It’s a great time to be a car guy. While the ’70s and ’80s more or less killed the muscle car, technology has brought it back to life, and from where we sit now, the big three continue to pump out progressively more powerful monsters every year.
There are a lot of really great modern American performance cars in the secondhand marketplace. They were built in big numbers and have refined driving characteristics — no overheating or fouled plugs here. Read More
Most of the fun of owning classic cars comes from getting out and driving them. But hitting the road in an old machine that isn’t used daily can be a gamble. Will it really get you to where you’re going without an issue? If something happens out on the road, will you be ready to take care of it?
With such questions in mind, I’ve come up with a list of five things every classic car owner should have in Read More
My ’72 Chevy truck resto is now pretty much complete, just in time for Portland’s summer weather to turn rainy and nasty.
For me, this truck project was mostly about building something usable for year-round hauling. So with that in mind, it needed to be a no-nonsense rig: no overheating problems, good brakes, new tires, a good heater, decent wipers, no water leaks inside, and bright headlights for those foggy, rainy, snowy drives home from work.
All that sounds simple, Read More
We’re working on the November/December 2013 issue of ACC this week, and that means it’s time again for our ACC Question of the Month:
Patina is defined as “a surface appearance of something grown beautiful, especially with age or use.”
Twenty years ago, the idea of originality wasn’t as popular as it is today – a lot of car builders wanted the shiniest, glossiest candy-like paint jobs they could afford.
But as old cars were restored and repainted in the Read More
It’s been a car-filled few weeks for the ACC crew. First, we took a new Jeep to Reno, and then we drove to Monterey for the annual Monterey car auctions, the Pebble Beach Concours, and this year’s vintage races. ACC Associate Editor Chad Tyson and I were on the road a total of 12 days, and in that time, we probably looked at over 5,000 different cars. Maybe even more — everything from flamed ’57 Chevys in Reno to Tuckers Read More
The party has wound down in Reno. Jim and I figured it might be a good idea to head out of town for part of the day, if only to escape everybody loading up their customs and classics to head home. Carson City is only 30 miles south of Reno, so we headed that way to see what we could see. Then we started thinking and talking more about the Grand Cherokee that Jeep supplied for our trip. We know it’s Read More
There are all sorts of things for car people to do in Reno during Hot August Nights. But for buyers and sellers, there was one place not to miss: Barrett-Jackson at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.
Thursday and Friday saw car sales roll past $5.6m for 209 lots, and a lot of the heavier stuff – the cars expected to bring six-digit money – were set to run Saturday. And they didn’t disappoint.
Some of these included lot 728, a 1968 Read More
Downtown Reno. Five people deep as far as I could see. Waiting to cross the street took almost 15 minutes. Walking across the street took up to three minutes. This place was packed.
The big cap to every night at Hot August Nights is a cruise from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Our first night here the cruise was pretty much rained out. Last night we checked out what Sparks had to offer. But tonight was insane.
After an hour Read More
Yesterday morning’s car show outside our hotel caught us by surprise. Today, we were ready for it.
We walked about a mile up the Reno strip this morning, which was lined with cars on both sides. Again, everything from vintage hot rods to restored American muscle was well-represented, as well as some oddball entries, like a handful of vintage fire trucks and a Ford Falcon that had been shortened and narrowed into a highboy roadster.
By far my favorite of Read More
Chad’s Blog: Cruisin’ Sparks
Cars were meant to move. Yes, it’s obvious and a little ridiculous to point out, but think of the typical car shows you go to. The cars just sit there, right? Maybe they’re moving in and out of the venue, but otherwise they just sit there, waiting to be admired.
One of the most visceral connections we have with cars is the way they sound. Guessing between a blower and a gear drive whine is a Read More