Concours d'Elegance of America, Plymouth, Michigan, July 30, 2017--Part Seven--Brass Era Cars and Can-Am Racers

1910 Oakland 30 Model 24

Although the Concours d'Elegance of America has a big selection of terrific cars, it is a bit limited with respect to those from the Brass Era (pre-World War I).  A total of eleven cars were listed in the "Gas Light" and "Jazz Age" categories but what was small in numbers was made up for by enthusiasm.  And the most enthusiastic had to be Mr. and Mrs. Laird, who were highly decorative adjuncts to their beautiful 1910 Oakland.

Oakland was established in Pontiac, Michigan in 1907, using a design by Alanson Brush for a two-cylinder car that had been rejected by Cadillac and featuring some quite novel features.  Brush moved on to his own car company and the Oakland, coming on the market in 1908, sold poorly.  It was decided to switch to add a more conventional four cylinder arrangement and a sliding gear transmission in 1909, the same year that Billy Durant pulled Oakland into his General Motors empire.  The following year Oakland was exclusively four cylinder and sales ramped up impressively, from 300 cars to 5,000.  The cars did well in motor sports, notably in reliability trials and hill climbs.  Oaklands continued to be produced until 1931, after which the brand vanished in favour of Pontiac, which had been introduced as a "companion car" to Oakland in 1926.

The 1910 Oakland Model 24 was built on a 96 inch wheelbase and was powered by a 40 hp four cylinder engine.  This roadster model was only available in 1910 and 1911 and sold for $1,700.

1912 E.M.F. Model 30

The Everitt-Metzger-Flanders Company of Detroit was launched in 1908 to build high-quality medium-priced cars  under the E.M.F. name, sold through a distribution agreement with the Studebaker Brothers wagon company.  The partners quarreled and went their separate ways (reuniting in 1922 to built the Rickenbacker car) and Studebaker won control of the company in 1912 after a bitter court battle.  The cars had some technical issues and unfortunately became saddled with nicknames such as "Every-Mechanical-Fault," and "Every-Morning-Fix-it," so Studebaker wisely switched to using their own name on the remaining E.M.F. cars.

1911 Oldsmobile Autocrat

Once the manufacturer of America's best selling car, the little Curved Dash Oldsmobile, the company had left that lightweight buggy-like vehicle far behind when it switched to luxury models in 1904 and was then brought into the fold of General Motors in 1908 as a high-end brand.  The four cylinder 40 hp Autocrat, introduced in 1911, would have been among the heaviest and most powerful cars of the era, and cost $3,500.  Only 1,000 Autocrats were produced by the Olds workforce each year.

1903 Ford Model A

This Model A (not be confused with the 1928 car) was the first production car of the Ford Motor Company.  A two seat runabout, it was capable of a top speed of 30 mph with its two cylinder 8 hp motor.  The Model A was introduced in July 1903 and Ford's official estimate is that 670 cars were built, although other sources suggest production could have reached 1,700.

From these pioneer cars with their charm and low power, we walked over to look at the Can-Am class, dedicated to the wild racing cars that competed in what some still consider to be the greatest race series ever.  The Can-Am Challenge Cup was a sports car series that ran from 1966 until 1974 in its original form, although the name would be used for other series from 1977 until 1987, and then briefly on and off from 1991 until 1999 with different cars again.  But the original Can-Am cars were real monsters as the rules were the least restrictive possible, perhaps the closest to "anything goes" in modern racing.  Without restrictions on engine power (and supercharging and turbocharging were allowed), output reached astronomical numbers, with Porsche claiming 1,500 hp for their 917.

Each season saw dominance by a single manufacturer--Lola, McLaren, Porsche, Shadow, Chaparral-- but the noise and excitement drew the fans until the oil crisis of 1973 and spiraling costs related to the advanced technology used in the cars, brought it to an end in 1974.  Many of racing's greatest drivers competed in the series, which was held at tracks in Canada and the United States.

1968 McLaren M8A

This McLaren was driven to Can-Am Championship victory by Denny Hulme in 1968, then by Bruce McLaren himself the following year.  The car's drivers included Dan Gurney, Chris Amon and Jack Brabham.  In 1970 the car was recently privately but crashed and was badly damaged at Mosport.  Car and driver came back to manage a 2nd place finish in St-Jovite behind Dan Gurney driving a works McLaren M8D.  The car was upgraded to M8B specifications in 1969, with power from its big block Chevrolet V8 going from 620 to 630 hp.

