Holden Efijy

The Holden Efijy is a concept car created in Australia by Holden. It is based around the iconic Holden FJ, the second model built by Holden. The concept is based on the Chevrolet Corvette floor pan, a 6.0 litre V8 engine with Rootes supercharger putting out 480 kW (644 hp) at a little shy of 6500 r.p.m. It rides on an air suspension system that sits down when stopped, and also has electronic instrumentation including a mutli-use display screen that disappears into the dash.



Since its debut showing at The Australian International Motor Show in 2005, the Holden Efijy has been named the United States concept car of the year for 2007.Holden Efijy at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood, South Australia.Holden Efijy at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood, South Australia. Once it returned to Australia, the Efijy visited the National Motor Museum at Birdwood in February 2008.

Source: Wikipedia

Events Of History For Plymouth

1949 Plymouth Special DeLuxe Station Wagon, advertisement

* 1960: Dodge introduces the smaller, lower-priced "Dart" series that competes directly with Plymouth's offerings. The new compact Valiant introduced.

* 1961 and 1962: Rambler and then Pontiac assumes third place in industry sales for the remainder of the 1960's.

* 1962: Sales drop dramatically with the introduction of a line of unpopularly-styled, downsized full-size models.

* 1964: New Barracuda fastback coupe introduced in April.

* 1965: Plymouth re-joins the full size car market with the new full-size Fury, based on the Chrysler C-Body. The small B-body model becomes the Belvedere line for 1965.

* 1970: Duster coupe introduced in Valiant line for 1970.

* 1971: Unable to afford to develop its own subcompact, the British Hillman Avenger is imported as the Plymouth Cricket, which is discontinued in mid-1973.

* 1973: 1973 Plymouth model year production hits an all-time peak - 973,000. The Plymouth Cricket in Canada is now based on the Dodge Colt.

* 1974: The Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant are, for the first time, different only in name and minor trim details. This continues with the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré as well as all further passenger car models. The car that would ultimately become the Chrysler Cordoba is reassigned to Chrysler from Plymouth. Last year for Barracuda.

* 1975: The car that was to become the 1975 Plymouth Sebring morphed into the new Chrysler Cordoba.

* 1976: Last model year for the Valiant/Duster. First model year for the Volare.

* 1977: The large Gran Fury is discontinued.

* 1978: The mid-size Fury is discontinued at the end of the model year. The Plymouth Horizon, based on the European Chrysler Horizon, introduced. Chrysler Canada introduces the Plymouth Caravelle based on the Dodge Diplomat.

* 1979: Plymouth's lineup is reduced to the Horizon and Volaré, and three rebadged Mitsubishi imports.

* 1979/1980: Chrysler makes several thousand more Dodges than Plymouths for the first time. More Plymouths would be made than Dodges for 1981 and 1982, but from then on there will always be more Dodges made than Plymouths.

* 1980: Newport-based Gran Fury introduced. Last year for Volaré.

* 1981: The full-size Gran Fury and Trailduster SUV's last year.

* 1982: The Plymouth Gran Fury, based on the Dodge Diplomat, introduced in the United States.

* 1983: Caravelle 4-door sedan based on the E-body and a 2-door coupe based on the K-body introduced in Canada.

* 1985: E-body Plymouth Caravelle introduced in the United States.

* 1989: The mid-size Gran Fury (Caravelle in Canada) as well as the Reliant are discontinued after this model year. The Reliant is replaced by the Acclaim.

* 1992: The higher priced Acclaim models moved over to LeBaron. Total sales of Acclaim and LeBaron drop. Total 1993 Plymouth model year production drops to 159,775, along with 237,875 Vogager models. Dodge built 300,666 Caravans.

* 1994: The little-advertised Laser sport-compact as well as the popular Sundance and Colt compacts all end production. They are replaced by a single car, the Neon, a car that Chrysler decides to offer as a Plymouth after dealers protested the loss of the Sundance and Colt with no replacement.

* 1995: Plymouth's lineup is at its all time low, just 3 cars: the Acclaim, the Neon, and the Voyager/Grand Voyager. The number will go up to 4 in 1997, with the introduction of the Prowler, but will never get any higher.

* 1996: Chrysler announces the new Plymouth Breeze six months after sister Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Cirrus models. Chrysler originally had no plans to replace the Acclaim model.

* 1996: In an attempt to move Plymouth downmarket, Chrysler makes the redesigned Voyager only available in base and mid-level SE models. All of the higher-end trim levels available on the previous generation can now only be found on the Dodge Caravan.

* 1997: Production for the 1997 model year comes to 178,807 cars plus 187,347 Voyager models. Dodge built 448,394 cars and 355,400 Caravans.

* 1999: Total 1999 production for Plymouth cars came to 195,714 with Dodge at 394,052. Voyager production comes to 197,020, compared to 354,641 Caravans. The writing is on the wall. The redesigned 2000 Neon becomes the brand's last new model.

