History originally published in AutoWeek, January 9, 1984 By some strange twist of circumstances, the automobiles produced by one Swedish manufacturer have come to represent a group of people equally defined by alligators, ducks and plaids. This is, we are told, because these people respect a good value and admire the frumpy. They have therefore […]
Is Today’s Jeep Still a Jeep? The 1991 Jeep Wrangler doesn’t forget 1941 Jeep MB war vet ancestor. That’s good and bad.
Contemporary review/history originally published in AutoWeek April 22, 1991 So the Jeep is 50 years old. For a motor vehicle, or for just about anything else, going strong at age 50 is quite an accomplishment. It’s safe to say that just about everything half-a-century old is either lost and forgotten in someone’s attic or is […]
Singer Roadster: The Last Aria of a Dying Diva
Originally published in AutoWeek in August 8, 1983. It must’ve been rather bleak at Singer Motors as 1956 approached. The Birmingham firm predated the automobile as a manufacturer of bicycles, and it entered the motor business in 1901. By 1928, Singer ranked third among all British private car manufacturers. But sales had slackened through the […]
Lamborghini 400GT 2+2: Simply That Good
Originally published in AutoWeek July 1, 1986 Smoother than prom night velvet, slicker than satin sheets, more exotic than a night in Bangkok, that’s the Lamborghini 400GT 2+2. Pull out the thesaurus, plagiarize McCahill and Purdy, the car is that good. Better, perhaps, than the Miura and the Countach. Certainly more practical, which isn’t why […]
1967 Chevrolet Corvette L89: Ed Cole’s 427cu in stormer
Originally published in AutoWeek February 3, 1986 If this were 1967 and you were able to ask Ed Cole, then general manager of General Motors, for the hottest, meanest street-drivable automobile in the GM fleet, he would have suggested this, the 1967 Chevrolet Corvette with Regular Production Option L89. We know, because someone is reputed […]
Kibler Aircar
Originally published in Automobile, February 1988 Behind John Kibler’s head is a 400-cubic-inch V-8 rescued from a 1971 Chevy Kingswood station wagon. Its roar, however, is largely obscured by the distinctive pulse of a propeller cutting through the air. This is John Kibler’s Aircar. Not a hovercraft. “Aircar,” asserts Kibler, who points to the four […]
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