Vintage and Exotic Restoration - The story behind the 1921 Bentley 3-Litre, the world's oldest production Bentley - FZ Restoration Livermore - (925)294-5666

 

Even though "recession" and "double-dip" are familiar to anyone au courant with headlines, to the bidders at Pebble Beach auctions, the first is a lexicological sibling of "recede" and the second is dessert. That's why Gooding & Company was able to make the till ring like a fire alarm again his year, selling 106 of 127 lots for more than $78 million and setting 19 records for cars sold at auction.

One of those lots was a 1921 Bentley 3-LItre, Chassis #3, and the oldest production Bentley in existence. Follow the jump for the story behind it...

The oldest surviving Bentley in the world is Experimental Chassis #2, or EXP2, housed at Bentley's factory in Crewe, England. The second of the three experimental cars that Walter Owen Bentley built before he began production of a customer version, when it was shown at the 1919 Olympia Motor Show it convinced Welshman Ivor Llewelyn to put down a deposit. You probably don't recognize the name Ivor Llewelyn, but you might recognize that of his son, Desmond, who played Q in the James Bond films from 1963's From Russia with Love to 1999's The World is not Enough. That's more Bond connection for The Flying B, since the literary 007 drove a 4.5-Litre Bentley in Fleming's books.

 

In August of 1921, two years after putting down his deposit, Llewelyn took delivery of the first customer car, Chassis #3. The third chassis became the first delivery partly due to PR and partly due to production methods in the early days of the automobile. Chassis #1, delivered a month later, had been promised to a Bentley investor who also happened to supply Bentley's spark plugs. (Walter Owen was obliged to provide the 'first' car to one of his financiers.) On top of that, Llewelyn's 3-Litre was bodied with simple, elegant, two-seat roadster coachwork. In the days when these things were fashioned by hand, the more involved coachwork for Chassis #1 and Chassis #2, delivered later in 1921, simply took longer to build.

Chassis #3 was offered up for auction by New Englander Thurston Twigg-Smith, Jr, who also owns a 1928 4.5-Litre Bentley and bought the 3-Litre in 1994, complete but in pieces, after having followed its ownership for years.

"I was aware of this car through the club magazine. My dentist was also an enthusiastic 'closet' dealer of vintage Bentleys, and I knew when he got this car (Chassis #3) back in the late 1980s. I often spent time at his shop... and become enamored of its many early features. When I heard the dentist was getting a divorce, I figured the wife would take the cars. When she did, I offered to buy the car – which was partially apart and not running – and she accepted my offer. That was in 1994."

The car was noteworthy even in pieces. "I think the most special aspect of Chassis #3," Twigg-Smith said, "is its survival in essentially original condition and its place as the first production Bentley to have been delivered."

Original condition isn't easy to come by when dealing in coachbuilt cars: those able to afford an original car were usually able to afford to have that car rebodied, and often did.

Paul Hagenan, a Gooding specialist who helped Twigg-Smith prepare the 3-Litre for auction, said "With high-performance cars of that era like Bentleys and Bugattis and Alfas, you often saw body swaps and engine swaps. Especially after the war, people were ripping bodies off cars – not a lot of cars from the 20s and 30s survived to see the postwar period. No one seemed to care for keeping something original. It wasn't until the last 30 or 40 years that it became especially noteworthy to have an original body, and not until the last ten years that it became prized. For this car to have remained in original condition for 90 years is special."

Of the three experimental cars built, only EXP2 remains and it has been rebodied more than once. Of the first five customer cars built, only #3 and #5 exist, and only #3 retains its 1921 specification.

The years-long restoration of Chassis #3 was made more challenging by the fact that in 1921, Bentley was just beginning customer production and hadn't yet standardized his parts suppliers.

"Essentially this was the fourth car built," said Hagenan. "On a car this early – the first car Bentley ever got paid for – he was working with different suppliers of parts like gauges and carburetors, so early cars have components that are unique to that chassis only, or 3-Litres only.

Twigg-Smith spent years scouring catalogs and employing the resources of the Bentley Driver's Club to figure out what was correct on the pieced car he bought, and determining the exact specification of Chassis #3 in 1921.

