Excerpts taken from world famous ‘Hemmings Auto Blog’
Dual overhead camshafts. Sixteen valves. A compression ratio of 10.3:1. Multi-point fuel injection. One hundred forty horsepower out of 1,975 cubic centimeters. And the 1999 Hyundai Elantra to this day remains invisible on our roads. Or, at least, most of them do. We’ll make an exception for Harry Bleiwise’s pushmepullyu Read more
From our last look at Greenville, North Carolina’s Evans Street – and from the modern-day street view – we know that Evans is a one-way street headed north. What we don’t know after examining this February 1966 photo of Evans Street from the East Carolina University digital collections, is exactly Read more
What is it about vintage station wagons with big-block V-8s that always captures our attention? Is it the fact that they can haul enough lumber, paint and hardware to build a small house? Is it the fact that they can carry nine passengers in relative comfort over vast distances of Read more
The record-setting 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 “Periscopica.” Photos courtesy Bonhams Auctions. For all the teenage boys’ bedroom walls it plastered, one would have figured the Lamborghini Countach – for decades considered the most exotic of exotic cars – had long ago broken the seven-figure mark at public auction, but it Read more
While many an engineer and machinist can lay claim to having built the first automobile in the latter decades of the 19th century, bringing the automobile to mass production fell to one man – machinist, accountant, inventor and entrepreneur Ransom Eli Olds, who was born 150 years ago today. Originally Read more
Sporty, fun to drive and economical, the Lancia Fulvia, sold as a coupe from 1965 through 1976, was the last Lancia developed before the Fiat takeover in 1969. Images courtesy Fiat Sp.A. and Chrysler Corporation. This isn’t the first time we’ve reported such news, but the situation for Lancia looks Read more
Photos by the author. Note: I write up driving impressions of virtually every car I photograph, within a couple of days of the drive, so everything is fresh in my memory. Occasionally, because of the constraints of format (ie, buyer’s guide) the prepared text doesn’t run. Now, thanks to the Read more
In a perfect world, everyone would learn to drive in a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. Its cable-actuated clutch lever pedal and vague shift pattern teach the values of patience and perseverance, and its 53 horsepwer, 1.5-liter air-cooled flat-four engine ensure that stoplight throw-downs would never be considered. Aside from their utter Read more
1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda. Photos by David Newhardt, courtesy Mecum Auctions. Plymouth built just 11 Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles for the 1971 model year and of these, just seven were built for sale in the U.S. market. Of these seven, just two were equipped with the four-speed manual transmission, and only Read more
Photo courtesy Speedway Motors. One of the best friends that both the worlds of collector cars and auto racing history ever called their own has died. Bill Smith, known as Speedy Bill to his innumerable friends and admirers, died on Friday at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was only Read more