1941 Packard 160 Deluxe –
Jack and Judy Cornely, of St. Petersburg, Fla., are the lucky owners of this gorgeous Packard droptop. Packard styling was all new for 1941, and this lovely convertible coupe was one of the most stunning cars of its day.

1930 Ford Model A Fordor –
This 1930 Ford Model A Town Sedan was Phil Carlson’s first car and he still owns it 65 years later! He shared this photo of the car “getting ready for the Christmas Eve cookie delivery, a tradition dating back more than 30 years.”

1932 Studebaker Dictator sedan –
Reader Tom Cashion shares this very cool photo of his rare 1932 Studabaker. The car is unrestored and still carries its original inline eight-cylinder engine and three-speed manual transmission.

1956 Pontiac 860 station wagon –
“I have owned this wagon for seven years and love the fact that you do not see many of this model,” reports Michael Wooding, the owner of this cool resto-mod. “This has a LS-1 with a 700R4 and a Ford 9-inch rear end.”

1952 Henry J Corsair –
“This is a later-series Henry J with a 161-cid inline engine with 7.0:1 compression ratio and developing 80 bhp on the test stand,” says owner Jack Mueller. “The car represents a fairly well-loaded example of the top-line Henry J, and the later 1952 version shows off the only significant body change (new cowl, relocating the tail lights to the crowns of the rear fenders and addition of glove box) that the make got during its 1951-’54 model-year production run. The car has less than 48,000 miles on the clock and the mileage is believed to be original.”

1971 Boss Bug dune buggy – “I found this car, sitting in a garage
for 35 years,” says Greg Vance. “Completely rebuilt everything… [The] red metalflake body was in perfect condition. It has a VW 1600 dual-port, four-cylinder engine, runs and drives great, fun cruising the lake Michigan shoreline.”

1957  Cadillac Coupe deVille –
Annie Koehler’s son, Jamie Hutchins, salvaged this classic and restored it as a gift to her. “The interior is original, the engine is a big-block Chevy 496,” she says. “Jamie builds racing engines at his shop, Dyno Tech Racing Engines, in Bethalto, Ill.”

1958 Edsel Corsair –
“It’s an honor to be the current curator,” says David Kirke. “Wish the car could talk. Born at the Mercury plant in New Jersey in 1958. Spent her first 10 years in Minnesota before moving to Arizona and now residing in Illinois where she has brother and sister Edsels to keep her company. Plays well with Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and Chryslers.”

1965 Ford Mustang – “I was 15 years old when my mother purchased this Mustang in June 1965 from Heiser Ford in Milwaukee,” says David Scott. “She traded in a 1957 Dodge station wagon… The car still has [its] original interior, engine, transmission and sheet metal. Maintenance and repairs have been ongoing. It received a cosmetic refurbishing in 1983 with transmission and engine being rebuilt more recently. [It’s] equipped with a 289 V-8, automatic transmission, power steering and brakes and radio. The car has been driven approximately 62,000 miles in 60 years and has not been wet in more than 30 years.”

1967 Jaguar 420 – “I’m the second owner of this ’67 Jaguar 420,” says Richard Ackroyd. “It’s one of very few with a four-speed and overdrive. It may be one of the finest. Zero rust and a bare metal respray in 2014. I bought it from the original owner in 1993 with 38,000 miles on it. It now has 48,000.”

1966 Ford Galaxie 500 – Dan Rawson’s unrestored survivor has only 21,000 miles. “It runs and drives like it looks,” he says. “I’m the third owner and have the car’s history. [It’s been] garaged all its life.”

1959 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible –
Phyllis Watts received this awesome car brand new as a high school graduation gift, and she and her husband Bob still own it! “The car had a frame-off restoration 10 years ago after sitting in storage for many years,” Bob says. “It’s a 318 two- barrel. The interior has the roll-out seats on both sides.”

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A good friend of mine was a high school classmate of the original owner of our car. My friend had been trying to buy this car for years and finally convinced her (the owner) to sell; however, when the time came, he decided he had too many projects going on to take on another. My friend knew that my “first car” was a 1969 Firebird; same color, same engine (but it was a coupe), so he called me to gauge my interest, and I immediately said of course, I wanted it! My wife and her twin sister shared a 1968 Firebird convertible in high school, so there was a strong affinity for this car from both of us. Ultimately, my buddy was able to make arrangements to have his friend (the owner) sell the car to me.

