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My work has appeared in a number of major publications either as writer, photographer, or source. I enjoy talking about all things automotive. Recent Posts
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CarSpace Hudson's BlogAll around the car world there are stories and these are just a few of them. A new blog is posted every Monday. Sometimes more often. Jan 21, 2008 - Car AuctionsIt's that week again. That week in January where I plop myself down in front of the tube with an A-Treat soda in one hand, pretzel sticks in the other, and both eyes glued to the Speed Channel for another 40 hours of auction coverage...the Barrett-Jackson auction from Scottsdale. Back in 1990, FNN (the Financial News Network...now CNBC) covered this auction for one Sunday afternoon and it was wonderful. Watching some of my dream cars like the Ford GT40 roll across the block and sell for, as I recall, right around a million dollars each; there were two that sold to the same person for a combined total of $1.9 million. And this was in the days before the Muscle Car boom. Now the true classics and exotics have been replaced by 1950s American classics and 1960s muscle cars. It's still an exciting event, especially now with SIX DAYS of coverage. But I wish the hosts were better at describing the vehicles (they sometimes don't know details that they should know before the car reaches the auction block like what engine's under the hood) and I wish the directors showed more cars instead of long boom shots of people parading in and out of the auction. And I wish the vehicles were more interesting. Sure, a Hemi Cuda is a great car just like a Yenko Nova or a Shelby Mustang. But on TV, it's just a Plymouth or Chevrolet or Ford. The occasional Packard or Kaiser Darrin or pre-War anything stands out above these modern vehicles that were basically everyday drivers with rare powertrains. But this weekend, I actually got up from my easy chair to see a live auction. Not too far from home, an auction featuring a variety of oddball and interesting vehicles was held. About 60 vehicles in all were there. And not one featured a 426cid Hemi V8. Actually some of them featured engines with substantially less than 60 cubic inches of displacement. I don't get up early for many things, but a good car event will make be part from my bed. And this one required that I get up around six...something I don't even do for work. The early start was required to see the auction items before the 9 o'clock sale. We arrived at the auction site only to find that the cars were at another site about a mile away. We checked out the parts and automobilia that was on sale which numbered in the thousands! There were pallets and crates of stuff...parts and tools and supplies collected over many decades. Steering wheels in various states and doors dating back to the 1920s and various parts that only a model specific expert would be able to identify. After quickly checking out the parts, we headed across town to where the vehicles were stored. The Hatfield Auto Museum had about 50 cars on display and ready for auction. Only two or three looked to be in a state to be driven away and the rest would have had to have been hauled. The relatively common vehicles were a late-1990s Ford Taurus SHO, 1970s-vintage Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and a 1960s Mercury Comet Caliente. Oh, and there were the two Volkswagen Beetles, two Volkswagen Buses, and one Volkswagen Vanagon, none of which could be driven in their current state. But the reason I was there was to see the oddball cars. And this place had them: four Isettas, two Bianchinas, a Saab Sonnet III, no fewer than seven "bugeye" Austin-Healey Sprites, a Mini Moke, a Goggomobil, and a Austin Bantam van, just to name a few. Oh, I was in heaven. Maybe it wasn't heaven since I would have bought one or ten in my heaven, but it was a fun Saturday afternoon. If you're a fan of odd little cars, check out my pictures from the auction. I'm trying to find out what some of these vehicles sold for but I'm not entirely sure if I want to know. What if I should have purchased one? The license plates at the auction site which ranged from Connecticut to Virginia and the fact that the auction was being offered on eBay as well makes me think that nothing went cheap.
