Topless Americana

TOPLESS AMERICANA

Robin from Omaha sent in these pics over a year ago. I don't remember exactly but I think he might have been visiting some friends along the southern shore of Long Island. Regardless, look at this all-American beauty!

This is a 1966 Chevy Corvette convertible in some aftermarket blue (the closest factory color I could find was Marina Blue but that's not as dark). These mid-'60s 'vettes are some the of the quintessential years of the brand.

Dig this long nose with the hideaway headlights. The engine would originally have been a 327 V8. There was a 427 available as well but the hood would have a prominent bulge just to fit it.

This is one athletic, sexy ride. As with all Corvettes the body is fiberglass, engine up front, and drive wheels in the rear. The big wheel wells and rounded fenders make this thing look like it's going to pounce at any second. Those rims are from a late '70s 'vette.

Behold one of the worst gas cap placements for paint jobs ever - right in the middle of the trunk! This flip-up fuel door looks super cool, but dripping on the body is pretty much guaranteed.
That body-width line above the gas cap is the hinge side of a lid covering the space where the convertible top lives when you lower it. To access that hidden well you simply lift up on the rear edge of the top which will disengage and swing forward. Then there is a button under the front of the lid behind the seats to unlock the lid. It opens to the rear, allowing for the entire top to fold back into the space behind the seats. When you close it again the look is sleek as the top is completely hidden.

1965 and 1966 Corvettes were almost identical from the outside but there is one telltale clue: the Corvette script on the front driver's side of the hood means it is a '66. The '67 looked similar but those 3 big gills on the side would be 5 smaller ones. If this were a 1964 'vette there would be two indentations on the hood on either side of that middle spear. 

This is a perfect example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". The 1965 Corvette sold like crazy. Then this 1966 comes along with basically zero changes and it continues to sell like nobody's business. The combination of lightweight, sexy body and enormous motor proved irresistible to the public. The next generation would come along in 1968 looking like a mako shark. It would continue all the way up into the '80s, proving that Chevy had a real winner on their hands for decades. 

The weirdest, greatest supercar you'll ever see

C'EST MAGNIFIQUE!

Robin of Omaha recently sent these pics of a true oddity. Even in stellar condition its not surprising to see this ride hunkered down at the mechanic as it is fearsomely complicated. Behold!

This is a 1972-1973 Citroën SM in Jaune Bouton d'Or (also known as Buttercup Yellow). This thing was so ahead of its time that it shouldn't even be gauged against other automotive makes.
While we're staring this thing in the face let's talk about the main visual difference between the European and U.S. models. In France the SM had 6 square headlights placed behind angled glass like the middle panel above. Also in France the headlights turned with the front wheels! The glass cover and turning ability of the lights were both illegal in the U.S. which is why we can't have nice things. 

Just look at this strange creature. It could be from outer space or the depths of the ocean. The body is extremely aerodynamic which helped take advantage of perhaps the most incredible feature of the SM: it came from the factory with a Maserati V6 motor under the hood!
Those wheels are steel with stainless trim. If you preferred a lighter weight rim they offered a first-ever carbon fiber resin wheel option. As long as this thing is it won all kinds of rallies and races when introduced. When it hit these shores it won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award, a rarity for a non-domestic model at the time.

Top speed from the factory was listed at 140mph; no small feat for an early '70s luxury touring car. It is fitted with the self leveling hydro-pneumatic suspension that was made famous by the earlier DS. Four wheel disc brakes provided for the shortest stopping distance of any car tested up to that point. The suspension system was set up so that under hard braking the car would lower evenly.

The styling is so awesomely French!
Supposedly you could drive this car for hours at 120mph with no discomfort, achieving 19 mpg the whole time. The steering took some serious getting used to however. It is a unique variable powered assist that allowed for no road feel at all. Citroën recommended 50 miles of careful driving to get used to the steering as it was so sensitive. I've never driven (or ridden) in one of these but accounts are that once you get over the learning curve other cars feel archaic and old fashioned to steer.

To add to the futurism the windshield wipers detect rain when set to the lowest setting and will turn on and off as needed. This is a feature just becoming more common now. If we could pop the hood you would see a bizarre sight; a pair of honeydew melon sized spheres painted forest green are on the top sides of the motor, attached to two green tanks. They are the hydro-pneumatic suspension components but they look crazy to the uninitiated.
This car came about because Citroën bought Maserati in 1968 and they decided to marry the high performance motor to this design which was already years in the making. Unfortunately that means maintaining one of these involves a Maserati specialist and a Citroën mechanic.
The lovely sensualists of France underestimated the immovable and indifferent federal safety regulators of the U.S. and assumed they would get an exemption to the 5mph crash safety bumper regulations coming due in 1974. They did not and as a result the SM stopped being imported overnight. It is a shame as this car represented a bright future in automotive design where speed, efficiency, and pure style could work in harmony. Instead we kept producing bloated dinosaurs until the industry almost totally collapsed at the end of the decade.
Viva la France (and Italy)!

