Part 2 from Duncan Foreign cars from a visit in the past.
I got a few inquires why I have been posting events, museums and shows from the past and I owed an explanation; the quick answer is I have had some personal issues that have prevented all the travel I was doing in the last 4 years and limited my ability to walk the large shows anyway.
I am not sure this will change, but rest assured I have many shows and museums from the past years I never posted so stick with me!
I got a few inquires why I have been posting events, museums and shows from the past and I owed an explanation; the quick answer is I have had some personal issues that have prevented all the travel I was doing in the last 4 years and limited my ability to walk the large shows anyway.
I am not sure this will change, but rest assured I have many shows and museums from the past years I never posted so stick with me!
Yes three buildings and a huge parking lot to amaze all!
Did I mention the wildly ornamented funeral cars from japan?
Wild huh?
I never thought about some of these being collector cars one day, but I have to admit kind of nice to see them again!
Yes this is a Datsun!
I can't forget the Z car series! Not a Z skipped!
The VW thing was really a retro German military vehicle
Well close enough to a Kubelwagon
Some of VW's maybe lost in time to most!
Like I said nice to see all of these again
Maybe most do not know that Acura only exists in the USA like this HONDA NSX right hand drive from Japan. I think most of the USA Acura bodies are the Honda's in Japan
It is always funny to see how small the 1st Honda cars were in the USA like this Civic
Not many Toyota LC pickups in the US
Ok "shooshie" he has plenty of USA cars too
You have to love this high end high MPG Pinto?
Lincoln Line
Can you say Neoclassical nightmare, repeat after me.....
Caddy Country
Honda S2000's
The new Allante!
One of them odd little Buicks
You knew it was a V10, I know
Did I neglect to mention most of these cars are original low mileage?
Got to Luv a Chevy Luv
The Mikado edition! An 1885 comic Japanese Opera, huh? The emperor of Japan, huh?
These sedan limos look fake!
The earliest mini truck?
Wow I wanted this one for my own! 1955 Chrysler
What a nice Fury!
A little hot rod
A little 50's custom
He has a Woodie!
Did I mention the parking lot?
The amount of effort to get them into the USA makes me ask who is buying these things like Japanese fire trucks?
I lost all track of what everything was, I was still in awe!
Hey look a Figaro
A Renault Alpine!
Never seen one!
Did I mention the Figaros?
Who is buying all these Right Hand Drive oddities in the USA?
Regardless it was a very cool stop and unusual to say the least!
CARHUNTER has a certain warm spot for Packard's and Studebaker's since they are both gone even though they became one company in the end.
Try your own survey and see how many of your car friends know what a Studebaker Daytona is?
Almost stylish, maybe in it's swan song year of 1966 which officially was the last production year of Studebaker. The South Bend Indiana Assembly plant had closed in 1964 and the last 2 years were built in Canada
When Us operations ceased the Canadians also lost an engine source so they went to McKinnon of Canada which still holds some shroud of rumor filled special parts listings! McKinnon was really just a subsidiary of Chevrolet and built Chevy small block V8's and Sixes above the border. The scuttlebutt is that they were commercial grade 283's with forged cranks and maybe a little tougher than our US versions?
The last 2 years of Studebaker were powered by 6 Cylinder and V8 Chevrolet engines with the latter called Thunderbolts!
Why they chose to go through the trouble of sourcing adapters from the Checker Cab company to once again use the Borg Warner 2 speed automatics is beyond me when they could have just used a simple Powerglide GM 2 speed is a mystery! That damn Borg Warner had many names depending on where it was bolted in like Cruisomatic, Mercomatic, but what always makes me laugh is they call it a 3 speed I think because of 2 reasons; the R (reverse) is all the way to the right making it look like 3 forward gear choices or some had a dual range which meant you could start off in one of 2 positions of which one was a low gear. Ultimately you still only had 2 forward speeds it shifted once, only once!!
This recent auction offering which was a really a bargain even listed the transmission as 3 speed auto, got to laugh, but look at that Dana 44 axle out back! There was an earlier "R" series power plant which touted a supercharged Avanti motor as well.
