Auto news and reviews from Car Buyer's Notebook.com: Vintage Archives

May 16, 2008

Volvo P1800 Owners Converge on Sweden

47 Volvo P1800 cars from German and Swiss Volvo Owner clubs visit Sweden and Volvo Car Corporation in connection with the clubs' 30 year anniversary. An impressive sight.

The German Volvo P1800 IG and the Swiss Volvo-Sport Club P1800 are both celebrating their anniversary with a week's visit to Sweden. The group consists of 38 cars from Germany and 9 from Switzerland.

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May 15, 2008

Porsche 959

There had never been anything like the 959 – an everyday sports car with a top speed of 315 km/h, costing 420,000 DM, and packed with technology. The roof, the wings and the back of the bodywork were made of Kevlar. The front skirt was polyurethane and the bonnet and doors were made of aluminium.

Under its outer skin the 959 throbbed with the finest technology. The all-wheel drive was on all the time but depending on the preloaded driving program, different amounts of torque were applied to the front and rear axles.

Continue reading"Porsche 959"

May 13, 2008

VW Beetles Keep Going and Going and ...

It's always cool to see well-cared for vintage cars being used as a daily drivers, such as this original Beetle convertible with the tag, "I BUGD OUT."

You have to figure with over 21 million original Beetles produced, there are more than a few still delivering dependable transport, while recently VW annnounced the New Beetle has reached over 1 million unit sales since being introduced in 1998, with over half a million of those on American roads.

VW's New Beetle Reaches a Decade as Pop Culture Icon

Henry Leland, Father of Cadillac and Lincoln

Investor's Business Daily has an interesting article about Henry Leland, a hard-working engineer who was involved in the early day of three iconic American car brands -- Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Lincoln.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the American auto industry was struggling to invent itself, and in the early days, most of the cars were miraculous for the fact that they ran at all, never mind for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Henry Leland was an engineer who pioneered the concept of identical mass production of parts, machined to exact tolerances, so that they could be switched in and out of models. His reputation landed him transmission and engine work at Oldsmobile, and that reputation got him the job of taking over the early Cadillac. Once he turned that brand around, the firm was sold to General Motors -- prompting Leland to go off on his own to found the Lincoln brand of cars, which was later sold to Ford.

April 28, 2008

BMW Design Honors Iconic M1

Munich/Cernobbio -- To mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1 super sports car, BMW Group Design is presenting a homage to this legendary model as part of the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2008.

The BMW M1 designed by Giorgio Giugiaro was a car of superlatives and a highly emotive vehicle that was uncompromisingly primed for the race track.

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April 22, 2008

1948 Buick Roadmaster Sells for $300,000

BOISE, Idaho -- Hot Web, Inc. today announced the completed record sale of a 1948 Buick Roadmaster convertible "custom," named "Lowla" to an undisclosed buyer based in the United Arab Emirates capital city of Abu Dhabi.

The $300,000 paid for the one-of-a-kind automobile built by Startup, Washington-based Divers Street Rods, is believed to be the highest amount ever paid for the particular make and model.

Continue reading"1948 Buick Roadmaster Sells for $300,000"

April 21, 2008

Ford's Model T Turns 100

LOS ANGELES – A century after the Model T put the world on wheels, Ford continues building on its tradition with industry-leading, high-volume technologies including SYNC and EcoBoost engines, a new fuel-efficient powertrain lineup, a new small car for the world as well as America’s most head-turning crossover and most-capable pickup.

“Henry Ford’s Model T was simple, affordable and reliable. It changed the way we live, work and play, providing mobility and prosperity on an undreamed-of scale,” said Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company president and CEO.

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Ford Model T Facts

-- October 1, 1908 marks the anniversary of the first Model T built for sale.

-- The Model T was the first low-priced, mass-produced automobile with standard, interchangeable parts.

-- The Model T was equipped with a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a top speed of approximately 45 miles per hour, weighed 1,200 pounds, and achieved 13-21 miles per gallon.

