I mentioned a few weeks ago that we broke down and bought a small camping trailer. I’m not really big on pulling trailers, so this is somewhat of an experiment. It’s really cute, and I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun in it… But… when the dealership guy was showing how everything worked as we picked up the trailer, he had a really hard time getting the oven to turn on. I’m not sure why we didn’t worry about that then, but that evening, we couldn’t get it to light up at all. A problem – we were leaving for a long trip with Kevin, Becky, Dayna and Peter in just a few days. [See Greece trip info the last few blogs] So the fix took a long time. Here you can see Sam, the tech guy, having taken out the oven and working to insert the new part. Turns out it was the wrong part… so he just installed a new oven! More about our first “Shakedown Cruise” next week!
The Strategic Air Command Museum is between us and Omaha, and they have fantastic displays of interesting aircraft. But this weekend, they also added cars into the mix! All kinds of cars; Old, New, Custom, Weird, Rare, whatever. So we had to go!
The first car I’ll mention deserves placement in this museum since it is half car and half airplane…
In the 1950’s the Arfon Brothers, of Akron, Ohio, built a few “Green Monster” racers. These cars featured huge engines, like this Allison V-1710. Aircraft engines left over from WWII, these monster engines produced over a thousand horsepower, and some later modified engines up to 2,300 horsepower!
This engine is a V-12, meaning twelve cylinders, with 4 valves per cylinder. Exhaust manifolds ran down the outside, with two pipes from each cylinder. Intake manifolds are in the center of the V. I’m guessing with close to 2,000 hp this little car could move!
The plaque on the engine talks about aircraft specs, since it flew in planes like the P-38 Lightning (twin engine), Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, North American P-51 Mustang, and F-82 Twin Mustang.
Here’s a beautiful Buick – 1959 Buick Electra, in a deep red.
There were at least five Pontiac Fiero mid-engine two-seaters in the show. These cars should have been great sellers, and seemed like it in 1984 when they were introduced. Very sporty looking, and with a mid engine layout, they should have performed really well. However, their engines were lackluster, and the suspension mediocre, and they got a bad rap for being unreliable. Over the next few years, Pontiac fixed most of those problems, and they had a great little car, but their reputation was already ruined, and they never recovered. After only 4 years, GM pulled the plug on a potentially great sports car.
This Auburn Boattail Speedster was one of my favorites in the show. But it’s not really what it looks like… A classic Auburn from the 1930’s. This is a replica of sorts, built in 1981. Classic looks, modern running gear. Still, I think of it as a fake. I’m a snob.
Here’s a gorgeous car! A 1963 Corvette split-window coupe. This was the first year of the gorgeous Bill Mitchell design. Zora-Arkus-Duntov was the wizard behind the Corvette engineering for years, and he hated the split back window. It was visually intriguing – it carried a ridge line from the front of the roof, right through the rear window, all the way to the tail, but limited rear visibility. Duntov lost to Mitchell that first year, but the 1964 Corvettes had a one piece rear window – no split. An amusing note – many who had bought the 1963 split windows cut out the metal divider and installed the ’64 one-piece glass, so their car looked newer. Now, however, the ’63 models are worth far more than the ’64s or later… Big Mistake!
Speaking of Big Mistake… Here’s an Edsel! Probably the biggest mistake Ford ever made. Introduced in 1958, it had several innovations that really were interesting. You can see in the center of the steering wheel, there are pushbuttons for shifting the automatic transmission. The styling was, well, unique. A big “Horse Collar” grill didn’t go over too well. I think the biggest problem was that they were marketed towards someone who was “On their way up.” That sounded good in the boardroom, but implied that buyers were really nobody’s but “wannabe’s.” That didn’t sit too well with potential buyers! Ford toned down the “Horse Collar” grille for ’59, and ditched it altogether for 1960. But the early weird styling and technical difficulties with some of the new gadgets killed the Edsel sales, and Ford gave up on them early in 1960, making only a couple thousand of the ’60 models.
A couple of fine looking Willys Jeepsters made the show. Willys was the company that won a government bid for a utility vehicle before WWII. We now call it the Jeep. The government thought Willy’s design was better than any of the other competitors, but was afraid the small company wouldn’t be able to make them in sufficient numbers, so they asked Ford to also make them under license from Willys. After the war, the Jeepster was targeted at GI’s who loved the Jeeps they used in the war, but wanted something more sporty for use once back home. The Jeepster fit the bill well!
In 1967 Mercury introduced the Cougar, based on the Ford Mustang that was taking the world by storm. A bit more luxurious, the Cougar was really an elegant little car.
Here’s a guy who bought a 1970 Mercury Cougar new, and has licensed and driven it every year since then! I personally liked the grills on the earlier Cougars better, but he has taken really great care of this beauty! It looks brand new.
Cherryl’s niece Crista and her family were at the show as well. Here the two boys are playing in a mockup of an aircraft cockpit.
Here’s a ’21 Model T Ford, which I doubt has many original parts remaining!
A very elegant 1936 Buick. This was really luxurious car in its day.
Somebody had a VW Bus at the show, and I didn’t get a picture of it, but instead took a picture of the book he had inside. John Muir’s fascinating books about Volkswagens were (Are?) the Gold Standard for old VW’s. Somewhere around 1971 I removed and rebuilt the engine in my first car, a 1967 Beetle, using this book. (I thought maybe by rebuilding it I could nudge the power up a bit.) I had the engine out and in a thousand pieces on the floor in the garage when our family went for summer vacation. My Mom was sure that when we got home, we’d have to sweep all the parts into a box and have a dealer put it all back together. (Such faith in me!) I took the heads to a shop to have the valves ground, then put it all back together, with help from this wonderful book. It ran fine, just like it had before my extensive work! So while the VW didn’t need the rebuild, I learned a lot! What fun!