The greatest wrong car at the wrong time

E FOR EXPERIMENTAL, EDSEL, AND EXTINCT

Big thanks to Neen from the Empire Region who sent these lovely snaps in of a landmark footnote brightening up a driveway in Glens Falls, NY!
There are a few automobiles in history that have a reputation that transcends reality. Not every Ford Pinto is going to explode if hit in the rear. Not every Rolls Royce is a great car (I'm looking at you, Carmague). The hardest sell to the general public will be this statement: The Edsel is not and never was a bad car!

This is a 1958 Edsel Pacer in two-tone Snow White over Spruce Green Poly. This beast is a Greatest Hits of late '50s styling; flashy chrome, tall and wide shape, and Jet Age features like the head and tail lights jutting out in their own enclosures. Still there is one big, rounded design elephant in the room that the public couldn't see past. 

That wide open Horse Collar center grill looks like a jet engine intake to me, and I'm sure that was the intention of the lead designers. I don't know if it was too advanced or too ugly, but once an auto journalist proclaimed that it looked "like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon", that's all the public could see.

Horse collar was one commonly used term, toilet seat was another. Regardless this center grill opening proved too daring for 1958. The following year would see this same basic look toned way down. The 1959 Edsel had no space between the three grill components and the center collar was much smaller. The hood ornament is an E suspended in glass which is a neat look.
*E was the given name for this ride while it was in development, standing for Experimental. After a committee within Ford tossed around dozens of potential names they chose Edsel. The name proved too hard to place for the public, one of the many missteps in this sad story.

The dimensions are pure Ford of this era. This one is as minty fresh as can be! The fit and finish where the grill and headlight surrounds meet the body is flawless. That chrome spear running along the fender is laser straight. Everything about this Edsel says "show winner".

The shape of the vent window shows just how far the wrap-around windshield goes. That green upholstery is perfect and correct.
The Edsel was the most expensive car to build up to that point at 250 million dollars just in research and design. This made it all the more tragic once it was deemed a flop after just 2 years (not to mention it takes its name from Edsel Ford; son of the company founder Henry Ford.

All that design money went into myriad innovations, some of them downright bonkers. For instance take a look at the center of the steering wheel. Where 99% of auto makers put the horn the '58 Edsel had their Teletouch system; a push button automatic transmission. That's all fine and good when operating under normal conditions, but when you truly need the horn you're instead slamming your palm into a cluster of buttons, throwing the car out of gear in the process! As you might imagine this lasted only 1 year before switching to a traditional column shifter.

Another cool feature was the speedometer which is barely visible in the pic above. Through the vent window there is a round dial identical to the one on the other side of the wheel. Above that dial you can just about see what looks to be a glass dome laying flat with a chrome band along the bottom. Within that dome is a round speedometer where the numbers are written around the angled edge. The inner dome would circle around while the needle was stationary. 

From this angle all we see is a beautiful 1950s sedan with its two-tone cove and rear panel.

The wheel wells lean forward giving the impression of movement. The trunk is gargantuan!

Unfortunately the Edsel was such a horrific disaster that its name became synonymous with failure. Not only did it look odd, but it was released into the now-forgotten mini recession of 1958. They never had their own dedicated factory, with Edsel being built in Ford and Mercury plants, usually at the same time. Imagine assembling 30 Mercurys in a row and then 3 Edsels come along on the assembly line! As a worker you have to grab the necessary tools for the Edsel out of another bin, perform your tasks, and then switch back to your usual Mercury gear. As a result there was great variation in build quality.
I had an Edsel once. When I was home from college I passed by a 1959 Edsel Ranger 2 door with $450 written on the windshield. Being a '59 it wasn't quite as odd as the '58 but it still captured everyones imagination who saw it. Registering it involved forging the signature of a man who'd been dead over 10 years as it had been sold several times but never registered after the 1st owner. My ownership of this heavily neglected beast was brief but entertaining. One day while driving I realized there was a mini pedal under the dash to the right of the accelerator. I stepped on it and the windshield wipers moved once! A great and forgotten feature from a maligned and wrongly accused car.