1971 McLaren M8E Roadster

The M8E was a derivation of the M8B for private customers and was built by Trojan Limited in Rye, Sussex, England.  Trojan began building Elva Courier racing cars under license in 1962 and eventually produced cars for McLaren, with around 200 constructed by the time Trojan stopped building cars in the early 1970s.  McLaren cars were the most successful in the Can-Am series, taking 43 wins in all.

1970 Lola T-70 Mk3B

1966 Lola T-70 Mk II Spyder

1969 Lola T-163 (left); 1969 Lola T-70 Mk3B (right)

1971 Lola T-222

Lola Cars International was founded by Eric Broadley in Huntington, England and operated for over 50 years, between 1958 and 2012, becoming one of the largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world.  Broadley worked closely with Ford's Roy Lunn to develop the GT40 but soon went on his own to develop the T-70 and its successors with great success.  A T-70 driven by John Surtees won the first Can-Am Challenge Cup series in 1966.  The T-222's Chevrolet V8 produced over 900 hp in a car weighing only 1,750 lbs.  Following the bankruptcy of Lola in 2012, much of the manufacturing equipment was purchased not only by Carl Haas Racing but also by Manumatic of Markham, Ontario, builder of the current Ford GT.

1967 Shelby American T-10 King Cobra Can-Am

As part of Ford's racing ambitions, money was provide to Shelby American to enter Can-Am racing.  Shelby retained Transatlantic Racing Consultants (TAC) to design a car and TAC came up with a conventional monocoque chassis but with a radical suspension.  The car arrived late at Shelby headquarters and with only a month until the first race at Riverside and with significant handling problems, a conventional suspension was substituted.  The car qualified 13th out of 35 cars, but did not finish the race due to fuel pump failure.  Ford basically lost interest in racing after its success at LeMans (finishing 1-2-3 with the GT40) and funding was cut.  The King Cobra was sold to privateers, who raced it with some success.  The car is powered by an extremely rare aluminum prototype Ford 351, with only six cast in aluminum and perhaps 50 made in all.

1967 Chinook Mk 5 Can-Am

The Chinook racing cars were built in Toronto between 1966 and 1970 by the Fejer Brothers, Rudy and George, and Ed Butt.  Inspired by the McLaren M1, the Chinook was completed in time to compete in the first Can-Am Challenge Cup race in St-Jovite in 1966.  George Fejer qualified 26th out of 34 starters (40 cars had been signed up!) but dropped out mid-race with a fuel leak.  The car was sold and raced by Nate Adams for some time before it was sold and traces were lost of it. The car was eventually dismantled and remained in pieces for two decades.  The current owner had it restored and was able to participate at the Goodwood Revival in 2005, although the car was not entirely sorted and is now running with a 5.7 litre Chevrolet V8 instead of the original 6.2 litre version.  The car has also been taken to vintage events at Mosport, where the original builders were present.

Continue to Part Eight here

The Autorama Car Show, Ottawa, Ontario--April 29, 2017

As in years past, the Capital Corvette Club was offered a display spot at the Autorama Car Show, held at the E&Y Centre near the airport in Ottawa.  Volunteers to man the stand were requested and so I headed down to see an indoor car show devoted to hot rods, muscle cars and even some Corvettes.  It was April and I had just taken our Corvette out of storage; the roads in Ottawa were cleaned up enough that the short drive caused no anxiety.

First stop was the Capital Corvette Club's big display, showing cars of the generations from C2 to C7.  In past years the club had been given a popularity award as people actually were able to sit in our cars!

In addition to our cars, there were other Corvettes on display, including a very nice pair of C2s, one, a 1967 silver car, which was restored to original while the other, a red 1965 Coupe, had been extensively modified with more up to date components.  The shop that had done the work had some other cars on display, including a gorgeous red Dodge Coronet GTX.  I think that a lot of the Chrysler products of the late 1960s and early 1970s were very fine designs.

Corvettes seem to be welcome at all car events and in addition to our club's cars and the restored mid-year cars, there were a couple of other of the plastic wonders present.

