Classic American – September 2019

DearClassic American,

Great article on the’57 Thunderbird

in July issue.Iamlucky enough to have

awhite ’56, identical to onein American

Graffiti.Ihave afoot in both camps,as

my other vehicle isa1962 Oldsmobile

F-85Cutlass Deluxe convertible.

IhaveCAfrom#1 but have never seen

onefeatured, in anarticle, in show

reports,or forsale. They areextremely

rare. Photos of both vehicles enclosed.

Eddie Boyd

Australia

Lovely cars and lucky for you to have the

lovely climate down-under to enjoy them in.

Indeed you’re correct in that we’ve only ever

featured one 1961 Oldsmobile,aSuper 88

in issue 109 in May 2000, and one 1962, an

Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Convertible in issue

21, back in October1992.

Abit of honesty

Dear Classic American,

Ihave been pretty incredulous to read the

castigation by some readers for having the audacity

to feature cars that belong to... shock, horror...

people with money! Because, reading between the

lines, that seems to be the issue. WhatIdon’tget, is

that unfortunately,muchlikealot of other hobbies,

American cars are not cheap.Iwonder if Show

Jumping Monthly or MotorYachting are inundated

with such mean-spirited correspondence?

I’m sure you could fill the magazine all day long

with unremarkable Nineties six-pot Camaros...

but is that really what people want to read about?

We buyClassic Americanfor the escapism and

fantasy that are American cars from the Fifties and

Sixties.To have some sort of chip on one’sshoulder

(jealousy? Resentment?) about people that can

afford to own and run these fantastic machines says

more about the individual raising these issues than

the content of your magazine and is to completely

miss the point.

They’re there so we can all enjoy them and we’re

lucky to live inacountrywhere we can see them

at showsorr ead about them inClassicAmerican.

We don’tliveins ome sort of Albanian-style gulag

where we’re forced to ride bicycles and indulge in

class/wealth envy (yet anyway!).Ifor one hope you

will continue to feature beautiful, big be-finned

classic Americans and not allow these mealy-

mouthed jealous individuals to dictate whose cars

you can feature and why.

Geoff Carshall

Kingston

Surrey

Well Geoff, we are actually

rying to feature more

everyday’ cars, as that is

what reader surveys have

evealed readers want.

But don’tworry,we’ll

still be sprinklingabit of

thatClassic American

fairydust on each issue

with everyone’sfavourite

American glamour cars!

SUPER

RARE

Wesharedaclipofthe Gas Monkey Bullitt Mustang chase scene on Fast N’ Loud and

questioned why anyone would attempt to recreate something where the original

was so perfect and iconic. Not everyone agreed....

Steve NorwichIlike Fast N’ Loud

but theseBullit tepisodes were very

disappointing. Nearly asbadas

themdoing upa‘Scout’,whatever

that pieceofr ubbishis, in the

followingepisode.Iwould rather

watch themlose$100,000repairing

another written-offFerrari!

Wayne NorrisGive GMG some

credit, the Smokey and the Bandit

episodes were brilliant.

Adrian GreenWayne Norris I

agreewithyou totally.The show’s

great and the Smokey and the

Bandit show they did was brilliant.

Aaron Kaufman madeamistake

leaving the show.His show is

boring and not in the same

league,compared to Fast N’ Loud.

GordonRDennettAdrian Green

agreed, Icouldn’tsit through

Aaron’sshow. Iwatchedthe

Fast N’ Loud episode, it wasn’t

abad re-creation and Chad had

permission to run it

aroundSan Francisco

to film, except

they usedamodern Charger to

pursue...Idid also notice agreen

VW Beetle as well, which was

prominent in the film.

Mags BaronAnd Fast N’ Loud is

only asegment in the show,as

they’ve builtaBullitt car for Steve

McQueen’sson.Any movie studio

would be daft to redo the movie.

Dear Classic American,

Iwas intrigued to note that the ICON

Bronco featured in July’sissue has“an

effec tive A/C exiting through...vents”? How

comes the passenger area is notasealed

compartment?

That is similar to A/C units being sold

to unsuspecting shop owners, yet the

salesperson “forgets” to say that the front

door must be kept closed otherwise the

units will be overworking to cool street

sourced air.But th en again there would not

be the chance to sell another unit later on?

Not wishing to offend enthusiasts

of the Bronco, nevertheless it looks like an

early Far Eastern or Russian attempt at an

all-terrain vehicle... oraTonka toy... or a

British kit car of the Sixties.

Alan Elkan

Downend

SGlos.

The feature said: “The Vintage Air heat and

air conditioning system exit through jet-

inspired aluminium ICON vents” meaning cold

air vents into the cabin, not hot air into it.You

can see them here on the dashboard in the

picture above

Facebook Feedback

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BRONCO

24 classic-american.com

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LN9 6LZ

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Classic

American

Drop tops only...

For sun-kissed Aussies!