Car Lust

Our Cars Week: "My Most Fun Junky Car"

The most fun junky car I ever had was a (originally) gold-colored 1972 Chevy Vega Kammback wagon. Cookie The Dog's Owner's Monza wagon was probably a cream puff compared to this thing, but I had more wrench turnin', parts pickin', shade tree mechanicin' fun on this little car than I ever had on any other vehicle I've owned.

The car was eight years old when I bought it in 1980, so it was tired already. I was a poor college guy, and wanted away from our gas-thirsty, full-size, hard-to-drive (And park!) 1968 Ford Ranger pickup. And hey, what's sexier than the lines of a '72 Vega station wagon?

I had already owned a red '72 Vega Hatchback as my first car, so I kinda already knew my way around these things. We found this Kammback on a used car lot, paid $700 plus tax, tags, title, and license, and immediately went to work. First to go was the cheezy purple rear window tint.

Great (?) Commercials--Subaru of America's "The New Look" (1969)

In the grand cinematic tradition of the action-packed Corvair in Action!, the romantic Koers Amerika met de Holland-America Line, the harrowing Death to Weeds, the insanely comic Inside Story of Modern Gasoline, and the groundbreaking classic Your Name Here, comes director Malcolm Bricklin's 1969 magnum opus, The New Look:

My comments come after the jump.

1990 Subaru Legacy Wagon ("White Car Station Wagon")

It's winter prep time again, and the changing leaves are a reminder to us here in northeast Ohio that we'll soon be driving in snow again. It seems as good a time as any to tell the story of the best snow car I've ever had: a 1990 Subaru Legacy station wagon.

Or, as my oldest son called it, the "White Car Station Wagon."

1957-58 "Packardbakers"

We'll close out our impromptu series on the 2011 Ohio Region Chapter meet of the Studebaker Drivers Club with a look at some cars I really did not expect to see there in any significant numbers: the 1957-58 "Packardbakers." As you can see, there were quite a few of them.

So, you might ask, "What in the devil is a 'Packardbaker'?"

"Ask the man who owns one" -- Packards at the 2011 SDC Ohio Chapter Meet

Technically speaking, the 2011 Ohio Region Chapter meet of the Studebaker Drivers Club that took up most of last week's "Studebaker Week" posts was a Studebaker-Packard meet. Packard and Studebaker merged in 1954, and the company was officially "Studebaker-Packard Corporation" from then until 1962, so this is entirely appropriate. Packards were specifically invited, and judged in their own categories.

Packard was a maker of high-end luxury cars, and before World War II it was at least the equal of Cadillac in prestige. Packards were opulent, yet dignified and understated, and the company had a formidable reputation for engineering and build quality reflected in its long-time advertising slogan: “Ask the man who owns one.”

Today, we'll be looking at those Packards built between the mid-1930s and 1956 which put in an appearance at the SDC show.

Gentlemen, please put on a tie and jacket before entering; a Packard show is a formal occasion and the dress code will be strictly enforced.

Studebaker Week: An Exaltation* of Larks

There were probably more Larks at last Saturday's SDC Ohio Chapter meet than anything else (though the Hawks and Avantis were giving them a run for their money). That should come as no surprise.

The Lark was built in large numbers--for a Stude, at least. There were nearly 440,000 units sold from 1959 through 1963. While the 1964 cars (total production about 40,000 or so) were significantly restyled, and Studebaker de-emphasized the "Lark" name in its '64 model year advertising, the '64s are mechanically identical to the '59-'63 models, and Studebaker people still count them as Larks. (That's also true for the 1965-66 "Chevybakers.") They're relatively plentiful, relatively modern (12v electrical systems, etc.), relatively affordable--and NOS parts are available (a large stock was left over from the '63 and '64 model years when Studebaker closed its South Bend plant) for most things that might need attention in a restoration.

Plus, let's face it, they're cute little fellas!

Studebaker Week: 1963 Lark Daytona Wagonaire R2

Three years ago, I wrote a post on the Wagonaire, a variation on the Studebaker Lark station wagon in which the rear half of the roof retracted into the front. Naturally, I was very happy to see that a Wagonaire made it to the SDC Ohio Chapter meet last Saturday.

This particular Wagonaire is a '63 with the "Daytona" trim package, which gives you front bucket seats, a center console, and that snappy side spear.

Apart from that, and the trick roof, it's just a plain white station wagon with body-color steelies and dog dish hubcaps. At first glance, it looks so practical, so inoffensive, so gosh-darned harmless, like a cute little fluffy bunny in sensible shoes.

Actually, it's more like the Rabbit of Caerbannog--cute, to be sure, but definitely not harmless, or for the faint of heart. The clue to its true nature is that little round red and blue badge in the lower right corner of the grille, the one that says "R2."

Studebaker Week: SDC Ohio Chapter 2011 meet

If you've been following Car Lust for a while, you may have noticed that I have a thing for Studebakers. When I heard that the Ohio Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club would be having its annual meet in Tallmadge, not far from where I live, there was no question that I'd be going.

The people who put this event on bill it as the largest one-day Studebaker show in the world, and they're probably right. This was not merely a large gathering of Studebakers, this was total Studebaker overload. According to the lady at the registration table, there were 139 Studes and Packards signed in as of about 1:30 in the afternoon, and more kept arriving even after that.

I lost count of the Larks and Avantis, there were so many of them--enough that they'll be getting their own posts in the next couple of days. As for the rest, we'll start the tour after the jump.

5th Annual Lincoln Highway Car Show

Saturday, August 13 was a perfect day for a car show in Ashland, Ohio; sunny and warm, but not oppressively hot.
The show organizers had extended a particular invitation to Studebakers, and there were six in attendance: a Golden Hawk, two Gran Turismo Hawks, a hot-rodded "bullet nose" 1950, a mild custom pickup truck, and a thoroughly cuddly Lark VIII convertible.

Old Fords Week: America's Ford Falcon

Don't let its humble looks fool you. America's Ford Falcon started out as a late 1950s economy car, then became America's most-loved 1960s pony car, morphed into a compact and sporty coupé/sedan for the 70s, and finally retired in garish style in the early 1980s. Except for one small exception.

And along the way, the Falcon was a two-door coupé, a four-door sedan, a convertible, a station wagon, a van, and, oh yeah, a Ford Ranchero.

This versatile compact (Not sub-compact, as was the Pinto) platform began life as Ford's answer to the small import cars that were trickling their way into America in the late 1950s. The VW Beetle, Toyotas, Datsuns, and a few British cars more than hinted at sensibility and thrift. This was a novel idea on American roads at the time, as most 1950s and 60s cars were getting longer, lower, and wider.

But the 1950s' Suez Crisis got a lot of people thinking, especially in Europe. The thought of petrol-miserly cars caught on quickly over there and has remained to this day. That happens over here only when gas prices go up. Then they go back down, and we go back to where we were.