Challenger may have been late to the pony car party, but it did so fashionably. 50 years later, that entrance remains memorable.

Ironically, it was the Dodge’s sister division, Plymouth, was actually first to the party with its Barracuda. Released just a couple weeks before the Ford Mustang in April 1964, the Barracuda shared with Mustang the formula that would make this sporty, youthful segment such a huge seller during the 1960s: long hood, short deck and compact proportions in a sporty front-engine, rear-drive package. While the Mustang was based on the Ford Falcon platform, its styling was entirely new; conversely, the spendier Barracuda was more clearly a fastback version of the existing Plymouth Valiant. The Mustang was a runaway success with 121,538 sold for 1964 while the Barracuda and its trick curved-glass backlight could only be considered a moderate success with 22,443 sold that abbreviated season. Had the first Barracuda been at least as popular as the Mustang, perhaps we’d be calling cars in its class “fish cars” instead of “pony cars.”

Through the rest of the 1960s, the Barracuda heavily trailed the Mustang in sales. In 1967, Plymouth completely restyled the Barracuda and added coupe and convertible models, but that year Chevrolet and Pontiac launched their respective Camaro and Firebird pony cars. That year, Ford Motor Co. added a Mercury pony car with the Cougar. The strong competition in the youth-oriented pony car field left the Barracuda swimming against the current. For the 1970 model year, Chrysler Corp. started fishing in a whole different body of water — one that would have room for Dodge.

Under legendary Chrysler Corp. Vice-President of Design Elwood Engle, designers Bill Brownlie and Carl Cameron came up with new pony cars for Plymouth and Dodge to sell beginning in the 1970 model year. Realizing the huge potential in the pony car category, Chrysler management hoped it could carve out a portion and sell in excess of 200,000 of its new Dodge and Plymouth pony cars even though Plymouth struggled to sell even 50,000 Barracudas annually during the 1960s.

Enter the E body

Like the 1960s Barracuda, the new MoPar pony car would be based on the compact A body, at least initially. After Chrysler Corp. planning was underway on the 1970 pony car, Ford and General Motors started stuffing big-block V-8 engines in their pony cars. The biggest engine Chrysler planned to put in its new-for-’70 pony cars was the 383-cid V-8, so engineers and designers tweaked the A body platform in order to add width for a larger engine. The result used the firewall-to-radiator support of the mid-size B body (Charger/Satellite), which could be had with the 440- and 426-cid engines.

This new pony car species was named “E body,” and setting it apart was a stunning low and wide stance, a close-coupled passenger compartment and the long hood and short rear deck expected of a pony car. The Barracuda and Challenger designs also featured a handsome kick up after the door and into the quarter panel in the “Darrin dip” fashion popular decades earlier. Dodge emphasized this dip with a body character line that paralleled the car’s beltline, including the dip. Aggressive grille designs of both Challenger and Barracuda were channeled deep into the front, and taillamps looked like red hot exhaust vents that were likewise channeled into the body. Coupe and convertibles were offered in both the Barracuda and Challenger lines.

Although The new Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda cut similar profiles for 1970, they were subtly different cars on the outside. The Challenger had a wheelbase 2 in. longer than the Barracuda (110 in. versus 108 in.) and the Challenger was more than 5 in. longer than the Barracuda. These differences were aimed toward the mid-price Mercury Cougar and Pontiac Firebird pony cars that Dodge intended to challenge.

Challenger’s interior featured very mod three-dimensional plastic door panels and a smooth, uncluttered instrument panel of matching plastic material. Instruments were laid out horizontally in four large, round pods. The Challenger featured an energy-absorbing steering column and advertised the featured with an exaggerated accordion-like cover over the column.

The Challenger was offered in several lines: a highline, a lowline, an upscale SE model and a performance R/T version with an R/T-SE version available. The SE, for Special Edition, featured a vinyl roof that covered a fiberglass shell that made the rear window smaller for a more formal effect. The SE interior was also more luxurious with an overhead console and available leather interior. Challenger could also be built as a SCCA-inspired Trans Am version with the 340-cid V-8.

Right out of the gate, available Challenger engines included Chrysler’s full line, from the 225-cid “Slant Six” to the 426 Hemi with the 340, 383 and 440 (four- or six-barrel carburetion) also choices. The base engine in the Challenger R/T was the 383-cid V-8. A Challenger could be mild or wild, with the wildest Hemi and 440 Six Pack versions among the fastest street cars of the entire muscle car era.

Challenger combinations could be downright dizzying as on top of the model and engine choices, there were luxury options and performance options: Go Wing spoiler, headlamp time delay, stripes, numerous wheel and wheel cover choices, Shaker hood scoop and more. Colors ranged from subtle green and brown earth tones to High-Impact Panther Pink and Plum Crazy. Shifting could be done on the column or through a Slap-Stick wood-handled shifter in the console. Despite building a Challenger for every person — from pastor and grandparent to teenage troublemaker — Dodge lost money on the Challenger program. Only 83,032 were sold in 1970 and with just 55,499 Barracuda sales added in for the model year, production was well beneath Chrysler Corp.’s expectation of 200,000 E-body cars per model year. Sales were worse in 1971 and then in 1972, Challenger’s grille and tail panel were restyled and the result was unflattering compared to the original. Performance dropped dramatically after 1971 when the triple-carbureted Six Pack 440 and 426 Hemi were dropped.

Challenger sales were curbed by internal competition from the restyled and cheaper 1970 Dart and then the Dart-based Demon fastback of 1971. Sales of the new 1970 Barracuda and its performance derivative, the ’Cuda, were also beat up internally by the new fastback Plymouth Valiant Duster and restyled Valiant Scamp. Some quality control woes further hampered sales of the E-bodies. The end came for the original Challenger, as well as the Barracuda, in 1974.

Rise to the top

As used cars and into the 1980s, the Challenger was a bit of an underappreciated stepchild in the muscle car world with values and interest lagging behind GM and Ford pony cars of the era. After the turn of the century, interest in these fast, powerful and handsome and aggressively styled pony cars flipped and they became among the most valuable muscle cars. Hemi Challengers began to sell for six figures and it took seven figures to buy a Hemi Challenger convertible.

The Challenger may not have lived up to Chrysler’s production expectations 50 years ago, but it’s undoubtably a winner today.

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Jody Feiertag probably wouldn’t recommend acquiring a collector car in the same way he landed his fabulous 1958 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood. But he certainly hit a home run when he tried it.

“I got it from the original owner in St. Paul [Minn.]. My mom lives over there where I grew up and I used to drive by this house, and all I saw was the front bumper sticking out of the garage,” laughs Feiertag, a resident of Chetek, Wis. “He’d have his garage door open and it was buried in junk. All you saw was the front of the car sticking out. I’d stop in there occasionally and see if he’d want to sell and it, and it was ‘No, no …’ He was in his 80s and he didn’t even remember what model it was!”

Feiertag wasn’t deterred, however, and he kept inquiring about the car, even though he didn’t know for sure what it was. He didn’t even know the year, but he had his heart set on a big 1950s Cadillac and figured the car in the cluttered garage was eventually going to need a new home.

“I had a ’60 Cadillac. I think that was the only one I had at the time, and I wanted something from the ’50s. So finally he decided to sell it and he unburied it. There was stuff in, on it, under it — everything. I had a flatbed and we pulled it out … the car just kept coming and coming and coming. I didn’t even know what model the car was until I saw the ‘Sixty Special’ and ribbed chrome. No matter what, I was on the hook and I was gonna buy it. He said it was in good shape and had been parked for 20-some years, and I took it at that.”

That was 25-plus years ago, according to Feiertag, and he still has the car it has turned into far more than he could have hoped for. In the ensuing quarter century, Jody and his wife Terri have racked up big miles on the massive four-door hardtop and the car is showing no signs of slowing down. The Cadillac is doing its best to make up for lost time. According to the seller, the Fleetwood had been sitting for at least 20 years in the small 1 ½-stall garage. “His last trip was to New York with it, and he parked it after that. It was like ’74 or something like that. They never drove it again after that,” Feiertag said.

Amazingly, Feiertag said he got the Cadillac running under its own power the same day he bought it. “It came out and it looked good and the interior looked good. And that night I had it running and driving, with a gas can on the hood dripping into the carburetor! No brakes, but I went around the block with it [laughs].

