What Have You Found To Watch?

[Roscobbc]

James I'm guessing most us 'oldies' who were around in the 60's and 70's feel much the same way.......guessing that few of us who would have liked/wanted/owned an American car of some repute wouldn't have been able to afford one back then. TBH the 'scene' wasn't anywhere as large as it is now and muscle cars, Vettes and the like were few and far between. Yes, perhaps if you took a trip up to the West End, Kensington, Chelsea and the more affluent areas of the UK you might even see a 'new' Yank......but you needed 'deep pockets'. Insurance was another issue.......classic car insurance didn't exist until the later 70's, so if you were under 25 it was likely that a £100 old Yank would cost you at least, probably more to insure.........rose tinted glasses apply when looking back to that period.

 

[Chuffer]

70s muscle car photo compilation
Feel like I missed out on the 60s and 70s.

Indeed you did by some margin but it is often said that if you can remember the 60`s you weren`t actually there . Too much `pot` and LSD to remember anything you see !

 

[Chuffer]

James I'm guessing most us 'oldies' who were around in the 60's and 70's feel much the same way.......guessing that few of us who would have liked/wanted/owned an American car of some repute wouldn't have been able to afford one back then. TBH the 'scene' wasn't anywhere as large as it is now and muscle cars, Vettes and the like were few and far between. Yes, perhaps if you took a trip up to the West End, Kensington, Chelsea and the more affluent areas of the UK you might even see a 'new' Yank......but you needed 'deep pockets'. Insurance was another issue.......classic car insurance didn't exist until the later 70's, so if you were under 25 it was likely that a £100 old Yank would cost you at least, probably more to insure.........rose tinted glasses apply when looking back to that period.

With you all the way there Ross . In my mispent yoof me and my mates lusted over anything US with a V8 in it but imagined owning one . What few you did see were either at the early days of Santa Pod where we used to hang out in early 70`s or at the annual pilgimage to the Custom Car Show where I vaguely recall one of Jeff Beck`s hot rods on show ( RIP Jeff and Hey Ho on that Silver Lining ) And of course custom vans were all the rage back then , ever over here and damp and dreary UK .

 

[Roscobbc]

With you all the way there Ross . In my mispent yoof me and my mates lusted over anything US with a V8 in it but imagined owning one . What few you did see were either at the early days of Santa Pod where we used to hang out in early 70`s or at the annual pilgimage to the Custom Car Show where I vaguely recall one of Jeff Beck`s hot rods on show ( RIP Jeff and Hey Ho on that Silver Lining ) And of course custom vans were all the rage back then , ever over here and damp and dreary UK .

First V8 I owned was a
'64 Daimler 2 1/2 litre V8. Remember cutting open the mufflers and chopping out all the baffles.........had them welded-up and was quite disappointed when (other than a bit of crackle) it wasn't really any louder. Great (if slow) car that eventuially 'threw a rod' and totalled the engine.

 

[Chuffer]

First V8 I owned was a
'64 Daimler 2 1/2 litre V8. Remember cutting open the mufflers and chopping out all the baffles.........had them welded-up and was quite disappointed when (other than a bit of crackle) it wasn't really any louder. Great (if slow) car that eventuially 'threw a rod' and totalled the engine.

The first V8 I owned was a Chevy Impala . It was a Corgi and I was about 9 years old . I have managed to fit in 5 assorted real V8`s in the last 20 years though .

 

[phild]

The first V8 I owned was a Chevy Impala . It was a Corgi and I was about 9 years old . I have managed to fit in 5 assorted real V8`s in the last 20 years though .

With you on the Corgi model as I had the same. First full size V8 I had, in the 80's, was a Chevy Malibu of around 4.4 litres if I recall correctly. It was a company car as I was living/working in Saudi at the time and was a culture shock having been used to Cortina's and Cavalier's up to then.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Footage of my red 1971 LT-1 and lots of others being thrashed at the State Fairgrounds 1974 / 5 on the drag strip and autox. Not an ounce of fat to be seen anywhere as they clearly spent all their cash on the Corvettes not McDonalds

 

[antijam]

Interesting footage from when the cars were new(ish). Oh for the sound track!

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Interesting footage from when the cars were new(ish). Oh for the sound track!