Then, wherever possible, he didn't replace body parts with brand new components; instead, he repaired the fixtures that the car came with. The brass, for example, is the same brass that was pounded out in 1921. As noted in the Gooding catalog, "All major components except the front axle, which was replaced by the brakeless unit from Chassis 261 [early 3-Litres weren't fitted with front brakes], are original." The aluminum bodywork – scratched alloy with varnish – is original forward of the canoe-stern rear end. The rear was produced by Bentley in aluminum, but was redone in 1921 in steel when Mrs. Llewelyn requested a dickey (rumble) seat. Twigg-Smith maintained the configuration, but replaced the steel with varnished, scratched alloy. This makes Chassis #3 more of a restored Preservation Class vehicle than a 100-point restoration job.

The work paid off. "It drives like a dream," said Twigg-Smith, "and is an absolutely perfect example of what WO Bentley wanted the cars to be: fast, comfortable and capable of transporting two people in comfort for long distances at high speeds."

"I think what would surprise most people," he continued, "is the ease with which you can shift gears (no clutch is needed to shift up or down, once you understand the gearbox), and how well the two wheel brakes match the car's drivability. Starting the car is the toughest thing to learn, as a precise process must be followed if you want to bring the engine to life, primarily due to its early Smith's carburetor, which is only found on very early Bentleys."

We attended Pebble Beach as a guest of Bentley, and asked the firm's head of interior design, Robin Page, if the modern cars had any connection to examples like Chassis #3. "Definitely" he said. "The knurled knobs in our current cars, and the way the gauges come to rest at 1 o'clock, are details taken straight from the early cars." That, to us, is the proper use of one's automotive heritage.

The auction of #3 was held for a full house, meaning a thousand people in assigned chairs inside the Gooding tent and others filling the standing room. It took just a few minutes and began at $500,000, the few bidders who knew what they were getting took the hammer price to $875,000, for a total of $962,500 after the buyer's premium. That was a little less than Gooding's pre-sale estimate, but still roughly three times the amount a typical 3-Litre might fetch at auction.

"I believe the buyer got a great deal at the price realized," said Twigg-Smith, "and although I am not disappointed, I was certainly hoping for a higher sales price! I think the fact that this car was essentially unknown outside of the Bentley circles may have limited its interest to collectors at this sale. I would not be surprised to see it sell for substantially more down the road a few years."

Even so, he appeared satisfied that the car found a good home. "My understanding is that the family that bought it are enthusiastic Bentlists, so it's just as likely that the car will remain in their collection for decades. In any case, I hope they drive it, as that is what it is all about."

source: autoblog
by Jonathon Ramsey

 

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Vintage and Exotic Restoration - What was I thinking? The Gestalt of Lamborghini Urraco P250 Restoration - FZ Restoration Livermore - (925)294-5666

 

 

Gene Ondrusek is a man who should have known better. In the late 1980s, prices for Italian exotics were heading for a level they have still not recovered. Just as with American muscle cars today, it wasn't only short-wheelbase Ferrari 250 California Spyders that exploded past the seven-figure mark, but a rising tide that elevated prices of anything with a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati emblem on it. A look at Hemmings Motor News from 1989, when Gene bought his 1975 Lamborghini Urraco, shows Italian cars a year or two old selling for twice their list price, and only a handful of Lamborghinis for sale among page after page of "cars wanted" ads.

 

Gene's reasoning was that in a market as hot as that, no project was off limits. Even if you poured your heart, soul and equity into a car, you'd be assured of coming out ahead if you chose to unload it down the line. "Everyone was looking for the rusted exotic in someone's barn," said Gene. And he found it, in an ad in the Dallas Morning News.

That logic developed out of more than a sense for the market. Gene's prior car was a Lotus Europa, into which he realized he could sink tens of thousands of dollars, and still end up with a wonderful, $9,000 car. He was also contemplating a Renault Alpine, but the same reasoning suggested that, all things being equal, it made sense to put his time and money into something that he could at least feel made financial sense. "Which abyss of cash did I want to get into? I thought, 'the Lambo may have more potential.' There's a saying: If the car was popular when it was released, it will be popular when it's restored."

 The Urraco had suffered the one thing exotic cars can't survive: deferred maintenance. "It was pretty trashed," he said. As the car was running, the original plan was for a cosmetic restoration. Plans started to change after 25 miles of driving, when the timing belt broke as Gene was leaving a stop sign. "I didn't appreciate the weird 1970s technology, where the timing belt is located outside the engine." Placed there to facilitate setting the timing, it's also very vulnerable. When Gene surveyed the damage, it became obvious that it had broken once before, and the tensioner installed incorrectly when the engine was rebuilt. "It was a ticking time bomb," he said. "It began to look like this wouldn't be cosmetic."