“It’s just driver quality, that’s what I want. I don’t want to rope it off and worry about stuff. The rock chips on the hood, that’s kind of a badge of honor, because we drive it a lot,” Feiertag adds proudly. “Iola week, we’ll put 1,500, 2,000 miles on it, just around the state. We’ll bansai four or five days before and go aimlessly and just drive… It’s got a little over 100,000 miles on it. I had to have the speedometer replaced. I found a whole new instrument cluster. The speedometer went bad and I had that swapped out and this one shows 60s-some thousand, but it has a little over 100,000 miles on it.”

BILL MITCHELL’S BABY

If ever there was ever a car that was tailor made for the 1950s — especially the late ’50s — it was the Sixty Special from Cadillac. The glorious fins, rivers of chrome and no-holds-barred styling that blossomed in the second half of the ’50s all seemed to be part of the natural evolution of the Sixty Special, a tag that Cadillac had used on some of its most opulent vehicles since the model first bowed in 1938.

The Series Sixty Special was designer Bill Mitchell’s first chance to make a splash and a name for himself under the watchful eyes of Harley Earl. His plan was to launch a car unlike anything seen before in company showrooms, with a styling devoid of running boards, the use of headlamps mounted into the fenders, and a sleeker trunk arrangement that changed a lot of other designers’ thinking in the years to come.

The blueprint for a four-door hardtop was still new to Cadillac in ’58. The company had debuted its first pillarless four-door in 1956 with the Sedan DeVille. The following year, in 1957, Cadillac unveiled a sweeping restyling of its lineup and used the four-door hardtop design on its Sixty Special, which was one step down on the company hierarchy from the super-exclusive Eldorado Brougham.

The Sixty Special was always fancy, but it was especially distinctive and rich-looking for ’58. Even through the model had been part of the big design changes for ’57, it got some major tweaks for ’58. Huge “Dagmars” were anchored in the oval grille below the quad headlights — a headlight arrangement that had been taken from the Eldorado Brougham. A large, calling card anodized aluminum panel that runs from the rear door to the rear bumper below the beltline. The styling them continues onto the tail, with a similar molding across the deck lid. Quad tail lights are surrounded in chrome and located beneath the towering, shark fins that rise up and make the car recognizable from several blocks away. Sixty Special script appeared on the sides of the tailfins and a Fleetwood script nameplate adorned the rear deck lid.

The body-on-frame construction used Cadillac’s sturdy tubular-center “X” frame, which helped the car keep a lower center of gravity. The rear of the body was U-shaped, which made for a cavernous trunk. Rubber suspension bushings kept road noise and chatter down, making an already luxurious interior even more peaceful and inviting.

The 4,930-lb. Sixty-Special rode rode on a 133-inch wheelbase chassis — 3.5 inches longer than the DeVille and Series Sixty-Two offerings. The big hardtop measured a whopping 225 inches from tip to tip and 80 inches across. The front suspension used the traditional upper and lower control arms with spherical joints, and helical coil springs. The back featured Cadillac’s four-link drive with lower control affixed to frame outriggers and helical coil springs. Four-wheel power-assisted drum brakes and power steering were standard equipment.

Feiertag says the interior of the ’58 Sixty Special is “like driving your living room” and indeed it appears there is ample space for a Persian rug, a couple of floor lamps and an ottoman or two. The Mojave or broadcloth upholstery was available in three different varieties. The cars were equipped with power windows and power front seat; rearview mirros on both sides with a remote control for the driver’s side; front and rear center folding arm rests; and courtesy lighting. Air conditioning was optional, as were power door locks and air suspension.

All the 1958 Cadillacs used the 16-valve 365-cid/310-hp V-8 with cast-iron heads and block. It was mated to GM’s Hydra-Matic Drive four-speed automatic and drank through a Carter AFB 2862S 4-bbl downdraft carburetor. A 335-hp tri-power setup used in the Eldorado Brougham was optional. Other options included the Autronic Eye headlight dimmer; Sabre Spoke aluminum wheels; remote control trunk lease; and whitewall tires.

Cadillac sold 24,000 of the Fleetwood Sixty Specials in 1957 at a base price of $5,539. A year later, the sticker price grew to $6,232 without add-ons, and production of the big hardtop fell to 12,900.

The Fleetwoods were considered “hand-crafted” and were built on their own dedicated assembly lines. They were designed to be the best American cars money could buy, and to live up to Cadillac’s promise to be “The Standard of the World.” By almost any measure, the ’58 Sixty Specials were magnificent machines, with big price tags, huge personalities and movie star good looks to match.

BACK IN BLACK

Feiertag wound up having to do a lot less restoring and fixing on his black Fleetwood than he ever expected. The big gamble — buying a car without ever really seeing it — was a pleasant surprise right from the get-go.

“We got it running and we drove it for awhile, then painted it probably a year or two later,” he noted. “We kept it black, and it looked good, but then the leather started to split on the front seat, and so I had that redone. And then the backseat finally gave out, so I had that done. I had to find the original material from that SMS out in Oregon, and they made it and it’s spot-on perfect. Wally’s upholstery in Whitebear Lake, Minn., he’s no longer in business, but he did an excellent job. It’s like original. It’s excellent… Everything else is original. The door panels are original. The carpet is original. The back of the backseat … dash, motor … everything.”

“The one thing that we’ve had the most problems with is the brake booster. They’ve been a problem and I guess it’s kind of a vertical system. It’s been crazy, I just got done replacing that and those things are expensive as heck! And it’s been about the fourth one I’ve replaced. I dunno, I just can’t seem to get one to last. Otherwise, it’s just the regular stuff — brakes, tires, that sort of thing. I do have to get the air conditioning fixed. It worked up until last fall. I’ve got a problem in there now and I need to get that worked on. It’s factory air, so that’s kind of cool.”

The only piece of bodywork he had to tackle was after somebody dented the Cadillac in a mall parking lot a few years back. “I was parked out all by myself and somebody put a nice dent in the door,” he said. “People can be jerks, but it’s fine now.”

It’s not going to win an economy runs, but that has never deterred the Feiertags for cruising in their whale-sized ’58 anytime the spirit moves them and the roads are clear of snow. They have acres of room for luggage in the trunk and back seat, and all the comfort they could ever hope for.

“It’s one of the easiest driving cars, period,” Jody insists. “Now with this new brake booster, that’s the best one I’ve ever had. It’s got true power brakes. You touch them and it stops. It’s got plenty of power. You can hang onto the steering wheel with one finger. It doesn’t veer or wobble or pull. It’s really a smooth, fun car. One of the best-driving and riding cars I’ve got. You forget how good cars rode until you get into something like this!”

The Sixty Special, and several other vehicles the Feiertags own, has been used in commercial work, and also seen duty in weddings and funerals. “Props on Wheels hires me to take it to different things,” Jody notes. “Of course, there was nothing this year. There was no filming of anything going on this year.”

The only drawback for such duty is that Jody has to get out the wash bucket and wax and spend a couple hours applying some old-fashioned elbow grease. 1958 Cadillac Sixty Specials aren’t really good candidates for modern car washes. “It took me 2, 2 ½ hours on it yesterday to wash it and throw a coat of wax on it,” he chuckles.

Feiertag enjoys the attention that the car gets. It’s pretty much a one-car motorcade wherever it goes, even on a show field full of other fine machines.

“It’s crazy at car shows how much attention it gets. Sometimes more than I want [laughs]. Sometimes you just want to sit around and chill for a little bit, but there’s always people coming up and talking about it all the time.”

“When it was new, it was the car to get, absolutely. I’m fortunate to have it. I love it. It’s just a cool car.” 

SHOW US YOUR WHEELS!

If you’ve got an old car you love, we want to hear about it. Email us at oldcars@aimmedia.com

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America’s first international racing champ is alive and well inside The Henry Ford. To earn its place inside that hallowed museum, the journey of that Locomobile race car best known as “Old 16” took it through the early Vanderbilt Cup Races (especially the 1908 event) and eventually to the hands of famed automotive artist Peter Helck.

As documented in John Bentley’s book “Great American Automobiles” (Prentice-Hall Inc., 1957) millionaire sportsman William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., kept road-raced automobiles in Europe and believed that such contests resulted in cars made there being superior to American-made cars. Working through the American Automobile Association (AAA), Vanderbilt hoped to change that situation by putting up a silver cup as the prize for races in the United States that would feature American and international race cars.

