vintage cars

Route66 Cruisin’ Reunion: Mustang, GT0 homage

Thousands of vintage automobiles, highlighted by 50th anniversary celebrations for the Ford Mustang and Pontiac GTO, will be instrumental in the global gathering of the Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion, scheduled Sept. 19-21 in Ontario, California. Plenty of vendors and three days of food, live music and additional entertainment are scheduled in addition to the more than 2,000 classic cars. Beyond the world’s largest nighttime neon light cruise featuring a dazzling “moving light show on wheels” for which some participants have spent years producing specially lit vehicles, other highlights of this year’s event include: Show-n-Shines; 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Mustang and GTO; Poker Run traveling along historic Route 66; Model Car Contests; Von Hot Rod’s Shindig including pin-striping Circus and

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Concours on the Avenue: rare cars, rare owners

Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar and Woodys, the classic surf cars, were featured among the rare cars  and unheralded automobiles Tuesday during the Concours on the Avenue on the streets of downtown Carmel. The first major showcase in the weeklong celebration of automobiles on the Monterey Peninsula progressed August 12 as it has throughout its now eight-year tenure. The crowd of humans and dogs was well behaved . . . perhaps only outdone by the enthusiasm of car owners. They polished their cars, revved their machines’ engines and eagerly talked about their prized possessions. Plenty of pristine Porsche 911 and 356s lined Ocean Avenue and side streets. There were enough Ferrari offerings to comprise a well-stocked dealership. TheWeeklyDriver appreciates Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar

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Rare Corvair once deemed unsafe now collectors’ car

The Chevrolet Corvair has a unique status in automotive history. It was named car of the year. It was once defined as unsafe at any speed. And it was the first American-designed, mass-produced passenger car to feature a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. Produced in model years 1960 to 1969 and featuring an air-cooled rear-mounted flat-six engine, the Corvair was available in several trims including a two-door coupe, convertible, four-door sedan and four-door station wagon. The Corvair was also available as a passenger van, commercial van and a pickup truck. Tom Davenport of Sacramento, California, owns a 1964 Corvair convertible couple. He purchased the car from a relative three years ago and is the third owner of the now 50-year-old machine. In

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Rare vintage cars to rust buckets set for Oklahoma auction

Another stash of vintage cars and trucks, some left untouched for more than 50 years, will go on sale via auction in June in Oklahoma. And the cache of about 250 vehicles may generate a vast amount of attention — similar to a globally popular auction last year in Nebraska. The new auction is a graveyard of scrap metal compared to rarities in the Lambrecht family auction that featured many nearly new and rare vehicle models and attracted buyers worldwide. The auction was broadcast live on the internet. Still, the new collection of Oliver Jordon, all stored on a scrapyard in Enid, Okla., since 1945 and closed in 1953, includes some vintage cars and some expected high-priced sellers. The likely

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ICONIC CARS: 1957 Chevy Bel Air: One owner beauty

The 1957 Chevy Bel Air is not the fastest nor the best-looking car of its time. But no other car is more iconic than a 1957 Chevy. The 1957 Chevy has been a classic now for years. It’s been in many movies and it’s one of the most popular choices for fanciers of street cars to rebuild. The 1957 Chevy also caught the eye of Grace Braeger. She owned a 1950 Chevy, but seven years later began to shop for a new car. The 1957 Chevy Braeger purchased was a demonstrator model at the local dealership in Milwaukee of the same name. Braeger drove the 1957 Bel Air and wanted it. She traded in her old car, paid $2,250 and

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TheWeeklyDriver.com collaborates with eBay.com

As editor and publisher of theweeklydriver.com, I am pleased to announce my new affiliation with eBay.com. As a contributor to the site for about one year, my latest project is as a  contributing writer to a new program called Collections. The program, launching today (Oct. 22), features numerous automotive industry journalists each writing about some their favorite new and used vehicles and affiliated automotive products in 24 collections. My collections cover a diverse selection of cars and trucks, ranging from my long-time interest in Rambler to my respect for the enduring popularity of the Toyota Corolla. I’m particularly interested in vintage and unheralded cars, so my collections list has some unusual titles from the All-Ugly, All-Collectible Car Club to Improbable

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Andy Warhol famed Mercedes Benz silkscreen for $16 million?

A famous silkscreen of a Mercedes Benz, made by And Warhol in 1986, is expected to sell for as much as $16 million when it’s auctioned Nov. 12 by Christie’s in New York. “Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Grand Prix Car (Streamlined Version, 1954)” is being offered by the Daimler art collection. The collection was established 30 years ago by Daimler-Benz, the German luxury manufacturer. The 14-foot-high work shows the automobile repeated 12 times on the canvas. It was created for the centennial of the modern automobile. Warhol did numerous Mercedes Benz renditions. The model was the Mercedes Benz Formula One entry in the 1954 and 1955 Formula One seasons. The auction house says the sale proceeds will be used to

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Baby, you can drive (and own) Ringo Starr’s Facel coupe

Baby, you can drive (and own) his car. A rare 1964 Facel Vega Facel II owned by Ringo Starr will be auctioned by Bonhams auction house on Dec. 1 and is expected to sell for approximately $500,000. According to the Los Angeles Times, Starr purchased the deep burgundy two-door coupe at a car show in 1964. He paid the equivalent of $68,000 in today’s dollars and owned the right-hand-drive car for four years. Facel a French manufacturer, had a short tenure as a luxurious automaker of power classics compared to Rolls-Royce. It built around 2,900 cars. This Facel II is one of only 182 ever made, with only 26 of those sold with the right-hand-drive like Starr’s. The four-seat coupe