Other car clubs were represented, such as one-make groups like the Acura NSX followers, but also general social clubs for any type of special interest car, such as the Summer Knight Cruisers Car Club of Ottawa.  This group had a surprisingly eclectic range of cars, from customized American Muscle to VW vans to one really, well, pedestrian car.  The owner was very nice and was quite excited about his recently-purchased low-mileage c. 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Sedan, showing me all its highlights.  I am not one to disrespect the object of other car enthusiasts' affections--and I think the 1968-1972 3rd Generation Cutlass coupes of my childhood were very cool--but this was one seriously dull car.  But I have seen worse--such as a pale blue K-Car at a show.  That model may have saved Chrysler for a while but seldom has such a car been so quickly forgotten.

There were some other boring cars as well but they had been livened up with air suspensions, so beloved of the "low rider" set in Los Angeles:

Not dull in the least and requiring no improvement was a superb 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350, one of only 562 built.  Actually, it did need some improvement as it was converted to a race car in 1966 and then totally wrecked in a vintage race in 1975.  The current owner restored the car to its original configuration, taking 3,500 hours to do so between 1976 and completion in 1992.  Impressively, the car, which is very valuable, is not trailered but driven to events.

Even signed by Carroll Shelby himself!

Shelby was famous for the Cobra sports car and a replica was present at Autorama.

Another American icon that a lot of time and money had been spent on was this 1981 Camaro, equipped with a GM crate ZZ572 engine producing 620 hp.

The show was open to all and while it was clear that North American cars and trucks were predominant, there were some nice examples of cars from the other side of the Pacific:

A flock of Acura NSXes was present, none looking much like they came from the factory

Nissan 370Z (foreground) and other Japanese cars

Highly modified Nissan  370Z

The other section of the E&Y Centre housed the most over-the-top automotive creations imaginable.  Not being connected much with the car enthusiast world until buying the Corvette in 2015, I had forgotten about the strange world of show cars.  Not hot rods, which are meant to be driven, but rather cars that are so artistically finished that they live in dust-free trailers and only appear indoors at car shows like this, often with their wheels off and surrounded by mirrors.  The attention to detail, the paint, the chrome--each is a huge investment of money, time and skill.  There is a circuit of shows for these vehicles and while I admire the workmanship that goes into them (if not always the aesthetic) it is not something I would ever pursue.

There were two-show stoppers on display.  The first, with a huge area to itself, was the VooDoo Sahara, a ferociously customized 1954 Kaiser Manhattan built from 2014 to 2016 by VooDoo Larry of Schaumburg, Illinois.  The car was constructed as a tribute to a customized 1953 Lincoln, the Golden Sahara, that was created by George Barris in 1954, and which became one of the most famous custom cars of the 1950s.  The original car, which had been further modified to become the Golden Sahara II, disappeared in the early 1960s.  Its owner had put it into storage and following his death in 2017, that car reappeared and was auctioned in 2018.

The Golden Sahara, with its built-in television set and tape recorder, gold-plated trim, and cocktail bar with refrigeration unit, looks kind of insane today but one could imagine that it is the kind of thing that would have made the front cover of "Popular Mechanics" in the mid-1950s as an expression of how cars of the future would look.  The VooDoo Sahara, which includes styling elements from both iterations of the original car, reflects the era's tastes--even if it looks to be undriveable!

In good car customizing tradition, what began as a 1954 Kaiser Manhattan received a hand-made custom body, 1960 Corvair headlights and 1958 Mercury taillights, a windshield from a 1955 Chevrolet and 1935 Ford headlight buckets were turned into the "Dagmars," the bullet-shaped forms at the front of the car.  It is powered by a 1969 Chevy small block V8.  The 1954 Kaiser frame is augmented by a 1980 Camaro sub-frame and a 1977 Chevrolet Nova rear end.

Near the VooDoo Sahara was the most overwrought car I have ever seen: the Sun King, a 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air.  This car has been pained, chromed and engraved to the ultimate degree.  Apparently it is driveable but I can't imagine how many hours you would need to polish it after even a short trip!  The entire car was positioned above mirrors so you could see that underneath it was as painted, chromed and engraved as above.