In “The Best of Old Cars Vol. 1” (Krause Publications, 1978), automotive historian Henry Austin Clark, Jr., explained, “Arranging to have a public race on the public roads of Nassau County, Long Island, must have been quite an undertaking. In any case, William K. and his friends were able to swing the deal. The 28.44-mile course was a big pie wedge with the point in Queens. There were controls taken and slow passage through towns was required. Naturally, this caused trouble and was abandoned the next year.”

The first Vanderbilt Cup race took place on Oct. 8, 1904. It was a wild and woolly competition that drew 25,000 spectators. The cars raced with two men aboard, the driver and a racing mechanic. There were many crashes. Politics were put into play with certain cars being disqualified and then some getting re-instated before the racing began. The “Mastodon-like” racing cars had mechanical problems and tire failures, which had to be attended to right on the race course — if roadside repairs were possible at all.

George Heath, an American who lived in Paris, won the 1904 race behind the wheel of a “square-shaped” French-made Panhard with a big “7” painted on it. This wasn’t exactly what Mr. Vanderbilt wanted to see, as the big dream he had was to watch an American car take the win and outdo the best of Europe’s racing machines.

“The next race, on Oct. 14, 1905, was very little better as regards problems,” Austie Clark wrote. As in 1904, rules issues, bad news reports and local political battles arose. The crowd was unruly. “Racers had to drive down a funnel of slowly retreating spectators standing in the road,” read Clark’s 1970s description of the venue. The winner was Frenchman Victor Hemery driving an 80-hp Darracq an average speed of 61.49 mph.

George Heath and his Panhard took second place in 1905, but the big news of that year was the car that came in third. “Joe Tracy, third in his Locomobile,” wrote Ken Purdy in his book “The Kings of the Road” (Little, Brown and Company, 1949) “The first time an American car and driver had ever placed in international competition.” Purdy said that Tracy’s car “hurtled into view, the pace killer of the age, bounding along with frightful velocity, its pilot releasing all semblance of sanity and caution with the goal in plain sight.”

Enter Locomobile

Locomobile started building cars in 1899 and lasted 30 years. The company began when John Brisban Walker (the publisher of Cosmopolitan magazine) and Amzi Lorenzo Barker purchased Stanley (makers of steam cars) and renamed it Locomobile. The two men hired electrical engineer Andrew Lawrence Riker to design the first gas-powered Locomobile, which made its debut at the 1902 Madison Garden Automobile Salon in New York City.

Riker had a previous interest in racing, but Locomobile didn’t until a mysterious Dr. H.E. Thomas — said to belong to the Chicago Auto Club — wrote suggesting that they build a car suitable for international competition. Thomas surprised the company by agreeing to put one-third ($6000) down on an $18,000 competition model. Racing mechanic Al Poole always felt that Dr. Thomas never existed; he thought that the story was a trick to justify Locomobile racing involvement to the company’s stockholders.

The race car that resulted was a behemoth. According to Robert C. Ackerson, writing in “The Best of Old Cars Vol. 2” (Krause Publications, 1979), the Locomobile racer had a 1150-cid engine that was rated by the factory at 90 hp. It was capable of reaching speeds up to 102 mph! Driver Joe Tracy had planned to debut the car in the 1905 Gordon Bennett race, but the transmission broke in practice runs. However, the transmission had been repaired so that the car could zoom to third place in 1905 Vanderbilt Cup race that fall.

Tracey’s strong showing was publicized and brought many customers knocking on Locomobile’s door. This cleared the way for work to begin on two new racing models that the company thought could perform even better in the 1906 races. Costing $20,000 apiece, these cars featured a four-cylinder F-head engine with a 7-1/2 x 6-in. bore and stroke (990 cid) and 125 hp, as well as a new European racing-style cone-and-pin-drive clutch.

The problems swirling around the Vanderbilt Cup Races since their start came to a climax in 1906 when a crowd that some put at a quarter-million people (and others at two million) jammed the entire course. Today it’s believed that this was the largest audience for any spectator sport — ever! The people who came weren’t well-behaved, either.

In a practice race, driver George Robertson had wrapped his Apperson around a tree so badly that the two ends of the car were touching. Somehow Robertson survived, but with him not having a really competitive replacement car for the Vanderbilt Cup Race, Joe Tracy was in an excellent spot to do well. The car he drove ran as the new No. 9 Locomobile in 1906, but later became “Old 16.” With it, Tracy set a course record, but also suffered a flat tire on all laps save one — 11 flats in all! In another incident, he ran into a 13-year-old boy (who somehow survived and actually became a lifelong friend). Among the many spectators that year were Peter Helck and the father of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.

With all the mayhem that took place, the Nassau County Board of Supervisors declared that the time had come to halt the races and none was held in 1907. Despite this decision, Vanderbilt and his friends continued building a new modern road called the Long Island Motor Parkway. They argued that the parkway would allow more control of future races and they eventually won approval to revive the Vanderbilt Cup series for 1908.

The Vanderbilt races return

For various reasons, the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup run didn’t pull in the same quality of cars, but the two Locomobiles that bowed in 1906 were prepped for George Robertson and Jimmy Florida. This year both cars were equipped with demountable wheel rims and Michelin tires. Robertson himself painted the number 16 on his car’s radiator and hood. Glenn Etridge was picked to ride shotgun as his racing mechanic. Florida’s Locomobile was the first car to leave the starting line on the wet, foggy morning of Oct. 24.

Robertson set the pace of the race from the time he took off. One report said that he rounded Cemetery Corner “without any apparent thought for the hereafter.” After the first three laps, the Locomobile was outrunning Willie Haupt’s Chadwick until a tire blew. Fixing the tire took time and dropped Robertson back to fourth place, but he fought back and got into second place when the Chadwick developed magneto problems.

With 18 miles to go on the 11th and final lap, the Loco threw a tire. The car carried two spares at the rear, but had only one left. It also had a four-minute lead over Herbert Lytle’s 50-hp Isotta-Fraschini. That car had started 10 minutes before the Loco, so Lytle actually crossed the finish line first, but Robertson would win if he could fix the tire and get to the same spot in less than 10 minutes. He won by a minute and a half, covering the 250-mile course in 4 hours and 48.2 minutes at an average speed of 64.8 mph. He was the first American driver to win and international race with an American-made car.

The 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race became more of a stock car race and the 1910 edition was the last early race held on Long Island. The next three host cities were Savannah, Ga., (1911); Milwaukee, Wis. (1912); and Santa Monica, Calif. (1914). In 1915, it was San Francisco, Calif., then back to Santa Monica in 1916. Revival contests were held in 1936 and 1937 at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island, but they weren’t the same. However, George Robertson led the 1936 ceremonies with a parade lap driving Old 16.

A race car survives

Immediately after the race, the Locomobile company held onto Old 16 and used it for car show and dealership promotions all over the country. Gradually, the car’s historical significance faded and it wound up in a barn on Mr. Riker’s farm. In 1914, a man named Joseph Sessions, who made castings for Locomobile, purchased Old 16 and took it to his farm in Bristol, Conn. During the ’20s and ’30s, he took the car out a couple of times each year and sometimes won a “fast driving award” from the local constabulary.

Joseph Sessions died in 1941 and his passing inspired Joe Tracy to arrange for his longtime friend, Peter Helck, to become the car’s next owner. The purchase was completed and Old 16 was delivered to the artist’s home in Boston Corners, N.Y., by Tracy and Helck’s handyman, Ernest Roberts, at 3 a.m. on a cold morning in January 1942.

Helck let Tracy and Robertson drive the race car on some occasions. In 1944, it was displayed at a car show in Fairfield, Conn., to raise money for the China Relief Fund and in 1946, it participated in the first revival of The Glidden Tour. Helck was also photographed several times driving the car with his son, Jerry. Later on, Helck gave sound-barrier-breaker Capt. Chuck Yeager an exhilarating ride in the historic racing car.

Many of these facts were contained in Bob Ackerson’s story about the car. He interviewed the artist, for which we thank this past Old Cars contributor and author. We never had a chance to meet Peter Helck, but we came close. In the fall of 1987, we traveled to the Carlisle and Hershey events in Pennsylvania and took a trip to New England between the two shows. We visited Stan Brown and the then-new owner of Hampton Coach in New Hampshire and LeBaron-Bonney in Massachusetts. On our way back to the Keystone State, George Jonas, of Stainless Steel Brakes Corp., invited us to overnight at his home, which we believe was in Clarence, N.Y.

