• Tag Archives Collectible Automobie Magazine

  • Photo Feature: 1960 Edsel Ranger

    Posted on by admin
    1960 Edsel Ranger

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    by Don Sikora II

    Note: The following story was excerpted from the April 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

    Introduced by the Ford Motor Company in September 1957, Edsel was Ford’s attempt to capture a larger portion of the medium-price new-car market. But by the start of the 1960 model year, the brand was on very shaky ground.

    More Collectible Automobile Photo Features

    1960 Edsel Ranger Two-Door Sedan

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    As the medium-price market developed in the years between the world wars, Ford really didn’t do anything to address this growing—and profitable—part of the business. The 1939 Mercury was the company’s first medium-price offering, but it had to compete with Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick from General Motors; Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler from Chrysler; and a collection of strong independents including Nash and Hudson.

    Ford executives recognized the importance of this market soon after the end of World War II. Still, serious strategic planning didn’t begin until the Fifties.

    Carefully orchestrated leaks and media speculation preceded the introduction of FoMoCo’s new medium-price car, the 1958 Edsel. Despite the planning and hoopla, the Edsel faced major problems even before it ever went on sale. 

    Dead-Brand Madness! 10 Classic Edsel Ads

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    The new car found itself caught up in a perfect storm of brutal office politics, a dramatic sales downturn in the medium-price field, and the worst economic conditions since the end of World War II. With sales failing to live up to expectations from the start, and powerful opponents in company management, Edsel quickly lost support inside of Ford, even before New Year’s Day 1958. It was branded a loser, but no matter how good or bad the ’58 Edsel truly was, it probably never really had a chance to succeed. 

    Edsel offerings were dramatically scaled back for 1959, and by 1960, the Edsel was little more than a badge-engineered Ford. Introduced on October 15, 1959, the ’60 Edsel arrived in one series, Ranger. Body styles included two- and four-door sedans and hardtops, a convertible, and six- and nine-passenger Villager station wagons. 

    Model-Year Madness! 10 Classic Ads From 1960

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    Unique sheetmetal was at a minimum, with the hood and the small sections of the rear fenders next to the decklid being the differences. Edsel’s signature central vertical grille was jettisoned, and the new front end looked quite similar to a 1959 Pontiac. At the rear, vertical taillamps set the car apart from the ’60 Ford with its horizontal lenses.

    Dealer and customer response was tepid, allowing the company to officially throw in the towel on Edsel a little more than a month after the 1960 model’s introduction. Production ended by November 30, 1959, and totaled a mere 2846 units. 

    The featured car is owned by Judy Doster of Abilene, Texas. The two-door sedan was the price leader of the line at $2643 to start, and the second-most popular 1960 Edsel with a run of 777 units.

    A 292-cubic inch “Ranger V8 was standard, but this car has the 223-inch “Econ-O-Six,” a $83.70 credit option. It’s joined to an extra-cost automatic transmission.

    No Laughing Matter: 5 Cars We Make Fun Of, But Maybe Shouldn’t

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    1960 Edsel Ranger

    Listen to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

    1960 Edsel Ranger Two-Door Sedan Gallery

    (Click below for enlarged images)

    Written by: The Daily Drive staff on April 21, 2021.

    For GREAT deals on a new or used Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or RAM check out Envision CDJR West Covina TODAY!


    📂This entry was posted in Uncategorized 📎and tagged

  • 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    Posted on by admin
    Alfa Romeo 1900C

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

    When Alfa Romeo wanted to make a splash at the 35th Turin Automobile Show, it asked six coachbuilders to build a custom body on the Alfa 1900 chassis. They were Bertone, Castagna, Boneschi, Pinin Farina, Vignale, and Turin’s own Ghia.

    More from Collectible Automobile Magazine

    Giacinto Ghia started building car bodies on a small scale during World War I and then prospered during the Twenties and Thirties. Ghia did its best work with sporting bodies and Ghia coachwork graced Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and other exclusive Italian sports cars. Ghia also built sport coupes and spiders on Fiat’s reasonably priced 508 S Balilla chassis. (Balilla was named for Mussolini’s Fascist youth group.)

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    The Fiat business expanded Ghia’s output, but the factory was flattened by Allied bombing during World War II. Giacinto Ghia died soon after the war and his widow sold the firm. Carrozzeria Ghia returned to health, but at a much lower volume. 

