Muscle Car (81 Posts)
I was going to do this blog post on my 1974 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty running out of gas, but then I realized this was my last Karl on Cars post before the Edmunds.com redesign site launches, and there won't be a CarPool blog (formerly known as the Karl on Cars blog) after that.
So the "Out of Gas" phrase describes more than just my Super Duty last week, though in both cases the story ends happily.
What do you get the car guy who already seems to have everything? That's a fair question, and one I'm betting plenty of car guy friends and family struggle with every year.
I know how much I hate shopping for folks when I have no idea what they need. And given we've just entered the official holiday shopping season I thought I'd help out the wives, husbands (yes, when I say "car guy" I'm including women enthusiasts too), kids, parents, pals and anyone else who is shopping for an automotive-themed gift but has no clue where to start.
And don't worry, these aren't expensive items. If anything, the theme of my gift-giving list is "products under $20 that every car guy will love."
Here we go:
I want to claim victory over my Pontiac Firebird's mechanical woes, but the car has repeatedly duped me into thinking I've fixed it before, only to have it run like sh-...like stuff you don't want it to run like...the next time I drive it. But I spent several hours driving it on Sunday through repeated heat-up/cool-down cycles, and it consistently ran well. I think I fianlly got it!
It's been quite a gremlin-chasing journey; one I won't focus on for this blog post because it's more suited to an Editor's Personal Cars entry. You'll have to wait for my next one to find out what the issue was (note: the picture above is not a clue, just one step in the much larger journey I took to fix it).
But I do want to talk about why I took the "journey of a thousand repair efforts" over this past weekend.
I had an interesting experience last week. I used my American Automobile Association (AAA) club membership to get a vehicle towed. For the first time, ever.
Don't get me wrong. I'm neither complaining nor bragging. But I was astonished when I realized that, after paying for AAA service for at least the past 13 years, I'd never actually utilized it before last week. As someone who both owns and has the audacity (stupdity?) to drive old muscle cars and British motorycles, this amazes me.
It also reflects everything from my own stubborness to my wife's patience to a good deal of plain and simple luck. I've had several situations in which I could (and probably should) have utilized my AAA card, but it never actually happened until last week.
Remember "The Exhaust Leak that Wouldn't DIE!"? Well it's dead! And I'm happy to say I killed it myself.
Turns out it wasn't the gasket between the header and the engine block (which had already been replaced twice), it was the gasket between the header and the collector pipe. And it wasn't just a gasket leak, it was a 1/4-inch gap because the two nuts attaching the header to the collector pipe were gone.
I probably should have figured this out when the growing exhaust leak volume suddenly spiked to what almost sounded like open headers (because it effectively was). The upside is that replacing this gasket is easier than replacing the engine block gasket. The downside is, it's not much easier.
You're looking at a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE that sold at the August 13th Mecum Auction in Monterey for $45,000. As the owner of a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE I watched this auction very carefully. It's not everyday you get to see a real-world example of how the market values a car nearly identical to the one in your garage.
In this case I was happily surprised by the result. The above car was clearly restored, though I spotted a few minor flaws after only a quick glance, and probably could have found more if I'd really dug in. It had a 440 engine (same as my car) and was also a "high impact" color (Sub-Lime in this case, versus Plum Crazy for mine).
So at first glance the cars are quite comparable, suggesting my car is worth roughly $45,000. However, there are some key differences between the two. First, this car was restored while mine is almost 100 percent original. That means my Challenger doesn't look as clean as the Mecum car, but originality has its own value that often trumps the condition of the paint or interior.
Also, while this car was the SE (Special Edition) model, and while it had a 440 engine, it was otherwise pretty lean on options. No air conditioning. No AM/FM radio. No rear defrost. No rim-blow steering wheel. My car has all of those because it was originally a dealer demo car, loaded up to encourage showroom shoppers to order more options for their cars.
I'm not sure what my car would have brought at this auction, though I'd like to think it would be a higher price. However, even if I sold it for $45,000 at Mecum two weeks ago my original investment in the Challenger ($40,000 in Spring of 2006) has done better than it would have in the stock market (Dow at 11,279 on March 24, 2006).
Another Monterey Weekend in the bag, and while it took me over a week to gather and size these images I'm finally able to present them here. I didn't have all the highfalutin camera equipment -- okay, or photography skill -- of Mr. Takahashi when shooting my Weekend activities, but I did capture some cool items, particularly if you're a fan of muscle cars.
Yeah, you won't see as many wire-spoked wheels as in Mark's coverage, but on the plus side you won't see as many wire-spoked wheels as in Mark's coverage (ha!). Enjoy.
As I reported on April 20th, my 1970 Plymouth GTX left my ownership (and the northern hemisphere) after 24 years for life down under. The buyer, Dave, drove the car to a container ship in Long Beach, where the Plymouth embarked on a months-long journey to Australia.
Dave promised he'd send some photos of the GTX in his home land, and true to his word I received an email and set of photos last weekend. According to Dave:
"I have the car registered in OZ now. The DMV had no info on a 70 GTX in their system, so I guess its a 1 of 1 in my home state!. I have driven the car to a couple of local shows and a burger hangout and the response to the car is great. Some take to the colour combo, others just dont get it lol!. I dont care, I love it and it has grown on me now."
Every once in awhile I'm reminded that not all reading material comes in a digital form delivered to my eyes via a DSL or fiber-optic line. One such item arrived recently by way of an organization called the U.S. Postal Service (I think they ride horses or something...).
Anyway, the item in question is a new book called Muscle Cars by Mike Mueller, and while the title doesn't get points for originality it does accurately represent the essence of the book.