While talking to George that night, we mentioned that we had an art background from our time living in New York City and he asked if we would like to meet Peter Helck, who lived fairly close. Helck was 94 at the time and ill, so when George called in the morning, Helck’s wife nicely explained that he was not up to greeting visitors. On April 22, 1988, the well-known early automotive artist passed away.

Recently, we had an opportunity to chat with Peter Helck’s grandson, Tim, by email. “Thanks for getting in touch,” he told us. “I’m sorry that you missed getting to meet my grandfather, but at the time that you wanted to visit him, he was not well and was nearly blind and deaf. He died and my grandmother died a few months after that.”

Tim added this, “Our current Website (www.peterhelck.com) is old, so I am working on one that is much more extensive. My grandfather’s automotive work needs no publicizing, but I think his other artwork should be much better known. The website features some of the (non-automotive) paintings that he thought was his best stuff.”

The famous car is still wearing the paint applied for the 1908 running of the race. Artist Peter Helck, who owned the car between 1941 and his death in 1988, promised the original crew members that he would leave the car as original as possible and not restore it. When he passed, it then went on to his son, Jerry,, followed by The Henry Ford Museum.

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The Auburn Automobile Co. was started in Auburn, Ind., in the early 1900s. The company’s early products earned accolades for their sporty but luxurious character. In 1919, the company was one of the earliest automakers to offer streamlined styling, but it had engineering and financial problem. In 1924, a youthful E.L. Cord stepped in to save the company by making it exciting and youthful.

The Cord touch

Cord started by launching successful new models with more performance. In 1925, Chief Engineer James Crawford whipped up the Auburn 8-63 that used a Lycoming straight-eight. By 1927, Cord purchased Lycoming and became a builder of engines as well as transmissions. Herbert Snow, formerly of Velie Motors, came aboard to replace Crawford that year.

Cord bought out the Duesenberg Brothers of Indianapolis, who were known for their racing cars. Fred and Augie Duesenberg didn’t have great success building Duesenberg passenger cars, but under E.L. Cord, Fred had a big part in creating the Model J “super car” that debuted in late 1928. In 1929, Cord added the innovative front-wheel-drive L29, but the Great Depression hurt sales.

Part of Cord’s youth formula for Auburn was the addition of a Speedster model in 1928. The car was styled with a tapered tail borrowed from a one-of-a-kind Duesenberg Speedster built in 1927. The 1928 and 1929 Auburn Speedsters had mechanical upgrades to make it perform as racy as it looked.

By the early ’30s, Auburns had been restyled with larger bodies and a choice between eights and 12s. With these changes, Auburns became elegant and modern with L-head engines and rigid rear axles. The 160-hp Twelve was America’s only 12-cylinder car priced under $1000, but its affordability did not translate into greater showroom sales owing to the Great Depression.

A sexy Speedster was re-introduced late in 1931, an example of which established nine international and 31 American stock car speed records. Despite such promotion, the Speedster added little income or profit. Sales for 1931 were 28,103 Auburns and continued trending downward. In 1932, Fred Duesenberg died of pneumonia while recovering from injuries in an automobile accident.

Auburn production fell to around 11,000 cars in 1932 and 6,000 in 1933 — the company was clearly struggling. The entry-level 1934 Auburn 652 meant a six-cylinder engine returned to Auburn. The 850Y eight received a new a 279.9-cid L-head engine with an aluminum cylinder head; it and the 652 received stylish new bodies.

The year 1934 passed by with some pricey changes and even lower sales. E.L. Cord retired to England when his family received threats after the Lindbergh kidnapping. The Auburn Twelve was discontinued. Duesenberg President Harold T. Ames, Chief Engineer Augie Duesenberg and designer Gordon Buehrig were called to Auburn.

A restyled Auburn for 1935

These men were tasked with developing a new Speedster to generate much-needed publicity for the Auburn brand. The 1935 Auburn sales catalog promised, “On the following pages you will find a picture book story of the 1935 Auburn.”

This factory literature talked about Auburn’s “aero-streamline design;” comfort-controlled interior; ridged twist-proof frame; “no-starved-cylinders engine;” four-wheel hydraulic brakes; long leaf springs with metal covers; ride stabilizer; ventilated high-output generator; 8-1/2-cu.-ft. of luggage space; rain-proof cowl ventilator; and Dual-Ratio axle.

The “picture book” described the 127-in. wheelbase eight-cylinder 851 model and the 120-in. six-cylinder 653 model as “exclusive, distinctive and individual” products of Auburn Automobile Co., a division of Cord Corp. The eight-cylinder 851 line was illustrated in the brochure with the sedan, the Phaeton Sedan (convertible sedan); coupe; Brougham (two-door sedan); and cabriolet. The 851 Speedster model was a late addition.

Creating a racy Auburn

Gordon Buehrig further streamlined Alan Leamy’s 1934 Auburn design for all 1935 Auburns, then went to work on new, sleek 851 Speedster styling. All Auburn employees were operating with a limited budget to create fabulous cars on a shoestring, and that included work on the Speedster. Speedy development was important, and finances dictated modifying leftover Speedster bodies from the 1931-1933 generation of Speedster to create the 1935 Speedster. This work was done at Auburn’s Connersville, Ind., factory. To these earlier Speedster bodies, Auburn workers retrofitted a tapered rear end styled after a Duesenberg SJ Speedster that Buehrig had also designed. The 851 Speedster front end used the same style of hood and grille as the rest of the 1935 Auburn line. However, the 851 Speedsters also featured handmade fenders of a design similar to Buehrig’s previous Duesenberg SJ Speedster.

First seen in the 1934 Auburn 850Y, the 1935 Auburn 851’s long-stroke L-head eight was developed by Herb Snow, who’d been promoted to Auburn vice president of engineering, and George Kublin, the new chief engineer. Using a 3-1/16 x 4-3/4-in. bore and stroke and Stromberg carburetor, the 279.9-cid engine made 115 hp at 3600 rpm.

Standard in Speedsters and optional in other 851 models was a supercharged eight engineered by Schwitzer-Cummins in Indianapolis with help from Augie Duesenberg. The centrifugal blower was driven by chain from the camshaft to a 1:1 bevel gear that used a vertical output shaft running constantly under the Stromberg downdraft carburetor, to carry a planetary friction drive geared to run the supercharger at six times crankshaft speed. This gave a one-third boost in power at low cost. The supercharged engine put out 150 hp at 4000 rpm with a blower speed of 24000 rpm. The engine’s compression ratio remained at the stock 6.2:1.

To avoid high piston speed problems, Auburn’s well-known Dual-Ratio rear axle was used. An overdrive in front of the differential let a driver shift ratios from 5.1:1 for acceleration to 3.7:1 for cruising. The Dual-Ratio axle had been standard equipment beginning with the 8-100A in 1931. The driver engaged it via a pre-selective lever on the steering wheel hub and clutch pedal vacuum triggered it. The synchronized three-speed transmission effectively had six gears.

Auburn 851 Speedsters carried a plaque with race driver Ab Jenkins’ signature etched onto it. The plaque was additionally inscribed, “This Auburn automobile was driven up to 100.6 mph prior to delivery.” The speeds on these plaques varied, but Jenkins had not personally driven each Speedster to the noted speed. He had driven a Speedster to set 70 international/national records at Bonneville, however.

Priced at $2,245 fob Auburn, the 851 Speedster weighed 3,765-lbs. It had a 59-in. front and 62-in. rear tread and 6.50 x 16 tires with a box frame. Supercharged cars had four rust-resistant external exhaust pipes and “Super-Charged” badges on the hood. Speedster owners usually parked to show off the external pipes.

Ab Jenkins once stated that 500 Speedsters were built, but experts believe around 150 were actually built. In 1936, the 851 became the 852, but little changed other than the numeric designation. Auburn sales dropped again and 1936 marked the end of Auburn production. Even the 1936 “coffin-nose” Cord introduction failed to save the corporation. The Cord sold at first, but mechanical ills hurt it and ACD production ended altogether in 1937. Thanks to the supercharging and the Speedster, Auburn went out with a bang.

A Speedster survivor

Today’s Speedster prices are many times the original price, if an owner is willing to sell. The car featured here is a matching-numbers supercharged 1935 Speedster 851 that is currently for sale at Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, Calif. Asking price? $885,000.