It is very hard not to branch out very quickly from one subject to an entirely different one when dealing with cars so I am going to leave the links up to the reader to go further if desired
Pietro Frua choose a Studebaker as the platform for a restyled Italian car which seemed odd!
In America during the 60's we would look to Italy and France to spice up our style, but not only in the fashion world!
It is said 5 maybe 6 were built with only 2 still surviving today!
The 2 door was never produced.
Right under our noses we saw concept cars of Italian breeding like the Thunderbird Italien
Hudson Italia, which went into a limited production
Even the Brits were influenced with a Triumph Italia
I can gamble that many people never connected the most pedestrian Italian car of all, The Karmann Ghia was a Volkswagen with a Ghia designed body in full production!
Swedish Designed, but Italian built with influence's from Pietro Frua's studio a Volvo P1800
Maybe completely un-noticed a Volvo 262C Bertone (of Italy)
Based on the 242 series
Who would think the conservative Swedish would infuse some Italian Style in what was always considered a boxy safe car?
Maybe you never noticed the Volvo 780 Bertone of Italy
First let me say two things; The Ford XP Bordinat Concept car is alive and well, also there were a few more well known concepts in the series that we are going to hold for another blog.
What you see is a car that was created for the personal usage of Gene Bordinat who was a styling executive for Ford who wanted a version of the Cougar II for himself it is reported. Sometimes referred to with the Cobra name.
A 289 and C4 auto was used in the roadster
The body used a vacuum form method made from a new material called Royalex and rumor was 2 more bodies were made and disappeared.
As always I give the reader a chance to enhance their knowledge of Royalex if they want https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalex
That bubble means it was in Detroit History Museums oddly crazy collection of cars in a big warehouse.
That bubble means it was in Detroit History Museums oddly crazy collection of cars in a big warehouse.
Seen at a recent display it is noteworthy to mention it is in original unrestored condition having been driven by Bordinat only a few years. Seen next to a Cobra as this car used the first coil sprung Cobra Chassis.
This next picture is a real eye opener because that is the Cougar II Concept car from the X program that inspired the build of this unique car!
You can see the kinship of the 2 in this view and you have to wonder if Ford missed out by not producing some of the X Cars?
Both cars were missing for years and turned up in that warehouse in Detroit intact and in great shape!
George Barris in the house again, he created the Sonny and Cher "His and Hers" Mustangs!
Ok CARHUNTER is not the biggest fan of Barris's work and these two don't disappoint that opinion!
Again only an address was altered and the ad appeared exactly as I pasted it here, it is real!
A Boat, but worthy of a post!
I have never put it in water, so I don't know if it
floats or leaks. Tires have some dry rot, which some consider dangerous; I
don't.
To find it, print out the attached map, or type "2340 xxxxxx Rd" into google navigator and then go 400 yards ENE. Step over the shiny chain and follow under the electric wire past the steep drive. If challenged, have my name and phone number ready. You can see it alone most any time during daylight, but I can only meet you there occasionally. If you can't find it with the map, give up. Don't call me for directions because I can't improve on the map. I also can't make appointments to show it due to too many no shows. The best I can do is guess at when I might be there anyway.
To find it, print out the attached map, or type "2340 xxxxxx Rd" into google navigator and then go 400 yards ENE. Step over the shiny chain and follow under the electric wire past the steep drive. If challenged, have my name and phone number ready. You can see it alone most any time during daylight, but I can only meet you there occasionally. If you can't find it with the map, give up. Don't call me for directions because I can't improve on the map. I also can't make appointments to show it due to too many no shows. The best I can do is guess at when I might be there anyway.
Some studebaker owners remove a spring in the Borg Warner transmission, and then it will operate as a three speed, starting in low, then going to second and third.
ReplyDeleteIf kept as it came from the factory, it starts in second and goes to third, and you only can get into low by pulling the lever to L. My Hawk has not had the conversion, but I can make it work like a three speed by starting in low, and moving the selector to D after the car gets moving. Dumb, huh?
Exciting read
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