* 2000: The mid-size Breeze ends production. This is also the last year for the Voyager minivan as a Plymouth. All 2000 Voyagers built in December 1999 and beyond are badged as Chrysler Voyagers. In Canada, the redesigned Neon is sold under the Chrysler name and both the Plymouth and Dodge names are dropped on all car models, save for the Prowler and Viper. The Voyager name is dropped in Canada as all Chrysler dealer sell Dodge trucks, including the Caravan. Total 2000 model year production for Plymouth comes to 108,546 compared to 459,988 Dodge cars. Voyager production totalled 123,869 versus 330,370 Caravan models.

* 2001: Plymouth's final model year. Only the Neon remains in the Plymouth line. The Prowler becomes a Chrysler. The Breeze is dropped as Chrysler issues the Chrysler Sebring sedan to replace the Chrysler Cirrus. The PT Cruiser is launched as a Chrysler, though it was originally planned to be a Plymouth. The final Plymouth, a Neon, is assembled on June 28, 2001, with a total of 38,657 built for the model year.

Source: Wikipedia

Rust Never Sleeps

The 20th century began during the middle of a machine age. Technology was advancing quickly and industrialists were tapping the benefits of transitioning from steam to internal cumbustion as the primary power source for transportation and food production.

In the late 1890s, J.I. Case began producing a gas-powered tractor. Henry Ford began producing tractors in 1907, a year before he began mass-producing automobiles.



Over the years, millions of vehicles and tractors have rolled off assembly lines. The were their owners' pride and joy for some time, but eventually as they wore out they were replaced by newer, more advanced models.

Now some of the early models of tractors and automobiles can sometimes be found abandoned in barns, fields or yards, waiting while time and rust slowly, but relentlessly wash them away.

They might look like junk to some people, but to a photographer they are pure gold.

Source: Amarillo News

I had seen several likely photo opportunities outside Vega on a recent trip west. Hastily scribbled notes said there were several rusty vehicles outside a building just east of exit 36, and a couple of interesting looking tractors just to the west.



I was concentrating on the drive back toward Vega early Saturday when I realized a pickup parked beside the road had belched out three passengers, who were taking photographs of the very machines I was searching for. Not shy, I pulled up alongside, made a big show of getting cameras out of a bag and stepped out of my rig.



The Langstons were a little uncertain about a stranger pulling up and hopping out of a car on a stretch of road pretty far from other people, but I chatted them up and spent some time getting to know them. They were driving from Arkansas to Las Vegas to attend a funeral and had decided to stop and shoot some photos of a few relics.



Dee had recently won a photo contest using a photo of an old vehicle that she had converted to black and white. I couldn't stay long — I knew where two rusty tractors waited nearby for their own portraits.

The End Of The Road For Pontiac

The front of a restored 1967 Pontiac GTO is seen in Newtown, Pa. Pontiac has gone out of business.

Muscle car maker Pontiac ends after 84 years..,

Detroit -- Pontiac, whose muscle cars drag-raced down boulevards, parked at drive-ins and roared across movie screens, went out of business on Sunday.

The 84-year-old brand, moribund since General Motors decided to kill it last year as it collapsed into bankruptcy, had been in decline for years. It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes. GM's agreements with Pontiac dealers expired Sunday.

Even before GM's bankruptcy, Pontiac's sales had fallen from their peak of nearly one million in 1968, when the brand's speedier models were prized for their powerful engines and scowling grills.

At Pontiac's pinnacle, models like the GTO, Trans Am and Catalina 2+2 were packed with horsepower and sported colors like "Tiger Gold." Burt Reynolds and Sally Field fled the law in a Firebird Trans Am, which raced through the 1970s hit movie "Smokey and the Bandit."

By the late 1980s, though, Pontiacs were taking off their muscle shirts, putting on suits and trying to act like other cars. The brand had lost its edge.

Bill Hoglund, a retired GM executive who led Pontiac during its "We Build Excitement" ad campaigns in the 1980s, blames the brand's demise on a reorganization under CEO Roger Smith in 1984.

That overhaul cut costs by combining Pontiac's manufacturing, engineering and design operations with those of other GM brands.

"There was no passion for the product," says Hoglund. "The product had to fit what was going on in the corporate system."

Although the moves were necessary to fend off competition from Japanese automakers with lower costs, they yielded Pontiacs that looked and drove like other GM cars.
By 2008, the last full year before GM announced Pontiac's shutdown, sales were 267,000, less than a third of those sold in 1968.

Formed in 1926, Pontiac made cars for the working class until a sales slump in the 1950s nearly killed it.

GM revived the brand by connecting it to auto racing. From then on, each Pontiac sales boom was driven by speed; each bust generally featured outdated or boring rides.

Source: News-Leader

Radio Flyer Wagon Car

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Valley couple took a childhood memory and turned it into a retirement project. Now, they have a Radio Flyer car to drive around town in.
Fred Keller and Judy Foster worked on the car for 11 months, and finished in August of this year, and their ride has been turning heads.