An Oct. 12, 1978, article in The Desert Sun newspaper of Palm Springs, Calif., showed a picture of this Auburn and its then-owner Ray Distel in a promotion for a “Western Days Celebration” car show at the Fashion Mall in Indio, where Distel lived.

“Distel’s bright red Auburn Boat Tail Speedster Model 851 is a popular sight in town and will be a highlight of the show,” the story read.

“Distel purchased it in San Diego, in 1962, for $1,400,” continued the article. “He recently turned down an offer of $65,000 for it.”

Fantasy Junction has documentation that says Distel was aware of the “very-well-maintained and original car” well before buying it. He knew it spent many of the early years of its life in California. As such, it was a very solid car with no rust, and it had no structural damage.

The 1962 purchase date mentioned in The Desert Sun article makes sense, since Distel, a Greyhound Bus driver, advertised a 90-percent-restored 1935 Auburn 851 convertible (the factory name was Cabriolet) for sale in the April 1962 Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club Newsletter. This suggests that he was selling the Cabriolet, which needed a top and running boards, to help finance the purchase of the Speedster.

The September 1965 ACD Club Newsletter showed a picture of Distel in his Greyhound uniform with his car and reported, “The very beautiful 1935 851 S/C Auburn Speedster of Ray Distel of Indio, obviously an excellent restoration which our West Coast members will probably see (or have already seen) at the West Coast meet.”

According to Fantasy Junction’s documentation, Distel purchased the car and used it for fun, but also displayed it at various events, including early ACD Club gatherings in California where the car was photographed and featured in early newsletters.

The Nov.-Dec. 1970 ACD Club Newsletter carried a mention about Ray Distel and two other club members with 851 or 852 Auburns — Dick Fritch and Stan Platt — displaying their cars during an ACD Club meet at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, Calif.

Distel and C. Erik Baltzar of Palm Desert, Calif., started the Desert Classic Car Association in 1971. Baltzar said the group did a formal concours show that continues today. “Ray Distel’s Auburn was always there,” Baltzar noted. “He drove it everywhere and took people for rides in it; one of my favorite memories was of when he took it to the hot air balloon nationals when it was held near us. He rode around there with girls in the car.”

According to Fantasy Junction, the car wore black-and-yellow California license plates during these years and was titled and registered in California in Distel’s name. The photographs and written summaries accompanying the car today indicate that Distel owned it for more than 30 years (we estimated 38 years from 1962 to 2000).

When Distel became sick, the car was sold to a well-known collector named Archie Burton who retained the car for approximately 10 years. During that time, Burton was intent on restoring the car and disassembled it for restoration, but never put it back together.

Burton passed away and the Auburn, then in pieces, became part of his estate. In 2010, the Burton estate sold the car to Auburn restoration specialist Lon Krueger, of Scottsdale, Ariz. In researching the car, we spoke to Mr. Krueger who said he could not remember exactly how long he had the Speedster in his possession. He said that Ray Distel had bought a lot of parts and that he (Krueger) took the car completely apart.

According to Krueger, when he sold the car, he had a package of photos, clippings and documents that went to the new owner who lived in Seattle, Wash. The documents say that, at the time of his purchase, Krueger was able to inspect all the parts, engine and body panels and that he verified the originality of the components. To his surprise, it was among the most original Auburns he’d seen.

Krueger’s Auburn expertise included ownership of multiple cars, the restorations of five Speedsters, numerous top concours wins and long-term ownership and operation of Sun Valley Classics, a restoration facility specializing in prewar Classic cars.

Documents reveal that Krueger completed the Auburn Speedster’s restoration in approximately 2015. He then arranged for it to be on display at the Blackhawk Museum, Danville, Calif., where it was shown as part of a museum collection of some of the most opulent prewar cars, including American and special-bodied European cars from the Art Deco era. During the time the car was displayed there, the current owner purchased it.

Among the many documented features of this car is that it is one of approximately 150 built during the two final years of Auburn production. We spoke with Auburn Cord Duesenberg authority Randy Ema about this car. Ema is best known for his knowledge and restorations of Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs. Not surprisingly, he is the ACD Club’s Auburn Historian and was so in 1967, when Ray Distel owned the car.

Ema’s examination of the car concluded that Distel’s supercharged Speedster retained the correct matching-numbers engine, correct supercharger, correct numbered chassis that matched the cowl tag and the original (not reproduction) Ab Jenkins 100-mph speed plaque. Also included was a photo of the Speedster with a car Ema owned.

According to a current ad for the car, it has serial number 313168E and has been driven less than 50 miles since Krueger completed his restoration. Krueger collects Auburn-related automobilia and literature and picked a Swiss Green color from old paint chips showing optional Auburn colors. The interior is done in Caramel Beige leather.

Baltzar said he couldn’t imagine Distel not being active with his Speedster back in the ’70s, which was bright red then. “He bought it in good condition and he always kept it immaculate,” Baltzar recalled. “It won many First Place and Best of Show awards. The Auburn Speedster had no dings, dents or scratches. Ray was a real showman; he loved people and he would always, always make the best of any situation.” Of course, it always helps if your ride home is in an Auburn Speedster!

(Contributors to this article included C. Erik Baltzar, Caroline Cassini of Fantasy Junction, Randy Ema, Sam Grate of the ACD Museum, Robert Joynt, Lon Krueger of Sun Valley Classics, Raffi Minasian, Steve Snyder of Vault Cars and Robert Teal.)

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Need a garage mate for the cool 1936 Hupmobile two-door sedan we featured earlier? This six-cylinder 1936 Nash 400 coupe found on Facebook Marketplace drips “deco styling” and would be the perfect complement to the Hupp. Many of the things that Hupp had going for it are also found in this Nash.

Aaerodynamic styling (though not as advanced as that of the Hupp) and streamlined influences abound. Just look at those teardrop-shaped hood vents, that tall grille with thin vertical bars, the stylized hood ornament and gauge faces decorated after an Art Deco skyscraper in Chicago.

This Nash wasn’t built far from the Windy City, and then never moved far from its nest. Built in Kenosha, Wis., the Nash was apparently transported less than 100 miles to Watertown, Wis., where it was sold new by the A. Kramp dealership on Watertown’s Main Street. This is according to the seller, who now has the Nash for sale in Cedarburg, about 45 miles east of Watertown. So, the Nash has basically lived its entire life in a triangle across the southeast corner of its homestate.

A benefactor of longtime, single-family ownership, this Nash is being offered publicly for the first time in 80 years, states the seller. He adds that it’s “very original” and has not been wrecked, rusted or disassembled. In addition, he says there’s no Bondo body filler, the gauges work and the floor is solid. He says the six-cylinder coupe is a drivable car.

Nash also has a great network of active enthusiasts, so this Nash’s next owner won’t be orphaned without anywhere to turn. The Nash Car Club of America has a website at http://www.nashcarclub.org/ and is 1000 members strong.

While the Hupp two-door sedan with an under-roof back seat would be great for family trips, this coupe with a rumble seat would be perfect for date night (or at least blocking out kids’ voices). Let us know if you make it yours.

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Jon Gehrke has a hard time staying mad at his Packard.

He admits that, frankly, his gorgeous 1941 One-Ten coupe was a pain in the neck to restore. It took a lot longer than he had hoped, cost more than he had planned and, even after the paint dried, getting it to run right has been an ongoing battle.

But boy, is it nice! And Gehrke knows it.

“All my whining aside, I’m fortunate to have this car. I’m fortunate to have great friends that will work on it no matter what. It’s great to get out and drive and to look at. It’s a great-looking car. And it is a Packard, and when you crawl under it you see the differences in how these were built.”

Gehrke knows he can blame most of the car’s problems on its past, which included years of neglect in purgatory. “It was solid, very little rust, but the paint was blistered and falling off in big chunks, particularly the maroon,” he says with a sigh. “I think it was stored in some environment that really got that hot. There were plastic and rubber pieces on the inside that were degraded and almost melted. You expect old plastic to degrade, but for the rubber to almost drip … it was very weird.

“I guess it had been sitting about a dozen years, is what they said. That could easily have been 15 … Who knows, really?”

The car showed up pretty much alone at an auction of miscellaneous stuff about 20 years ago near the small town of Dale, Wis., about a half-hour from Gehrke’s home outside of Stevens Point. It was a car in need of an owner who would give it some attention, and Gehrke, a retired high school teacher and coach, convinced himself he was that guy.

