Author: B. Mitchell Carlson

B. Mitchell Carlson has been an SCM contributor since 1998. Our resident truck guy, B. Mitchell has been writing about the vintage-truck market for 30 years. The first vehicle he ever drove was his father’s 1968 Ford F-100 pickup.

1962 Studebaker 7E45E 2-Ton Road Tractor

This nicely frame-off restored dually Studebaker tractor is another fine offering from the estate of William “Bill” Kirby. He amassed a well-respected collection of heavy-duty equipment and was a regular at events displaying his outstanding vehicles. This Studebaker Road Tractor is finished in red with black undercarriage, wheels and running […]

1943/44 White M16 MGMC Half-Track

This M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC) has been nicely restored. The tracks, road wheels and suspension are in excellent condition. It currently does not have front brakes and does not operate off of its own fuel tanks. Four replica .50-cal machine guns are present along with spare magazines, spare […]

1962 International Scout 80

This 1962 Scout 80 has been restored by Vorstellen LLC and tastefully modified with suspension, brake and interior upgrades. The upgrades include brand-new leaf springs, bushings, shackles, Bilstein 5100-series shocks and grade-8 bolts throughout. Brand-new uprated steering components include heavier-duty tie rods, rod ends, drag link and drop pitman arm. […]

1977 GMC C-15 Suburban Sierra Grande

• Believed to be just over 43,000 actual miles • Trailer special package • One Washington state owner since new • Air conditioning • Automatic transmission • Two-wheel drive • 75th anniversary for GMC in 1977 • Tilt steering column • Power steering • Roll-down rear window at tailgate • […]

Patrick Ernzen ©2013, courtesy of RM Auctions

All Over the Map With the FJ40

Back when I first profiled the Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser as an Affordable Classic (February 2012, p. 34), they were the up-and-coming thing. I won’t be so forward as to say that my scribbles helped push the market up, but the ink was barely dry before they soared in value. […]

1958 Chevrolet Apache 31 Cameo

The vehicle was purchased new by Ray Lambrecht for Lambrecht Chevrolet Company. It has 1.3 miles and has NEVER been sold to the public. It is on original invoice. The truck is turquoise in color with a black roof. The body is in excellent condition. The roof has damage from […]

1945 GMC DUKW 2.5-Ton Amphibian

Initially, the DUKW was rejected by the U.S. Army, but the unexpected rescue of a ship that had run aground convinced them of its efficiency and seaworthiness, subsequently confirmed by a channel crossing. Developed by Sparkman & Stephens in collaboration with General Motors Corporation, each letter of its name has […]

1945 Ford GPW vs 1944 Willys MB

Originality vs. eyeball appeal… a never-ending battle 1945 Ford GPW VIN: GPW247613 Real military Jeep Frame-off restoration by noted military Jeep restorer Classic, timeless style and looks Very capable both off-road and on You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example than this 1945 Ford military Jeep. Yes, this is […]

1980 BMW M1

In the late 1970s, BMW was still in its growing pains in the United States. The favored quirky rally car of the 1960s was becoming the favored fast luxury transport of young professionals. Between the two eras of Bayerische Motoren Werke, there was the M1, which remains the most exotic […]

The Beetle is Crawling Back

 

The humble Volkswagen Beetle — which is actually not its official name, but few people know what a Type 1 is — created the massive compact-car market in the United States.

It took the brilliant mind of Ferdinand Porsche — and high-quality labor from a rebuilding post-war West Germany — to make a compact car a success in the United States of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

By opening up the compact-car market in the U.S., VW blazed the trail for all small cars — domestic and imported. While the Chevrolet Corvair was initially all but an Americanized Beetle, the rest of the domestics weren’t. Still, the success of the Falcon, Valiant, Rambler and Lark was only possible after VW made small cars acceptable in the big-car-crazed U.S.

By the early 1970s, the early Beetle became a victim of its own huge success.

By 1970, the Big Three had run one full generation of compacts off U.S. assembly lines, and a second one was on the way. The Falcon gave way to the Pinto, the Corvair led to the Vega, and the Rambler became AMC and birthed the Gremlin. In addition, the Valiant had a plethora of siblings from Dodge.

While the Japanese competitors were generally viewed as quirky and cheap during the 1960s, by 1970 they were becoming formidable competitors. During all this, the Beetle just puttered along with minimal changes.

While staying the same in a world of change played well in the turbulent 1960s — even among the Counterculture — the Beetle was old hat in the 1970s. The Beetle looked dated compared with everything else in the market.