Featured Vehicles

Howard “Dutch” Darrin was already an accomplished automotive stylist when he arrived back in California in 1937 after a successful career in Europe. Having concluded that custom coachbuilding was declining on the Continent, he perceived opportunity in the California film industry’s star machine, and soon counted among his clients such household names as Errol Flynn, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Darrin’s success attracted the attention of Packard, and the company included two dramatic Darrin models in their 1940 catalog, a Convertible Sedan and a Convertible Victoria, the latter of which was advertised in the Saturday Evening Post with the headline "Glamour Car of the Year! (Of course, it's a Packard)."

The debut 1967 Camaro shared some mechanicals with the 1968 Chevy II Nova. Almost 80 factory and 40 dealer options, including three main packages, were available. In 1967, a Camaro RS/SS convertible with a 396 engine paced the Indianapolis 500.

Only 602 Z/28s were sold in 1967, along with approximately 100 Indianapolis Pace Car replicas. The 1967 and 1968 Z/28s did not have the cowl induction hood, optional on the 1969 Z/28s. The 1967 Z28 received air from an open element air cleaner or from an optional cowl plenum duct attached to the side of the air cleaner that ran to the firewall and got air from the cowl vents. 15-inch rally wheels, were included with Z/28s had while all other 1967-9 Camaros had 14-inch wheels.

The 1953 Corvette was designed by the very talented Harley Earl, Chevrolet’s chief designer. GM listened to the demands of the GI’s that returned from Europe wanting an American sports car. Production was limited to only 300 units the first year so selling the entire production of the entirely new model was not a problem. The first Corvette reached the end of the assembly line on June 30, 1953. The first 53’ Corvettes were all built by hand, in the back of a customer delivery garage in Flint Michigan. Chevrolet made it clear the new Corvette would only be available to high profile executives and people of power and influence. An example is John Wayne received a Corvette for promotional events. . The first two 1953 Corvettes were engineering test cars and according to official records, were destroyed. Of the first 300 Corvettes, approximately 225 are known to exist today.

Ford Vice President Lee Iacocca’s “Total Performance” program reached around the world into international motorsports, but one of its biggest impacts was felt on the drag strips of America with the sensational Thunderbolts. Built by contractor Dearborn Steel Tubing, the Thunderbolts were stripped and lightened Fairlane Tudor sedans, each one modified to accept Ford’s sensational 427 CI Galaxie V-8. The 1964 Thunderbolt presented here is number 68 in the Thunderbolt production sequence of 100 cars. It was originally purchased through Webster Ford in Schenectady, New York by racer Elwood Banker, who raced the car as the “Hemi Hunter.” described the car as “unbeatable.”

For the second consecutive year, a 1930s Ford truck belonging to George Poteet has won the Goodguys/Street Rod Headquarters Truck of the Year – Early. Poteet’s timeless and traditional ’34 Ford

Jason Hill’s Lubbock, Texas based ‘56 F-100 has been named Goodguys 2011 LMC Truck Parts & Accesories Truck of the Year - Late. The award is designed to honor an outstanding ’53 through ’72

When the young Comte de Dion stopped at the Giroux toy shop on Paris’s Boulevard des Italiens in December 1881, he was looking for toys to give as prizes at a ball he was planning. But he was intrigued by the quality of the workmanship of a model steam engine and asked who had built it. Directed to the workshop out back, he found Georges Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux. They were earning a measly seven francs a day building model boats and steam engines and scientific instruments. De Dion promptly offered them 10 francs a day and asked them to build a full-size engine, such as might power a carriage. So, in much the same way as the aristocratic Charles Rolls engaged engineer Henry Royce some 20 years later, a multi-class partnership was formed between a wealthy entrepreneur and working class craftsmen.

Bouton and Trepardoux set to work in a run-down building on the Rue Pergolese, near Avenue de la Grande Armee, the center of Paris’s bicycle industry, whose workers would soon be building automobiles. The problem with steam-powered vehicles was that efficient boilers were huge and powered locomotives and steamships. So how could one be miniaturized?

Believed to be one of the lowest-mileage, unrestored SS Chevelles in the world, this 1966 SS396 coupe shows an extraordinary 10,800 miles on the odometer. Equipped with Chevrolet’s L34 396/360 HP big block engine, 4-speed manual and a Positraction rear this very well preserved car was purchased from the original owner in 1990 by the owner of Midway Chevrolet of St. Paul, MN for his private collection. It possesses a rare combination of Bolero Red paint and an absolutely pristine Ivory Strato bucket seat interior complete with console, radio, tachometer and woodgrain-rimmed Sport steering wheel.

Ford’s “Total Performance” program was well underway when Lee Iacocca hired Dearborn Steel Tubing Company to build a batch of special lightweight Ford Fairlanes for its top drag racing clientele. Stripped down, painted Wimbledon White and stuffed with 427 cubic inches of Galaxie V-8, the cars were dubbed “Thunderbolts”, and they struck drag racing like lightning. The 1964 Thunderbolt offered here is finished in factory correct Wimbledon White and displays the Thunderbolt’s trademark reverse teardrop hood scoop, Ram Air headlight openings and Spartan Beige interior.

Known affectionately as “Shake, Rattle and Run”, this 1957 Chevrolet has been a star performer at the drag strip for an amazing five decades and is the best known, longest raced shoebox Chevy in the country. Featured in countless magazines since 1966, it has also won innumerable show awards up to and including the ISCA World of Wheels Best Competition Car in 2009 and 2011. It is a consistent 6-second car easily capable of 200 MPH passes and has won multiple drag racing awards and set myriad records along the way. Built on a full RJ Pro chassis and packing 1,900 horsepower, this famous Chevy racer is ready to carry on its crowd-pleasing ways for years to come.

In 1956, Ford buyers who wanted it all in a full-size car turned to the fabulous “Crown Vic.” Built on June 1, 1956 with a P-series 312 CI 4-barrel engine and Fordomatic transmission, this fully loaded glass roof 1956 Crown Victoria shows limited miles after a professional body-off restoration. Correctly painted in Ford Mandarin Orange and Raven Black using base/clear coat finish, it features a new matching interior and includes Master Guide power steering, padded dash, Town & Country signal seeking radio, factory in-dash air conditioning, a Continental kit, wire wheel covers, fender skirts, dual exhaust flutes, an NOS factory spot light with mirror and much more.