Thankfully, the V-8 had eaten only four of its 16 valves, which meant that later on when a tiny package containing the new ones arrived COD at his door, Gene only had to cut a check for $3,000. "Luckily, there were no kids to send to college. They call it the poor man's Lamborghini." And now you know why.

 He started deconstructing the car. "It's kind of depressing, as you keep taking pieces off, and you realize, this is screwed up, this part sucks, and then you have parts all over the place." Some more serious issues emerged as well, particularly in the floor pan in the front compartment that holds the radiator, spare tire and battery. The battery had leaked at some point, and as far as he could tell, the owner had allowed the sulfuric acid to work its magic on the floor pan. They cut it out, and Gene's mechanic mentioned he had an old Volvo hood hanging around that was about the right size, marking the first of four other European countries that contributed to the car.

 There were other problems in there. The radiator sends its juices rearward through aluminum tubes, which are brittle to begin with. "If you let the car sit and don't run fresh fluid through, it starts to corrode. You can either break the car driving it, or break it sitting," he said. "There's no third option."

"But if you do it right, and make a few updates, it can be fairly reliable." Metal mesh fuel lines in place of rubber and polyurethane bushings may result in a slap on the wrist from judges, but if you own a car that must be driven to stay driveable, it makes sense.

Gene sent the engine out for bottom end work to Louis Unser (uncle to Al and Bobby) Racing in Los Angeles. Louis, then known for building offroad truck engines, has since died, but Gene remembers it as a straightforward rebuild, and states they did have the crank balanced.

 

The valves weren't the only sickeningly expensive small part on the car. When putting the engine together, three oil return tubes had to be crimped into place on each side when the head was torqued tight, and a call to GT Car Parts in Phoenix, Arizona, revealed they ran $150 apiece. Gene's mechanic noticed they looked an awful lot like a VW oil return tube, so Gene took one over to the Off-Road Warehouse, which supplied the dune buggy, and thus VW, market. "How much?" he asked. "We've got a big box of them," they said. Forty bucks for all six, and he was out the door. Despite GT's dire warnings, they seem to have handled the intervening 15 years just fine.

In the last days of leaded gasoline, he contemplated modifying the valvetrain in the 10.4:1 compression engine for unleaded, and ultimately decided that if it required assistance, he'd use lead substitute. In the end, he's run it on straight high-octane pump gas without a supplement, and hasn't seen any evidence the valve seats are about to burst into flames.

He ended up at Off-Road Warehouse again when rebuilding the four Weber 40 DCN carburetors, used on many Italian cars, and popular with racing VW engine builders. He's not sure he'd be able to complete the restoration as easily today, as at the time he could take small parts to any number of local shops for cad or chrome plating. Environmental regulations have since driven many of those operations out of state, out of business or underground.

 Back at his rented garage in San Diego, Gene prepared the car for painting. While taking apart the interior, he found it had originally been silver leather, later dyed red, and faded to pink. He took it to Ocean Beach Boat and Auto Upholstery in San Diego, California, with a photograph from a book and the instructions, "Make it look like this," a classic Italian tan scheme. "Here's everything, here's what I want, and I'll be back," he said. It's a complicated interior, with many cuts and folds and a vestigial rear seat, "But I came back two years later, and they were very diligent in keeping track of everything." Aside from the color, the dash upholstery is also non-original. From the factory, it came upholstered with Ultrasuede®, and by the early 1990s it was out of fashion and unobtainable, so Ocean Beach used the next best thing: actual suede, which has held up far better than the original synthetic.

A few more items turned up in the interior. Behind the dash, Gene found a rat's nest of wiring from an earlier stereo installation, and was able to simplify the loom dramatically and reuse it. The car was originally shipped without a radio, so he tracked down a period Becker tube receiver to finish the dash. "The factory manual wiring schematic wasn't too helpful without an electron microscope, and you had to speak Italian," he mentioned.

He was also able to use some of his Lotus experience and construct new fiberglass enclosures for the rear speakers, which Lamborghini mounted above the rear seats, and had disintegrated beyond saving.

 Once the car was down to the (monocoque) shell, Gene chemically stripped it and then had it sandblasted (to this day, he still sometimes finds a trickle of sand emerging from somewhere). As he and his mechanic were contemplating the bare shell, his mechanic mentioned he had a friend who applied spray-on truck bedlining. "I might not do it again, but it's held up," said Gene. They sprayed the entire interior and the engine bay, the only place it's visible. "I didn't have the sophistication to think about future judging, I just did it for long term durability." He also thinks it helped reduce the noises he didn't want, which is helpful, as he took some steps toward encouraging the noises he likes.