Continue reading"Ford Model T Facts"

April 17, 2008

Mercedes-Benz brand: History of the three-pointed star

The invention in the 1880s of the high-speed engine and the automobile enabled Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz – independently of one another – to lay the foundations for the motorization of road transport.

With the help of financial backers and partners, they both invested their private developments in their own enterprises – in Mannheim, Benz founded the firm Benz & Cie. in October 1883, and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) was formed in November 1890.

Continue reading"Mercedes-Benz brand: History of the three-pointed star"

April 2, 2008

Spectacular Collector Cars Highlight Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Record crowds, over $1 million raised for charity, interactive experiences, expanded live SPEED coverage and scores of new bidders for a strong group of collector cars were the hallmarks of the 6th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in West Palm Beach, Fla., from March 26-30, 2008.

Bidders from around the world competed for 509 vehicles that sold at No Reserve for a total of $23,301,250 at the automotive lifestyle event.

Continue reading"Spectacular Collector Cars Highlight Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach"

Posted by Frank at 5:16 AM | Filed under Auto Marketing | Auto News | Finance | Vintage

March 29, 2008

BMW M1 Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Munich -- The star came in pure white: When the 64th Paris Motor Show opened its gates in autumn 1978, sports car fans and lovers had only one destination - the stand of BMW Motorsport GmbH.

There they were able to admire a super-low, dynamic new model which made it clear at very first sight that this was Germany's fastest road-going sports car: the BMW M1, 1,140 millimeters (44.9" ) high, 204 kW (277 bhp) strong, and well over 260 km/h (160 mph) fast. "Everybody was crowding around BMW's new mid-engined sports car", wrote the press.

Continue reading"BMW M1 Celebrates 30th Anniversary"

Posted by Frank at 9:44 PM | Filed under 5th Wheel | Auto Marketing | Auto News | Vintage

March 28, 2008

SPEED and Barrett-Jackson Extend Partnership

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The world’s premier collector car auction company, Barrett-Jackson, and SPEED, the automotive lifestyle network, have reached an agreement on a multi-year contract to continue live broadcasts of the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Events in Scottsdale, Ariz., and West Palm Beach, Fla., and extend coverage to include Barrett-Jackson’s new Las Vegas auction.

Continue reading"SPEED and Barrett-Jackson Extend Partnership"

1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe

Although it was officially named Carrera GTS, it opened a new chapter in Porsche's sporting history under the internal designation 904.

The 904, designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (known as "Butzi"), anticipated, from a technical point of view, much that did not become the norm in racing car manufacturing until later: mixed steel/plastic construction, low weight, small frontal area.

Continue reading"1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe"

Posted by Frank at 8:14 AM | Filed under Auto Marketing | Auto News | Porsche | Vintage

March 8, 2008

The Henry Ford Acquires First Steel-Bodied School Bus

DEARBORN, Mich. -- The Henry Ford, America’s premiere history destination in Dearborn, Michigan has acquired the first steel-bodied school bus, Blue Bird No. 1, it was announced today by Patricia Mooradian, president of the institution.

Blue Bird No. 1 was the first steel-bodied school bus built by Albert Luce, Sr. in 1927. Luce was the owner of Ford dealerships in Fort Valley and Perry, Georgia when one of his customers requested a vehicle to transport workers to a cement plant.

Continue reading"The Henry Ford Acquires First Steel-Bodied School Bus"

Posted by Frank at 8:57 AM | Filed under Auto Marketing | Auto News | Ford | Vintage

February 26, 2008

Vintage Volvo Gets a Hot Rod Makeover

Hot Rod Jakob is a unique combination of classical car-building craftsmanship allied to modern technology and design.

In February 2008 the car will be unveiled at the Volvo Museum in Göteborg before setting off on a tour of the Nordic region and the USA.

From 1925-1926, the prototypes of what would eventually become the first Volvo slowly take shape in a simple workshop on the island of Hisingen in Göteborg on Sweden's west coast. Volvo's enthusiastic founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson and their skilled craftsmen proceed with immense skill and precision.

Continue reading"Vintage Volvo Gets a Hot Rod Makeover"

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