The base of the wagon is a 1976 Mazda pickup truck that Foster inherited from her dad.

Clock Here to see the video.

The vehicle turns heads everywhere they go.

"I think the words I hear the most often is 'awesome' or 'cool' or people go by and give us a 'hi' sign," Foster said.

The wheels are made from hub caps and detergent bottles, and the steering wheel is the actual wheel from a wagon. The handle rises eight feet high.

Custom-made Radio Flyer Car Fred Keller and Judy Foster's "retirement" project, isn't something you'd expect. The two built a car modeled after a Radio Flyer wagon, complete with handle and red buttons on the wheels. The car began as a 1976 Mazda Pickup truck, and the project began in the summer of 2009. They completed it in early August and have been turning heads everywhere they go.

1976 Mazda Pickup

Austin-Healey

1965 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III

Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker. The marque was established through a joint venture arrangement, set up in 1952 between Leonard Lord of the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and Donald Healey, a renowned automotive engineer and designer.

Austin-Healey produced cars until 1972 when the 20-year agreement between Healey and Austin came to an end. Donald Healey left the company in 1968 when British Motor Holdings (BMC had merged with Jaguar Cars in 1966 to form BMH) was merged into British Leyland. Healey joined Jensen Motors who had been making bodies for the "big Healeys" since their inception in 1952, and became their chairman in 1972.

Models Built

Austin-Healey 100

1953 - 1955 BN1 Austin-Healey 100
1955 Austin-Healey 100S (Extremely limited production of aluminium bodied race-prepared cars)
1955 - 1956 BN2 Austin-Healey 100M (Limited production high performance)
1956 - 1957 BN2 Austin-Healey 100
1956 - 1957 BN4 Austin-Healey 100-6 (2+2 seats)
1957 - 1959 BN4 Austin-Healey 100-6 Change to 1 3/4" SU Carbs (2+2 seats)
1958 - 1959 BN6 Austin-Healey 100-6 6 Cylinder motor (2 seat)

Austin-Healey 3000

1959 - 1961 BN7 Mark I (2 seat), BT7 Mark I (2+2 seats)
1961 - 1962 BN7 Mark II (2 seat), BT7 Mark II (2+2 seats), BJ7 Mark II (2 seat)
1962 - 1964 BJ7 Mark II (roll-up windows)
1964 - 1967 BJ8 Mark III

Austin-Healey Sprite


1960 Austin-Healey Sprite

1958 - 1960 AN5 Mark I 'Bugeye - US' 'Frogeye - UK'
After the Bugeye, the AH Sprite was a badge engineered twin to the MG Midget (hence the term 'Spridget'). The MG was aimed slightly upmarket.
1961 - 1964 AN6 - AN7 Mark II
1964 - 1966 AN8 Mark III (roll-up windows)
1966 - 1969 AN9 Mark IV
1969 - 1971 AN10 Mark V (UK Only)

Racing

The Big Healey was extensively raced in the United States and was recognized from the very beginning by the Sports Car Club of America / SCCA. Healey models raced in D,E, and F production classes, winning National Championships in both D and E Production.

In 1953, a special streamlined Austin-Healey set several land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.

Successors

The name Austin is now owned by Nanjing who bought the assets of MG Rover Group (British Leyland's successor company) out of bankruptcy in 2005. After Donald Healey sold his original business, Donald Healey Motor Company, the Healey brand was registered to a new firm, Healey Automobile Consultants, which the Healey family sold to HFI Automotive in 2005.

In June 2007, Nanjing and Healey Automobile Consultants / HFI Automotive signed a collaborative agreement that aims to recreate the Austin Healey and Healey marquees alongside NAC's MG. No timeline has been given as to when the Healey and Austin-Healey brands will return, although MG will be back on the market in China and the UK by the year's end.

Source: Wikipedia

Looking Back: 1955 Studebaker E Series V-8

We stumbled across this classic 1955 Studebaker E Series V-8 half-ton pickup in Ann Arbor, Mich., on display at the Rolling Sculpture Car Show earlier this month. It's been meticulously restored by owner Ron Cripe.

Studebaker's E Series trucks were inaugurated in 1955. There was the 2E in 1956, 3E in 1957-58 and so on until the 8E models marked the last Studebaker pickups that were sold in 1964. Styling was a mix of carried-over sheet metal from the 1949-53 2R Series and 1954 3R Series.



According to Cripe, 1955 was also the first year an eight-cylinder engine option was available for Studebaker's lightest hauler. The180-horsepower, 259-cubic-inch (4.2-liter) V-8 was paired with a four-speed manual transmission. A six-cylinder was the standard engine.



Cripe's truck is optioned with a heavy-duty rear suspension, which features a remarkable 11 leaf springs in each spring pack. Today's Ford F-150 half-ton has only three leaf springs. Also noteworthy, the leaf springs are held in place below the rear live axle instead of resting above the axle, like today's trucks.

Source: Pickup Trucks.com