When the car went out for painting, "To some little hippy dude my mechanic knew," the body man came back and asked him how many collisions it had been involved in: None, to Gene's knowledge. The largely handbuilt car was full of body filler from the factory, smoothing out the hammer dents from Sant'Agata.

Gene didn't replace insulation around the exhaust, which was fiberglass and aluminum: "It was ugly and it didn't do much, so I didn't replace it. Now, it's more-or-less got headers." He also uses a K&N air filter arrangement, saving the large factory airbox for shows. The result is an even louder version of the V-8's already triumphant scream.

As the major parts were completed, it was time to think about reassembly. "Two years later, I was looking at all the Ziploc bags, with all my notes, and wondering, "What did I mean when I wrote that down?" They no longer made any sense." He tracked down another local car, and made several visits to compare.

 

To reinstall the engine, he ended up using his rented engine hoist to raise the body, and dropped it over the engine, which is on a separate support, located with six large bolts. He speculates that this was a service decision made by the factory. "They must have thought you'd be taking the engine out so often, it should have its own subframe," he said.

 "I still remember the day it was all hooked up. It had fuel, everything looked like it should work." He turned the key, and it cranked over a few times and burst into life for the first time in three years. Then it started spraying fuel from half-a-dozen places. "Note to self: Seal all the fuel lines," he said. "The good news was it didn't blow up. The bad news was watching all the engine paint drip onto the floor." It came back out, and a new coat of Eastwood high-temperature block paint went on. "One of the fun things in a restoration is watching all the work you did undone by an error."

With the car in working order, Gene took a short shakedown cruise to the local Pep Boys for supplies, and pulled into a parking spot at the end of a row of handicapped spaces. As he sat in the car, he watched as "some grandma-mobile, a Chevy Citation or something, saw all these empty handicapped spots and pulled in inches away from me. She opened the door and smashed it into mine. I went ballistic." He squeezed himself in between the cars, "And I told her not to get out. She's telling me to let her out and I'm thinking, I'm going to hell for cussing out someone's mother." The beautiful, Bertone-designed razor crease along the door was half-an-inch flatter than before, and back went the door to the hippy dude.

 

The Urraco could have made Gene money instantly. Immediately after buying it for $18,500, the broker who sold it to him tracked Gene down with offers up to $25,000. "Who knows what the future holds? I'm sure the market will continue to vacillate, but it will incrementally be worth more because it's old, it's a Lamborghini...and it's perfect. An Italian exotic such as this needs to be reserved as automotive art," he said. "Besides, it's my longest-term relationship."

 

Source:  Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

December, 2006 - David Traver Adolphus

 

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Vintage & Exotic Auto Restoration Livermore - Rebuilt Ferrari Enzo ZXX Returns to Canada - FZ Restoration Livermore (925)294-5666

After a little accident that caused this Enzo FXX to crash into the water, the supercar makes its triumphant return to Canada repaired and better than ever.

You may remember that certain yellow Ferrari Enzo FXX Evolution that drove off the road and into the Atlantic Ocean while taking part in the 2011 Targa Newfoundland. From the initial reports, it appeared that the modified 860 horsepower supercar was completely ruined. Fortunately, its owner and the people at Edo Competition were committed to making it roadworthy again. The water damaged Ferrari was then flown from Canada to Germany where major and costly repair work was done.

And today that restoration project is nearly complete as the supercar, now called the ZXX Evolution, has been sent back to its owner in the Great White North.

More importantly, it’s benefited from a number of upgrades that include a new interior, improved exhaust and a power increase to over 900 hp. Hopefully this time around the car will stay on the pavement where it rightly belongs. No word yet on whether its owner plans to compete with it in this year's Targa Newfoundland or any other similar event. Regardless, it's just nice to see such a fine machine brought back better than ever. –

Source: http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2013/6/23/Rebuilt-Ferrari-Enzo-ZXX-Returns-to-Canada-7714958/#sthash.QP76rNgR.dpuf

 
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Vintage & Exotic Auto Restoration Livermore - 1936 Pierce-Arrow 1601 Metropolitan Town Brougham - FZ Restoration Livermore (925)294-5666

 

For 1936, Pierce-Arrow introduced their last new design effort. These models included a new boxed frame reinforced with an X-member, newly styled sheet metal, longer leaf springs and restyled dash among the 35 improvements mentioned in the sales literature. Both the eight and twelve cylinder engines were continued with improvements such as aluminum cylinder heads. The horsepower was increased to 150hp for the 8 cylinder engine and 185hp for the 12 cylinder engine. Perhaps the most significant mechanical improvement was the addition of overdrive as standard equipment, making these models great long distance drivers.

