Excerpts taken from world famous ‘Hemmings Auto Blog’
Photo by Jeff Koch. When Hemmings comes calling to photograph a car, the owner has a multipage questionnaire to fill out. A lot of it is nuts-and-bolts stuff, but a lot more is fill-in-the-blank, which gives a car owner an opportunity to share their thoughts on their ride. Rather than Read more
Ford introduced a topless version of the Fox-platform Mustang for the 1983 model year, but Mercury Capri buyers had no wind-in-the-hair option of their own. Enter ASC/McLaren, which began producing drop-top Capris (and special edition coupes) for the 1984 model year. ASC’s product line soon expanded to include Mustang convertibles Read more
It might not be immediately apparent what made Fageol’s Safety Coach of the 1920s so, well, safe, but as Bud Juneau so expertly explained in his story on a 1927 Fageol Safety Coach, it all comes down to Fageol’s role in the evolution of the bus from rickety homebuilt carriage Read more
Introduced in 1979, the Honda Prelude coupe added a bit of sport to Honda’s practical-but-conservative lineup. Sized between the Civic and the Accord, the Prelude received the same 72hp 1,751cc four-cylinder found in the Accord, mated to a standard five-speed manual transmission. That made acceleration reasonable, if not brisk, particularly Read more
* While recently attending a car show in the U.K., Heath Scotchford of The Petrol Stop came across the above replica of the “Ugly Duckling” Audi, a car notable not just for its ravishing good looks, but for its designer, famed aerodynamicist Paul Jaray. * How soon into the United Read more
Photos courtesy Hess. In 2014, The Hess Corporation’s annual toy truck will celebrate its golden anniversary; to celebrate, and to underscore its importance in the greater world of toys, Hess is working to get their trucks nominated and inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Didn’t know there was Read more
New York City isn’t as bad a place for a car owner as everybody makes it out to be – unless, that is, you want to park somewhere in the city, you don’t care for traffic, or you end up breaking down, as it appears the gentleman in this 1979 Read more
Forty years ago, leaving an old gum wrapper in your car was considered slothful or negligent. Nowadays, more folks than not appreciate the preservation of a piece of ephemera (however small) that most people didn’t think to hold onto. So goes the old car hobby, we suppose. What we leave Read more
Bill Rutan’s tub on Mt. Washington’s Climb to the Clouds. Photo by Daniel Strohl. It’s baa-aack. One of the most unusual geographic challenges in the world of automotive competition, the Mount Washington Automobile Hillclimb, is coming back into existence following a three-year hiatus. It’s already attracted the largest field of Read more
Images courtesy Heritage Auctions. In the mid-1970s, with supercars and wedge-shaped designs starting to come out of the woodwork, we can’t blame most designers for taking a crack at the theme. It was futuristic, it oozed performance, and it wore its sexiness on its sleeve. But we had to be Read more