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The world goes to Nebraska car auction for 500 barn finds

The nearly 500 classic cars set for auction in September in Pierce, Nebraska, have achieved international acclaim from The New York Times to network television news. Some of the vehicles from the Lambrecht Chevrolet Company have been outside and left to the elements for 50 years. And there are some cars nearly new and stored indoors for a half-century and with odometers readings of less than five miles. The sale, scheduled Sept. 28-29 with a preview day Sept. 27, is ultimate description of barn finds, without the element of surprise. Everyone knows the cars are there and will be auctioned. But like any auctions, who knows how much 500 vintage cars, some untouched for 50 years, will fetch? The auction

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Jerry Seinfeld, Seth Meyers get coffee in the perfect car, really?

Jerry Seinfeld’s latest comedic innovation, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, will conclude its second season with Chris Rock as the guest of eighth episode finale. Like Seinfeld’s television show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is based on the complexities and yet simple ways of natural comedy. It’s about cars and coffee, but not really. The Internet-only series premiered July 19, 2012 on digital network Crackle. In each episode, Seinfeld introduces a classic car. He calls a comedian and drives the car to pick up the guest. The duo then drives to a restaurant and has coffee (and sometimes lunch). There are deviations from the norm (as one would expect) like the poignancy of last season’s episode when comedian Michael Richards

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Top art deco cars from The Great Gatsby era, Buick to Corsair

GearPatrol.com is a compelling website with a compelling motto: “Spirt of Adventure, Passion For Gear.” One recent post, Ten Great Art Deco Cars, features stunning images and succinct, informative descriptions of cars long gone and some that only existed as concepts. Two of the cars featured in post, a 1948 Timbs Buick Streamliner and the Phantom Corsair, a concept, were particularly stunning were included in a timely connection with the current movie The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Describing the Buick Streamliner, the site writes in part: A mechanical engineer named Norman E. Timbs designed and built this sleek number with mostly aluminum on top of a steel chassis. At a cost of $10,000, the Streamliner took more than two

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Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Sells At Auction For $118,000

More than 20 years after his death, the flamboyant legend of Freddie Mercury, the frontman for the seminal rock band Queen, endures including via his former choice of automobiles — a 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Mercury died in 1991, but his Rolls-Royce, originally purchased by the musician’s production company and hardly driven in the past two decades, sold earlier this year for 7,700 British Sterling or about $118,000. It was purchased via a telephone bid  from a Russian businessman at the Coys auction at Autosport International in the United Kingdom. The classic Rolls-Royce had a list used value of $13,000 to $18,000. But the attachment of Mercury as it former obviously substantially increased the car’s value. Mercury’s Silver Shadow has

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Kaiser-Darrin, 1954: Sports car the world has been waiting for

The stunning 1954 Kaiser-Darrin DKF-161 sports car is a rare auto that doesn’t look like anything else. It has a long, sleek hood, a small and exquisite “pursed-lips” grille, sliding doors and three-position folding top. The beautifully proportioned two-seater also has tapering rear fenders and large teardrop taillights that smoothly blended with its lines. The grille looks like it “wants to give you a kiss,” one car designer quipped. Laudau irons let the folding soft top be locked in an intermediate position, leaving the rear section erect for open-air driving without rear drafts. The Kaiser-Darrin’s picture was put on U.S. postage stamps several years ago, an honor shared with only a few other classic American sports cars. Most of the

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Jerry Seinfeld's back taking funny friends to coffee in vintage car show about nothing

It's no secret Jerry Seinfeld is a car collector. But beginning July 19, he's mixing his comedic talents and passion for vintage cars and he's sharing both with friends as they take the cars to coffee shops — or at least that's how it's being promoted. The show is appropriately called "Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. It's scheduled to debut at 9 p.m. Thursday July 19 on Crackle. In the promo for the show, Seinfeld drives around in brief snippets with Michael Richards, Ricky Gervais, Larry David, and Alec Baldwin, among others. According to its web site, www.crackle.com: "Crackle is the place to experience pure entertainment: full-length movies, TV shows, and original series from genres that embody cool — all

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Tour de France, 2012: Citroen exhibit showcases iconic French carmaker

Bugatti, Citroën, Peugeot and Renault are the current major French automakers. With the exception of Bugatti, French highways and country roads are often crowded with many models, new and old, from the other three carmakers. And also with the exception of Bugatti, I've driven new models of Citroën, Peugeot and Renault as rental cars in different years since I began attending the Tour de France in 1997. French cars, like other countries' cars, have strengths and weaknesses, Yet, French cars often get criticized unfairly. While none of the carmakers' vehicles I've driven could be described as performance cars, all three got me through three weeks and about 4,000 miles of driving, including some treacherous ordeals in the Pyrenees and the

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Rare 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible set for national TV auction

An original, unrestored 1957 Ford Thunderbird, which has been driven 20,000 miles, had one owner and garage kept, will be auctioned May 19 on national television as part of Dana Mecum’s 25th Original Spring Classic Auction. Sold new at O’Shea-Rogers Ford in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Thunderbird is still painted in its original factory-applied Starmist Blue paint. The V-8 powered Ford classic is offered with its original porthole hardtop and wide whitewall tires and is documented with the original bill of sale and a signed affidavit attesting to its actual mileage. James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004. In addition to founding this

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