Nice cars other than x-fire

[LE BARON]

efore the Cobras and the Le Mans win there was a borrowed British roadster and a Texas kid who had never raced a day in his life.

In May of 1952 Carroll Shelby rode up from Dallas with his friend Ed Wilkins to a sports car event in Norman Oklahoma. Wilkins owned a modified MG TC and let Shelby take the wheel for the small displacement race. Shelby later admitted he had no idea what he was doing beyond going as fast as the little car would allow. He won that heat. The victory put him into a second race against faster machinery including Jaguar XK120s. He won that one too.

The MG TC was already a favorite among postwar American enthusiasts for its light weight and willingness to take power. Stock output sat around 55 horsepower from the 1250 cc four. Race prepared examples like the one Shelby drove could push past one hundred. That afternoon in Oklahoma the little roadster proved fast enough and Shelby proved natural enough that the rest of his driving career followed in short order.

He always credited that first MG with changing the direction of his life. The rest of the legend started right there

 

[LE BARON]

Insurance companies and the government finally caught up. By the time 1971 arrived the high compression monsters were gone.

The 1970 Chevelle SS carried the last of the unrestricted big blocks. Buyers could still order the 454 LS6 rated at 450 horsepower and 500 pound feet with 11.25 to 1 compression, solid lifters, rectangle port heads, and a Holley four barrel on an aluminum intake. Only about 4,475 of those engines left the factory in Chevelles and El Caminos. The milder LS5 454 and the 396 that was really a 402 were more common, but the LS6 was the one that defined the peak.

Everything after that year got soft. Compression ratios dropped for unleaded fuel. Camshafts went milder. Horsepower numbers fell and the cars grew heavier. The SS badge stayed around a few more seasons but the real thing ended in 1970.

These black cars with the white stripes are what the factories built when nobody was looking over their shoulder yet.

 

[LE BARON]

While Duntov was still figuring out how to make the Corvette a real sports car, Oldsmobile already had the engine that could embarrass it.

The 1954 Super 88 convertible sat on the new longer lower B body with the freshly enlarged 324 cubic inch Rocket. Four barrel carburetion gave it 185 horsepower and a solid 300 pound feet that arrived early. That same basic engine, tuned harder, went into the F-88 concept Duntov helped develop. The result was a fiberglass two seater on a Corvette chassis packing roughly 250 horsepower and a four speed Hydra Matic. Chevrolet brass saw it and panicked. The project was killed before it could reach production and steal the young Corvette’s thunder.

Only 6,452 Super 88 convertibles left the plant that year. They were the practical expression of the same Rocket power that almost made the sports car division look second rate. Soft green paint, whitewalls, and the long low look of the new body made it the kind of car you could drive every day while the concept that threatened to rewrite the rules stayed locked in a warehouse.

 

[1st Vette]

 

[1st Vette]

 

[1st Vette]

It does come with wheels though ........

Instrument Clusters Are Now Paid Add-Ons in Two Hyundai Models

The base Ioniq 3 doesn’t seem to offer an instrument cluster at all.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[LE BARON]

his is what a truck looked like when the only screen in the cab was the windshield and the only soft surface was the vinyl seat that could take a beating.

The 1961 Dodge WM300 Power Wagon still wore the same flat-fender, military-derived body that had been around since the late 1940s. Under the long hood sat the newly enlarged 251 cubic-inch L-head straight-six, paired with a New Process 420 four-speed and a two-speed transfer case that fed power to both axles through full-floating Chrysler axles. A factory winch, PTO, and gear ratios designed for crawling made it a true working machine rather than a lifestyle accessory.

Chrysler’s new alternator became standard that year, but almost everything else stayed deliberately old-school: double-drop frame, leaf springs, hydraulic drums, and a cab built to shrug off abuse. Roughly 1,300 of these one-ton WM300s left the factory in 1961, part of a total civilian run that never exceeded about 95,000 units over more than two decades.

No touchscreens. No leather. Just steel, torque, and the quiet confidence that it would still be running when everything else had given up

 

[LE BARON]

Before muscle cars officially existed, American families could secretly buy a bona fide racing legend. On the outside it looked like a beautiful bubble top coupe perfect for picking up groceries or taking the children to baseball practice.

However, NASCAR fans knew the real truth. During the 1961 Daytona 500 event, this chassis completely humiliated the competition as Pontiac swept the top three spots. General Motors achieved this domination by stuffing the engine bay with their ferocious Super Duty V8 equipment.