This is the tuned car.

This is the tuned car.

My friends have been outpacing me drastically with the automotive finds and today is no different! Robin of Omaha recently stumbled upon a brace of beautiful Buicks:

This is a 1966 Buick Riviera in what seems to be an aftermarket two-tone graphite over black with a fearsome red stripe dividing the colors. The reason we know this is a '66 as opposed to the almost-identical '67 is the fact that those angled square lenses on the sides do not have a horizontal bar going down the middle of them. Even though they're large those are just the turn signals on the sides. This ride has 4 headlights hidden concealed in the grill. When they're open they look a bit crowded in there to me.

This ride is largely the same as the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado of the same year. However unlike the others the Riviera is a traditional rear wheel drive car. This is the final year for the venerable Buick Nailhead motor, this one a 425 V8.

Obviously the lines on this ride are fantastic and dramatic! The rear roofline swooping down to frame the trunk makes this beast seem like it's moving while standing still.
*Notice the lack of little vent windows! This is the first year since the '30s that a Buick didn't have them.

This is an evil ride with the black bumpers (something I usually frown upon). The vents beneath the back window are where the air exits the cabin as a part of the fresh air system.

Right next to the '66 is this 1967 Riviera with its tell tale horizontal turn signal bars. This is a mild custom like its brethren so the chrome hood trim has been shaved. 

I couldn't find any proof of two-tone Rivieras from the factory but this is a pretty common restoration choice. The mirrors on this ride are later replacements (the other ride has the correct driver-only chrome unit). 

I dig this roofline without the vinyl roof too. The wheels on both rides work really well. Both of these have the optional bucket seat interior essentially making them 4 seaters.

Somebody added a little pin striping to this ride.

1967 saw a new engine for Buick; the 430 V8 good for 360 horsepower and a whopping 475lbs of torque! Even at a weight of over 2 tons it was enough to move this beast around with alacrity. 

Buick (and indeed all of GM) was riding high through the '60s and they were understandably proud of the Riviera. It was touted as the "Tuned car" in their literature. In fact the entire opening paragraph is so assured that I'm going to close it out with this quote:
"We regret to destroy (again) the old theory that great road machines always come from Europe. But this one comes from exotic, far away Flint, Michigan - home of Buick, home of the Tuned car."

How about a classy offshoot from the FDR era?

LaSalle by Cadillac

This post is proof that you never know what you'll see driving down the byways of the boroughs. I was way out in Marine Park when I saw this beauty parked in front of an old school Italian joint:

Yes! This is a 1939 LaSalle Series 50 2 door sedan in some sort of recent Burgundy. LaSalle was a short lived affiliate of Cadillac that shared many of the components as well as the overall luxury feel. However there wasn't a Caddy paint color anything like this and I can't for the life of me find any reference to LaSalle color codes.

Check out those torpedo headlight buckets! This car is dripping with sweet '30s style; everything is stretched and streamlined to a curved point (this was when most streamlining was for looks as opposed to aerodynamics, Chrysler/DeSoto notwithstanding). The center grill flanked by the two more on the sides is clearly a Cadillac feature. Those grumpy and beat-down fog lights on the bumper are original believe it or not.

The 2 door sedan refers to the long rear quarter windows which do roll down. The 2 door coupe had a much shorter rear roof section with pop-out windows.
*I think its safe to say this belongs to Salvi as opposed to FRANK'S.

The trunk, while built in to the body, still alludes to a decade earlier when there was an actual steamer trunk lashed onto a shelf. I've seen the spare tire in a LaSalle like this and it is laying on the right side of the trunk floor with a shelf on top. Believe me storage is still plentiful. 

This car had an unbelievable option available when built; a sunroof! It was known as the Sunshine Turret Top but we would recognize it today. Reverse lights are still decades off.

LaSalle debuted in 1927 as a subdivision of Cadillac. They would continue through the length of the Great Depression only to drop off after the 1940 model year. Such a shame to trudge through that decade as a luxury producer only to get shut down, but hey - talk to Packard, Studebaker, DeSoto, Maxwell, and all the others to see how they feel. The history of the automobile is littered with hundreds (probably thousands) of false starts.

A V8 engine! This was the 5.3 liter 322 from Cadillac. Even back in '39 it was known for smooth power at a whisper quiet level. The only transmission was a column mounted 3 speed manual.

Here we can see that the rear fenders are almost entirely incorporated into the body. After decades the appendages were disappearing like the feet of a tadpole.