“My impression was that it was an auction of stuff that had been in storage and the owner of that place took over that stuff after such a length of time. Was it abandoned? I don’t know, because he had the title for it.

“I guess one of my ambitions was to some day own a Packard, not even knowing that much about them. All I knew is that my dad [Herbert] had always kind of longed to have one. It was kind of the gold standard in his mind. He had great Pontiacs when I was growing up, but there was just something about the Packard mystique that got put in my head, from him.”

The car still wore what appeared to be its original burgundy-and-tan two-tone paint job, and looked to be an unrestored original. It didn’t run, but it was complete and certainly looked like it could be restored. Furthermore, Gehrke had a couple of friends, Doug Knuth and his son Gary, who were up for the challenge of helping him do all the mechanical restoration that would be necessary. Gehrke says the pair never lost their enthusiasm for the project, and it’s a good thing, because the One-Ten threw plenty of challenges at them.

PACKARD THINKS SMALL

The Packard One-Ten was offered for the first time for the 1940 model year, but the car’s roots date back several years before that. As The Great Depression began to abate in 1935, Packard attempted to resuscitate its sagging sales by offering a more affordable alternative — under $1,000 — with its 120 model. The results were immediately encouraging, and the company followed up in 1937 with the Packard Six, its first six-cylinder offering in a decade. Built on a 115-in. chassis and carrying the 237-cid inline six-cylinder, the Sixes upheld the company’s reputation for quality and durability, but came with price tags between $795 and $1,295 — a price far more Americans could afford. The cars featured all-steel bodies, four-wheel hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension. Generally missing were some of more noticeable Senior Packard amenities such as side-mounted spare tires and broadcloth upholstery.

For 1940, the Sixes became the One-Ten (110) — a moniker that was only used for ’40 and ’41 before the company went back to the Six label. Because of their huge sales success in 1940, the entry-level “Junior” Packard One-Ten was offered in a wide variety of body styles for ’41, with upscale DeLuxe versions available for every One-Ten except the business coupe. All used a 122-in.-wheelbase chassis. “Electromatic” was Packard’s name for the new semi-automatic clutch, and overdrive was now called Aero-Drive. Two-tone paint schemes were new, and the runningboards were off (though still optional). The shortened hood louvers also served as hood releases.

By any measure, the One-Tens were a hit in Packard showrooms. Totals for 1940 soared to 62,300 before dipping to a still-respectable 34,700 for ’41.

A BUMPY ROAD BACK

Gehrke hasn’t been able to trace much of his One-Ten’s history, but the car was apparently well-traveled before it landed in central Wisconsin. “There was a copy of a California title, so at some point it was out there. As I recall that was back in the ’60s. Where it was before that, where it was after that, I don’t know,” he says. “It was just kind of an orphan at that auction; I didn’t get much [history] on it.”

It didn’t have a any rust issues to speak of, and the upholstery was still pretty nice for its age, but the ’41 still turned into a big challenge to restore, Gehrke said. The body wound up in a shop near Appleton, Wis., for “a long time … a lot longer than they said it would,” and mechanical gremlins persisted for months on end.

“Getting it running was fairly simple, I guess. The starter was balky for whatever reason, but they got it running, and then it was overheating … We checked the radiator … thermostat … the water pump distribution tube. That historically is one of the main reasons for overheating with these flatheads. The distribution tubes gets clogged and the back cylinders don’t get cooled. But that was clean and wasn’t the problem. Then they made sure the timing was right, and we were trying different things with the fan. We tried to build an extra shroud around the fan … and probably other stuff I am forgetting.”

The carburetor was rebuilt, the gas tank flushed more than once, and the fuel lines were replaced. “Eventually, what they landed on is an electric fuel pump plumbed in permanently with the mechanical fuel pump. It makes it a lot easier to start and run. It’s not completely exempt from overheating, but it’s a whole lot better than it was.”

These days, the One-Ten’s straight-six purrs like a happy cat.

“My two mechanical friends have breathed life back into it and have worked off and on on it — mostly on — ever since I bought it, because it’s had those overheating issues and those starved-for-gas issues. It finally came back here last fall,” Gehrke noted.

Inside, the Packard had some period seat cover upholstery that still looks good and Gehrke elected to leave well enough alone. The cloth seat backs are all original. Ditto the door panels, but he did repaint the metal around the window openings. Reynebeau Upholstery in Appleton, Wis., installed a new headliner and cleaned up a few other loose ends in the cabin. “Most of the dash is original,” Gehrke notes. “The middle of the dash was replaced. You can tell the buttons on the radio were not! The floor is just a rubber mat, and I guess that’s the way it was. The One-Ten was the bottom of the barrel for Packards. It’s the ‘Little Packard’!

Gehrke elected to keep the original tan-over-burgundy paint scheme, which oozes class. Even from far down the street, you can tell an elegant machine is coming.

“Yeah, it does get plenty of attention. A lot of thumbs-up,” he admits. “At the local shows … it’s the only Packard that shows up. I am fortunate to own it. It’s a nice-looking car and a nice-riding car. But AAA has brought it home a couple of times, too!

Gehrke chuckles to himself when pondering whether the car was worth all the time and money he’s invested. He probably wouldn’t do it again, but in this case, maybe all’s well that ends well.

“You’d never justify the price when you restore ’em, because you’d never get that out of it,” he says. “You never restore them as an investment.”

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Want to cheat the wind and look good doing it? Try a Hupmobile in just the right condition and with lots of documentation.

This 1936 Hupmobile we found for sale on Facebook Marketplace reflects the novel and unique aerodynamic styling introduced on Hupmobiles in 1934. They were splendid looking cars with faired-in headlamps, three-piece windshields, and tire-carrying fastback models. The overall wind-cheating looks are attributed to two celebrities of automotive design: Raymond Loewy and Amos Northup. As good looking and innovative as the mid-1930s Hupmobiles were, there was a lot of drama behind the scenes at the company. While management fought over control, Hupmobile (aka Hupp) sales declined. It didn’t help that at this time, all surviving car makers were still trying to recover from the economic devastation of the Great Depression, especially independents such as Hupp. When the dust cleared in the Hupmobile board room in late 1935, there wasn’t much left of the company to fight over. As a result, Hupmobile ceased building its 1936 models in December 1935, making this 1936 example extremely rare. (There was no new 1937 Hupmobile, but new six- and eight-cylinder models did arrive for 1938.)

This 1936 Hupp two-door sedan is such a rare find, we’ve never seen another in our travels to AACA shows, concours events and other car shows around the country. From the pictures, the car looks to be a solid and complete car. According to the seller, it’s rust-free and been stored in a museum for 50 years. Museums are generally great for keeping cars dry and intact, but such lengthy storage means it probably deserves a thorough mechanical inspection before hitting the road again. (The seller states it will need brake work.) However, the ad says the six-cylinder runs smooth and “like a top” and if the 13,000 miles showing on the odometer reflect the actual mileage, there’s no reason to think it doesn’t run like a watch. And since it hasn’t been body-off-frame restored, you won’t be afraid to drive it.

The seller says he’s the second owner and the car includes the title from the original owner, and a lot of the car’s service records are included in its documentation. The car carried a base price of about $835 when new ($15,400 in today’s dollars), so with the car’s current $11,500 asking price being below the rate of inflation, can you really go wrong? You’re certain to be the only one at the next cruise-in or car show with a 1936 Hupp.

Afraid to own an orphan? Don’t fret – The Hupmobile Club is an active group with an Old Cars Golden Quill Award-winning publication (The Hupp Herald), a website and a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hupmobileclub/

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GTS meant GT Sport. It was the name of a sexy new-for-’68 “sawed-off shotgun” that was a whole bunch more than a sporty compact car. “Not to take the edge off the Road Runner, the GTS might be a more sensible package,” said Hot Rod magazines’s Steve Kelly in the publication’s April 1968 issue. “The base price is higher, but you get things like carpet on the floor, fat tires, bucket seats and a few other niceties that can make Saturday night roaming more comfortable. The engine’s smaller, but that could prove an advantage for drag racing classes.”

Two hefty V-8s were available. A 340-cid small-block engine was standard. It was derived from the 273-318-cid Chrysler family of engines and had a 4.04 x 3.31-inch bore and stroke, a 10.5:1 compression ratio and a single four-barrel carburetor. The 340 engine cranked out 275 hp at 5000 rpm and 340 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3200 rpm. A 383-cid big-block engine with a four-barrel carburetor and 300 hp was optional. The 383 added 89 lbs. to the car if you got a four-speed gearbox and 136 lbs. if you got an automatic transmission. A standard 3.23:1 rear axle was supplied, but 3.55:1 and 3.91:1 ratio axles were also available as optional equipment.