By the 1970’s, most cars had airconditioning available, and Americans chose cool interiors over top-down, wind in your hair driving. Convertible sales were down, and in 1976, the Cadillac Eldorado was the last American car available as a convertible. But this car at the show bothered me… the body style was newer than ’76… some folks in the day took new Eldorado coupes to specialty shops, and had the roof sawn off and a convertible top fitted. This looks to be a pretty normal ’79 or ’80 Eldorado that had its top cut off!
Back to airplane trivia… in big bombers, like the B-52 or the B-36, to get from the cockpit to the rear you’d slide in a tunnel! This simulated tunnel is 64 feet long… in the B-36 the tunnel was 105 feet long! You’d move on a sliding trolley, pulling yourself along on a rope. The 15 crew members could get to the quarters in the rear, which had 6 bunks and a galley. And access to the rear gun turret.
Stephen and William loved scooting through the tunnel.
VW not only had the fantastically successful Beetle, but also the bus/van and even a pickup. General Motors wanted into that market, and introduced the Corvair. It had a rear mounted, air cooled engine (sound familiar?) Early models had some issues, and Ralph Nader accused GM of trying to kill everyone who bought one. Eventually the Corvair was made a lot safer and even sportier, but again, public opinion had been tainted and the car was cancelled after 1960. Before they quit, however, they built some interesting truck versions. Because the engine was in the rear, the deck height was pretty high for a pickup. The mid section could be really low, so they built some “Rampside” pickups that had a side gate that opened to the ground like a ramp. If parked near the curb, it was almost level, and made it easy to drive lawn equipment in, or maybe a refrigerator on a dolly… very convenient. But only for a very limited audience. Here’s a great example.
For probably about 50 years, rumors have been spread about Corvette building a mid-engined car. Sports car enthusiasts have lusted after such a car all that time, but it’s been vaporware… non existent. But in 2019 the real live mid-engined ‘Vette was finally introduced. It is a truly magnificent vehicle, with performance rivaling cars costing 2x, 3x or more. I used to have a C6 Corvette, which I still think is one of the most beautiful of all the ‘Vettes… but the C7, (the next body style) looked far more aggressive, almost sinister. Cool! When the C8, the mid-engined wonder came out, it looks downright wicked! COOLER! [NOTE: if you have one you’re tired of, I can keep it for you…]
If the C8 Corvette isn’t radical enough for you, there were a couple of black Aston Martins at the show. Absolutely gorgeous… and at least twice the price of the Corvette.
This Dodge, I’m guessing mid 1940’s, has a couple things that I remember seeing as a kid. One is the shade over the windshield. In days before windshield tinting, that probably felt good. But the “coolest” thing is the window air conditioner. Really an evaporative cooler, you could attach it above the passenger window, and as you drove the air would enter, be cooled down in a water soaked filter, and you could be made more comfortable with your very own automotive swamp cooler!
Here’s a cute little Model A Ford, and you might catch a glimpse of my cute wife through the windshield. She looks good there – Doesn’t that make you think we need a Model A?
Here is a nice ’64 Thunderbird. I’ve always loved these cars… Our closest family friends had a T’bird that I think was a 1964 like this. If not this year, it was close. Loved that car. And that family! Bob, this one’s for you!
When I was 16, I worked for a company owned by two guys, and they drove mostly new El Camino’s. I got to drive these comfortable and sporty quasi-pickups. Loved every minute of it! While their El Camino’s were fast, they didn’t have engines like this one!
Pontic introduced the GTO as an option package on the Pontiac Le Mans in 1964. It was so popular, it became its own model in ’65. It really is the granddaddy of the muscle car era. By 1969 the GTO had a special upgrade called “The Judge.” This 1970 model sported a new body style, and was one of the last great muscle cars before insurance companies forced manufacturers to scale back a bit.
Of course every show should have a Lamborghini…
Here’s another C8 Corvette… I wouldn’t have picked this color… but I’d take it!
Another El Camino, hopped up a bit more than “mine” in the 60’s.
John DeLorean had been chief at Pontiac, and championed the ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix. In 1970, he became Chevrolet’s general manager, and he had worked a deal that Pontiac would get one year head start with the Grand Prix, but then Chevy would get their version, the Monte Carlo in 1970. A very classy car, a flagship for Chevrolet. But DeLorean was a fan of European cars, especially Mercedes. So he had Chevy buy one, take it apart, and study how they did what they do so well. The 1973 Monte Carlo was his attempt at European handling while still maintaining the cushy ride Americans expected. Below is a beautiful early 70’s Monte.
From across the hanger I saw what I thought was an old Morgan. Morgan built the Plus 4 starting in 1950, and continued through 1969. An interesting point was the sporty two-seater had a wooden frame! When I got to the Morgan, I found out it was a brand new 2026 Plus 4! New chassis, a BMW engine that Morgan tweaks to make it theirs, and still some wood somewhere in the frame! A gorgeous car – Morgan makes about 1,300 of them per year, all special ordered. Had fun talking to the happy owner about how they make the car.
Here’s the last car of my show… Another Model A. This one seems 100 percent original. Very cool with the rumble seat and everything!
Ok, one last shot… the fastest vehicle in the museum, the SR-71 hanging in the entryway. Fastest air breathing plane ever… but I’m not going to go into its history here. [You’re welcome]
Later in the week we had a little family celebration for Jeanne and Steve… their 47th anniversary. Lots of beautiful family together to honor a beautiful couple.