More to my liking was a beautiful 1932 Ford 3 Window Coupe.  Painted dark green and named "Emerald Illusion," I had actually seen this car, owned by a couple in Laval, Quebec, on the road, or at least outside on the street at the Hawkesbury show.  A classic hot rod, it is powered by a 350 cu in Edelbrock Chevrolet small block putting out 410 hp.

"Celeste" was the name given to a nicely modified 1955 Ford Thunderbird, now powered by a 2010 Mustang V8 engine and boasting a fine leather interior, with burl walnut trim.  The car uses a reworked 1936 Oldsmobile gauge cluster!

A more recent example of a Ford was this 2014 Mustang, "Prototype," with its 22 inch custom wheels and extensive body kit.  It has a Paxton supercharger on the engine, which is capable of 700 hp.  No surprise that the stereo is 2000W--it probably needs to be with all that sound.

Customized 1973 Dodge Challenger

1957 Ford Gasser, of a type popular in the period for drag racing.  This example's engine produces 572 hp @ 6000 rpm.

Customized pickup trucks are gaining popularity

A real novelty was this 1953 Studebaker Land Speed Record car, powered by a 1957 Chrysler 392. During the Bonneville Speed Week in 2016, the car reached 220.696 mph, or over 355 km/h.  Unlike the fancy signs used to show off the other cars, this Studie just got a scrawled piece of poster board, perhaps keeping in the homebuilt spirit of Bonneville.

Another novelty was a customized van, the sort of thing I recall from my high school era but lasting not much beyond that.  "Sharky" is a full-size 1980 Ford Econoline boasting gull-wing doors, 4 oak bars for the party-hearties, a 5" television, a refrigerator, a velour interior, murals, a high-powered sound system, and a water bed.

1950 Mercury Pickup Truck

Rat rods were present.  This crazy thing above is the Getty Maddmerc, based on a Canadian-market 1950 Mercury pickup truck.  It uses what is basically Dodge Viper running gear, with an engine producing 505 hp and a six-speed manual transmission.  The bed is covered with Canadian pennies (no longer used as legal tender in this country) and the fuel filler is hidden in the Coca-Cola cooler.  A regular at Ottawa events, the truck was built in under a year to be a featured vehicle at the 2016 SEMA show in Las Vegas.

How about a rat rod pickup ideal for Canadian winters?

Then there was the garden-variety rat rod, looking a bit prosaic compared to the others.

Pre-World War 2 cars, the original inspiration for hot rods, were not forgotten. A car we have seen on several occasions was this excellent 1932 Chevrolet Master Coupe Pro Touring, rocking a big Chevrolet LS engine and a fine custom interior.  This is another car that the owners are proud to drive rather than trailer.

1940 Chevrolet Coupe

1939 Chevrolet Business Coupe

1932 Ford (Yes, a Little Deuce Roadster, known as the T-Bird Deuce)

An unusual car was this 1932 Ford that had been hot-rodded in 1955 but, as seems to be the case, the builder thought more power would be nice and installed a new Thunderbird crate engine.  Since then the T-Bird Deuce has had 24 owners--all of whom have been identified!  The 7th owner, John Willoughby, bought the car in 1962 and sold it two years later.  In 2011, he tracked down and repurchased his old car, 47 years afterwards.  A website gives the background to the car and all the changes it has had since being hotrodded.

The hot rod industry seems to be flourishing as in addition to these highly modified original cars, there was a gorgeous 1934 Ford Cabriolet.  "Rubber Ducky," a good name considering its colour ("Ford Screaming Yellow"), is basically a new car.  It has a fiberglass body, a custom chassis and a V8 engine far more powerful at 436 hp than Grandpa could have imagined (plus 60 hp more from a shot of nitrous oxide!), along with disc brakes.  But it still has suicide doors and a rumble seat.  The owner was taking the opportunity to photograph his Significant Other at the show alongside the car.

And the Old Ford Club was present with a nice Model T station hack, the owner of which was most enthusiastic about the virtues of the Model T and the Model A.

These were the highlights of Autorama 2017 to me and I enjoyed seeing the custom cars and chatting with the owners.  It was a fun way to spend the day (although I noticed that the attendance was not overwhelming) but I was happy to go outside into the excellent Spring weather and get into my own very fine, non-trailered special interest car for the drive home.