Step into The Collection on Palmetto in Clearwater, Fla., and you’ll encounter one of the smallest pieces in the museum, a sculpture by Stanley Wanlass titled “Passing the Horse” that shows an early automobile cruising past riders on horseback. That sculpture sets the tone for the small-but-significant display of The Collection’s Brass Era automobiles, farm equipment and other industrial machinery that depict the rapid evolution of technology in the early 20th Century. The vehicles provide a glimpse of the emerging power sources — gas, steam and electric — that inventors were exploring to replace the four-legged horse.

The non-profit museum houses the personal vehicles of collector Marvin Feldman and his wife, Linda, who are avid enthusiasts and restorers of the era’s vehicles. According to museum Program Director Laura Merrill, the Feldmans began their collection with two Stanley steamers, one of which (a Model 64) was owned by Marvin’s father. 

“Linda has said that to have a collection, you need at least three of something,” Laura says, “and thus their passion for collecting, restoring and sharing cars of the Brass Era was born.”

The display vehicles range from large — a 1928 Ahrens NS-4 Pumper fire truck that is powered by a 1,200-cid six-cylinder engine the produces 140 hp — to the small 1886 Benz Moterwagen that has a .75-hp, one-cylinder engine. In addition to the Brass Era collection, four newer vehicles belonging to the Feldmans are on display: an Allard roadster, a Jaguar XK-140, a Jaguar XKE and a Lamborghini. 

Other Brass Era cars in the museum include a 1901 curved-dash Oldsmobile, a 1902 Locomobile Stanhope B, a 1906 White Steam Car, a 1910 Stanley Model 70 and a 1914 Ford Model T. A story board for each car explains its significance, as well as detail about the car’s history, ownership and more.

Many of the vehicles are in operating condition and are often driven on the museum property or at off-site antique vehicle events. Staff experts and other specialists maintain the century-old cars. 

The five-acre landscaped property includes a turtle-filled pond, a picnic area and a 1/8-scale railway and small train that is popular with children. Large examples of steam-powered industrial and farm equipment are displayed outside.

While the cars are the stars, the five-year-old museum offers a variety of educational opportunities, with an emphasis on exposing students to automotive and engineering history. In addition to tour group presentations for all ages, the emphasis on providing hands-on educational programs that meet the state standards for science and social studies is critical for the museum. 

“Students from around Tampa Bay absolutely love the experience,” Laura says. “Many of our groups return year after year, and teachers are every bit as enthusiastic as students and parents who attend.”

What’s on the agenda for the museum in its second five years? Continuing to expand the educational programs is a primary goal. Adding to the vehicle collection on display? That’s up to the Feldman family and the board of directors.

“We’re so well received in the community, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Laura says.

The collection is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission cost ranges from $10-$15.

The Collection on Palmetto
2116 Palmetto Street
Clearwater, FL 33765
PH: 727-953-8356
collectiononpalmetto.com

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The post Florida Brass: The Collection on Palmetto appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

When Pontiac stuffed a 389-cid V-8 into its midsize LeMans to create the 1964 GTO, the muscle car era of the 1960s took off like a top-fuel dragster leaving the starting line. Chevy launched the Chevelle SS396 in 1965, Plymouth offered the Barracuda with the Formula S option and Ford’s Fairlane GT housed a 390-cid V-8. Big-block pony cars soon followed.

GTO sales were beginning to sag by the late 1960s amidst the growing competition. Pontiac responded in 1969 with the GTO The Judge. Originally envisioned as a low-cost muscle car to compete with the Plymouth Road Runner, it actually ended up costing $332.07 more than the standard GTO. By 1970, the peak performance year for muscle cars, sales were impacted by rising insurance rates and impending smog rules, but before then, the Judge was at the head of the court. A total of 6,833 Judge hardtops and convertibles were sold in 1969, and another 3,797 were sold in 1970. Judge sales slid farther in 1971, and it was the last year for the option.

The Pontiac marketing gurus were looking to bring more attention to their hot intermediate models and the idea of The Judge was born. The name came from the popular Flip Wilson routine on the Rowan and Martin TV Show titled “Here Come the Judge.” Advertising campaigns featured catch lines like “All Rise for the Judge” and “The Judge Can Be Bought.”

