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May 31, 2009 - 4 Wheels: It Counts!

You have a lot of time to think when you're mowing an acre of grass, and during yesterday's lawn adventure the mind wandered to what I was going to blog about today, and I came up with the idea of doing a vehicle of the month review kind of thing.

I couldn't decide on what car or truck to do first, then it hit me... well it was the low hanging branch of an Austrian Pine that I didn't pay attention to, but it drove the idea for my May's vehicle into my skull.

It's my tractor! A SImplicity Model 4212H lawn tractor with 12 HP Briggs & Stratton 4-cycle engine, and the best feature of all, hydrostatic drive.  SImply push down on a lever to go. The farther you push it down, the faster you go. For revers, simply pull up on the lever. Completely smooth, no bucking. No gears to grind. Makes me wonder if something like that could be done for cars. (Might be an efficiency issue with a large vehicle)

In any event, this is my 22nd mowing season with this tractor and it almost looks as good as the day I bought it and it runs better than ever. (Now I've jinxed it I'm sure) The grass catcher is usually NOT on since the stopping to empty the bags slows me down.

I had a bit of a fuel leak this year, and while looking up a part number I got into my tractor service records (doesn't everyone keep those??) and flipped past the purchase invoice from back in 1987 when I paid almost $2400 for it. I bought a Nissan 4x4 pickup the same year for about $11,000 and ran it for 90,000 miles, but it's been gone for about 17 years, so the tractor is looking like a better bargain!

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May 18, 2009 - Speeding Along

The economy may be in recovery mode, and the automotive industry may be waiting for a jump start, but according to the Chicago Tribune, auctions of classic cars are drawing record crowds across the nation.

"We simply refuse to participate in the recession," said Dana Mecum, chief executive officer of Mecum Auto Auction.

Entering the weekend, 63 percent of the vehicles were sold, according to Tom Christmann, Mecum's marketing manager. That figure has remained steady from before the collapses on Wall Street and in the housing sector, he said.

"The irony is that there are some bright spots in the economy and the car industry. The passion for the old cars is alive and well," Christmann said.

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Apr 12, 2009 - Ongoing Story?

I was poking around conceptcarz.com this morning and ran across this 1949 Chevrolet GK Styleline Deluxe.

Production of the Chevrolet Styleline began in 1949. It was considered to be among the best-looking GM products produced. Built with precision, the '49 Chevy's also received updated power with the arrival of Powerglide two-speed automatic. This gave the Chevy Six increased displacement along with 15 percent more horsepower.

Though Advertisements at the time indicated that the new Chevrolet Styleline and Fleetline models were ‘more beautiful than ever', very few major changes were found between the 1951 and 1952 models. Previously a once smooth bar, a row of ‘teeth' were found on a newly touched-up grille, along with wider parking lights.
The same as before, the vehicles continued on as before with a 105-horsepower, 235.5-cubic-inch engine for those that came with Powerglide. For manual-shift models, a 92-horsepower, 216.5-cubic-inch rendition of the Stovebold Six was utilized. Stick-shift drivers had to endure solid tappets, while the bigger engined models had hydraulic lifters.
For the last time, a Fleetline two-door fastback was on sale, only in DeLuxe trim. The lineup was basically a duplicate of 1951, four Styleline Special body styles along with 6 Styleline DeLuxes. DeLuxe models were the only units to offer Powerglide, along with updated interiors that were harmonized with body colors.
A total of 84,409 KJ Styleline Special units were produced and sold between $1,530 and $1,670. 671,472 KK Styleline DeLuxe models were sold at a price range of $1,707-2,297. A total of 37,164 KK Fleetline DeLuxes were sold at $1,707.

It's been a  long, strange road from that classic car  to where GM is today. It will be interesting to see where we are 6 weeks from now.

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Nov 23, 2008 - Ship Ahoy!

Another blast from the past, from that era when you could tell what a car was at a glance. We're sort of getting back towards that now on the styling side, but for a while there not only was it hard to tell what year a car was, sometimes it was hard to identify the make when everything looked like a Taurus of a different size.

This is a 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible, Chevy's last big convertible. 8,349 of them were made. It was reasonably priced for the day at $5113, which included rich upholstery, major power assists, and a 175-horsepower 400 V-8 linked to Turbo Hydramatic transmission.

The whitewalls and white convertible top easily caught my camera's eye!

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Jun 6, 2008 - Back In The Day

So you think you know your cars?

If you love a challenge, you should visit the Mystery Car Pix discussion on our Automotive News forum.

As of this writing there are just about 17,000 posts in the discussion with plenty of photos of vehicles to test yourslf on.

Some are relatively easy (at least for those of us of a certain age) like the MGA in the picture. Some are really obscure and some are just those everyday cars of days gone by that have slipped from your memory.

So sharpen your "car watching" skills and bring your own challenges to the group. People are just waiting for you to throw them a curve!

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May 17, 2008 - Ask Dub Schwartz!

Dear Dub,
I've always wanted a classic sports car and now a friend of mine is offering me an MG at a great price. Am I lucky or what?
Douglas Corrigan

At times like this I'm reminded of one of the sonnets from the Bard of Bay Two. I think it's approriate reading for you. 

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Mar 11, 2008 - Other Bubbles

There's been a lot of talk about the housing bubble and the credit crunch.

Looks like we've had a bit of a bubble in the pricing of classic cars as well.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the fallout from the credit crunch and housing market turmoil has reached the garages of classic car collectors. The value of some vehicles has declined by a third from two years ago.

"Many of these cars were built or bought using home equity loans," says Art Spinella, president of CNW Research, a Bandon, Ore. market analysis company.

So is it all that surprising that there's a market correction in the pricing of classic cars? People who are stupid enough to borrow against their home for a hobby deserve everything that comes their way and shouldn't get a bailout from you and me.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

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Jan 27, 2008 - Everything Old Is New Again

So there I was, watching a bit of TV before making a road trip to my daughter's basketball game, when an infomercial comes on for an inversion therapy system.

You know the deal. Suspend yourself upside down and fix your back. I recall it being a bit of a fad in the late 70's so I guess it was time for it to come around again.

We hit the road and about an hour into the trip I come up on a Dodge Rampage which I also haven't seen in about as long.

Sort of an El Camino type of vehicle, but without the performance. The Rampage Concept shown at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show carries the name but really doesn't have that El Camino flavor to it if you ask me.

Recycling of ideas seems a popular concept.  Would an El Camino or Dodge Rampage sell now? One thing's for sure. You can bet someone will try to sell you one!

If obscure vehicles are your thing, try a couple of the discussions in our Automotive News forum.
Mystery Car Pix
I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

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