    American automakers were good for Ghia in the Fifties. Chrysler Corporation discovered that Ghia could build show cars faster and cheaper than it could in-house. The Chrysler K-310, Dodge Firebomb, and DeSoto Adventurer, among other Ghia-built concept cars, adorned the Chrysler stand at Fifties’ auto shows. Chrysler tapped Ghia to build Crown Imperial limousines between 1954 and 1964. Ghia also built 50 Chrysler Turbine cars in 1963—as well as the prototype. A series of Dodge Firearrow show cars led to a contract to build the Italian-American Dual-Ghia. Although popular in Hollywood (particularly with the Rat Pack), fewer than 150 were built between 1956 and 1963.

    Photo Feature: 1951 Jowett Jupiter Convertible

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    For the 1955 auto-show circuit, Ghia built Lincoln’s bubble-topped Futura, which was later turned into the Batmobile. Packard’s last show car, the Predictor, was constructed by Ghia for the 1956 Chicago Auto Show. Ghia didn’t neglect the Italian exotic cars, building bodies for Ferrari and Maserati.

    Although Ghia was successful building show cars and sports car bodies in small numbers, it didn’t have facilities to build in volume. Ghia created the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia by scaling down the Chrysler D’Elegance show car, but couldn’t build in VW quantity. Karmann got the job that totaled more than 400,000 cars. 

    Photo Feature: 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe

    Ford acquired Ghia in 1970, and it was Ford’s Italian design house for a while, as well as a new trim-level name applied to Ford Motor Company cars. The De Tomaso Pantera sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers was a result of the Ford buyout. Today, the Ghia name has disappeared from American Ford cars, but there are still Ghia badges on a few Asian Fords.

     The Alfa Romeo seen here is on the 1900C Sprint chassis. The 1900 was Alfa’s moderately priced postwar sedan. The 1900C Sprint was a short-wheelbase version bodied by coachbuilders and served to revive some of Alfa’s prewar glamour. Only 1796 coupes were built between 1951 and ’58 compared to 17,243 sedans made during 1950-55. This is the Ghia coupe built for the Turin show. (At least one copy of this style was also built.) When photographed, it was owned by The Blackhawk Collection of Danville, California.

    Click below for enlarged images.

    Subscribe to Collectible Automobile

    1953 Alfa Romeo 1900C Ghia Coupe Gallery

    Written by: Jack Stewart on September 17, 2020.

    📂This entry was posted in Uncategorized 📎and tagged

  • Photo Feature: 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    Posted on by admin
    1964 Ford Galaxie 500

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

    By John Biel

    When Gary Spracklin answered the classified ad in a hobby publication, he thought he was buying a whistle-clean daily driver. What he wound up with was an unlikely “trailer queen,” a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 four-door sedan that gets the royal treatment because he decided he wants to keep the odometer reading below 1000.

    More from Collectible Automobile Magazine

    That’s right: Spracklin’s 47-year-old Wimbledon White-over-Rangoon Red Galaxie has just 920 miles on it and he’d like to keep it that way. With a few minor exceptions, it’s an homage to originality and preservation.

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    Faced with a loss of storage space, the Galaxie’s previous owners in New York State put the car up for sale in 1997. A fan and collector of full-sized ’64 Fords (a convertible was his first car at age 16), Spracklin thought the demure four-door sedan would make ideal transportation for someone with his interests. But once he got the Galaxie home to Omaha, Nebraska, he realized that his anticipated “driver” was really a virtual time capsule of how Fords were made in 1964.

    At the time Spracklin purchased the car, it had a mere 905 miles on the odometer. Only the original battery and fanbelt had been replaced by earlier owners. Almost immediately he opted to maintain the car as a showpiece of originality. The 15 miles the Galaxie has accumulated since Spracklin obtained it were mostly added in increments necessary to move it around his shop or show fields. In his care, only the engine pulleys and a leaking heater core have been replaced—and Spracklin still has the original pulleys. Though they’re showing signs of age, the bias-ply tires are the same ones that have been on the car since it left the factory.

    Photo Feature: 1958 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon

    1964 Galaxie

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    Full-sized 1964 Fords were at the end of a four-year styling cycle. However, that didn’t prevent two- and four-door sedans from receiving a new roof design that had a bit more of a forward slope than the Thunderbird-inspired unit of recent years.