The name caught on and while only 6,833 were sold in 1969, it became a recognizable spoof, a poke at muscle car lineups that featured cartoon-character badging, such as the Plymouth Road Runner and the Dodge Demon.

Kevin Guido’s ’69 GTO The Judge is a classic example of Pontiac’s marketing and promotional efforts with its bold decals, Carousel Red paint (which actually looks orange) and standard rear wing. The first couple of thousand or so Judges were only available in Carousel Red, but later in the model year, any color could be ordered. The Judge also differed from the GTO by having a blacked-out center grille section, but like the GTO, hidden headlamps could be optioned.

In the engine department, the Judge outshined the ’69 GTO, which featured as standard the Pontiac 350-hp 400-cid V-8. In the Judge, the new, more powerful Ram Air III (L74) 400-cid was standard and touted 366 hp (this engine was optional in other GTOs). Like most Judges, the Clearwater, Fla., resident’s Judge features that model’s standard Ram Air III engine that develops its 366 hp at 5,100 rpm and peaks at 445 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3,600 rpm. Functional hood scoops feed fresh air into the Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor, hence the Ram Air name.

Pontiac did offer a more powerful Ram Air IV V-8 in its GTO and Judge models during 1969, but there is no accurate data to show how many Judges might have had that upgrade. Numbers do exist, though, that show that about 200 of the more than 72,000 GTOs sold that year were bought with the Ram Air IV engine.

Kevin bought his Judge in 1991. He’d owned Trans Ams and GTOs before and first saw his Judge in 1986 while driving down a Clearwater street.

“It was about 8 p.m. and it was dark,” he said, “but I knew the familiar headlamp arrangement of a GTO. So, when he passed me going east, my neck about snapped as I realized it was a 1969 Judge.”

Kevin made a quick U-turn and followed the car into a hamburger joint’s parking lot. He talked with the owner about the car, which had just arrived in Clearwater after having been purchased in California. After a few years, the buyer ran into financial trouble and sold the car. The next owner took over the restoration, but tired of it and listed it for sale. That’s when Kevin was able to buy the car, even though it was priced above his budget at the time.

“But I knew I had to scrape up the loot or lose the car, which was not an option,” he says.

Kevin drove his Judge for a few years (“I pounded that car relentlessly,” he says) before deciding that it was time for a full restoration. First up was a rebuild of the V-8. A friend rebuilt the engine back to stock specs, except for adding a Crane Ram Air IV cam. 

By 1994, it was time to tackle the predictable rust points, and true to form, the more they dug into the rust, the more that emerged. After the body cancers were fixed, Deltron single-stage paint was applied, and 30 years later, it still shines like a new paint job.

While the body shop work was underway, Kevin tackled various restoration tasks, including a complete rebuild of the tricky hideaway headlamp mechanisms. Once back in his garage during 1995, Kevin spent the next 10 years sourcing myriad NOS parts and restoring and reassembling the car himself.

Finding NOS and date-coded parts for any 35-year-old car is challenging, whether it was back in the 1990s or today. But Kevin was able to find a few treasures for the car. For example, the Hurst T-handle that was stock on four-speed Judges had disappeared over the years, but Kevin discovered one at a swap meet for $85.

“That was a lot of money then,” Kevin says. “Today, if you can even find one, that’s a bargain.”

One hard-to-find piece of trim that had also walked away from the car was the special “The Judge” badge on the glove box. He eventually acquired one for $250. Other NOS parts included lug nuts, rear glass, AM radio, various exhaust components, console lid, headlamp doors, lenses, bezels and more.

One of the gems found in Kevin’s hunt for NOS parts was the rare manual-shift Code 273 Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor and the Code 952 distributor. The original M20 four-speed manual transmission was still with the car and all it needed was a thorough going-over. The Judge was offered with a standard three-speed manual transmission, an automatic or one of three four-speeds. The M20 was the wide-ratio, first-gear version while the M21 and M22 four-speeds had a close-ratio first gear.

The M20 cars featured either 3.23 or 3.55 rear gear ratios while the close-ratio transmissions were offered with taller gears. 

