One of my Favorites... 1955 Chevy Bel Air

Now for one of my favorites, a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. After doing a little research I found that this car had a lot of admirers and was referred to as, " A Milestone in Automotive Car History."

The first time I ever found that I really liked this car was at a little car show that my family and I just happened to stop at. I was very green in my knowledge of classic cars and cars in general but almost every time I pointed out a car to my dad during my time at that show and asked what it was he said, "That's a Chevrolet Bel Air." This was the start of making this one of my favorites. Granted there are many years that the Bel Air has been around but after looking at the different styles I think that the 1955 model is the one I like the most.

 

The clip of information that I got on this car from LeMay - America's Car Museum web page is that this year was a explosive year for the styling department at Chevrolet. The dramatic design was created by Harley Earle. Which for me was, being very new to cars, the first thing the caught my attention and the thing I still like the most about it.

Compared to its previous models the 1955 version had a better frame and body, brakes, more suspension for the back to give it a smoother ride and it had more than 50 additional features that a person could get including a electric shaver for the car!

I have always seemed to be partial to the styling of Chevrolet cars and trucks, especially during the 1950s and this is one reason why. 

I hope this post has been enlightening and enjoyable.
'Til next time have a great day!

1948 Tucker 48

I'm still working on my Vanna White pose but here's me with the 1948 Tucker.

 The 1948 Tucker is one of the cars that got me excited about LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM. It's a beautiful car in waltz blue which was named after the inventor's wife's dress color that she wore the evening that she gave him the okay to start production on the car. 

What's so special about a Tucker?

Well here's some of the reasons why I thought it was cool.

It has a third headlight that turns with the steering wheel when the car goes around the corner, very handy at night.

It has a Franklin air-cooled helicopter flat 6 engine in it! The engine was built in the rear which was quite a novel concept at the time. The engine weighs 320 lbs and produces166 hp.

Then there is the fact that instead of seat belts the car has a huge space for the driver and the passenger to slide into in case they were going to be in a crash, this was a time when seatbelts were thought to be a sign that the car was unsafe. Another really cool safety feature of the car was that it had pop out wind shields that would come out on impact if it was in a accident.

One other thing that made this car special is that there was only 51 produced! (This number included the prototype.)

They made a movie about the man behind the car called "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" which came out in 1988 which re-introduced this magnificent car to a whole new generation. I decided to get this movie from the library and was very glad that I didn't buy it.  It was insightful it but it wasn't really a movie that I would watch over and over again. I did however really enjoy getting to see numerous Tuckers when they came off the production line near the end of the movie and when they went as a sort of caravan to the courthouse.

I hope that you learned a little bit and enjoyed this post about this really cool classic.
'Til next time have a amazing day everyone,



p.s. LeMay Museum's ground breaking is tomorrow! If you happen to be in the Tacoma / Seattle area please come on by, its next to the Tacoma Dome at 3 pm. There is going to be a ton of classic collector cars too. I'm definitely planning on bringing my camera! For more info. check out the Museum's website.

1983 DeLorean DMC 12

I never really noticed a Delorean until I started volunteering at LeMay - AMERICA's CAR MUSEUM. Yes, I did watch "Back to the Future" but I was more interested in the story line than the car. However,

One experience sitting halfway in the car ( I didn't want the the carpet to get dirty with my boots that I wore for that day) and a little knowledge later I now have a new appreciation of this classic car.


It was built by the Delorean Motor Company. The company was started by John Delorean, the Division Manager of Pontiac, and the cars were built in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1980 to 1982. It was in 1982 that the factory was shut down. The cars featured "gullwing" doors - a new concept for me when I first saw this car as a child in the "Back to the Future" movie. The body is brushed stainless steel and the way to clean this car is with a scotch pad or  similar product. The engine is located in the back of the car, something that seems unusual to me because of the how the car is built. It has135 horsepower which was average for the time according to Jay Leno.

