Hemmings Auto Blog

One of the NASCAR Herbies from the 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded. Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions. Even those with little interest in racing can recognize the white Volkswagen Beetle with red and blue stripes, wearing the number 53 in its meatball, as “Herbie, the Love Bug.” The star of six Read more

This week’s stumper is a pair of specialty pliers designed for a specific purpose. It performs a function that is seldom necessary today. Initially looking like 6-1/2 inch snap ring pliers, this tool has slotted jaws instead of the normal clamps that would hold interchangeable points for snap rings. The Read more

Photography by the author. No wonder Carroll Shelby was smitten by the Ace when he first saw one. This British-built automobile has that perfect sports car look, with a simple, unspoiled shape that is pure beauty. It was this very same model that spawned the incredibly successful Cobra. The Ace’s Read more

Though he found it at a site dedicated to photos of cars in the Sixties, Ronan at Ran When Parked believes this photo of Paris’s Place de la Concorde dates to the late Fifties, and we’re not inclined to object to his assessment. A look at the Place de la Read more

Volvo’s two-door sport wagon, the 1800ES, was the final variation of its 1800 model line. Launched in 1972 and built for just two model years, the 1800ES, designed by Jan Wilsgaard, blends the stunning good looks of Pelle Petterson’s coupe with the do-it-all sensibility of a compact wagon. Less than Read more

Photo by ceajaegirl. After Bureau of Land Management officials urged patience and recommended another study of the shrinking salt at last week’s Bonneville Salt Flats summit in Salt Lake City, racers in attendance at the summit said they felt undermined by the bureau and that bureau officials weren’t acting fast Read more

Mario Andretti’s 1965 Brawner Hawk, recently restored by Ray Evernham, will be in the field. Photos courtesy IMS. Sure, the big news is the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, so much so that some on- and off-track activities of great note have been lost in all the noise. We Read more

A friend of mine who knows I’m into Jeeps (redundant, I know – any friend of mine knows I’m into Jeeps) was recently cleaning out a garage just north of here and came across this neat mailer that Jeep sent out almost 60 years ago. We’re going to presume Clifford Read more

Photo by Sondre Kvipt, courtesy Kustomrama. Bill Hines had been around in the auto customizing scene for so long and remained so active it seemed as though he was immortal. While his legend will live on, the hobby bid a fond farewell to Hines at age 94, when news of Read more

Photo courtesy Nader.org. He may never have owned or driven a car, but Ralph Nader has had an undisputed influence on the development of the automobile over the last 50 years, and it’s for that influence the Automotive Hall of Fame has selected the automotive safety advocate as a member Read more