1961 Comet - For Mercury, This Is as Good as It Gets

Behold: the only product ever marketed by Ford Company's Mercury division that (1) was something more than just a Ford with different trim, and (2) was sold in large numbers. The Comet, introduced in 1960, was based on Ford's Falcon compact but had a longer wheelbase and some parts from the Edsel. Originally intended to be sold as an Edsel, when that ill-fated car was killed in November, 1959 the Comet became a stand-alone model sold at Lincoln-Mercury dealers.

The Truth About Cars notes that, "the Comet’s styling was actually ahead of the whole Ford clan in 1960. It almost perfectly predicts the ’62 Fairlane and Meteor twins, as well as Ford’s general styling trend in the first half of the sixties." The Comet also sold about twice as many copies as all other Mercury models combined. And although it had a pitifully-underpowered straight-6 in its early years, by 1963 it was available with Ford's powerful 260 c.i. V-8. And some were sold with a four-speed transmission (a four-speed column-shifter, if you can believe that).

In 1964 the Comet became just a Ford Fairlane with slightly different trim, heralding the beginning of the era when most Mercurys were just Fords with a different name.

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1952 Chevrolet Suburban

Available since 1935, the Suburban is the longest-running automobile model of all time.

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1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 convertible

If this car is authentic it's one of only 436 Cutlass 442 convertibles made in 1964. That was the year that GM approved engines larger than 330 cubic inches for mid-size cars. Pontiac immediately introduced the GTO and Chevy the Chevelle Super Sport, while Buick followed up with the Skylark Gran Sport in 1965. For Oldsmobile, it was the "4-4-2", named for the original car's four-barrel carburetor, four-speed manual transmission, and dual exhausts. Love that air cleaner!

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1963 Datsun L320 pickup truck

Is that a hand crank on the front of this truck? Yes. The owner assures me you can start it by hand cranking it, just like a Model T Ford. OK then. Parked next to this truck at the Greenlake auto show was the "Sport" model of the same Datsun, with a different, car-like body and bed. This truck can allegedly haul a half-ton payload, though I'm dubious of that given the 1.2 liter engine.

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1970 Dodge Challenger convertible

Only 8,939 Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda convertibles were ever made, and despite being comparatively inexpensive cars, they command staggering prices today, particularly when fitted out with the rarer performance options.

This '70 has the 440 4-barrel under the hood, but lacks the "R/T" performance package which would have included upgraded suspension, brakes, premium tires and special badging and paint stripes along with a big-block engine. Still, I've no doubt it would command $50K or more at auction.

Observations:
* The most valuable American car made since World War II is this very similar 1971 Hemi 'Cuda 4-speed, one of only three made. Sold for $3.5 million in 2014.
* A 440 in a car this light? Better be gentle, or you'll twist the frame!

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1955 Chevrolet Bel Air - Gasser Drag Racer

While I'm hardly an expert on old-school drag racing, let me try to explain what we're looking at. In the early days of drag racing, there were two basic cars:
1. The Rail Job: A methanol or gasoline-nitro-formula-powered engine centered between two simple rails. This is the classic dragster. The earliest dragsters mounted the engine in front of the driver, but when all those drivers got killed by engines and transmissions that exploded in their faces, everybody switched to engines behind the driver.
2. The Gasser: Start with a stock car. Build an elevated sub-frame that lifts the front end, providing the car with better traction and giving it more space for a big gasoline engine and "bundle of snakes" free-flow exhaust. Stick the gas tank on the front of the car - you don't really want the gas tank under the back of a car that does wheelies. Popular accessories included a giant supercharger lifted from a vintage GM diesel truck and mechanical fuel-injection (this last accessory, it should be noted, is incredibly cool-looking).

This Chevy is technically street-legal, although I've no doubt it violates city noise ordinances.

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1985 Subaru BRAT. Take That, Chicken Tax!

When I was a kid, I remember seeing this truck with its bizarre plastic jump seats in the bed, and thinking, "They've got to be kidding." Yeah, they actually were kidding. Subaru's expectation was not that Americans were clamoring to ride in hard plastic seats in the back of pickup trucks.

Those seats are back there to beat the Chicken Tax. As we discussed in my post about Volkswagen Type 2 trucks, in 1964 in response to a European tariff on American poultry the US introduced retaliatory tariffs including a 25% tariff on light trucks. By bolting seats in the bed, Subaru was able to classify the BRAT as a passenger car.  By the way, BRAT is an acronym for, "Bi-drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter."

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1969 Lynx-Jaguar XKSS

A genunie 1957 XKSS is worth $18 million. I'm not kidding. The XKSS was the street-legal version of the Jaguar D-type race car, and only 16 were made. This car looks like the genuine article, but as far as I can tell there were no left-hand drive examples of the XKSS. And who would drive an $18 million car over Seattle potholes, right?

I think this is a Lynx-Jaguar XKSS, a car created by putting a custom-built body and XKSS-reproduction parts atop a regular Jaguar E-Series chassis. This car was no cheap replica, and it's probably worth about $500K.

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1966 Plymouth Satellite 426 Hemi

In 1966 Chrysler began selling the legendary 426 hemi engine in its mid-side cars. The hemi, so-called because of its hemispherical cylinder heads, was rated at 425 horsepower; in reality it was closer to 500.

For about $1,000, or about $7,800 in 2018 money the buyer of this otherwise plain-jane Satellite got the most powerful engine ever made, upgraded suspension and police-grade drum brakes. Sounds like a bargain to me!

Chrysler did offer disc brakes in 1966, but did not make them available on "smaller" cars like the Satellite. Also, buying the 426 did not require you to buy power steering, but driving this car without it would have been pretty much impossible. I'm led to understand that the 426 was sold with only a 90-day warranty - the assumption was that anyone buying it would take it straight to the race track.

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1955 Chevrolet Nomad

Chevy sold 1.6 million cars in the US in 1955, but only 8,000 were the premium-priced Nomad wagon.

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