When you're standing next to this beauty you realize how tall it is. We're used to steeping down into cars today but with this beast you climb in.

I almost missed this sweet detail; La S is in the middle of the hubcap in an art deco moment.
The brochure tagline for the 1940 LaSalle went like this: "LaSALLE is built by CADILLAC and that's the finest recommendation any car could have". 

Alright who doesn't knock back a Haagen Dazs bar when driving a classic show car?
The curtain is being pulled back a bit with this shot as that steering wheel says APOLLO on it. I'm assuming from the vintage of that wheel that the drivetrain (or at least front end) has been changed to Buick's version of the Chevy Nova. Whatever allows you to fire this thing up and drive with ease is worth it in my opinion. 

One detail that is unique for cars of this era is the hood. As huge as it is it opens conventionally with a hinge in the rear. Most rides this old have a central hinge running down the middle and the hood would open up on each side like wings.

Well that's where I'll leave this 78 year old ride. Those little square orange lights mounted on top of the headlight buckets are a mystery but I'm not against adding basic safety items to a car driving in modern traffic. The antenna implies that there's a radio inside which is pretty cool. For the most part if you have a vehicle with this much age and presence but manage to use it regularly you are my hero. Hats off to you LaSalle owner!

What do you get when you mix a deadly viper with a fox? COBRA!

HISSSSSSSSS! DEADLY COBRA STRIKES!

Yesterday I featured a faded raspberry Mustang GT from the early '80s. Providence Pete snapped these pics recently and sent them along to me. This is the exact model that yesterdays GT replaced!

This is a 1979 Ford Mustang Cobra in White with a fantastically awesome decal on the hood. We know it's a '79 due to this egg crate grill that lasted for only 1 year.

Turbo?!? Yes indeed Ford got into the turbocharging game along with GM at the end of the Malaise Era. In this case it's a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. The overall horsepower was a low 117 with only 135 lbs of torque. This was not a sprightly car by any stretch, reaching a top speed of only 112mph! However the 5.0 liter 302 V8 available for this year was detuned and lethargic, sipping too much gas through its carb while delivering a pitiful 140 horsepower. Top speed on the V8 was just 120mph (116 with the auto trans). The one thing the Turbo Cobra delivered was better gas mileage.  

These Fox Body Mustangs are looking better by the year though. The crisp, angular styling is pre-'80s appropriate without being too severe. I dig the original rims on this ride too. Every '79 Cobra had the bottom half of the body and bumpers blacked out like this.

The Cobra option package added a cool $1,200 to the base price of the Mustang; no small cost in 1979. That decal on the hood didn't even come with it but was an additional $78. How could you not order it if you were already ordering the Cobra package?

Inside we see the floor mounted 4 speed manual transmission. It looks like this not only has an 8 track player installed, but there's a tape hanging out of it too! The steering wheel is sporty enough but that center cap is not where the horn is located. Like the Fairmont the horn is activated by pressing the turn signal stalk in towards the column. Frustrating in an actual emergency to be slamming on the steering wheel in silent fury!

Who knows why this car is so immaculate? It's not the sort of classic that will give you a big return on your investment if you restore it. There might be a clue in this pic though; even though the original purchaser opted for a rear window wiper there doesn't seem to be a rear defroster on the glass. My guess is that this car comes from somewhere warm and dry like SoCal.

Another 1 year only Cobra detail are the lower headrests on the front seats. Starting in '80 they were much higher, basically framing the shape of your head as opposed to bracing your neck.

These faux louvers behind the rear window were black on all non-Cobra Mustangs.

This interior view shows the TURBOCHARGED emblem on the dash.

I've seen some '79 Cobras that had the COBRA decal on the rear of the door too. I don't know if that's a personal choice after a repaint or if there was variation at the factory.

Well that's that for the coolest/goofiest looking Mustang of all time! The smaller Mustang II had Cobra and King Cobra editions that sported even bigger graphics and lettering but I think this psychedelic image takes the cake. In researching this ride I've seen lots of complaints on the fragility of the engine inner workings and turbo system itself. Since the payout is meager horsepower and merely acceptable gas mileage I don't know what the point would be of restoring one of these unless you were a serious Mustang collector. Still if one came along running well for cheap I would happily grab some orange reflective Oakleys off eBay and crank the Toni Basil while cruising to the arcade!

*Here's a bonus clip of 72 year old Toni Basil rocking some dance moves that are genuinely astonishing. Go Toni! You're almost forgiven for writing a catchy bubble gum hit with a name that sounds exactly like mine (all Rickys my age will agree).