The car was not known for its great performance but it was known for its Gullwing doors and the fact that it did have that "from the future" look to it. 

The weight distribution was 68 percent in the back and 32 percent in the front so it could be tricky on corners. 

My impression of the car is that it is very comfortable to sit in but one should be careful of their head as to not hit it on the frame of the car as they climb in, when this happened to me the Museum's volunteer coordinator made it sound as if a lot of people hit their head on the the front corner of the window. The windows for me seem a bit claustrophobic because they are so small, but maybe that's just me. But over all it seems to be a very cool car despite some of the bad reports I have heard about it. 

The car had its problems and was expensive to boot, around $25,000 to $27,000.  However, I learned about a man, Steven Wynn, who now owns the Delorean Motor Company and is fixing the problems that the Delorean originally had, such as the steel frame with a epoxy coating cracking which actually sped up the rusting process. The video below is from Jay Leno's Garage where Mr. Leno has a interview with Mr. Steven about what he is doing to fix these cars up and about the car itself. It's 15 minutes long but if you have the time it is a very fascinating and enlightening video.

And of course I had to throw in a little "Back to the Future" movie memorabilia that was behind the Delorean in the Museum- As it was the movie "Back to the Future" that helped a new generation discover and appreciate this car.

I hope you enjoy this post and learned a little something about the Delorean.
'Til next time have a great day everyone!

1937 Fiat Topolino

A 1937 Fiat Topolino - a small and cute classic auto car. It gets pretty good gas mileage, around 39- 50 mpg ( I know this is a very wide range but it came in about three different models/ styles - the Topolino 500, 500B and the 500C ). I took notice of this car for two reasons. First, because it is cute ( Topolino is Italian for "little mouse") and what really amazed me about it was the fact that the engine is so small (13.5 horsepower) but can go up to around 50- 60 mph! Below is about a two minute video from Jay Leno's Garage on this car. What I found interesting is when Jay Leno opens the hood and shows just how tiny the engine was and how far forward it was on the car providing the driver with tons of leg room.

If you want to see this car in person and you are ever are in Tacoma, WA area come check this car out at LeMay - America's Car Museum in the Green room. This link also provides more information about the fiat topolino.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Next I will be writing a post about Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
'Til Next time have a great day everyone!

BMW Isetta

Originally made in Milan, Italy by a company named Iso and designed by a man that made refrigerators, the BMW Isetta is a very unique car. BMW from Germany bought the license to make the car and then made a few improvements. It was made just after World War II (launched in 1955 to be exact) and  although I don't know the exact selling price it was suppose to be very affordable.

I remember the first time I saw the BMW Isetta at LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM, I looked with fascination and gave a little chuckle. It is such an unusual car with the door on the front of the car with the steering wheel attached to the door.

I found it interesting that they advertised the car as a family vehicle and I have watched some early footage of them squeezing in a man and wife with a child all into the front seat might I add!

The Isetta contained a 13 horse power motorcycle engine and it can go up to around 50 mph but the video that I watched stated that it was also a scary 50 mph.

* Interesting Facts*

The car was four wheeled in Germany but the English version was three wheeled to avoid the car tax and instead be taxed as a motorcycle.

The USA version has silver side bumpers  like the one featured here because they passed the US standards for bumpers.

There are many versions of this particular car and I found a good portion of them on
www.microcarmuseum.com - Be warned though this website is very addicting!

My personal favorites that I have seen so far is the one at the LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM, which is a 1959, the 1961 300 which features a small bed in the back like a toy pick up truck and the 1959 BMW Isetta WHATTADRAG which actually has a small Hotwheels version of it ( I might have to go looking for it!)  




Here's a fascinating video on the Isetta done by BMW Web TV on youtube including what seems to be a original commercial that the company used.

Below are some links of where I found my information:

http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/isetta-1960.html 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk-WbG4suwI&feature=related

Isettas - they are fun, cute, adorable, compact, unique and very valuable!