7 April 2014
4 April 2014
Sabb 95 Van - Delivered By Saunders
Andy Saunders, a man with a creative bent like few customisers this side of George Barris, Franco Sbarro or Darryl Starbird. The diversity of his car building portfolio seems to know no bounds: a stepside Escort pickup, a shortened Mini, a flattened Mini, a Citroën CX with a swoopy hand-made body, a road-going speedboat, a super-cool Volvo lowrider, a re-imagined Bentley Mulsanne, the Nissan Deltawing replica, the recreation of the Ford X-2000... the list is almost endless. But he is also pretty handy at straight restorations; the painstaking rebuild of the one-off Aurora Safety Car and concours restos of a Cord 810 and Mulliner Park Ward Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud are other highlights from a very prolific career. Well, this car is a bit of a red herring, as it wasn't actually restored by Andy, but he did add his own little touch to the car, as we will see. And why let the facts get in the way of a good intro?
A Saab van? Yes, you heard right; the Saab 95 2T delivery van was a special export version for a few markets, produced without rear seats and rear side windows. A few V4 versions survive in the UK, but this two-stroke version seems to be the only survivor of three imported by Saab GB in the Sixties, given to select dealers to run as service vehicles.
After being in use from 1962 until the mid-80's, it was left outside behind the particular dealer it was assigned to (Saab of Slough, curiously enough); at one point it was partially dismantled and many of the outer panels were removed and stored inside the van. It was discovered after many years at the dealership in very sorry state by an enthusiast who bought it in 1991, intending to conduct a full restoration. After amassing a large stock of spares, the car was swapped for spares for a 1934 Vauxhall 12hp he was restoring and the new owner completely restored the 95 to show quality condition from 2000 to 2001 - something quite unexpected for a humble, if rare, service vehicle.
Andy Saunders acquired the van in 2004 and while it had already been restored, he added the original Saab livery to the doors, to bring it back to the exact look it had in a photo taken outside Saab of Slough’s main parts depot in 1962. Since restoration, it has been featured in print and was sold at auction in 2008.- Mr Fabulous
The van in 'as found' condition, but with the panels re-attached:
2 April 2014
1957 Chevrolet Truck - Get N Down In Vegas
What plans do you have when you retire? Go down the allotment every day? Look after the grandkids? get under the wife's feet while she's doing the housework? Hand up anyone that said 'take on a car project'. Perfect time to do one really; no 9 to 5 job to worry about, so all the time in the world to spend in the workshop and the added bonus of not having the wife nag you to do DIY.
Fidel Gallegos had this beauty of a '57 Chevrolet Task Force pick up squirreled away, but didn't crack on with until he'd hung up his plasterers tools. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as it is now, but when you have the time, this is what you can achieve.
More here.
-Amazosan
Monaco Grand Prix, May 26, 1963
Willy Mairesse, driving the Ferrari 156. he would retire on lap 27 with gearbox failure, but would be classified 10th ; Graham Hill in the previous season's BRM P57 won the race. In typical BRM fashion, a new model was not prepared in time for the 1963 season, so to keep the P57 competitive, a new 6 speed gearbox was mounted to the engine, which also featured a new fuel injection system.
31 March 2014
Datsun 610 Wagon - Low Loader
The word 'slammed'. Ugh. A word ironically used by the tabloid newspapers because 'criticise' is oh-so confusing to their readership, it's also morphed into cover-all word for seemingly any well-lowered car. It's also is an act practiced by some (not all) who just want attention for their efforts, at the expense of a properly engineered solution. Why? Any fool can buy a grinder and lop chunks off a set of coil springs, but lowering a car properly take a bit more effort.
This Datsun 610 started out with airbags, but now has coilovers (with the rear frame modified to suit); now its a bit low (and comedic) for my taste at the rear, but match that with the front ride height and the car would be perfect for me. And I suppose thats the thing with lowered cars; one mans 'slam' nirvana is another mans ride height purgatory. Do it right and don't make it dangerous to drive, chaps.