Aug 26, 2007 - Oddballs and OrphansWalk down the rows of cars at any large car show and you’ll see the same cars. Not usually the actual same cars, but typically the standard models and model years show up at every car show. Go to a hot rod show and you’ll see Model T Fords and 1930s-era Fords, Chevrolets, Dodges, and Willys coupes. Go to the usual old car show and the usual old cars show up including ’55-57 Chevrolets and ’65-66 Mustangs and early Camaros and Corvettes of all vintages. And even “late-model” cruise nights have the same groups of Fox-bodied Mustangs and third-and fourth-generation Camaros and Firebirds as well as the occasional hopped-up Honda Civic or Acura Integra or Mazda RX7. It’s oh-so-predictable. When I go to a car show, I always look for the oddballs. I’ll notice the crowds gathered around better-than-new classic Chevrolets or Fords where the discussion is about “a buddy of mine had one” or “my dad drove one of these.” Reminiscing like that is great and I’m glad they enjoy that. It doesn’t help that I had a car before any of my buddies did when I was younger. It also doesn’t help that none of my buddies (or my father for that matter) were “car people.” And when my buddies did get their first cars, they were 1967 Ford F-Series pickups or 1978 Chevrolet Monzas or 1979 Chrysler Cordobas…nothing to write home about. Even my first car was not noteworthy. Over the years, my taste in cars has become more honed. I still like almost anything on four wheels…and sometimes that criterion is not locked in. But to arouse my attention, you need to dangle something different and odd in front of my face. A few weeks ago, I was walking to my car after a day of car judging when I noticed two guys ogling a car. It was a very nice late model Aston Martin but they were overlooking the Sunbeam Imp sitting right next to it. I asked the guys standing there, “sure it’s a $150,000 Aston Martin, but does it hold a candle to a classic Sunbeam?” They laughed. Sure, the Aston Martin is very rare, but when was the last time you even saw a picture of a Sunbeam car? If you go through my photographs, you'll see some oddballs and orphans. The stranger the better is my opinion. And a really good car show, in my view, is one where there are models and brands of cars that I have never seen in person. Most concours events will have beautiful and rare cars of the Classic era. Duesenbergs and Bugattis and Hispano-Suizas and the like. The engineering on these vehicles can only be rivaled by the spectacular coachwork build atop their large frames. They definitely catch the attention of all attendees, and I am among the people impressed by the craftsmanship that went into them. But I'm looking for real oddballs. Ever see an El Morocco? There were 27 built in 1956 and 10 built in 1957. I had read about these in books, but it was a concours event that I attended a number of years ago where I first saw one in person. To most people, it just looks like a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, but Chevrolet fanatics will note that the grille has less trim and the tail fins are from a Cadillac. And it's not badged as a Chevrolet...it is an El Morocco. A friend of mine and I had a discussion about rare vehicles we've seen. He stated that he had worked on or seen at shows a high percentage of the total production of MGA fixed head coupes. His percentage was around 1% of the 1,000 built, which is impressive. My reply was that I had personally seen six of the about 40 Vectors ever built. That's the kind of thing a fan of oddballs looks for...rarity. During a tour of a restoration shop, I spotted an old chassis. The large car had a milled block straight-eight engine and obviously dated to the 1920s or early 1930s. Since it had no body, I guessed that it was a sports car of the era. My tour guide filled me in on this rarity. He said it was a Pedroso. I pride myself on knowing many different (and rare) brand names, but this one had me stumped. He continued that Pedrosos were built to race (at LeMans, if memory serves corrrectly). And there were TWO built. One of the two sank with a ship crossing the Atlantic and this was the sole survivor. A few years later, I was part of a tour of the storage room at the Petersen Museum when our tour guide unveiled a car that had everyone (mostly seasoned historians) mystified. The tour guide told us that this was a Pedroso, and it turned out that it was the same car I had seen years before but now with its body attached. As recently as today, my friend and I were surfing ebay in the "others" category for these types of oddities. He sent me a listing for a Muntz Jet and then wondered how rare it was. According to my research, the numbers are disputed by it seems that fewer than 200 were built and fewer than 50 have been located. And all of this just makes he and I want the car more. I've snapped pictures of AMC Spirits and Kaiser Darrins found at car shows, primarily because they stand out as orphans, which makes them stand out among the Ford Thunderbirds and Chevrolet Corvettes that seem to populate most car shows. But when I find a Checker Superba or Zimmer Golden Spirit or a Walter truck, I have found a memorable car show. Come to a car show with me...let's find some of these treasures!
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