Other technical enhancements included a low-restriction dual exhaust system with chrome tips, a heavy-duty Rallye suspension, 14 x 5.5-inch wheels and E70-14 Red Streak tires. Although a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission was standard, most Dart GTS models had either a four-speed manual gearbox with a Hurst floor shifter or a competition-type TorqueFlite automatic transmission.

Also identifying the GTS were hood power bulges with air vents, body side racing stripes, special GTS emblems and simulated mag wheel covers. A bumblebee stripe to decorate the car’s rear end was a no-cost option. Vinyl front bucket seats were standard in the $2,611 hardtop and optional in the $3,383 convertible.

In 1968, the production of the GTS models was lumped into the total of 24,100 Dart GT series V-8s produced. The 1968 Dart GTS hardtop with the 340-cid/270-hp power train tested out with a 0-to-60 time of 6 seconds. It did the quarter-mile in a “Scat Pack” time of 15.2 seconds. Hot Rod magazine published even better numbers for its 340-cid TorqueFlite-equipped Dart GTS, which ran down the quarter-mile in 14.38 seconds at 97 mph.

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Larry Swedel was determined to somehow, someday, own what he considers the most amazing, beautiful, over-the-top American automobile built in the 1950s. It’s hard to argue that the 1959 Dodge Custom Royals were some of the wildest, most extreme vehicles built in the 1950s, or any other decade for that matter.

The catch is, it’s also an extreme challenge to find one — especially a Custom Royal convertible, which is what Swedel had his heart set on. Only 984 of the gaudy droptops were built, and probably only a small fraction of those have survived.

Still, Swedel was unwavering in his belief that he would eventually stumble across a 1959 Custom Royal convertible that he could afford, and the story behind his stunning two-tone specimen is a lesson in patience, faith and dogged determination.

“I’ve been pursing one since my high school days. When I was in the 10th grade, I had an instructor in school who bought a brand new one of these, with the coral top,” recalled Swedel, a resident of Elk River, Minn. “It was a hardtop with a coral roof. He used to park it outside the building and we’d be up on the second story and I’d see it sitting there. And I’d think, ‘Man, if I could ever get a car like that I would be the luckiest man in the world!’”

About 20 years ago, Swedel finally came across an engine-less hull of a 1959 Custom Royal and took the first step on what would be a long, challenging scavenger hunt and restoration project.

“Actually a collector in Phoenix brought it up out of Mexico. The data plate and information that is on the door post is in Spanish. I do not know if it was ever licensed in the United States,” Swedel said. “It was in Mexico and they had pretty much used it up. I had bought it sight-unseen. They didn’t tell me much. I knew it came out of Mexico, but nothing else. But was a Custom Royal, and that’s all I needed to know.

“I paid way too much for it, but I’m glad I bought it, because I’ve never seen another one for sale that I could afford to buy.”

Swedel said he spent the next 15 years hunting for “almost everything” for the battered Dodge, from a new engine to the tiniest chrome trim bits. Since the ’59 Custom Royals were among the most overdressed and chrome-laden cars ever seen on American roadways, that meant a lot of time beating the bushes, combing the Internet and marching through salvage yards for scores of hard-to-find shiny parts.

“About five years ago we started on it. It took two years to do it,” Swedel said. “The interior I got a little later. The interior we just put in it. It’s pretty new.

“I didn’t mind waiting. I knew it would get done. After I retired I had more time, so I waited to start on it. I didn’t want to start on it until I found all the parts. It took a long time to find all this stuff!”

Swedel is quick to point out that tackling such an ambitious renovation is a lot easier when your son runs his own collector car restoration business. Larry and his son Michael have worked on many cars together over the years, and “without him I would have never been able to get the car back,” Larry noted. “He’s a great metal worker and everything. He helped me a lot.”

Dodge was clearly looking to end the decade with a bang when it launched its 1959 models on Oct. 10, 1958. The big fins from 1957 and ’58 were back, although with slightly different profiles, and the eyebrows over the headlights were larger and more pronounced. Overall, the cars projected a longer, lower and wider look.

The Custom Royals were back as the top dogs in the Dodge lineup, and they were loaded. Outside, the cars were slathered in chrome, from the full-length bodyside moldings, to the shiny fin edges, to the huge big-mouth grille and twin-headlight arrangement.

And the interiors were no less ornate. The huge steering wheel featured a thick horn ring. Engine-turned plating surrounded the flashy gauges, and cloth inserts jazzed up the upholstery.

Cars with so much flash, needed some dash, and the Custom Royal had plenty of go-power under the bonnet. The standard engine was the SuperRam Fire 361, which produced 305. Things got even better from there: the new D-500 383-cid V-8 with a single four-barrel offered 320 hp, while the coveted Super D-500 with a two Carter four-barrels generated a righteous 345 hp.

The big Custom Royals would never be confused with drag racers — or economy cars – but they were some of the best performing cars on the road in 1959. All of the Dodges from that year had Torsion-Air front suspension and rear leaf springs. The convertibles had an X-brace to support the five cross members and boxed frame.

The cars rode on 122-inch wheelbases and the convertibles weighed in at 3,372 lbs. The droptops carried a base price of $3,372 before you checked any boxes on the options sheet, and there was plenty to pick from there. In addition to the more potent engines, popular options included swivel bucket seats, power seats, push-button radio, air conditioning, electric clock and dual exhaust. About 94 percent of all 1959 Dodges had TorqueFlite automatic transmissions with the memorable push-button controls.

Of course, even if they were dogs when it came time to hit the gas, the Custom Royals would have had plenty of appeal. The spectacular “forward-look” styling of Virgil Exner, with its curved windshields, protruding tail lights, and long, sleek fins was the stuff that automotive dreams are made of. “A lot of people are amazed at the glitz on this,” Swedel noted. “To me it’s just unbelievable styling. To me, the ’59 year was the ultimate. It was as crazy as it got.”

There are no definitive numbers on how many Super D-500 convertibles were sold, but it certainly wasn’t many. Swedel isn’t sure what engine his car had in it originally, but he located a 383-cid V-8 and twin Carter carbs during his parts hunting and was able to build his Dodge with the top drive train. The car also has the Morrormatic rearview mirror and swivel front seats. Swedel even added a Highway Hi-Fi record player, which was not available from the factory on the 1959 Custom Royals, but it looks great nonetheless. “I know it was from the earlier years, but I like it and I built it the way I like it,” he added.

Swedel and his son opted for the authentic factory two-tone Coral/Quartz paint scheme, and gray-white-black interior. “I would have painted it this color, because that’s what I wanted, but it happened to be this color originally,” Swedel said. “This was my all-time favorite combination.

“I did it the best that I could do. I tried to get everything the best we could. We farmed out the engine machining, and farmed out the interior fabrication. Otherwise we did everything. We pulled the body, did all the bodywork and painting. I’ve got new old stock hubcaps and the steering and padding is NOS and Mirrormatic is NOS… And the emblems and parts [in back] are NOS.

“The car was complete with all the trim, but it was all junk. Absolutely none of it was usable.”

Swedel insists he “lucked into” some key parts, such as a trunk lid, doors and fenders that were all rust-free. The 383-cid engine came from a Desoto. “I’ve got the two [four-barrels] on it, and that’s the way I wanted to do it, as a Super D-500. I’ve got the correct fours and intake and linkage and everything,” Swedel said.

“The toughest part was welding in the whole car. The floor was gone, the trunk was gone, The fins were laid out. Somebody had hauled rocks in it. There was a sheet of metal in the trunk a quarter-inch thick. It was gone. The quarters had holes in them, and they had stuck Mexican clothes in there. We pulled enough Mexican clothes out of there for a family of five – shorts and shirts… They used that for filler and put Bond-O over that! It was unbelievable.”

Swedel has only put a couple hundred miles on his fancy Dodge since getting back to A-1 shape, but he has no plans to turn the car into a trailer queen. Of course, he also has a 1958 Chrysler 300-C convertible and 1954 Buick Skylark at home, and he’s working on a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville convertible and 1956 Chysler New Yorker convertible, so the ’59 Dodge isn’t likely to be overworked.