Beyond my personal affinity for Firebirds, my wife’s family has been in the car business for going on 100 years. Her grandfather started an Oakland franchise in 1929 which of course in time became Pontiac. In the 1930’s he added Cadillac and at one time was the oldest Cadillac dealer east of the Mississippi. In 1975 they added Honda. The dealership is now GMC/Buick/Honda in Rocky Mount, NC and is still in the family and managed by the third and fourth generation. My wife worked in the business for almost 20 years and obtained her dealer certification from NADA, but when our daughter was born, she “retired” from the car business.

The car was originally purchased in June of 1968 from Lexington Motor Sales in Lexington, Virginia (approximately 35 miles from where we live in Staunton, Virginia). The car was purchased by a dad as a gift for his daughter’s high school graduation. It never left the area and was daily driven by the daughter until 1991 when it was parked in the family’s dairy barn. The daughter retained ownership of the car until we purchased it in late 2020 after it had been sitting for nearly 30 years, with 42,250 actual miles. The car is “matching numbers” with a 350 c.i. 2-barrel V-8 with a two-speed automatic transmission. Factory options include AM radio, floor console, rear speaker, door edge guards, remote mirror power steering, power convertible top, custom trim group, and floor mats. The exterior color is Verdoro Green with Ivy Gold interior.

The car is almost entirely original, including paint, interior, and convertible top. I even still use the original floor mats. I had a paint correction performed along with an application of ceramic coating. Unfortunately, during the time, the car was parked in the barn it sat alongside a lime truck which caused some surface rusting, particularly on the trunk lid, which got into the paint. Nevertheless, I have decided not to do anything further to the paint as most of the car looks fantastic for its age. The top only needed a good cleaning and coat of protective sealant. The interior needed cleaning and some touch up on the kick panels and the panels on the back of the seats, which had turned brown with age. I did replace the carpet but in hindsight probably could have saved the original. Fortunately, the car did not suffer from any serious mouse infestation. I am told by the mechanic that worked on the car originally that he was able to get the car running before we did any enhancements. I got a chance to look underneath the valve covers during the initial renovations and it looked like new. I would say the majority of the cosmetic improvements were underneath the hood. I painted the engine bay and the engine and replaced (with period correct OER parts) all of the hoses, hose clamps, belts, etc. and added a Delco “battery topper” and period correct battery cables. The original hood insulation was still there and completely intact.

Aside from cosmetic enhancements and replacement of certain limited-lifetime components, the engine and transmission have not been touched. I replaced suspension bushings, front springs, rear leaf springs, and installed period-correct Koni adjustable shocks. For safety and drivability, I installed power front disc brakes. I also period-correct dual exhaust. Vintage Rally II wheels and period-correct redline radial tires were installed (I went to 15-inch wheels and tires to accommodate the disc brakes), and the original deluxe steering wheel was restored. All updates were done using period-correct components when possible. The original “space saver” tire and inflation can is still in the trunk.

The car is a “driver” and we are certainly enjoying it! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the original owner of our car and was able to get some neat photos of her with the car, one of which is a photo in her graduation gown and cap. The car won it’s AACA Junior award in Gettysburg 2023 and it’s Senior award in Hershey 2023, and in February 2023 received a “Judges Award” at the Motorama show in Harrisburg, PA.

Owners: Grace, Julie, and Leonard Pittman, Staunton Virginia

*Images courtesy of Leonard Pittman

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Family Cruising

By Alan Eickhoff

Even before there was the film American Graffiti there was cruising on York Road in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.  In the early 1960s I did it with a friend in his mother’s 1955 Chevy convertible.  Who cared if it was an automatic six banger? The top was down.

In those days of the 1960s merchants didn’t take kindly to the summertime ritual that generally disrupted the flow of business in town. The flow of traffic was also disrupted as it moved very slowly. Isn’t that what cruising is all about? Seeing and being seen?

