Excerpts taken from world famous ‘Hemmings Auto Blog’
Story and photos by Joe Essid. The last time we talked, I set priorities for the mechanical work on a 1974 Buick Apollo, the same year and model of my first car. For those novices to restoration, I hope to encourage hands-on tasks in service of a driver, not a Read more
In 1958, Pontiac’s optional “Sportable” transistor AM radio could be slid out from the dash to be taken anywhere. It operated on its own batteries and had its own antenna. When it was returned to the dash, it would then play through the car’s speaker system using the car’s electrical Read more
Two old postcard photos for today’s carspotting scene, both from the big sky town of Kalispell, both of which we came across on William Bird’s Flickrstream. Above, we see the intersection of Main and Third streets, looking north; below, the intersection of Second Street and First Avenue looking west. No Read more
Czech manufacturer Tatra has always specialized in building innovative, if not eccentric, vehicles. Though never officially offered for sale on these shores, the Tatra T613 is a perfect case in point. Power comes from a 3.5-liter V-8, rated at 165 horsepower, but the engine is cooled by air instead of Read more
Photo by Matt Litwin. Nobody couldn’t have predicted that the stratospheric success of the 1965 Mustang would lead to direct competition: Everybody suddenly wanted a part of the youth market that Lee Iaccoca, Chase Morsey, and others at Ford had pinpointed. But, aside from the Barracuda, that competition wouldn’t arrive Read more
SS 100. Photos courtesy of Simeone Automotive Museum. In addition to its automobiles, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia has an extensive collection of automotive literature, dating back to 1892 and covering over 1,400 makes. While these images and brochures can provide essential information for restorers, many are irreplaceable Read more
Photos by the author. Italy’s carrozzerias were renowned for crafting beautifully shaped sports car bodies out of hand-formed aluminum, but in England, where the burgeoning sports car and racing specialists were doing the same, their material of choice was usually fiberglass. One particular sports car specialist was Douglas Wilson-Spratt, the Read more
All images are from the brochure collection of Hemmings Motor News The “Glamour Bird” was on the attack in 1968, as this unusual piece of dealer educational literature shows. Not intended for public consumption, the eight-page stapled leaflet was likely meant to go in a Ford salesperson’s three-ring binder, and Read more
While mid-seventies pickups from GM, Ford and Chevrolet are plentiful, survivors from Dodge are less so. Perhaps fewer civilians shopped for Dodge pickups, or perhaps the bulk of production went to the military (in the form of the CUCV M880 and M890) or to municipal departments, which seemed to prefer Read more
1953 Aston Martin DB3S/5. Photos courtesy Bonhams unless otherwise specified. It was built for Aston Martin owner David Brown (the DB in Aston Martin’s nomenclature), but soon after commandeered by the company’s Competition Department to replace accident-damaged Works DB3S models at Le Mans in 1954. It’s been raced by the Read more