The 1936 Pierce-Arrows had grown some in size and were mounted on wheelbases of 139 inches, 144 inches and 147 inches. Prices ranged from $3900 for the base four-door sedan to $7800 for the Pierce-Arrow bodied Town Car. The cars were still being coachbuilt with a sheet metal skin applied to an ash structure which added considerable labor and build time. The cars weighed in between 4500 and 6000 pounds and would continue in production for 2 more model years with minor improvements. With total production at 800 units for 1936 and mounting losses, there were insufficient resources to add independent front suspension, all steel construction and turret tops that the competition offered.

Our feature car is a 1936 Pierce-Arrow Model 1601, chassis no. 2600076, with a custom Metropolitan Town Brougham body by Brunn.

Brunn & Co. was located in Buffalo, NY and built custom automobile bodies from 1908 to 1941. The Metropolitan Town Brougham was constructed of sheet aluminum over an ash structure. According to designer Herman Brunn, ten of these bodies were built from 1934 through 1938. More information about these unusual cars was published in the Pierce-Arrow Society publication Arrow 96-2.

Before Restoration

Our story begins on August 29, 1935, when the Pierce-Arrow Sales Agency in Boston placed an order with Brunn for 4 Metropolitan Town Broughams. The notation "New York Show" appears above the entry in the Brunn order book indicating at least one of these cars would be used for promotional purposes, perhaps to encourage the sale of the 4 cars. Our feature car received body no. 4 and was shipped on January 28, 1936 to the nearby Pierce-Arrow factory for installation on chassis number 2600076. Upon receipt, the Boston Sales Co. is believed to have sold the car in New York City where its ownership history until 1947 remains unknown.

This car surfaced in Sam Adelman's salvage yard just outside New York City and was purchased by collector Barney Pollard in 1947. At this point the engine was blown and partially stripped. The Pierce-Arrow was transported to Detroit and placed into dead storage along with 600 other antique cars until 1976.

After Barney's passing the Pierce-Arrow was inherited by Jim Dillon, who kept the car outdoors under a tarp until 1995, when it was acquired by Bob Sands. By 1995, the Pierce had deteriorated badly with water damage to the interior requiring 90% wood replacement. Additionally, there was damage to the rear body due to being stored vertically on end. Field varmints had taken up residence and three pest control bombs were required to clear out the pests. Bob then shoveled out the mess and the fun began.

Restoration Begins

Bob began by replacing approximately 10% of the wood himself. The car was then sent to a restoration shop where an additional 40% of the body structural wood was replaced. The work required was beyond the capability of the shop and would have to be done over as the aluminum panels no longer fit the structure.

Similarly, the engine was rebuilt and shipped to Bob for temporary storage. A friend of Bob's phoned and warned him not to attempt to start the engine. The friend had had an engine rebuilt by the same person and it ran terrible. Upon disassembly, the Pierce-Arrow's engine was inspected and would not have lasted 150 miles. The engine was then sent to John Cislak and rebuilt a second time. The engine now purrs and is silent.

The chassis was sent to Ontario, Canada and completely stripped and refinished. The frame was sent to Fawcett Motor Carriage Co. in Whitby, Ontario where the most skill-intensive portion of the restoration took place. The Fawcetts were able to remanufacture and replace the wooden structure using the original patterns, correcting the errors of the prior restoration shop. The Fawcetts then remanufactured the entire floor front to rear including steel panels. The doors could then be fitted to the body and placed on the frame and primed. The finish paint was then applied. The rolling chassis with body was then transported to Bob's house for engine installation. This was when Bob discovered that the cowl was lower than a production model. When originally built, the engine was installed prior to the body. Installing the engine after body installation proved most difficult, requiring 3 people and 6.5 hours. Next, the drive train, radiator and engine accessories were installed. The engine was "run-in" and the wiring harness was installed and the interior wired. The car was returned to Fawcett Motor Carriage Co. to rework and fit the front fenders and hood. Meanwhile, items such as the wheels and running boards were restored by Bob. The trim parts were sent to United Electroplating in Toronto for chroming. Pin striping duplicating the original scheme was applies and tires were installed on the painted wheels. The seat springs were completely rusted away and had to be remanufactured. Upholstery was selected to match the original.

