Gen Interest Articles

Auburn, Indiana. May 19th, 2011. Dead Heads stand by. Worldwide Auctioneers is all set to introduce a veritable rolling rock & roll heirloom to Auburn, Indiana this Labor Day Weekend, when one of the last and most significant artifacts of the Grateful Dead era is slated to go under the hammer at the The Auburn Auction. The customized and carefully preserved 1965 Gillig is the bus that accompanied the legendary psychedelic band as it toured the country. Resplendent in many original furnishings and fantastic authentic decor, its interior encapsulates the very essence of an era, with ceilings papered in hundreds of vintage rock posters featuring Janis Joplin, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and The Who among others, along with plenty of authentic Grateful Dead icons like a “Steal your Face" blanket and dancing bear stickers and statuettes. Once the property of Butch Patrick or Eddie Munster of The Munster's fame, the bus has a strange and fascinating history as colorful as its psychedelic design.
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Worldwide Auctioneers is set to blow away the crowds this Labor Day Weekend , confirming that the “First Funny Car” will join the roster of exceptional consignments lined up for its 4th annual, The Auburn Auction . The meticulously preserved and properly restored 1964 Dodge Charger S F/X is the last remaining example of three supercharged factory experimental cars built by Chrysler in 1964 to dominate the drag strip. Piloted by Super Stock Racer Jim Johnson and famous drag racer Jimmie Nix, this car did just that, setting records everywhere it ran.
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The Wheels Through Time Museum announced last week that it will relocate from its current location in the Smoky Mountains in order to expand its scope and broaden its impact, according to a story posted on OldCarsWeekly.com.

The Museum houses over 320 rare and significant two- and four-wheeled vehicles, as well as a large collection of art and memorabilia. It’s been in its current Maggie Valley, North Carolina, location since its opening in 2002.

According to the Old Cars Weekly article, the Museum’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to relocate in order to “continue to preserve history in new and innovative ways, and fulfill its mission to educate and inspire a diverse, multi-generational audience on the history of American transportation, the opportunity to move the museum to a new and larger location offers much promise as to the museum’s future.” Several locations are being considered for the Museum’s new location.
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During the early fifties, automotive illustrations dominated magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Life, and other well know publications. While some firms began to switch to photography, many automotive companies relied on the talents of artists. Arthur Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman were two of the best illustrators in the automotive community. Van Kaufman was a professional illustrator who had spent many years with Disney Studios and had never done any automobile advertising. Van Kaufman was chosen as the background artist while Arthur Fitzpatrick, who started out as a consulting designer to General Electric and Packard automobiles, illustrated the car.
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Michigan has a great number of car shows and events, but one of the highlights of each year for automotive enthusiasts is EyesOn Design. For the past twenty-four years, EyesOn Design has brought hundreds of vehicles together with collectors, designers, and the general public together to celebrate the art of transportation design. The event raises money for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO), an internationally-recognized non-profit which accelerates the development of “artificial vision” — technology which will one day allow some visually impaired persons to regain vision to see the world around them, including seeing the designs of automobiles.




While Eyes On Design rivals the world’s great concours events, EyesOn Design was—from day one—a unique concept: have automotive designers judge the vehicles on display based on their design merits, not on the quality of the restoration. With the support of Detroit Three design VPs Jack Telnack (Ford), Chuck Jordan (GM), and Tom Gale (Chrysler), EyesOn Design held its first show at the Grosse Pointe Academy in 1987. It was Tom Gale who said, “we don’t even care of there are rust spots. It is about design.”
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In 1901, the first Pierce-Arrow automobiles were built. Pierce-Arrow models were built to appeal particularly to buyers of taste and refinement. The series 80 models offered graceful design lines with more room for seven passengers than most automobiles. The balloon tires and four-wheel safety brakes of Pierce-Arrow were balanced into the design, not added to it. The top offered more graceful sweep of lines compared to many other automobiles during its time period.





A series of victories in the Glidden Tours of the early years of the industry placed Pierce-Arrow in the front rank of the world's finest automobile, a position which it had maintained in the early days. The Pierce-Arrow Motor car company was a universally first rank company in the field of fine motor cars.
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THE PILOT CAR OFFERED AT RUSSO AND STEELE’S 11TH ANNUAL SPORTS AND MUSCLE AT THE MARRIOTT AUCTION EVENT

The LS6 Chevelle was at the pinnacle of GM performance, and stood alone as the only vehicle to take top horse power rating over the Corvette in history. With a factory advertised 450 HP at 5600 RPMs and 500 lb-ft of torque at 3600 RPMs, it was the highest horsepower Chevelle offered from Chevrolet.

Known as the 'Pilot Car," this 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 is the first of 4,475 RPO LS6 cars ever produced and is the earliest known and documented LS6 Chevelle. A GM executive ordered an LS6 coupe as his zone demonstrator in October and was told by the Baltimore plant manager Earl Prentice that he was to receive the first one built at that plant. Built on December 9th, 1969 it was labeled the 'Pilot car.' This 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 has "Pilot job" and "if it had wings it would fly" hand written on the build sheet.
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Q: What are hedders?

A: Hedders are specially designed tubular manifolds which replace the inefficient heavy factory cast iron manifolds

Q: What do Hedman Hedders do?

A: Hedman Hedders increase performance and economy by improving the efficiency of a car's engine. They accomplish this by removing the exhaust gases faster and more efficiently than stock manifolds. Stock manifolds are designed for low cost. They have a short, cramped design which causes some exhaust gas to get bottled up in the cylinder. Because of these residual exhaust gases in the cylinder, the size of the new fuel charge is limited and engine temperature is increased. Hedman Hedders have smooth, contoured individual pipes for each cylinder. These primary pipes create a suction effect, called scavenging, which sucks the exhaust gases out. This creates additional velocity in the cylinder and actually helps to pull in the fresh air fuel charge.
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