Hemmings Auto Blog

Image from Mazda RX-3SP advertisement. Ads courtesy of ProductionCars.com. These days, car ads are created by agencies to target a very specific age and income demographic, run before focus groups to test their appeal and then presented to an army of legal interns before being rubber-stamped for your approval. The Read more

RW Thomson, from his obituary in the March 29, 1873, issue of “The Illustrated London News.” Tires are among the most important components of a modern automobile, as the interaction of the rubber tread with the road surface provides the friction necessary for acceleration, steering and braking, while the sidewall Read more

All that we know about this photo that coconv posted to the Hemmings Nation Flickr pool are the year and city, so we’re left wondering exactly where in Miami it might be and why all these cars are parked along the street with nothing apparent to attract them. Perhaps they Read more

By 1924, steam-powered automobiles were outpaced by internal combustion vehicles in terms of price, convenience and performance. Even Stanley’s efforts to exploit the car-buying public’s fear of the “internal explosion engine” proved fruitless, and by the end of 1924 the Stanley Motor Carriage Company had ceased operations. That makes this Read more

The Cobra Jet 428 Twister Special that sold for $107,000 in Kansas City. David Newhardt photo, courtesy of Mecum Auctions. While every muscle car enthusiast knows about the Mustang Mach 1, the 1970-only “Twister Special” version may be unfamiliar to those located outside the Midwest. Mecum Auctions knows its customers, Read more

Ed Straker’s car. Photos and images courtesy Sean Robinson. The year is 1980, and the earth is under attack by aliens. All that stands in their way is Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization, or S.H.A.D.O., a top-secret force that employs aircraft, submarines, moon-based interceptors and other weapons to destroy incoming Read more

General Curtis LeMay in the 1950s. U.S. Air Force photo. As many students of military history will tell you, Curtis E. LeMay is perhaps the most polarizing figure in the U.S. military since George S. Patton. Equally respected and feared by the men serving under him, LeMay (who earned the Read more

The famous British firm of Land Rover has been going from strength to strength in recent years, and is the stronger partner in its current Jaguar/Land Rover partnership under the Tata Group. Formed as an offshoot of the Rover Company in 1948, Land Rover 4×4 trucks were England’s answer to Read more

Say “Oldsmobile” and “station wagon” in the same sentence, and most people immediately envision the raised-roof Vista Cruiser, with its tinted roof panel windows. Oldsmobile also built its base Cutlass in a station wagon variant, though there weren’t many takers in the 1971 model year; out of 70,924 V-8 Cutlasses Read more

Chaparral 1, chassis 1-003. Photos by Mathieu Heurtalt, courtesy RM Auctions. Before Jim Hall designed and built innovative race cars with advanced features like adjustable aerodynamics, molded composite chassis and downforce-generating ducted fans, he was a race car driver. At the time, winning consistently in sports car racing generally required Read more