In recent years the Chamber of Commerce actually revived the long-ago tradition. From May to September on the 3^rd Friday of the month folks turn out to again see and be seen. Participants are encouraged to bring a food item to donate to the local food pantries. Some people even park their car and set up chairs to see and be seen.

My family now has 3 generations of car aficionados. It has long been a goal to gather all of them for a single occasion.  That bucket list item got “checked” off on the August 2023 cruise night in Hatboro.

Looking at the photo, the first vehicle seen is a Chevy Silverado and it belongs to our daughter in law, Ashley Williams Eickhoff. It has been in her possession for 8 years. Her dad bought it new in 1990 with the special-ordered paint job of Caramel Brown and Adobe Gold. It has a 5.7 liter engine. Ashley drove this truck to high school. Her husband, our son, proposed to her in this truck after a rattlesnake scared them from their hike on the mountain.

Next in line is our 1948 Dodge Custom. My wife and I have owned this for 20 years. Following a 26 month restoration effort we earned our First Junior Award from the Antiique Automobile Club of America at the 2020 Gettysburg version of the Fall Hershey Meet. When we dated in high school, I drove a black 1947 Dodge which explains why I didn’t use it to cruise Hatboro in the 1960s.

Next in the picture is the 1969 Mustang owned by our son, Jeff. Even as a youngster he loved Mustangs so this car fulfilled a dream for him. It is the first car he ever bought and he has owned it for 28 years. It is an all-original car with optional air conditioning. He and Ashley drove it on their honeymoon. In 2005 he disassembled the entire front end for rebuilding and then it sat for 17 years. In July 2023 he and his cousin and their sons put it back together. This cruise was his first real showing of the car. Jeff is a new AACA member

Next in line is the 1992 Camaro owned by our grandson, Evan, who is also an AACA member. This car too fulfills a childhood dream. It is the 25^th anniversary Heritage Edition Z28 model.  Evan has owned it for 4 years and loves caring for it and driving it. It will be hard for him to leave it home as he heads off to college. At some point we hope he can join us at an AACA event.

Then there is the 1992 Dodge Shadow convertible that we bought new. My wife, Linda, used it as a daily driver, especially driving out to our daughter’s college in Williamsport, PA. Then when our daughter graduated, we gave her the car as a gift. Despite being a convertible, it was an outside car when she lived in her apartment. She was about to trade it in when I did some research to find that it is one of 3,185 convertibles produced that year. I gave her the Kelly Blue Book price and put it back in our garage. We earned our AACA Original Historic Preservation Original Features award at the 2023 Hershey meet.

The second part of the line up are vehicles from my brother, Roger’s family. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend the cruise. However, his 1982 Chevy diesel pick up was there. My nephew did much of the work in restoring this truck and it too is recently on the road after a long period of being idle. It is a Custom Deluxe K-20 with the original engine in it. This is the first year that Detroit Diesel supplied engines for Chevy trucks. Roger has owned it for 32 years. Roger’s son, Greg drove the truck for the cruise.

Shown next is my nephew, Greg’s 1979 Pontiac Trans Am that he has owned for 27 years. It is the 2^nd car he ever bought. Originally an automatic, he has converted it to a 4 speed. The rebuilt engine is now a 408 and one of just many engines that have been in the car over the years. Greg’s good friend, Dan, drove the Trans Am in the cruise. Greg actually bought the car from Dan’s brother plus Dan has done a lot of mechanical work on various Eickhoff vehicles so he might as well be a family member.

Greg’s son, Josh, owns the 1986 Firebird that is the next to last car in the line-up. Josh has owned it for 3.5 years.  It is a 355 engine with a manual transmission. Josh loves to cruise with the T tops off. Currently Josh is a student at Automotive Training Center in Warminster.

The final car in the line up belongs to Matt Eickhoff, also a son of Greg and older brother to Josh. It is a 1981 Pontiac Firebird which he has owned for 4 years. He has a custom dash with a 350 engine and 4 speed manual transmission. This is his daily driver as he also attends the Automotive Training Center in Warminster.

