. They probably won't be as boxy. You might see fewer of them out there. But I have to think cars — and I do mean cars — with five doors will be around for a long time.

Yesterday's Cars of Tomorrow

As this short 1948 film aptly demonstrates, the hardest thing in the world is to design something futuristic. That said, I wish my old jalopy could parallel park as nimbly as the Davis Three Wheeler.

The Talking Datsun

Jared Chesson writes, "Every so often, I have a weird obsession with saying 'your door is ajar' in a pleasant and informative feminine voice, which generally makes my wife nervous. It all stems from an infatuation with my father's 5-speed Datsun. As a four year old boy, I was convinced there was a small woman, possibly employed under the same union as Santa's elves, whose sole purpose and reason for living was to inform the passengers of said car that a door could possibly be, in fact, open.

I was heartbroken when they traded the car in for a more family friendly station wagon. She may have been my first love. (Thank goodness Hal 9000 wasn't a Sal). 27 years later, I find out there was no elfish woman speaking to me. It was a small record playing on a portable phonograph.

The only tech coming close to replicating this experience for me was my Garmin. But her voice wasn't compassionate, or reasonable. The Garmin barked orders instead of suggesting. There's a difference, in other words, of saying 'Your door is ajar' vs. 'Take a right.' "

Article from Popular Science, March 1982

This Vintage Electric Car Could Be Yours

efftee writes, "Check out this auction I just stumbled upon for a 1975 Citicar. Looks like something out of Logan's Run. Seems reasonably priced too..."

About 2,300 CitiCars was produced between 1974 and 1977 in response to the OPEC oil crisis. It had a top speed of around 50 mph and a maximum range of 40 miles per charge - fairly impressive for a vehicle with a 3.5 HP motor powered by 48 volts from a stack of eight lead acid batteries. More importantly, it's street legal and just begging to be modded with modern technology. As I write this, it's at $2,550 with 4 days to go in the auction.

1975 CitiCar on eBay

Hop On The Magic Movie Bus

The Vintage Mobile Cinema is a one-of-a-kind automotive restoration project - The only survivor among seven mobile cinemas custom built for the British government in the late 1960s.

The vehicles initially were operated by the Production Engineering Research Association and had the prosaic mission of teaching engineers about the latest factory production techniques. The bus has a unique steel-framed plastic dome that housed the film projection equipment apart from the cinema, which has a stepped floor to ensure clear views.

Reclaimed and renovated, the bus now sports a fully upholstered 22-seat theater, a high-definition digital projection unit and Dolby surround sound. Through March, it's taking part in the Movie Bus Project in North Devon. The project has it traveling the countryside showing newly digitized archive footage of life in southwest England during the 20th century, including some fascinating looking images from the sea.

The other six movie buses are believed to be lost. Also missing: the trailers that each bus hauled. They were initially used for displays associated with the manufacturing presentations. For now, the restored vehicle has a decidedly modern trailer with a solar panel that allows it to present its unique films off the grid, without a generator. [Via Jalopnik]