Mitch Medford’s Zombie Mustang. Photo courtesy of Mitch Medford, Bloodshed Motors.
A battery-powered Mustang, a pair of movie cars, some hot rods and a few muscle cars rounded out the year’s top stories in the Hemmings Daily, with a fire-ravaged Beetle and the last Tucker built from original parts thrown in for good measure. It was an eclectic 12 months, news-wise, with perhaps less of an emphasis on cars sold at auction than in years past and no headline-grabbing sinkholes to repeatedly rack up page views. Grab a cup of coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate – we don’t judge) and take a read through the year that was.
Photo by Thomas A. DeMauro.
#10 – The rarest GTO you may never have wanted. It’s a lesser-known fact that 1968 Pontiac GTOs were available with an Endura bumper delete option, giving them a chrome front end very similar to the mainstream Le Mans. Pink Mist was a special-order color option for the GTO during the 1968 model year as well, though (as one would guess) it didn’t prove to be a popular one. Would a car originally finished in Pink Mist, ordered without the Endura bumper, be more desirable because of its rarity, or less desirable because of its unusual appearance? Tom DeMauro tackled this question in an April story that spurred plenty of reader discussion.
Photo courtesy Mark Melvin.
#9 – Playmate of the Year AMX returns to its original pink. In 1968, Playboy Playmate of the Year Angela Dorian (real name, Victoria Vetri) received a pink AMC AMX as part of her prize package, but the car didn’t remain in this hue for long. Looking to divert attention instead of attract it, Victoria quickly had the AMX finished in a more subdued brown, followed by gray and then black. In 2010, Victoria sold the car, which current owner Mark Melvin found on a used car lot. Mark, a fan of both AMC and Angela Dorian, immediately understood the significance of the car, kicking off a restoration that would return the AMX to its as-delivered state.
Photo courtesy Prototyp Museum.
#8 – After devastating fire, restoration begins on one of world’s oldest Beetles. Built before Volkswagen’s first factory began production, a VW39 carrying chassis tag 1-00003 somehow survived the Second World War, but nearly didn’t survive the January 2011 fire that consumed an industrial park in Hamburg, Germany, where the car was kept as part of the Raffay family’s collection. Now little more than a rusted shell, 1-00003 was acquired by the Prototyp Museum in Hamburg in early 2015, and a full restoration (using a period-correct prewar demonstrator engine) is in the works.
Photo by Steve Tremulis.
#7 – The last Tucker assembled from original parts to make its public debut. The Tucker factory may have shut its doors 65-plus years ago, but interest in Tucker automobiles is again trending upward. Just 37 cars were built before the factory closed, with another 13 completed in-period from leftover parts. Another example was crafted decades later from remaining spares, but in 2015 the 52nd Tucker, the last to be assembled from remaining original parts (excluding rear doors, roof and floor, which required custom fabrication), made its public debut at the Concours d’Elegance of America.
Photo courtesy Pirelli.
#6 – Chip Foose-designed 1965 Chevy Impala takes 2015 Ridler Award. On the outside, it looks like a shortened wheelbase 1965 Impala, lowered (but not slammed) and riding on contemporary oversize chrome wheels. Look closer, and The Imposter appears to be the offspring of a liaison between said Impala and a 2009 Corvette, which is exactly what builder Chip Foose had in mind. In his words, “What if, in 1965, GM’s Corvette studio decided to build a muscle car?” Designed as a daily driver for owner Elma Voth, the car captured the 2015 Ridler award by having the “best worst area,” in Foose’s words, and it certainly generated discussion here.
1958 Chevrolet Impala Photo courtesy Profiles in History.
#5 – Better than Darryl Starbird’s Superfleck Moonbird – 1958 Impala from American Graffiti could sell for $1 million. Auction houses that specialize in the sale of collector cars tend to have a fairly good feel for a car’s value before it hits the stage. On the other hand, auction firms that specialize in Hollywood memorabilia have a more difficult time estimating accurate values for screen-used vehicles, as demonstrated by the 1958 Impala seen in American Graffiti and offered last summer by Profiles in History. Since filming wrapped, the car has seen three replacement drivetrains and 25-plus years of storage, though no real cosmetic restoration to speak of. The published pre-auction estimate put the car’s value between $800,000 and $1,000,000, though bidding failed to reach this plateau and the car was not sold.
Photo courtesy Profiles in History.
#4 – So where are all the remaining Back to the Future De Loreans? Had it not been for the Back to the Future movie franchise, the De Lorean DMC12 may well have faded into the sunset, just another lost car of the 1980s. Instead, the De Lorean graced the bedroom walls of an entirely new generation, one that’s now got the disposable income to purchase remanufactured DMC12s built from new old stock parts. Write a story about the fate of the seven examples (four of which remain) used in the filming of the three BTTF movies, and it’s guaranteed to draw eyes on page.
Photo courtesy VanDerBrink Auctions.
#3 – A lifetime’s collection of hot rods and parts heads to auction in Florida. Bob Koepke was a lifelong hot-rodder, and his job with NASA on Florida’s Space Coast afforded him the income and the space to build an impressive collection of cars and parts. As the years went by, however, Bob grew more reclusive, keeping the exact size of his stash a closely guarded secret until his death. Son David was left with the task of reclaiming cars and parts from the tropical overgrowth, and the selection offered by VanDerBrink Auctions offered everything from Deuce Coupes through a Ferrari 308.
Photo by Myles Kornblatt.
#2 – There’s only one original Mad Max Interceptor and it’s not in Australia. The cult classic 1979 Australian film Mad Max, and its 1981 sequel, The Road Warrior, may have featured Mel Gibson, but the real star of the show was a blacked-out 1973 Ford Falcon GT, modified as a blower-equipped Pursuit Special to bring law and order to the post-apocalyptic wastelands. With hype building about the 2015 Mad Max release, Fury Road, contributor Myles Kornblatt brought us the story of the sole surviving Pursuit Special used in the first two films, now housed at the Miami Auto Museum at the Dezer Collection.
Photo courtesy Mitch Medford, Bloodshed Motors.
#1 – Electric Mustang records 1.94-second 0-60 time, builder sets 200 MPH goal. While electric cars and Hemmings Motor News generally aren’t things that appear in the same sentence, news of a vintage Mustang retrofitted with an electric drivetrain and running low 10s in the quarter-mile does catch our eye. Zombie Mustang builder Mitch Medford likes the idea of blending old with new, and since the article first appeared, further modifications have dropped the Mustang’s time below the 10-second mark. Some readers praised Mitch for raising the battery-powered bar, while others refused to accept that a real Mustang could be powered by anything other than internal combustion.
Thanks to each and every one who paid us a virtual visit in 2015, and please keep coming back for more in 2016. If you don’t already subscribe to the Hemmings Daily (now published six days per week), you can sign up for free delivery to your email inbox here.
from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1TrS9Wb
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