For a long-time Matt and I have advocated getting the family collector cars together in one place. Friday, August 18, 2023 the stars aligned and 9 Eickhoff owned cars lined up to drive south and then north on York Rd in Hatboro. Posing for pictures was almost as much fun as driving the cruise to see and be seen.  Isn’t that what it is about?

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Story and photos by Rolland Rahr

In the fall of 1990, my husband Peter and I embarked on a driving tour from our home in Waukegan, Ill., to Bar Harbor, Maine. We would be in the eastern United States during the week of the peak fall colors, making it a spectacular time for a road trip. On the way, I mentioned I was considering trading in my ’89 Acura Integra, the car we were driving, for a new Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Peter’s reaction wasn’t favorable. He described the LeBaron as “driving like a pillow on wheels.” He made the throwaway comment, “an old convertible would be a lot more fun.” Like that tune you can’t stop hearing, for the rest of the trip I couldn’t get thoughts about an old convertible out of my head.

Just outside of Ithaca, N.Y., we stopped for gas. I went inside to pay (there were no gas pump credit card readers back then), and on my way out I passed a magazine rack where I saw my first issue of Auto Hunter. Magazine in hand, I returned to the car. We completed the last leg of the trip and arrived at our motel at bedtime. Though exhausted, I couldn’t resist picking up the Auto Hunter before turning out the lights. I was absolutely gob-smacked at what I saw! Prior to that moment, if and when I saw an old car, I believed it was a thrilling fluke of nature. I had no clue an old car hobby even existed!

The shopper immediately transported me back to a Saturday morning in September 1956 when my dad took me with him for the first peek at the 1957 models. I clearly recall the awe I felt as the newspaper pages were slowly peeled off the dealer’s windows to reveal the new cars. 1957 was a remarkable year for all car manufacturers, and all offerings that year looked new and breathtakingly modern. My enthusiasm for cars never waned from that moment.

One ad in the Auto Hunter particularly intrigued me. The text read “1962 Buick Murta Convertible.” I knew “Murta” was a mistake, and guessed it was likely an “Invicta.” Puzzled over how such a mistake could have been made, I picked up pen and paper and wrote “Murta“ in the fanciest, most exaggerated style I could, and there it was! I concluded whoever set the type for the ad misread the seller’s information, and thus “Invicta” became “Murta.” The curious ad and Peter’s comment about buying an old car piqued my curiosity sufficiently to make me want to see the car. My appreciation for 1962 Buicks began when I saw them new and thought they were the most beautiful Buicks ever. With smooth but sculpted body sides, front fenders that swept back aft of the headlamps and the rearward-slanting tail, the car looked like it was in motion. Peter was excited as well as his grandfather only drove Buicks, and he loved Grandad.

We revised our itinerary so we could see the car the day before beginning our return to Illinois. We arrived at Jadon Isuzu in Beverly, Mass., Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. and examined the car in as much detail as one who has never bought an old car, and wasn’t mechanically inclined, could do. It wore shiny white paint, had a black top showing some wear but no rips or tears, had a white interior with factory bucket seats and was obviously well cared for. The odometer showed 88,000 miles. I was immediately hooked.

We left the dealer, went for coffee, talked a lot and decided to go for it, but it was going to be complicated. We somehow had to come up with $5,500, get the car plated and then drive it 1,200 miles, all within 48 hours. A cash advance on our credit card solved the money problem, but finding a bank that could do a cash advance, let alone one of this size, proved difficult. Finally, cash in hand, we returned to the dealer around 5:30 p.m. and by 6:15 p.m. were on our way back to the motel.

The plan we hatched included Peter flying back to Illinois the next day (Saturday) to take care of the paperwork and obtain the license plates, then flying back to Boston to return to the dealer before closing. This was complicated by the 2 p.m. closing time for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. This scheme was only possible because Peter, who was a flight attendant for American Airlines, could fly standby at no cost, loads permitting. With light loads on the 11:30 a.m. flight to Chicago as well as the 2 p.m. return flight to Boston, I dropped Peter off at Logan International Airport in Boston at 10:30 a.m. At 5:30 p.m. I picked him up. We arrived at the dealer at 5:50 p.m., 10 minutes before closing.

