Excerpts taken from world famous ‘Hemmings Auto Blog’
1978 Buick Turbos. Crop from magazine ad, courtesy of ProductionCars.com. In 1962, the Oldsmobile Jetfire became the first American production car to offer a turbocharged engine, followed a month later by the Chevrolet Corvair Monza Spyder. Each model had its share of strengths and weaknesses, but technical problems (many owner-related) Read more
All brochure images are from the collection of Mark J. McCourt There’s been a lot of press focusing on the imminent demise of the classic Land Rover, AKA the Defender, but this Indian-owned British automaker is sending this much-loved workhorse out with a flourish in the form of the Defender Heritage Read more
Within a couple days, Vintage Las Vegas posted these two up-high shots of the Riviera’s sign and parking lot, one taken in 1967 (above, uncredited) and the other in 1968 (below, by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown). As you all should be well aware by now, context is everything with Read more
Launched in 1976, the SD1 won Rover its second European Car of the Year honors, following on the heels of the 2000, which won the inaugural award in 1963. Its Italian-influenced styling, spacious interior, hatchback versatility, V-8 performance and relatively low price won the new executive-class five-door nearly universal praise. Unfortunately, British Read more
Dr. Dick Thompson’s championship-winning 1962 Corvette. All photos by Darin Schnabel, courtesy RM Sotheby’s. By the 1962 SCCA racing season, Dr. Dick Thompson, a dentist from Washington, D.C., had already earned a reputation as a giant in Corvette racing circles, with numerous championship titles to his credit. The 1962 A-Production Read more
Clive Beecham (L) and Ian Callum in a Jaguar D-type. Photos courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover. From 1927 to 1957 (excluding the war years of 1939 and 1941-’46), the Mille Miglia was one of the world’s great endurance racing events. Tragic crashes claimed the lives of three participants and nine Read more
1932 DeVaux Custom Convertible Coupe. Photo by the author. Is there such a thing as a bad year to launch a new automobile? Norman de Vaux and Colonel Elbert Hall, both California natives, had the notion that the country was ready for a new economy car in 1931—right at the Read more
Zemco CompuCruise ad, from the author’s collection. As a young teenager in the early 1980s, I was already a car guy, despite that fact that I was still too young to drive one. I read car magazines and worked on (more like ruined) the family cars to learn more about Read more
Reader Stephane Dumas came across today’s carspotting exercise – a circa 1971 color home video of downtown Wausau, Wisconsin, shot by a handful of teens as they cruised around, checking out old cars, new cars, and the folks on the sidewalks as they passed. You might need a few rewinds Read more
To the best of our research, in 1967 the Jeepster Commando didn’t come in the convertible body style with the two-tone paint and the Continental-style rear-mounted spare; only the non-Commando Jeepster did. But this 1967 Jeep Jeepster convertible for sale on Hemmings.com is more than just a badge that may Read more