    Wheelbase stayed pat at 119 inches. Leaf springs supported the rear of big Fords for the last time.

    With five body styles, the Galaxie 500 series offered the broadest availability of models and was the volume leader among “standard” Fords. The Galaxie 500 Town Sedan—company nomenclature for a four-door sedan—accounted for 198,805 orders, making it second only to the Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop for the affections of Ford customers that year.

    Photo Feature: 1966 Ford Thunderbird

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    Gary Spracklin’s age-defying car comes pretty close to depicting a Galaxie 500 four-door sedan in its $2667 base state. Blackwall tires, hubcaps, and a three-speed column-shift manual transmission were all standard-equipment items.

    The handful of extra-cost options found on Spracklin’s Galaxie starts with its 289-cid V-8 engine. With a two-barrel carburetor and 9.0:1 compression, it develops 195 horsepower at 4400 rpm. As a replacement for the standard 223-cube inline six, it added $109 to the sticker price and was just the first of several available V8s that ran all the way to a 425-horse 427-cube job. Other add-ons to the featured car include its two-tone paint, AM radio, and seat belts.

    Photo Feature: 1960 Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupe

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Four-Door Sedan Gallery

    1964 Ford Galaxie 500

    Written by: John Biel on September 7, 2020.

    For GREAT deals on a new or used Toyota check out Right Toyota TODAY!


    📂This entry was posted in Uncategorized 📎and tagged

  • Photo Feature: 1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    Posted on by admin

     

    Healey Tickford

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    Note: The following story was excerpted from the August 2008 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

    By Don Sikora

    Donald Healey is famous for the Austin-Healey, but he had an active life long before he teamed up with Austin. Healey flew for the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. Between the wars he was a successful rally driver and won the 1931 Monte Carlo Rallye. Later he was director of experimental design at Triumph. During World War II he worked on armored-car design.

    More from Collectible Automobile Magazine

    After the war, Donald Healey set up a company to produce his vision of a grand touring machine. Production started in fall 1946. The new Healey featured independent front suspension and a robust frame for good handling. For power, Healey bought 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines made by Riley, another English automaker. With advanced features such as hemispherical combustion chambers and dual camshafts mounted high in the block, 104 horsepower was developed. Thanks to sound engineering and development of the basic design since 1926, the Riley engine was tough and reliable.

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    Several small coachbuilders supplied bodies. Four-seat convertibles and coupes were the most popular. A shortened two-seat Silverstone sports car was also offered. Although the coupes had two doors and a small back seat, Healey called them saloons—British for sedan.

    Healey was quick to enter his cars in competition, and strong showings in rallies generated good publicity for the small firm. In 1947, a production car was sent to Belgium for speed runs and was timed at 110.8 mph. For a time, Healey was able to advertise his car as “The fastest production car in the world.”

    Photo Feature: 1954 Hudson Jet-Liner Convertible Prototype

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    The Healey chassis received several refinements during production. The car also gained weight but was still good for more than 100 mph. With good handling and a willing engine, Healeys were a joy to drive. They were also expensive. An early convertible cost $7500 in the U.S. when a 1947 Ford sold for $1154.

    Healey also built the Nash-Healey using Nash engines in a Healey-designed chassis. The Nash-Healey was also expensive and Donald set about designing a more affordable car using Austin components. The car that would become the Austin-Healey was such a hit at the Earls Court Motor Show that Austin offered to take over production.

    Photo Feature: 1930 Isotta Fraschini 8A Flying Star Roadster

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    Work on Austin-Healey soon dominated the firm. Although the Healey model was still profitable, its Riley engine was about to go out of production. Healey sales ended in ’54 after about 700 cars had been built.

    The 1952 Healey seen here was owned by Bryan Williams of Pevensey, East Sussex, England, when photographed. Its Tickford body was restored inside and out in 1985 after years spent in storage. A producer of high-quality coachwork, Tickford was later absorbed by Aston Martin. The quality of its workmanship is especially apparent in the wood and leather interior.

    Photo Feature: 1933 Hupmobile K-321 Convertible Coupe

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon, Riley Engine

    1952 Healey Tickford Saloon

    Written by: The Daily Drive staff on May 14, 2020.

    📂This entry was posted in Uncategorized 📎and tagged