Four-wheel drum brakes were standard, but Kevin’s Judge has power front discs in the front, plus power steering. Pontiac 14×6-in. steel Rally II wheels with chrome lug nuts were standard, but trim rings were not. Goodyear’s Polyglas-belted tires were common muscle car fixtures in the late 1960s, and G70-14 blackwall tires were standard on the Judge. Kevin’s Judge has white-letter tires, a personal preference.

Like their exteriors, the interiors of 1969 GTOs had only minor changes from the previous model year. Wing vent windows were eliminated, the front grille and rear taillamps were mildly updated and the ignition switch was moved from the dashboard to the steering column. That locked the steering wheel when the key was removed, a federal requirement that was mandatory for 1970 models. The gauge face was changed from steel blue to black, and front outboard headrests were made standard on all 1969 model cars.

Kevin’s black vinyl interior also features a wood-trimmed three-spoke steering wheel.

The restoration of Kevin’s Judge was essentially completed (if they ever are) in early 2006. Since then, the car has been regularly driven, especially to local cruises and car shows. 

Love GTOs? Here are a few more articles for your reading enjoyment.

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1964-pontiac-gto-red-car

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1970-pontiac-gto-judge-convertible

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1966-pontiac-gto

If you like stories like these and other classic car features, check out Old Cars magazine. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

Want a taste of Old Cars magazine first? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter and get a FREE complimentary digital issue download of our print magazine.

The post Here come the Judge! The first-year 1969 GTO Judge appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

The Oldsmobile and Hurst Performance partnership produced 10 Hurst/Olds models during the 20-year, on-and-off partnership that began in 1968 with the pavement-pounding, high-horsepower models through the anemic last Aero “kit edition” for 1988. 

Although suffering from the low-power engines of the mid 1970s, the 1975 Hurst/Olds was significant for several reasons. It was the last year to feature the 455-cid V-8 that had been the standard Hurst/Olds powerplant since the model was introduced in 1968. The “Hurst Hatch” T-top was first introduced to General Motors vehicles with the ’75 Hurst/Olds (and Buick Century Free Spirit) as a replacement to the convertible body style, GM having last offered an A-body convertible model in 1972. Catalytic convertors were now required, and the 1975 Hurst/Olds was the first to sell more than 2,000 units, delivering to customers 1,242 black cars and 1,293 white cars for a total of 2,535 1975 Hurst/Olds cars.

A survivor H/O

Jody Andrews of Clearwater, Fla., owns the featured pristine and heavily optioned 1975 Hurst/Olds. He’s owned his black W-30 Olds for 12 years, having purchased it from the original owners. It sports the original paint and has just 18,000 miles on the odometer.

Andrews has owned a black 1975 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 since the mid 1990s, so when he was approached at a car show by someone asking if he was interested in another ’75 Cutlass, he walked over to look at the car. As soon as he saw the car, Andrews knew what it was and he knew he wanted it.

“He didn’t know what it was,” Andrews says. The seller purchased the car new, later letting his son drive it. He left it outside and it suffered from the exposure.

“The T-tops leaked and the front seats and carpet were a mess,” Andrews says. 

Despite these issues, restoring the Hurst/Olds to its current state was relatively easy. Andrews says he had to wet sand and buff the original paint to bring back the shine. The interior is where most of the work was needed. He replaced the headliner and carpet. The rear seats and interior panels just needed a good cleaning, but the front bucket seats had to be recovered.

New options for the 1975 H/Os

While colors other than black and white were offered for Hurst/Olds interiors during the 1975 model year, Andrews’ car features the white interior with the “Compaticolor” swivel front bucket seats. That meant the reversible seat-back cushions were white vinyl on one side and a black-white patterned cloth on the other.

Andrews’ car also features an optional tachometer mounted on the console in front of the Hurst Dual-Gate shifter. Hurst/Olds badging appears on the tach, the console and on the rear quarter trim panel.

Exterior color choices were limited to black or white with gold accent stripes. But for the first time, buyers could mix and match vinyl top colors (e.g., a white vinyl top on a black car). H/O hoods featured the same louvers used on that year’s 4-4-2 models. The cars also featured the Cutlass Salon grille, sports styled exterior mirrors and 15-inch Super Stock III wheels with raised-white-letter radial tires. 

While almost all H/Os featured a hood ornament with Oldsmobile script, Andrews’ car features the ultra-rare oval ring with a Hurst logo in the center. Andrews says he’s only seen one other example of the emblem and it was not on a car, but displayed on a seller’s table at a swap meet.