We left the dealer around 6:15 p.m. Peter drove the Integra; I drove the Buick. About two miles from the dealer, I pulled off to the side of the road. There was a problem with the transmission. We went searching for a pay phone and about 10 minutes later, connected with our salesman who, thankfully, was still there. I explained the transmission wasn’t shifting through the gears. After a pregnant pause and some background chatter, our salesman explained the virtue of the Dynaflow transmission: there is no shift! I had no idea there was such a thing. In every other car I’d ever driven with an automatic, there was always a slight jerk as the transmission shifted though its gears. I was in the habit of listening and anticipating the change in gears, and this transmission didn’t do that. Satisfied with the explanation, but still a little apprehensive, we got back on the road. We stopped at a motel for the night where we experienced “PAOC” (public appreciation of old cars) for the first time. We left early Sunday morning and arrived back in Illinois about 10 hours later without so much as a hiccup. Once we finagled the car into the garage, we completely crashed. It had been a long, exciting weekend and we were glad to be home.

A new chapter in Murta’s story

What we didn’t know then was that “Murta’s Tale” had only just begun. The next chapter began with a trip to “The Buick Whisperer,” a mechanic in Chicago who was regarded by several fellow Buick owners we’d met as a Buick expert. We had him do all the usual stuff you do when first acquiring a 28-year-old car: gas tank, fuel lines, brakes, cooling, etc. While in the shop I mentioned the one disappointment with the car: the lack of air conditioning. The whisperer’s reply was “no problem—I can make that happen.” He explained he’d recently purchased a ’62 LeSabre parts car and had everything needed to convert our car. We turned the car over to him in February 1991 and by March 1992, the dash had been partially disassembled and parts removed from the parts car, but that was all. After many, many phone calls and the engagement of a lawyer and a towing company, we showed up at his shop on a Saturday morning in February and extricated the car. The interior was stuffed with parts from our partially disassembled car. The car went to Custom Automotive Refinishing, a Milwaukee body shop, based on referrals from car club members. Chris Tesch, the owner, took pity on us and agreed to complete the work. After meeting with Chris and seeing the incredible body and paint work he did, we decided to change gears, scrapping the air conditioning plans in favor of a complete bare metal repaint. We decided to change from Arctic White to Cardinal Red (a ’62 Buick color) and changed the top from black to white. Our inexperience with old cars had unfortunately led us to buy a car with bondo along the bottom of all quarter panels, just behind the wheels, and in the rocker panels. It was the right decision.

While the car was in Milwaukee, a fellow club member, who had previously done good mechanical work for us on a different car, and who was willing to do the work in Milwaukee, convinced us to let him redo the top half of the engine. We left it in his (assumed) capable hands only to discover a year later the engine (top half removed) had been left exposed to the elements and needed a full rebuild as a result. We learned, to our surprise, the mechanic had up and moved, without notice, to Minneapolis, after having found love. He left all manner of unfinished business behind, including our disassembled, uncovered engine.

Chris relocated the business to Muskego, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee, and our car went with him. The engine rebuilding was to be done by a friend of Chris’s, “Scott #1,” so the engine went to his shop where it would stay for two years.

In May 1993 I bought a ’62 Imperial with the intention of driving it to our club’s Grand Invitational in New Hope, Pa., in July 1994. One thing led to another and we decided to change gears and have Chris do a full repaint on the Imperial, leaving the Buick on the back burner.

During the time the engine was at Scott #1’s shop, it was determined the scope of work needed to expand into a total rebuild. The engine work was ultimately completed only to discover afterward the transmission had lost reverse. Scott #1 arranged with a different shop to rebuild the transmission, a task that took over a year as it was done as time permitted. The car was returned to Chris sometime in late 1996. Unfortunately, it was determined there were still problems with the engine, and that some of the work Scott #1 did was faulty, but by that time he had moved away. A second mechanic, Scott #2, was located and the car went to him. At this time, for many reasons, our priorities changed, and the project was pushed even farther to the back burner.

I became a casualty of the recession in 2008 when my job at Bang & Olufsen was eliminated due to an across-the-board, 10-percent workforce reduction. For the next three years, I struggled to land a permanent job. The Buick went unattended during that period as I didn’t have the money to push the project forward. This was a difficult time and at some point, I frankly gave up on ever seeing the car again and mentally wrote it off.

