History originally published in Autoweek February 8, 1988 I had watched the morning mist rise and seen the sun come up, casting first light and shadows over the bulging, primitive shape of a 427 Cobra. I had heard the idle throb of Ford’s 7.0 liter monster motor, the notorious NASCAR side-oiler. I had felt it […]
’54 Corvette: Chevrolet’s flawed fiberglass flyer
History originally published in AutoWeek May 2, 1983 Ah, the clarity of hindsight. The perfect 20/20, read-the-union-bug-at-the-bottom-of-the-eye-chart ability to see what should have been seen, do what should have been done, especially when time has blurred a few inconsequential/important details. Take, for example, the 1953-54 Corvette. It’s obvious by now that the Corvette should have […]
Excalibur SS Series 1: In the beginning, it was a sports car
History originally published in AutoWeek, April 6, 1985 All right, let’s have a show of hands. Who thinks that Excalibur is a sports car? Ha, just as I thought. It’s unanimous, except for that guy with the toupee that ties under the chin. And in this case it’s the majority that’s right, because lately Excaliburs […]
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 […]
Plymouth Prowler: Matinee’ Idol
Originally published in Road & Track Sport and GT Cars 2000 Celebrity status carries a terrible burden. Ask any Prowler driver. It’s almost impossible to go about one’s daily business without the delay caused by people asking everything from how fast will it go to what is it? After more than two years of production, […]
Ferrari 250GT Spyder California: A Ferrari for the Club, even if the Club is LeMans
Originally published in AutoWeek August 12, 1985 They don’t build elegant race cars anymore. Sophisticated lines don’t mesh with the crunch and thrust of modern racing, where equipage is carbon fibered and monocoqued and wind-tunneled and sponsor-covered and as functionally ugly an IBM PC. But it wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time one […]
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