1965 Volkswagen Samba

With 23-windows and a ragtop roof, a restored Samba can command $100,000 or more in today's market. As the second picture shows, the microbus was and still is available in a whole bunch of different configurations.

Tweet

The Malaise King: 1977 Ford Granada

The price of a barrel of oil in inflation-adjusted dollars went from $18 in 1970 to $100 in 1980. Japanese and European carmakers responded to the oil crisis by engineering new, space-efficient front-wheel drive cars with small but technologically-advanced and powerful engines. But Detroit wasn't having any of that. No, the American carmakers decided to sell us cars on the same old platforms that looked more or less like what we bought in 1970, only a bit smaller and with stone age engines that were reasonably fuel-efficient simply because they had no power.

From wikipedia: "Malaise era is a term used to describe the state of the U.S. automotive industry from roughly the early 1970s through the early to mid 1980s, characterized by malaise: poor products and a generalized industry unease."

Or as curbsideclassic.com said about the Ford Granada, "Can I interest you in a 1961 Falcon with 50% more weight, 25% less power, and 100% more fluff?" This was a car with an engine that produced only 0.28 hp per cubic inch of displacement. By comparison, both GM and Chrysler had been selling engines producing 1 hp per cubic inch back in the 1950s. This particular Granada was parked for some weeks (?) in the same spot at the Shoreline Costco. Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to keep it nice. I wonder why?

Tweet

2023 Greenwood Car Show: Chevrolet

One Seattle event I never miss. I think there were more cars than last year. Let's start with the dominant brand in the collector car market.

1954 Bel Air. Nice, but it can't compare in appeal to the all-new Chevy in 1955.

1952 Suburban. In 2035, the Suburban will be the first car model to be sold for 100 years.

1935 Chevy Standard. They hadn't gotten clever with the model names yet.

1925 Chevy Superior. This was the car that finally convinced Henry Ford that the Model T was outdated and needed to be replaced.

1960 Corvette.

1965 Impala. This was the last year for the round taillights. Also after 1965, the Impala started becoming more of an old-man's car.

1957 Bel Air convertible. Nicely restored, this is the one everybody wants. That's not the original interior. This color is called Matador Red. It has a slight orange tint to it.

1967 Camaro RS.

Very rare and valuable 1967 Corvette SS with the top engine offering: 396 V-8 with 375 hp.

1969 Malibu.

1955 Model 210 Handyman wagon. Sometimes mistaken for the Nomad wagon.

This is a 1969 Camaro RS made into a copy of the Yenko Camaro. Yenko was a Chevy dealership in Pennsylvania that customized muscle cars.

1957 Bel Air. Very correctly restored.

Tweet