In July of 2011, I received a call completely out of the blue from Chris, who nicely but firmly pushed me to make a decision about the car. He offered to buy it if I couldn’t support its completion. I anguished for several days over what to do, and ultimately decided to borrow against my IRA to have Chris finish it. Thankfully, two months later, I started a new job that would become permanent, and two months after that, I drove the car home. It was in the garage for the first time since February 1992—19 years later! The story didn’t end here, however.

From the moment I got the car back, and during the next five years, the car exhibited noise that sounded like bad lifters, and it overheated after even short distances, losing coolant with no apparent leaks. I drove the car very little as a result. The decision was made to replace the lifters and tappets. While somewhat diminished, the noise persisted and after further detective work, the noise was determined to be coming from the fuel pump. Upon removal, it was discovered a spacer had been installed upside down. A new fuel pump and spacer were properly installed, and the noise was gone! The overheating, however, was not. A friend, Mike Bishop, who was a GM exec and car club buddy, directed me to Castle Chevrolet in Elk Grove Village, Ill., and I credit them for solving the overheating problem. Another water pump and a new thermostat were installed. The radiator was re-cored. The five-blade fan was replaced with a six-blade version. A radiator shroud, which came as factory equipment only for factory air-conditioned cars, was sourced and installed. It still overheated. A decision to go to the next level was made and the heads and intake manifold were removed. Upon close examination, it was discovered the valve seals installed were too small for the valves, and as a result the extra friction caused a lot of extra heat, leading to overheating and coolant loss. New, correct valves and seals were installed, as well as hardened valve seats. Mechanic Scott #2 had not installed them, as he told me at the time they were not available. I’m happy to say that did the trick!

Now, a lot of money later, the car is running wonderfully, and it’s surprisingly quick! It doesn’t overheat, purrs like the wildcat it is (it does have the 401 Wildcat engine) and sounds like it just rolled off the showroom floor. It’s an absolute joy to drive. It was a long and expensive journey, but worth it in the end. And, oh, that Dynaflow!

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John D. Meyers referred to his ‘Vette as “not so special” but could not be further from the truth. He included an impressive backstory…

“I have read several articles in Old Cars regarding long time owners of cars purchased new. In August of 1972, I ordered my 1973 Corvette convertible from Luck Motor Company in Ashland, Virginia. It was not so special because I was trying to keep the cost down. It was ordered with the standard L-48 engine, four-speed transmission, power steering and the auxiliary hard top. Unfortunately, because of wildcat strikes at some GM plants the hard top was not included when the car was delivered on November 16, 1972. I still have my Mille Miglia Red Corvette to this day and the odometer reads just over 44,000 true miles. It is pretty much still stock except for replacing the front sway bar with a larger diameter one and adding a rear sway bar. It has been garaged ever since 1976 when I built a garage at my former house. The car was only my daily driver for about 2 years when I bought a well used ’67 Camaro to commute with.

“This was not my first Corvette. In 1967, a year after I graduated from college, I walked into Dominion Chevrolet (Now Hendrick) and purchased a new 1967 Marina Blue Corvette convertible equipped with the L-71 427 cubic inch, 435 horsepower engine with a four-speed tranny. I was unmarried at the time. Two months later my college sweetheart and I got married. Two years later in 1969, we had purchased our first home, our son was born, and I had a wife, baby and groceries to carry in a 2-seater car. I traded my beloved Corvette in on a new 1969 Camaro, 350 two-barrel, automatic transmission Camaro (didn’t want to go from a Corvette to a station wagon) with the understanding that when we could afford to have two cars, I would buy another new Corvette. That time came in 1972. I had gotten a promotion on my job and a year earlier and we had bought a new 1971 Plymouth Valiant Scamp for my wife. However, I was not overly anxious to get another fire-breathing Corvette like the ’67. I didn’t think I needed the 454, and I thought the LT-1 from 1972 would be continued as the high performance small-block. Having experienced a car with a solid-lifter engine on the streets, I opted for the standard engine. Had I known about the L-82 hi-po engine with hydraulic lifters, I probably would have stretched my budget and paid the extra $400 or so to get it. However, my ‘Plain Jane’ Corvette is still much fun on the backroads.”