- Amazosan
28 March 2014
24 March 2014
21 March 2014
Fiat 130 Familiare - Ghost Wagon
Words: Team Amazo/Peter van Wijk
Pictures:
Automotive 'phantoms' don't get much better than this, in my opinion. Well okay, it's not quite a phantom as it is factory built, but they were never available for sale.
This fine specimen is a Fiat 130 Familiare, a car designed and built by the Fiat Style Centre, specifically for Giovanni and Umberto Agnelli, as personal transport. Based on the 130 saloon, it was built by Officine Introzzi, an obscure coachbuiler based in the town of Lipmono, near Como; a company that can be roughly compared to Farnham or Coleman Milne in the UK, as they offered hearse and estate conversions on contemporary saloon cars.
Its a rare beast; only four were ever built. Gianni's Familiare was characterised by the large wicker basket mounted on the roof rack and wood-panelled seats on the tailgate and side of the car; very much in the mind of American 'woody' station wagons. Umbertos was a little plainer, finished in a cream colour with a bronze roof. The third one apparently has a metallic green roof, but little seems to be known about it, which leads us to this one here. It was given as a gift to Guido Nicola, a famed art restorer as a thank you for his work over the years for the Agnelli family.
Peter van Wijk, a Dutch 130 enthusiast and founder of Fiat130.nl had the distinct privilege of seeing the car here in the metal:
'When you start driving on the hill of the Alto Astigiano you start to meet so many marvellous things for every kind of taste. Good restaurants, good wine, beautiful landscapes and marvellous artworks. Not only for the presence of the ancient Vezzolano Abbey or Castelnuovo Don Bosco, but, above all, for the presence of one of the most famous family of artworks restorer in the world: the Nicola family. I had the pleasure to meet them some years ago, and, above all, I had the privilege to visit their artwork atelier set in Aramengo. For many years the Nicola’s family has owned one of the four Fiat 130 SW. They own the one with red metallic roof and silver grey body. It was donated by Giovanni Agnelli to the forefather of Nicola’s to thank him about his adroitness. He made a lot of artistic restoration for Agnelli’s dynasty. I thank Nicola’s to gave me their 130 to permit me to describe and show to you. Considering all the 130 SW that we know (wooden roof, beige roof, green roof and red metallic) this is the one with the lowest chassis number: 6612. This fact suggest to us the idea that she’s the first one to be produced by Centro Stile Fiat. The 130 2800 reached almost 6000 units, that means that a chassis number 130B is so low it was produced in the middle of the end of '71 and the beginning of '72. This SW is different from the saloon from the end of the rear doors; two air vents, parallel to the rear windows, plus two long and third windows create the basis for the longer roof. The red metallic roof descends to create the aperture for the enormous (and very heavy) tailgate, which has two big handles either side of the number plate holder to assist its's opening, plus two air pistons placed near the rear windows. The shape is globally massive, but very spinning at the same time; the style and the elegance are beyond words. This 130 has 2 big front fog lights. If the exterior differences are clear, the interior surprises are so many. The front of the interior is quite similar to the saloon; red leather, automatic gearbox, manual windows and original Voxon radio. But from the rear seats back, all the funny and curious differences appears. A red handle on the left permits to raise the base of the seat, and other two black handles permit to move the squab. Can you imagine how much space there is for luggage? A wide, open and flat luggage area all covered by a dark red carpet. And here we find another touch of elegance; a leather covered band could be stretch from a column to the other of the trunk to protect the passengers from the risk made by the movement of the luggage. The spare wheel is placed like the berlina, but it’s covered by a leather rigid cover. Red leather and carpets are king and queen inside this wheeled masterpiece.
This 130 has 64.000 km, always made with class and elegance: before by Avvocato Agnelli, then by Maestro Nicola. Now you can understand why we can’t define it a simple “station wagon”. It’s a reducing definition. This 130 was also used by a lucky Nicola’s worker for his wedding. Could you image to see a wedding carousel driven by a 130 station wagon? What a beautiful view….. I'm really glad that this marvellous 130 lives among so many others art masterpiece.'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)