North American muscle car expert Jim Bodanis takes us on a tour of his 1970 Chevelle SS LS 6 convertible. And one of the most sensational classics of the 1930’s is the Avions Voisin C-20, known as the Mylord Demi-Berlin. This one-of-a-kind automobile owes its unique design to the engineering genius of French aircraft designer, Gabriel Voisin.
Gordon Miller Buehrig was just another young designer at the thriving Auburn Automobile Company in Pennsylvania before the war, when he was tapped to design one of the top ten cars of all time: the 1936 Cord 810. It took 30 years for the echoes of the 1936 Cord 810 to be felt. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was a tribute to its coffin-nosed predecessor with it’s similar front wheel drive approach to transportation.
The 1938 Delage was one of the most stylish, curvaceous and exotic cars ever built – all in the pursuit of a beautiful woman. Men may also have bought the 1970 Corvette Stingray to attract women, but this car’s hourglass figure also spoke to the male of the species. And the 1970 Roadrunner Superbird was created by Plymouth in an effort to win the heart of only one man: superstar stock car driver, Richard Petty.
This rare and outrageously expensive Rolls Royce had the chassis of a 1939 model, and the body of a 1947 ‘dream car’; ordered by a New York businessman, it’s sole reason for existence was to tempt beautiful high society women into its luxurious interior. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the working man’s 1947 Ford, owned by a successful small town real estate agent, reminds him of his youth and the girls he was able to attract with it back in the day!
America in the late 1960’s was crazy for muscle cars. Chrysler, Ford and Chevy duked it out in the car lots and on the NASCAR tracks… and so did fans. Meet three die-hard muscle car fanatics – tough guys get emotional! The Chevy ’69 Camaro SS vs the Ford 1970 Boss Mustang 302 vs the Chrysler 1970 Barracuda.
Pulling up in the glamorous 1932 Duesenberg Model J sent a clear message to the world: you had arrived. Today, Duesenberg’s are considered to be one of the most collectible cars of all time. The 1935 Auburn Sedan may have been considered one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and thanks to its powerful straight 8 engine and 2 speed axle, it can still cruise down highways with ease.
As a kid, collector Colin Kennedy accompanied his dad on a road trip to the local Honda dealer and experienced love at first sight: the 1965 Honda S600. Love came knocking for lawyer Ron Good when he was a just a young boy, too: that’s when he first saw his Dream Car – a 1951 Four Door Kaiser Traveler.
The Pierce Arrows of the teens and twenties were the last American cars to switch from right hand drive to left hand drive. When collector Rick Morrison took on the task of restoring his 1926 Pierce Arrow it had seen better days. For Larry Pittman, his 1965 Lincoln Continental is all about winning. It’s a constant challenge to make sure the car wins every show car competition it enters.
See the story of this 1934 Graham - what makes this particular one valuable is that it has never been restored, painted, or had any significant work done to it, making it the only “surviver” of its kind in the world. The Porsche 356 had the most powerful engine Porsche produced in 1939. Designed by Ferry Porsche, son of Ferdinand, this is the revolutionary sports car that would define Porsche for the next 70 years.
When French entrepreneur Emile Delahaye turned his attention from brick building to car building, the result was a collectible beauty that is currently worth over five million dollars: the 1948 Delahaye 135N. Oliver Collins has always been an ‘Alfa’ guy, so when his 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 came along, he was willing to do whatever it took to make it his own.
The power play: the pure muscle of the 1968 Plymouth GTX, powered by the legendary hemi V8 that was developed to not just win the horsepower wars, but to deliver a knockout punch; the overpowering looks of the 1953 Studbaker Starliner Coupe, once called the most beautiful American car ever built; and the staying power of the 1929 McLaughlin Buick.
The most important cars in automotive history: The Ford Models T and A that changed America forever. The alluring $5.5 million 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible is a car of ‘lasts’; Lincoln’s last pure stainless steel body. The 1964 Plymouth GTO Super Bee, lovingly nicknamed ‘the goat’, was the muscle car you could race on Sunday and drive to work on Monday.
The Citroën DS is a front-engine, front-wheel-drive executive car manufactured and marketed by the French company Citroën from 1955 to 1975 in sedan, wagon/estate and convertible body configurations. The Bentley Mark V was Rolls-Royce's second Bentley model. Intended to have been announced at the Earls Court Motor Show set down for late October 1939[1] it had much in common with its predecessor. War was declared on 3 September 1939 and a few days later Bentley announced it had ceased production of civilian items. The Mark V was sold only as a bare chassis to be fitted with an owner's own coachbuilder. It proved to be the last Derby Bentley, after the war production moved to Crewe. Park Ward would be the coachbuilder once the cars went into production.
Despite their size, these cars had a big impact: meet the mini that saved BMW, the rarest Messerschmitt, and the one that inspired North America’s love affair with the smallest of cars!
The development of a perfect car has seen some twists and turns over the years; from a Rolls Royce built for royalty and tiger hunting, to the carefully designed mass appeal of that all-American classic, the T-Bird.
For the young automotive industry, technological advancements were as unlimited as your imagination and financial backing; while companies like Stanley Motor Carriage perfected the steam engine, others toyed with electric and even gas-electric hybrids!
The Japanese reputation in North America for fast, sexy, well-designed sports cars wasn’t always the case… meet the cars that changed everything: Honda NSX, the Datsun Zee, and the Mazda Miata.
These car collectors have gone to extreme lengths to restore a Maxwell, Pierce-Arrow, and Pontiac Safari to their former glory, but if you ask them why their stories will often have more to do with restoring a long-lost past than with the cars themselves!
Coachbuilders and car manufacturers of yesteryear have crafted and engineered vehicles that are still revered today for their design, ingenuity, and character, will today’s vehicles stand the test of time like the Stutz and Miss Julia’s “Cinderella Carriage” did?
Automotive engineers and designers didn’t always work exclusively for big-name car manufacturers and the result was an eclectic mix of safety-last engineering in the FastBack, Mopar-big personalities, and one of the most innovative designs in automotive history… the Graham Blue Streak.
A collector’s car choices don’t always have a logical reason behind them, and car detective Bill Sherk thinks he knows why… maybe he can explain why Al Jordan hasn’t given up on his ’52 Studebaker and Jasper Kaiser won’t touch a classic born outside of Canada.
Citroen, Bentley, and Packard Motor Company were some of the biggest names in automotive manufacturing, but World War II and its economic aftermath would have relegated companies and cars alike to obscurity, save for a small group of collectors dedicated to preserving this era of automotive his...
Car fashions change almost as quickly as car collecting trends, the last car in Pierce Arrow’s assembly line, proves just as coveted as a short-run experimental Cadillac Roadster, both beautifully restored… throw an unrestored Blue Streak “survivor car” into the mix and you’ve got yourself a va...
Show off cars have been around for as long as there have been show-offs… and the two often find themselves together; for the over-engineered Deux Chevaux, the 8 foot tall National owned by an infamous flim-flam man, and an over-the-top Mopar designed to seem powerful… their looks are just as in...
Race cars like the early modified Model-T’s and Ford’s first trucks, Model A Roadsters, have an unexpected common ancestry… both were the product of innovation inspired by economic hardship; a coincidence, or common theme behind most automotive advancements?