Yes shame but it is 8mm then DVD then YT. When I bought the LT-1 in NYC it was still set up for drags with oversized jets and undrivable

 

[jukebox]

With you all the way there Ross . In my mispent yoof me and my mates lusted over anything US with a V8 in it but imagined owning one . What few you did see were either at the early days of Santa Pod where we used to hang out in early 70`s or at the annual pilgimage to the Custom Car Show where I vaguely recall one of Jeff Beck`s hot rods on show ( RIP Jeff and Hey Ho on that Silver Lining ) And of course custom vans were all the rage back then , ever over here and damp and dreary UK .

This was my daily driver in the early 80s

 

[Roscobbc]

This was my daily driver in the early 80s

Had a buddy with a 35 cwt 2300 double wheel CF van - it also had a 5 speed ZF gearbox - quite rapid unloaded but hampered with a 5.00 back axle. He installed a jag independant rear end which helped things. Big mistake was to then fit a 2.5 ltr V6 out of an early Granada........thing was far slower then than the 2300 ohc slant 4!

 

[antijam]

The Golden Sahara 2 is a typical piece of OTT american customisation....

Originally based on a wrecked '53 Lincoln Capri it incorporated several ideas ahead of its time but to me the really interesting thing is that it's the only known vehicle wearing Goodyear illuminated tyres (or tires if you prefer).
In the early '60's Goodyear developed a tyre made of 'neothane', a transparent synthetic rubber. The tyre could not only be dyed almost any colour but Goodyear decided that you could also attach electric lamp bulbs to the wheel, somehow feed them with power, and Voila! , coloured illuminated tyres.
Unfortunately not only was neothane considerably more expensive than traditional tyre rubber, neothane tyres were lethal in the wet and tended to melt under heavy braking or even high ambient temperatures - so another bright idea bit the dust.
60 years on technology must surely have moved on to the point where illuminated tyres are now a practical proposition? Let'e lobby Goodyear to have another go!

 

[James Vette]

Pontiac GTO "the humbler" commercial

 

[phild]

The Golden Sahara 2 is a typical piece of OTT american customisation....

Originally based on a wrecked '53 Lincoln Capri it incorporated several ideas ahead of its time but to me the really interesting thing is that it's the only known vehicle wearing Goodyear illuminated tyres (or tires if you prefer).
In the early '60's Goodyear developed a tyre made of 'neothane', a transparent synthetic rubber. The tyre could not only be dyed almost any colour but Goodyear decided that you could also attach electric lamp bulbs to the wheel, somehow feed them with power, and Voila! , coloured illuminated tyres.
Unfortunately not only was neothane considerably more expensive than traditional tyre rubber, neothane tyres were lethal in the wet and tended to melt under heavy braking or even high ambient temperatures - so another bright idea bit the dust.
60 years on technology must surely have moved on to the point where illuminated tyres are now a practical proposition? Let'e lobby Goodyear to have another go!

On the other hand, lets not!

 

[antijam]

If 'mud plugging' isn't really your thing...

...how about 'rock bouncing'?

 

[Forrest Gump]

A look at the “Beast”, the legendary Spitfire-engined Rolls Royce.
Driving this thing makes driving a C3 Corvette look very tame, it does have a GM TH400 gearbox though!

 

[Chuffer]

A look at the “Beast”, the legendary Spitfire-engined Rolls Royce.
Driving this thing makes driving a C3 Corvette look very tame, it does have a GM TH400 gearbox though!

I remember seeing that in its first incarnation as red with white roof and Ford Capri style rear end at the London Custom Car Show in 1972 . The car mags were full of articles about back in the day . My C3 has something in common with the yellow one in the video too ....... It has Centre Line split rim alloys but unfortunately a little less power .

 

[Roscobbc]

A look at the “Beast”, the legendary Spitfire-engined Rolls Royce.
Driving this thing makes driving a C3 Corvette look very tame, it does have a GM TH400 gearbox though!

How the first iteration of John Dodds 'The Beast looked (before getting burnt out)

I remember seeing that in its first incarnation as red with white roof and Ford Capri style rear end at the London Custom Car Show in 1972 . The car mags were full of articles about back in the day . My C3 has something in common with the yellow one in the video too ....... It has Centre Line split rim alloys but unfortunately a little less power .

How it looks 'today' under its new ownership

 

[Nassau65]

Looks much better with the original silver shadow grill . Gray also suits it very well. Brings it up to date.

 

[Forrest Gump]

How it looks 'today' under its new ownership

Rolls Royce have agreed it can have their badge then....that must have happened quite recently, the youtube video with the beige body was 2023.