Hemmings Motor News April 2021

a greasy, smoky fog of SAE 80W-90 as the oil hit the hot straight pipes. Our one-and-only run at Mexico’s La Carrera Panamericana rally was over. Just. Like. That. Back home in the Northeast after a three-or four-day haul, my hobbled ’61 Impala limped off the trailer. It was obvious that the rear axle’s innards had devoured themselves. What wasn’t as obvious was the carnage I’d inflicted. I fished the differential carrier out of the front of the housing to discover a nice neat hole — a little larger than a quarter — blown through the cast-iron case. The pinion bearing had unraveled and the pinion gear started ramming into the ring gear, mortar-and-pestle style. During the violence, a tooth broke off the pinion gear and shot through the side of…

“…most of us are limited by budget and skill from really pushing our cars…” In the second Dirty Harry movie, Magnum Force, the original vigilante cop somehow becomes an anti-vigilante… by taking the law into his own hands. It’s a Seventies movie, so everyone’s just some sort of antihero to a certain degree. The important takeaway from any Dirty Harry movie, of course, is the catchphrase. In Magnum Force, that line is, “A man’s got to know his limitations,” said for the final time as Dirty Harry watches Hal Holbrook get blown up in his police-issue LTD. Every driver who’s ever tackled a back road, a road course, or really any other kind of venue that encourages him or her to push a car to its limits really ought to heed Detective Callahan’s…

I was immediately attracted to the article “1961 Oldsmobile Starfire” under the Car Corral section of the January issue. A high-school buddy had a white 1961 Starfire back in 1968 that was given to him by his parents. Man, we had some wild times in that car! I was in love with it, even though I had a 1962 Galaxie with the 352, which was a dog compared to that Starfire. I lusted after one of my own for many years. After raising four kids and getting them through college (successfully!), I convinced my wife it was time. I went to an auction in Iola, Wisconsin, but a beautiful all-original black Starfire went way beyond my budget. A couple years later, I met the fire chief from a small city in Wisconsin…

EVENT NEWS 2021 Amelia Island Concours postponed Each year in early March, automotive enthusiasts from around the globe descend on Amelia Island, Florida, to attend what has become the quasi-official start of car show season: the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Things will be a bit different in 2021, as the event has been pushed back to May 20-23, in hopes that COVID-19 vaccine distribution will have slowed the spread of the coronavirus by then. In 2020, the Amelia had the distinction of being the last major automotive event held before the world went into lockdown. As plans began to unfold for this year’s event, the Amelia staff announced that additional steps would be taken to ensure participant and visitor safety, such as reducing the number of tickets sold, moving seminars outdoors to the…

Engine 241.3-cu.in. Red Ram hemi V-8 Horsepower 150 @ 4,400 rpm with two-barrel, estimated 170 with optional four-barrel Torque 222 lb-ft @ 2,400 Transmission PowerFlite two-speed automatic Rear axle 3.90:1 hypoid gears, semi-floating axles Tires 7.10 x 15 Wheels 15 x 6-inch steel, wire Wheelbase 114 inches Shipping weight 3,355 pounds (approximate) Total production 3,852 Royal Sport Coupes, unkown with paint-and-trim upgrade Base price new $2,503, not including paint-and-trim upgrade 2021 equivalent $24,237…

Special paint and trim packages can aid in energizing sales, and springtime releases arrive at just about the time when customers may begin to wonder if they should wait for next year’s offerings instead of buying now. As rumors start to swirl regarding the upcoming advances and shiny new shapes, anything that directs attention back to the existing models the dealers are already prepared to sell is a benefit to the automaker’s bottom line. Dodge’s 1954 Royal Sport Coupe was infused with a midseason paint and trim facelift via “two-tone flair styling,” according to the single ad we could find. Bright new colors of Spanish Coral and Saratoga White were delineated by a revised trim design that appeared to foretell the styling direction of the 1955 models, but without the actual…