“Some of the cars come and go — I have to do that, but this one I’ll keep around,” Swedel said. “I’ve wanted one for a long time, so it’s one of my favorites. And I’ll drive it. I do drive my cars.”

Wherever he takes it, Swedel is pretty confident he’ll have the only 1959 Custom Royal ragtop, and that’s the way he likes it.

“We get around. We go around to car events all over the country, and I have never seen another Custom Royal convertible. I’ve seen pictures of them, but I’ve never actually seen one,” he said. “I know there are a few on each coast — a couple of them anyway, but it’s like they left the planet!

“I just love the car. I love it. A lot of people don’t realize they are not going to see another one of these [in person]. I figure every place I take it, there’s not going to be two or three others. That’s what happens when I take my other cars. This one, I’ll be the only one.”

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The post Car of the Week: 1959 Dodge Custom Royal appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

Story and photos by Bob Tomaine

Ed Kratil wasn’t the only one to notice an online classified for a 1959 Dodge Royal four-door. As he later learned, several of those who saw it had plans very different than his own.

“(The ad) was basically a one-line description with a really bad picture,” Kratil recalled, “but it was an original car as part of that description, and I went up there to take a look.

“The gentleman I met with said he had some interest from overseas, Sweden and Germany. He did not want to arrange shipping and I said, ‘Look, if this is truly an original car’ — I couldn’t get under the seat at the time — ‘underneath the seat there’s a build sheet, under the dashboard, on top of the glovebox, there’s a build sheet and they should match whatever you have.’ He called me later that night. ‘I’ll sell you the car since you’re interested in it and you know what you’re talking about.’”

The deal was closed and instead of a making transatlantic crossing, the Dodge made a trip of roughly 50 miles to Kratil’s home in Ithaca, N.Y. That was in 2012 and the odometer showed 17,735 miles at the time, a fact that goes far toward explaining the car’s condition. Kratil doesn’t know where the Dodge spent most of its life, but if it lived in upstate New York where he found it, someone either devoted a lot of time to washing the winter road salt off on a regular basis or — more likely, given the mileage — stored it inside during the winter months. No matter which of those possibilities was the case, the car obviwously had a strong appeal to an owner or owners willing to go to such lengths to protect it.

From top hats to space suits

The appeal is understandable, as Dodge in 1959 was wearing its own interpretation of the Space Age and was a far cry from its ancestors of just 10 years earlier. Dodge had resumed production after World War II’s interruption by introducing mildly updated 1942 models for 1946. It was the universal formula among the “Big Three” and the few Independents that had survived the war. Reintroducing slightly updated prewar vehicles enabled the industry to quickly begin building cars and gain time to come up with new designs.

True postwar cars began trickling out with the 1947 models from Studebaker, Kaiser and Frazer and others followed for 1948. By 1949, new designs were in every showroom, although Chrysler Corp. had gotten off to a late start and launched its new Second Series 1949 lineup after having continued its 1948 models as the First Series 1949s. At Chrysler, cars had low fenders and high roofs, because Chrysler Corp. president K.T. Keller required enough headroom to wear a hat.

Across the industry, the new cars were obviously more than reheated versions of their predecessors, but with a few exceptions, they carried styling that reflected prewar thinking. The real difference — where there was one — was under the hood, as Cadillac and Oldsmobile introduced their similar but unrelated modern overhead-valve V-8s in 1949. The engines’ oversquare design meant the bore’s diameter was greater than its piston’s stroke with resultant benefits ranging from higher revs to smaller size. Combined with the OHV configuration, the GM engines represented the future and the competition knew it.

In 1951, Studebaker and Chrysler Corp. were first to respond with a 120-hp 232 and a 180-hp 331, respectively, but there was more to the story than just numbers. Chrysler’s FirePower V-8 was the start of what would become known as the Hemi engines for the engine’s hemispherical combustion chambers. More important in 1951, though, was the fact that Oldsmobile and Cadillac now had competition and that was just the beginning.

At Chrysler Corp., De Soto received a 160-hp, 276-cid version of the Hemi in 1952 and called it the Firedome. It continued its flathead six alongside the V-8 for a time, as had Chrysler, while the Dodge Division went another year with only its six. When its turn came in 1953, the Dodge was on a modern body with nearly every trace of prewar styling gone. Dodge was now “powered for action, with surging new V-8 performance” from its “new 140-horsepower Red Ram V-Eight (which) packs more punch per cubic inch. Most efficient engine design in any American car, with more speed than you’ll ever need!” The 241-cid Red Ram didn’t banish the six immediately, but the older engine was living on borrowed time.

Chrysler Corp. was on a roll with the rest of the industry, as 1955 saw only Kaiser and Willys lacking modern V-8s and they were exiting the domestic-passenger-car business anyway. Dodge by then was “a car that fairly breathes adventure” with its “aircraft-type V-8 engine” and completely new styling. Buyers now had a choice of V-8s up to a 193-hp, 270-cid Super Red Ram — the horsepower race that never officially existed was well underway — and smooth new bodies wore wraparound windshields and backlights, plenty of brightwork and the beginnings of fins. The 1956 update raised the fins and introduced overt performance in the D-500 option that Dodge promised “digs out like a demon, handles like a dream, corners like a chopped-down ‘rod,’ with a load of sand. It features a hefty 260-horsepower mill” displacing 315 cubic inches, and driving it would show “why guys who really know cars call it the hottest thing on wheels!”

Power and performance continued to increase and the two-year cycle brought a completely new “Swept-Wing” 1957 Dodge. Long and low with bigger fins and no shortage of flash, advertising boasted that “everything is new from road to roof.” Meanwhile, the top engine was now a 340-hp 354. The next year, a fuel-injected 361 produced 333 hp while the top carbureted engine generated 305 in a freshened body. The look continued through a subtle restyling in 1959 when the Super D-500 option was a carbureted 345-hp 383, but although the highest-performance version — then as now — got the glory, not everybody really wanted it.

Dodge knew that and offered not only lesser V-8s, but even the flathead “Get-Away Six.” Its entry-level Coronet was “your low-cost invitation to luxury motoring” even as its Custom Royal at the opposite end of the range was “a car completely satisfying in every respect.” Between those two extremes, Kratil’s Royal “gives you more of what you want. If a man were looking for ‘buying justification,’ he could certainly find plenty of reasons in the Dodge Royal Series because the list is both long and impressive … Whatever the reason, the conclusion is clear. There’s more of what you buy for in a Dodge Royal.”

It was, in effect, everyman’s Dodge. With its 295-hp 361 and PowerFlite automatic, Kratil’s Royal sedan is probably a typical example. It’s not his first.

Just the right Dodge

“I’ve always liked the Dodges,” he said, “the ’59s specifically, because they look mean from both ends. The Dixie Cup taillights in the back are ridiculous-looking and the front just looks aggressive. The styling on some of the newer Chargers and such still has that eyebrow and it’s very similar. I’ve always liked the body style, I don’t care if it’s a two-door, four-door. That really doesn’t matter to me.”

Liking the Dodge that much gave it a few points to start with and fortunately, Kratil soon found that it had no real problems. “It needed new tires,” he said. “It had the original bias plies on it. The original. The original bias ply spare is still in the trunk.

“When I went to pick up the car, it ran really poorly. Once I got it home, I looked in the shop manual and for some reason, some of the plug wires had been switched. As soon as I did that, it purred … It didn’t need a spec of bodywork, it didn’t need anything on the interior. I put seat belts in.”

He said that it had run well on the 75-mile trip he’d just made to the Rolling Antiquers show in Norwich, N.Y., and that it’s ready for much more than that. He knows the reactions it would get on such a trip.

“I’ve heard, actually this morning from somebody who pulled up behind me at the gas station, ‘I don’t know much about cars, but I like what I see,’” Kratil said. “A lot of people don’t know what it is, but they say, ‘I think my grandfather had something similar to that’ or, ‘Is that a Cadillac?’ I do get a lot of older folks, if I’m driving down the road, who turn their heads and then kick a light bulb on, and also the little kids who have watched ‘Cars.’ They like things with fins. It has a lot of ‘shiny’ to it and they get a kick out of it.”

And while it’s not the Super D-500 engine, he said the 361 has no problem keeping up with traffic.

“It will not beat anybody off the line,” Kratil said, “but it will sure get you there with a smile on your face.”

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