2025 Greenwood Car Show: British Sports Cars (With Mostly American Engines)

After World War II the automotive world noticed that England was building nimble sports cars that were nevertheless under-powered and that tended to overheat or see their electrical systems fail pretty quickly. Meanwhile in the United States we were building powerful, reliable V-8 engines, but no sports cars. That's why some of the most famous cars sports are British-built but American powered.

 

Behold, an authentic copy of the car every enthusiast dreams about: A 1964 Ford AC Cobra by Carroll Shelby. At auction, this 289 V-8 powered Cobra would go for about $900,000. If it were the later 427-powered car, it would command at least $1.5 million.

 

You can be forgiven if you've never heard of the British sports car company TVR. They've never made a lot of cars. This TVR Griffith was also powered by the 289 Ford. The first two series of cars had fiberglass bodies, and only 251 cars were sold between 1964 and 1966. This is third-series car from 1966, and it has a hand-made steel body. Only ten were made.

 

I didn't think I'd ever see an Allard J2. And actually I still haven't seen one - this is a replica. The Allard was a British make originally powered by a flathead V-8 made in England by British Ford. Only 90 were made between 1950 and 1952.

 

And finally, a car that's all-British: a 1947 Jaguar Mark IV. If this car is really in good working order, then the owner is a genius.

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1964 Lancia Flavia Vignale Convertible

The Greenwood Car Show will be back in a few days after a two-year absence, so I'll get to see some more cars I've never seen before. Lancia is one of the oldest automotive brands and used to sell hundreds of thousands of cars per year. Yet this example at Greenwood a couple of years ago was the first Lancia I'd ever seen. Unlike other Italian brands, it's never been sold here even in small numbers. The Flavia was Italy's first front-wheel drive car, and this model was designed by Pininfarina.

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1964 Studebaker Lark Daytona convertible, 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk

Two exceptionally rare Studebakers I spotted on my trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. The Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana closed in December of 1963. This car could have been one of 417 Daytona convertibles made there for the 1964 model year, or one of 286 made at the company's Canadian plant. This was the last Studebaker convertible made, and the Canadian plant closed as well in 1966.

The Golden Hawk was possibly the fastest car made in America, built with a Packard V-8 in 1956 and a supercharged Studebaker V-8 in 1957 and 1958.

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The Dodge Guy: 1969 Charger x2, 1964 Custom 880, 1971 Dart Swinger

Here's a guy living his best life. He's got two unrestored Chargers for daily drivers, both in pretty decent shape. The Custom 880 probably has the big 361 DeSoto engine. The Dart is also considered a classic; easy to maintain although the grass growing around this one suggests it hasn't been on the road in a while.

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1962 Mercury Comet, 1964 Ford Ranchero

Another example of there being so many 50-year old cars in Seattle, I can shoot them two at a time. 1962 was the first year that the Comet was a Mercury. Originally planned as an Edsel, it was sold as just "Comet" in 1960-61. This car and the Ranchero were based on the same platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1964 Volkswagen Type 34

The Type 34 was VW's premium model. It cost about twice as much as a Beetle. Though never officially sold in the US, some dealers imported them and some G.I.s brought them back after their tours of Germany. This is the only one I've ever seen. Jay Leno covered the Type 34 a while back.

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Time Travel Photos: '85 Mercedes 380SL, '64 Ford Galaxie 500 XL, '73 Volkswagen Westphalia Camper

Used my time machine to visit a beautiful spring day in the 80s.

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1964 Imperial Crown

Nearly 20 feet long and weighing two and a half tons, brand new this Imperial by Chrysler would have run you nearly $50,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. 430 horsepower, push-button everything.

Observations:
* This car doesn't appear to have moved in years. It is probably destined to become a parts car for the restoration of a convertible or coupe. There aren't that many junker Imperials in circulation.
* The number of Imperials still around was reduced that much further by the employment of twenty-nine cars from this era to make the Green Hornet movie in 2010.

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Time Travel Photos: '69 Ford F100, '80 Datsun 210, '87 Mazda B2000, '87 Honda Civic, '64 Ford F100

Time travel with me!

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1964 Mercury Montclair Marauder

Mercury just couldn't win with the public, but it was not for lack of trying. They substantially updated their full-size models every year, and their standard 390 c.i. V-8 was quite powerful. Yet in 1964 Mercury sold just over 100,000 full-size cars while Chevrolet sold 1.6 million.

Mercury offered three cars in its full-size lineup, the Monterey, the Montclair and the Park Lane. All three lines were available in two different body styles. The "regular" car was called Marauder, while the Breezeway had a electric rear-window. Mercury offered at least one Breezeway model every year from 1957 to 1965.

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1963 and 1964 Studebaker Avanti

When equipped with a supercharger, (see last pic below), the Avanti was America's fatest car, with a top speed even higher than the fuel-injected Corvette. The square headlights of the car on the left denote it as a very rare '64. Studebaker closed its American plant on December 20, 1963.

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1964 Mercury Comet Caliente convertible

In 1964, the Comet still looked significantly different than the Ford Fairlane. By 1966, they were different in name only. Mercury just wasn't selling enough cars for Ford to continue creating a distinctive brand.

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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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