“I have been a Corvette addict since 1954 when I was ten years old and saw the Corvette advertised on the Dinah Shore TV show. Shortly after that, one was displayed at the Virginia State Fair. I knew I just had to have one. My love of Corvettes did not end with my ’73 convertible. In the 1970’s I bought a used ’69 Corvette and turned it into an autocross/solo 1 car. In 1989, I purchased a ’73 Corvette L-82, 4-speed coupe from a college fraternity brother, who had bought it new. I still have it as well. I also own a 1979 Corvette, a 1987 Corvette convertible and a 2008 Corvette which I bought new. My most recent purchase was a 1957 Corvette replica, built by a friend of mine from a shortened G-body Malibu and reproduction Corvette body panels.”

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Brady Hammrich’s ’59 Chevy has seen the world and made it back home in one piece. I bet this Bel Air has a lot of stories to tell.

“This car was purchased new in Spokane, WA, by my uncle’s parents. Shortly after, his father was stationed in Europe with the Air Force. The whole family went along, including the ‘59. Once back in the states, it was driven by various family members, before being garaged in the late 80’s. It’s a 4 door hardtop Sports Sedan. The car is all original, with original paint, and a 283 V-8 Powerglide. It was ordered with a posi-traction rear end.”

“I first laid eyes on it when my aunt married my uncle in the early 80’s, and always hoped it could be mine one day. After 30 years of trying to talk my uncle out if it, he finally gave in a couple of years ago. It took a bit of work, but she’s back on the road!”

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Leon Dixon has the Allante that he always wanted. It took a bit of patience and work to get it just how he wanted it. The end result was a killer Caddy that looks great and is just how he wanted it.

In the end, cars are meant to be enjoyed by owners, and this one has done its job in spades. It is safe to say, this is a one-of-a-kind Caddy!

“I thought I would share a photo of my Stage II Cadillac Allante. I originally ordered a new 1988 Stage I Allante for my company car. It was a pearlescent white color with a black soft top and tan interior. While I loved that car, the top was a nightmare and leaked like a sieve. I quickly tired of all the problems and turned it in for something else. In the meantime, a friend who lived not far from me ordered a 1991 Stage II Allante in black with a tan interior. The folding top and leakage issues were all resolved for the Stage II and I loved it. I told my friend that if he ever decided to sell it to give me a call.

A short time later, he indeed called and delivered the car to me at home in Newport Beach, California. It came with the original window sticker and all papers. And I still had all of the souvenir items from the 1988. Another friend at Cadillac public relations (I was still on their list) contributed several more items and press kits– all of which I still have.

I’m not a big fan of alterations and customizing, but I did change six things on my Allante:

1.) I quickly tired of replacing the painted-on silver Cadillac wreath and crest on the red CHMSL brake light lens. It wore off after only a few months! After a couple of expensive replacements and the same result, I went to a buddy who worked in the parts department at the local Cadillac dealer. I asked to see a Fleetwood gold-plated roof ornament. It turned out the the gold metal wreath and crest were exactly the same size as the painted-on silver graphic. I bought an ornament set which came with adhesive backing. The Fleetwood roof wreath and crest were expensive, but no more expensive than repeatedly buying new CHMSLs. Problem solved and looks infinitely better. Over the years, people have asked about my CHMSL graphic ornamentation. Sometimes I’ll tease and say, “What? Yours didn’t come that way?” As if they all did.

2.) I was not a big fan of the rather dull-looking factory-installed aluminum wheels. So I specially ordered a set of Masitaly five-spoke aluminum wheels. I had the dealer send them out to be chrome plated. Wow. I have been quite happy with the result and the wheels remained on my Allante to this day. I fabricated small center wheel medallions– again using the same gold-plated Fleetwood wreath-and-crest sets. A lot of people seeing these wheels have asked me why they didn’t see these when they bought their Allante! LOL.

3.) In my OEM automotive work, I assisted Philips Electronics in developing their CARIN GPS navigation system. I installed one in my Allante. Except that mine has a futuristic one-off visored monitor screen I designed back then. The system works perfectly and I installed it in such a way as to look OEM for the car.