Everyday buyers could walk into a dealership and order the 1961 Pontiac Catalina packing a massive 389 cubic inch engine producing well over 360 horsepower. The famous wide track stance did not just create an aggressive look on the street but provided unmatched stability on banked superspeedways. Imagine dropping your kids off at school in a gorgeous family car and then heading straight to the drag strip to destroy expensive sports cars

 

[LE BARON]

Chevrolet engineers had a number in mind when they built this car in 1959, and it wasn't a lap time. One pound per horsepower was the target, a ratio period engineers called aircraft territory, rarely achieved even in the most advanced piston aircraft engines of the day. Zora Arkus Duntov built the CERV I to chase it. His team hand built a 283 cubic inch small block using aluminum for the block, heads, and flywheel, skipping steel cylinder liners entirely, and the finished engine weighed 350 pounds while making 350 horsepower, hitting the target exactly. The rest of the car followed the same obsession, an 80 pound fiberglass body over a 125 pound tube steel frame, the whole machine landing at roughly 1,600 pounds ready to run. It topped 206 miles per hour in testing. Duntov never got to race it at Indianapolis, blocked by a manufacturer racing ban, and settled for demonstration laps at the 1960 US Grand Prix.

 

[LE BARON]

The 1966 Caprice had just become its own model, no longer just an Impala trim package, and Chevrolet gave it a plush cabin to match, deep cushioned seats and wood grain trim, the kind of interior built for people who wanted quiet more than quarter mile times. Underneath the dignity sat an option most buyers never noticed on the order form. That same year, Chevrolet introduced the 427 cubic inch big block in two states of tune, and the top version, the L72, made 425 horsepower, the same rating the Corvette carried as its most powerful engine. GM's own internal rules kept engines that large out of the Chevelle and Camaro, reserved for full size cars and the Corvette, which meant a Caprice buyer had legal access to Corvette level power a Chevelle buyer did not. Very few checked that box. The ones who did drove home a living room with a race engine bolted underneath it.

 

[LE BARON]

Drag racing was the national pastime in the muscle car era but Plymouth realized some drivers actually wanted to turn the steering wheel. Big block engines dominated the drag strips but their massive weight ruined front end handling. To conquer the SCCA road racing series the brand partnered with legendary driver Dan Gurney.

The street legal homologation special they created became the 1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda. Instead of a heavy iron block engineers dropped in a high revving 340 cubic inch V8 topped with three two barrel carburetors. They rated it conservatively at 290 horsepower and added a matte black fiberglass hood to shave off even more weight.

It holds a unique piece of history as the first American production vehicle to leave the factory with staggered tires for maximum cornering grip. Complete with loud side exit exhausts and wild strobe stripes this machine proved that American muscle could actually carve a canyon

 

[Murray20c8]

Drag racing was the national pastime in the muscle car era but Plymouth realized some drivers actually wanted to turn the steering wheel. Big block engines dominated the drag strips but their massive weight ruined front end handling. To conquer the SCCA road racing series the brand partnered with legendary driver Dan Gurney.

The street legal homologation special they created became the 1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda. Instead of a heavy iron block engineers dropped in a high revving 340 cubic inch V8 topped with three two barrel carburetors. They rated it conservatively at 290 horsepower and added a matte black fiberglass hood to shave off even more weight.

It holds a unique piece of history as the first American production vehicle to leave the factory with staggered tires for maximum cornering grip. Complete with loud side exit exhausts and wild strobe stripes this machine proved that American muscle could actually carve a canyon

View attachment 143166

They could barely corner compared to today's cars. Most 60's and 70's muscle cars were built for straight line speed.

 

[Rruuff Day]

his is what a truck looked like when the only screen in the cab was the windshield and the only soft surface was the vinyl seat that could take a beating.

The 1961 Dodge WM300 Power Wagon still wore the same flat-fender, military-derived body that had been around since the late 1940s. Under the long hood sat the newly enlarged 251 cubic-inch L-head straight-six, paired with a New Process 420 four-speed and a two-speed transfer case that fed power to both axles through full-floating Chrysler axles. A factory winch, PTO, and gear ratios designed for crawling made it a true working machine rather than a lifestyle accessory.

Chrysler’s new alternator became standard that year, but almost everything else stayed deliberately old-school: double-drop frame, leaf springs, hydraulic drums, and a cab built to shrug off abuse. Roughly 1,300 of these one-ton WM300s left the factory in 1961, part of a total civilian run that never exceeded about 95,000 units over more than two decades.

No touchscreens. No leather. Just steel, torque, and the quiet confidence that it would still be running when everything else had given up

View attachment 143158

Coincidence you posted this Richard. A friend's dad passed away last week and his son lead the funeral procession with the truck his dad rebuilt in his youth when working at a local Dodge dealership here in Red Deer. He won a ton of awards with this truck and his son treasures them and the truck now. His is a 1946 but you are correct... The style remained for many years.