If you're a fan of muscle cars like me you probably already know everything that's in this book. But even muscle car experts will appreciate the over 350 color photos of 55 different muscle cars, including both the original 1960s and 1970s era models as well as a brief nod to the new Camaro, Challenger and Mustang.
However, the ideal reader for Muscle Cars is the person who has more interest than knowledge in vehicles like the original AMX, Charger, GTO, and Mustang. Author Mike Mueller effectively summarizes the muscle car era in the book's two-page introduction. If you know nothing about these cars and their evolution going in, this intro gives you all the essentials. Memorize it and you could pass yourself off as an aficionado at parties.
Among the benefits of buying a one-owner car is getting the documents usually lost to the passage of time (or maybe it's just the sloppy record keeping of previous owners).
When I purchased my 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE from the original owner I was handed not only the original set of keys and the original owner's manual but also the original bill of sale, original title and original warranty card. Because this particular Challenger served as a dealer demo car for the first 15 months of its life the documents tell an interesting story.
You're looking at a stack of original parts I've saved from my 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. Included in this picture are the original front drum brakes, washer fluid reservoir, points ignition distributor plate, passenger-side taillight, alternator, air cleaner box, carpet and door sill plates. Not in this picture are the original 14-inch road wheels. But trust me, I've got those safely tucked away, too.
Why am I saving all these parts if they've been replaced by superior items? They're taking up valuable garage space and there's no reason to ever put them back on the car, so what's the deal?
For most people these are valid questions. But for the educated carguy the answer is crystal clear.
By Mark Takahashi Photos by Scott Jacobs, Kurt Niebuhr and Mark Takahashi
muscle car n : any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving.
The muscle car wars have once again been ignited and fans of the holy trinity of American performance -- Camaro, Mustang and Challenger -- have never been happier. Ford has fired the latest shot across the bow of Chevy and Dodge, with the revival of the revered 5.0-liter V8 in the 2011 Mustang GT. It seemed fitting then to pit the new 'Stang against our long-term Camaro SS and Challenger R/T, both of which are also powered by stout eight-cylinder engines.
For this comparison, we motored along a meandering stretch of pavement that curls high above the Pacific Coast. Each section of the route included similar portions of highway straightaways, curves and choppy road surfaces. Editors Mark Takahashi, John DiPietro and Warren Clarke charged into the mountains for a raucous yet enlightening afternoon of driving and debating. In the end, our rankings were unanimous and our number crunching backed them up. It's a tough job, we know, but somebody's got to do it.
First, I have to apologize for the lame photo. The original plan after buying this car was to drive it (yes, drive it) from Long Islang to Santa Monica. But the planned 2,800-mile drive ended after 18 miles (you can read more of the details on our Straightline blog). Bottom line, this is the only shot I got of the car with the hood closed. It's now traveling to California in the back of an enclosed trailer, and should be here next week. When it gets here I'll post some proper images that show off that Buccaneer Red paint.
So why did I buy it?
The image you see above is literally the last vision I'll ever have of my 1970 Plymouth GTX. It was being driven away from my house by Dave K. after he bought the GTX and drove me home from the Mopar Spring Fling car show. I shot the photo as he was turning the corner on my street. I looked down to confirm the image in my Nikon's LCD screen (took a second in the bright sun), then I looked up, but both the GTX and Dave were gone.
And when I say gone I'm not joking. Dave is an Aussie from Brisbane, and he's taking my -- sorry, his GTX back to his homeland. This is Dave's third trip to the U.S. in as many years, and every time he buys between three and five vehicles and transports them down under to be resold. Except he told me the GTX wasn't going anywhere once he gets it home. "Of the 13 cars I've purchased on these trips I've only kept one for myself. This will be number two, and likely replace number one. I love the color, and the Air Grabber hood."
Regardless, the stories we've all heard of guys selling the car from their youth, only to track it down years (or decades) later, won't be happening to me -- unless I'm willing to track across several oceans and the equator.
Ironically the GTX's odometer turned over 34,000 miles the day before I sold it, and as I was driving it home for the first time, after buying it in September of 1986, it turned over 84,000 miles. That means I put almost exactly 50,000 miles on the car in just under 24 years.
Why would I let it go, and do I have any regrets?
There's a welcome trend going on in the new car market. But it's not a new trend, it's a return to an old trend that's long overdue in my opinion. You could call it factory personalization or creative packaging or just a plethora of options, but the important point is that as a new car buyer you can choose from a wider variety of features than have been offered in decades on domestic performance cars (the Europeans have always been good about offering personalization on their performance cars).
The new 2011 Ford Mustang GT is an effective example. It's range of choices goes far beyond navigation, leather and a sunroof. Ford's product planners have introduced a rich and engaging option list, giving Mustang shoppers the ability to tailor a car for their personal tastes.
What's really mind boggling is how the level of equipment options on the latest Mustang still doesn't come close to what you could pick from when ordering a 1970 Dodge Challenger. For example, the new Mustang comes with just two (very good) engine choices. How many engine choices existed for the 1970 Dodge Challenger? Three? Four? Five? Nope. Try nine.
And that's on top of four transmissions, seven distinct Challenger models and 18 exterior colors available in 1970.
Advertisement
Recent Posts
December 7, 2010 3:00 AM
Karl on Cars: All I Want for Christmas -- What to Buy Your Favorite Car Guy
November 30, 2010 3:00 AM
Karl on Cars: Fixing Old Cars can be Frustrating. And Also Hugely Rewarding
September 21, 2010 3:00 AM
Karl on Cars: First Time I've Used AAA since...ever? How is that Possible?
September 14, 2010 3:00 AM
Brauer's 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE: Exhaust Leak -- FIXED!
September 1, 2010 10:00 AM
Archives
More Categories
Rants & Musings
Vehicles
Links
Edmunds Inc. Properties
Edmunds.com Inc. Blogs