1975: More show than go

Of the 2,535 H/O cars produced in 1975, fewer than half were equipped with the W30 option of the 455-cid  V-8 (standard was the W25 350-cid V-8). The 455 engines in ’75 were weakened versions of the 1968 offering; while the ’68 455 produced 390 hp (gross) and 500 lb-ft of torque, the 1975 455 compared with 190 hp (net) and 350 lb-ft of torque. 

While horsepower became measured with accessories in place by 1975, resulting in lower horsepower figures, the 1975 Olds 455 did produce fewer gross horsepwer than in 1968 due to emissions requirements that included lower compression ratios: the 1975 455 engines had a meager 8.5-1 compression ratio. A Rochester four-barrel carburetor rested on a cast-iron intake of the 1975 455, and all 1975 Hurst/Olds cars had automatic transmissions. While the 1968 H/O cars turned in quarter-miles times in the 13.7-second range at 102 mph, the 1975 models reflected the power-starved performance of mid-1970s cars with their comparably tortoise-like 17.7-second at 81-mph quarter-mile times.  

The Hurst/Olds partnership

In the era of Hemi Chargers, SS 396 Chevelles, GTOs and Boss Mustangs, automakers worked with aftermarket performance shops and a few dealerships to create higher-powered models to meet the marketplace’s need for speed. For example, Chevrolet worked with dealers such as Yenko Chevrolet in Pennsylvania to produce 427 Camaros, Pontiac worked with Royal Pontiac in Michigan and Ford worked with Tasca Ford and Carroll Shelby to produce iconic performance Mustangs.

As these dealers have become synonymous with the car makers that they partnered with, Hurst has become associated with Oldsmobile, even though the aftermarket supplier also worked with other makes. That connection began when Hurst and Olds partnered to create the 455-cid V-8 Hurst/Olds of 1968. The Hurst/Olds was a way for Oldsmobile to get around General Motors’ edict that no engines greater than 400 cubic inches could be installed in the corporation’s mid-size A-body platform. It worked, and as far as anyone in the GM board room knew, Hurst was installing the 455s in Oldsmobile’s A-body Cutlass platform while all along, it was actually Oldsmobile itself.

The first Hurst/Olds in 1968 set the pattern for the model: Take a 4-4-2 and replace the 400-cid V-8 with a 455-cid V-8, add comfort features that would make the car stand out from the more low-option muscle cars at dealerships, add a Hurst shifter and exclusive paint scheme and voila! — you have a high-end performance car for the discerning enthusiast. 

The 1975 Hurst/Olds was the sixth H/O model since 1968 and was based on the formal-roofed Cutlass Supreme model instead of the Colonade-roofed Cutlass as in 1973 and ’74. The Oldsmobiles destined for the Hurst treatment were assembled at Olds’ Lansing, Mich., plant, then transferred to the Hurst Performance Research facility in Brighton, Mich., for the H/O modifications that included installation of the unique vinyl top and trim pieces, gold stripes, Hurst shifter and H/O badging. On 1975 models optioned with Hurst Hatch T-tops, Hurst also completed that installation in Brighton. The completed H/O models were priced almost $1,100 more than the Cutlass Supreme models.

The Olds family connection

Andrews was raised in an Oldsmobile family. He says that his father died when he was 10 years old, and shortly after that, his mother bought a full-size Oldsmobile.

“I called it the ‘Big Yellow Boat,’” he says. “When I was in high school, she bought a ’72 Cutlass. I loved that car.”

In 1983, Andrews bought a 1975 Cutlass Supreme and drove the car until 1998, which is about the same time that he bought his 1975 4-4-2.

While a 1975 Hurst/Olds may not be as fast as the pavement pounders of the late 1960s, it is a unique and handsome reminder that performance wasn’t completely dead during the disco era. And after the 1975 edition, performance Oldsmobile fans would have to wait until 1979 for the next Hurst/Olds model.

Love Oldsmobiles? Here are a few more articles for your reading enjoyment.

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1970-oldsmobile-cutlass-supreme-convertible

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1977-oldsmobile-cutlass-s

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1971-oldsmobile-442-coupe

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The post A Hurst/Olds by chance appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.