4.) I did NOT like the hard-wired-in antiquated, brick-sized Cadillac cell phone offered at the time. I had helped to develop the first hand-held dockable cell phone (it was a Motorola “flip-phone”) for Mazda’s ill-fated Amati division). So no way did I want a hard-wired huge brick. I had a friend who was a V.P. at Audiovox Electronics get me a docking cradle and I wired up a remote antenna and fully hand-held tiny (by the standards of the day) “Minivox” cell phone. That prototype system is still on my Allante and looks OEM. And yes, it worked very, very well– including hands-free capability long before most had such a possibility.

5.) I hated the Allante keylock entry system and thus added a “Key-Smart” keyless remote entry system developed by someone in an Allante group.

6.) I added a full security system with tracking capability that I helped to develop. It had all of the features of what became GM’s “On-Star”… but a lot more. The system was linked to a 24/7 monitor center and even had remote stop and start. It would even call the owner if the vehicle was being stolen and state the exact location– moving or parked. This system, which I called the Mazda Secure & Safe Sentinel was originally intended to go in Mazda vehicles. Unfortunately, it never got approved for production. I made three of these systems– one for a special Mazda 626. Another for a special Mazda 929 driven by the president of Mazda R&D. The third was the only one seen by the general public. It was installed on a concept car shown and demonstrated in New York City. This vehicle was known as the “New Woman Mazda Protege.” Done in cooperation with “New Woman” magazine. When the concept car was eventually brought back to California and scrapped, I saved my system out of the vehicle and installed it in my Allante.

Cadillac division provided me with a new Cadillac XLR to drive when that car debuted. While I liked the looks of the XLR, it was far too cramped and claustrophobic for me at over six feet in height. I would get back into my Allante and it felt room. While I stopped driving the Allante nearly twenty years ago, it remains in dry storage in mint condition. 

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“About two years ago, I was in the market for a daily driver within a budget of $AU 20,000.

I am very interested in classic cars, and as I couldn’t find a modern car in my price range that I would enjoy driving. I started looking around the classic cars for sale.

I found this 1961 Standard Vanguard at an auction.

Standard Vanguard’s were assembled in Australia and in 1964 the company changed their name to Triumph, a name most people will be familiar with.

These cars had an outstanding reputation for reliability when I was in my teens, so as I was familiar with the brand I was not concerned by their relative rarity.

An Australian only manufacture, approximately four thousand were built between 1961 and 1963.

The utility has a two litre six cylinder engine and a three’ speed with overdrive gearbox.

I rolled over the first ten thousand miles in my ownership a couple of months ago.

The vehicle has beefed very reliable and is a pleasure to drive.

I have no regrets about choosing this vehicle and a sixty year old classic as my daily driver.”

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We love stories about multi-generational love affairs with old cars and how they strengthen family connections. Jeff Moen is keeping those family bonds secured with his dad while enjoying one of the finest looking pieces of iron Chevrolet ever produced. 

“My Dad did a four year frame-off build that he finished in 2009. He showed the car for 9 years winning a garage full of trophies all across the Midwest. In 2018, I retired from the US Navy after 30 years of service and he gave me the car as a retirement gift.”

“He and I drove 1800 miles in 3 days from South Dakota to Virginia mostly on back roads and had an amazing trip. I’ve been showing the car here on the East Coast for 5 years and doing quite well. Last year my dad came out to visit, and we took the car to Pottstown, PA for an event. That’s where these pictures are from. We’re looking forward to more events or even the Power Tour in the future.”

“The plan down the road is to give the car to my son and grandson to keep the car in the family.”

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This one hails from the Great White North. Pierre Prezeau has one hot looking ’57 Poncho!

“This is a 1957 Pontiac Laurentian Sport Coupe, Canadian built on the 115″ wb Chevrolet frame, front fenders are 5″ shorter than American Pontiacs using 1957 Chevy wheel wells and radiator support, seats and steering are same as ’57 Chevy. The original 283 has been replaced with a 350. Some are calling it ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘Cheviac,’ but I don’t care. It gets a lot of attention.”

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