Classic American February 2022

What will 2022 bring the American car community? Hopefully some great weather, lots of car shows and conditions that will enable us to enjoy our vehicles to their full potential. Sometimes it can feel a bit doom and gloom with all the anti-car legislation flying around, fortunately however, classic cars seem (so far at least) to have escaped the attention of the anti-car legislators. And in reality, that’s understandable, we represent a fraction of the vehicles on the road. Will road pricing become a reality? That seems distinctly possible, as electric vehicle sales surge and the revenue from fuel duties start to dwindle – if that is the case, then I’d hope our vehicles will be exempt from that also. Imagine having to retrofit some sort of battery-draining tracking device to…

Let’s kick 2022 off the way we hope the rest of the year progresses, with a show report! After the sad demise of the Romsey Boxing Day Cruise three years ago, it seemed there was to be no Boxing Day event for classic American car owners to take their cars along to. However, it seems there’s a new event in town: Glenn ‘The G-Man’ Blake got in touch with Classic American about Hayling Hotrods at the Beach and its first Boxing Day show: “Even though the weather was inclement, that didn’t stop 52 American/kustom/classic cars and hot rods turning up on the day, alongside more than 60 motorcycles to make the meet a very successful one and saw Carol Rule take The G-Man’s trophy in her beautiful newly finished ’69…

Classic American contributor Zack Stiling has his beady eyes on auctions, sale listings, eBay… you name it, he’s on the lookout for interesting American vehicles up for sale or auction. Spotted on Car and Classic’s auction site was this Elvis-owned 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, which is located in Sweden with the current owner/ vendor. It would almost definitely be something that would appeal to an Elvis fan more than a car fan, as the vehicle is not only a bit of a taste crime – hailing as it does from Cadillac’s very own ‘Elvis-in-Vegas’ era – but also has a rather tired interior. Along with its green crushed velour interior and cracked interior door panels, and interior trim, it also sports a monstrous ‘Shorty-the-Pimp’ style Rolls-Royce-esque grille with goddess ornament. Ordered…

Damp and cold with condensation fogging up your glasses isn’t the best way to assess the condition of any old car you might fancy buying, yet many American car enthusiasts still braved the mid-December rain to visit Bonhams’ MPH December auction. For within the cold, dark – very dark – confines of Bicester Heritage’s Hangar 13 lurked a number of unusual classics. Star of the show was a Lemon Twist yellow Plymouth Superbird. Released from three decades in a barn, its dented passenger front wing didn’t deter someone from paying £90,000 (plus the additional 12.5% buyer’s premium) for the 440cu in, four-speed, matching numbers car with its appropriate PLR440 number plate. Also sporting a dented front fender was an otherwise decent 1963 Thunderbird coupe which may well have been Rose Beige…

We are sad to report that another of America’s racing greats, Al Unser Snr., has passed away at the age of 82 at his home in Chama, New Mexico. He had been bravely battling cancer for the last 17 years. In May last year, his older brother Bobby died at 87. They were both part of what became known as the Unser family racing dynasty. Al’s two uncles, his two brothers and his son, Al Unser Jnr., were all top-level racers. Uncle Joe and eldest brother Jerry were both killed racing. Bobby won the Indy 500 three times in ’68, ’75 and ’81 and Al Jnr. won in ’92 and ’94. Al however trumped them all. He won the great race four times in 1970, ‘71, ‘78 and ’87. He…

The last 18 months have proved to be a very strange time for most of us. Covid-19 upended just about everybody and certainly when it came to business and commerce, things were literally turned on their head. The motor industry was no exception. In North America at least, the first ripples were felt when auto manufacturers either slowed or temporarily suspended vehicle production in an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. On the retail side, a number of jurisdictions forced dealer showrooms to close and service departments/independent repair shops to modify practices to limit physical contact between staff and customers. Given how technology has advanced over the last couple of decades this enabled new sales and service processes to be adopted, including things like virtual showrooms and online…