Posts Tagged Classic
Motor Trend Classic resurrected, goes quarterly
Posted by in Uncategorized on March 11, 2010
We were just talking with a friend about his Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI. “How on earth did you afford that?” is the highly sanitized version of the question we posed to him. Answer: He bought used, and then explained to us that he would never buy a new car again, no matter what. A decision that’s fine by us, but which buff book is our pal going to read if he’s unwilling to ever walk into a new car dealership again?
Meet – or re-meet as the case may be – Motor Trend Classic. The fine folks at Motor Trend tried their hand at this classic car thing a few years back in 2005 but were forced to shutter the magazine in 2006. But that was then (and they were trying to sell 12 issues a year. Correction: Motor Trend Classic launched with two issues in 2005 and then went to six issues for 2006). Motor Trend Classic every three months is now.
The cost to entry is a good bit higher than your standard car mag (roughly three times). However, the new magazine is (thankfully) largely free of advertising and it features a unique format and higher quality paper. Hence the high price: $14.95 per issue.
Also of note, Motor Trend will be using this weekend’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance to relaunch the Classic magazine. In fact, Amelia Island will feature a special “Motor Trend Class” devoted to cars found on the cover of Motor Trend, including the gorgeous streamlined Norman Timbs Special seen above that graced the cover of the October 1948 issue. Pretty nifty.
Press Release
Norman Timbs Special Headlines First-Ever Class For The Concours
JACKSONVILLE, FL; MARCH 1, 2010 — The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Foundation, Inc. announced today that it will feature a class devoted to Motor Trend cover cars of the past during the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, March 12-14, 2010. It is believed to be the first time a concours has featured cover cars as a judged class.
The Motor Trend class will include:
• 1948 Norman Timbs Special – October
• 1948 Davis Devin – August
• 1949 Kurtis Sports Car – Issue 1, Volume 1
• 1951 LeSabre – March
• 1953 Hudson Italia Prototype – December
• 1955 Ghia Streamline X “Gilda” – September
• 1955 Flajole Forerunner – September
• 1956 Firebird II Concept Car – April
Motor Trend will use the Amelia weekend to re-launch Motor Trend Classic, a publication devoted to the great cars and automotive designs of the past, according to Matt Stone, the publication’s new editor.
Headlining the class will be the Norman Timbs Special. Constructed in the late 40s over a period of about three years, it was the cover car for the October 1949 issue of Motor Trend. General Motors will be displaying the LaSabre, created by their famed auto stylist Harley Earl, along with their futuristic Firebird II Concept vehicle, which took a number of styling queues from the jet designs of the ’50s.
“The idea for this class came about when I was talking with Ken Gross about displaying a large shot of the MT cover that featured the Timbs Special, and he suggested doing an entire class of cover cars; I thought that was a great idea,” says Amelia Founder and Co-Chairman Bill Warner. “Besides the Timbs car, people will love the Hudson Italia and the Ghia Streamline X Gilda. In future shows, I can see us doing a class for many of the automotive magazines out there from hot rods to muscle cars.”
Tickets for the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance are $45 for adults purchased in advance and $50 the day of the show. Students ages 12-18 are $20, and children under 12 are admitted at no charge when accompanied by a paying adult. Event tickets can be ordered in advance at www.ameliaconcours.org or can be purchased at the door.
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Classic Accessories 71132 PolyPro Car Cover, Mid Size
Posted by in Uncategorized on February 19, 2010
Classic Accessories 71132 PolyPro Car Cover, Mid Size
- Fits mid-size cars 171″ – 200″ long
- Elasticized bottom hem for a fast custom fit
- Includes non-scratch tie-down grommets, rope and handy storage bag
- Trunk leash locks cover to the vehicle
- Fabric is water-repellent, yet breathes to reduce mold and mildew
Product Description
Protects cars against dirt, scratches, pollution and sun damage…. More >>
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With a Porsche Classic, you Can be Sure That People Will Turn Their Heads
Posted by in Uncategorized on January 19, 2010
For sports car enthusiasts all over the world, and in particular for Porsche fans all over the world the numbers 356 hold a special meaning. The reason for this lies in the chronicles of history, and a date that would forever live on in the memory of all Porsche fans. The year was 1948 and the date was the 8th of June. This was the birth year of the Porsche classic Type 356 sports car.
It weighed in at a modest 650kg, had a 1.1 liter capacity center engine and had an immodest (at the time) 40HP under its hood. Difficult to even find one of these original Porsche classic cars, if you do across them you will not be surprised to learn that they are considered priceless. With all good reason of course.
Besides being the first ever Porsche classic cars to come into existence there were only a total of 50 made and they were all without exception hand built, and that’s saying a lot. These penultimate Porsche classic cars were the harbingers of the 356 that we can still see today.
Unfortunately for all concerned the 356 Porsche classic car line was discontinued after 17 years in April of 1965. To that date just over 81,000 356 Porsche classic cars had left the assembly line. In the beginning no more than 500 were expected to sell.
This was a happy mistake on the part of the “father” of the Porsche classic car, Ferry Porsche, because by March of 1954 ten times the initial estimated amount of 356 Porsche classic cars had been sold.
The discontinuation of the 365 line however was not the end of the Porsche name or the car. A new concept Porsche classic was in the makings and by 1963 – two years before the 356 was discontinued – the Porsche classic 911 had become a reality.
This Porsche classic was the foundation for many a sports car to come and indeed still lives on to this day. On June 15th of 1996, Porsche reached another milestone and the one millionth Porsche was delivered from the assembly line.
And when all is said and done, the Porsche classic still lives on in the classic Porsche design and logo, and if you own a Porsche classic, you can be sure that people will turn their heads to look you. Even in this day and age of sports supercars a classic lives on.