The car could then be sent to Golden Cross Enterprises in Waterdown, Ontario, where the interior was completed, duplicating the original look. The completed car was returned to Bob's house for detailing and finalization.

This restoration took eight years and consumed thousands of hours. The original color was dark blue. It that took five trips to Whitby, Ontario before final approval could be made on the formula. The color is such a deep shade of Blue that some would say that it is Black.

source: http://www.pierce-arrow.org/features/feature11/

by Paul Jacobs & Bob Sands

 

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Vintage & Exotic Auto Restoration Livermore - It's A Doosey - The Duesenberg - FZ Restoration Livermore (925)294-5666

What classic car combines luxury, style and elegance with the mechanical precision of a Rolls-Royce and the amazing acceleration and blinding speed of a Bugatti? You guessed it - the Duesenberg. Because of the Deusenberg's amazing attributes, the phrase “it’s a doozy” emerged in the 1930’s to describe something that had the best of everything.

The Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc. was founded 1913 by the Duesenberg Brothers, Fred and August, in St Paul, Minneapolis. Born in Germany, the two brothers were self-taught engineers and built their cars entirely by hand. Although they didn’t design their cars to be racing machines, a Duesenberg set a Land Speed Record of 156 mph at Daytona in 1920. In 1921, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix driving a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. As late as 1960, the Duesenberg was still the only American car to win a European Grand Prix race. In 1924, 1925, and 1927, it was a Duesenberg which won at the Indianapolis 500.

Their numerous victories on the race track didn’t help them sell their first mass produced vehicle - the Model A. Although this model was considered extremely advanced, with features such as dual overhead cams, four-valve cylinder heads and the first hydraulic brakes offered on a passenger car; the company went bankrupt and closed in 1922. In 1925 Errett Lobban Cord, the owner of Cord Automobile, bought the company for the Duesenberg Brothers' engineering skills and the brand name to produce luxury cars - the Models J and SJ.

Quickly the Duesenberg became one of the most famous cars in America, owned by the rich and famous - Clark Gable and the Duke of Windsor to name a few. Duesenberg advertised itself to be the best car in the world without much opposition, but unfortunately had to cease production in 1937 after Cord's financial empire collapsed. Of 481 models produced between 1928 and 1937, 384 are still around - 4 of them being owned by Jay Leno.

source: http://classiccars.about.com/od/classiccarsaz/a/Duesenberg.htm
by Tony and Michele Hamer

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Vintage and Exotic Car Restoration Livermore - Jay Leno Restores a Vintage Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing - FZ Restoration Livermore (925)294-5666

photograph by John Lamm

For Jay Leno, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing was always just out of reach. That changed recently when he bought, and slowly restored, a 1955 300SL. Though its paint job isn't new, this sturdy Gullwing is finally back on the road.

Since I’m one of the few guys on TV who own old cars and enjoy restoring them, people often contact me about their car projects. Some are restorations that folks may have barely started. Others are vehicles they’ve labored over, but never quite finished. Then there are the cars that people have owned for 40 years, and now they ask me if I’d like to buy them so they end up in a good home.

That’s how I came to own a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing. It was an old race car that its owners put in a storage container out in the California desert in the late 1970s. And the Mercedes just sat there for decades. I’m only the third owner. And that makes it special.

The 300SL was ahead of its time, with a tubular space frame, fully independent suspension, a fuel-injected SOHC Six, those cool gullwing doors and a lot of racing history. John Fitch won the GT Class in the 1955 Mille Miglia, and finished fifth overall in what was basically a stock 300SL. But for me, it was always a car that was just out of reach. When I was in college in 1969, working for a Mercedes-Benz dealer, we took one in trade. We gave the guy $5500 for it, which seemed like a lot of money back then. Within 10 days, we’d sold it for $7200. We thought we’d pulled off quite a con job ... we got 7200 bucks for that thing.

We’re restoring the mechanicals and the instruments on my Gullwing, but we’ll leave the worn interior and exterior alone. I like not having to worry about a freshly sprayed, pristine paint job. It’s very liberating if a screwdriver falls on the fender and makes a mark. You don’t go, “Aaarrrggghhh! The first chip!”

At some point, we will restore it completely. But there’s something charming about having a car that’s used for its original purpose—driving. I’ll just tool around in this coupe for a while, and when enough purists get angry at me, we’ll restore it. But right now, I can take it to Bob’s Big Boy and if somebody wants to lean on it, I won’t get upset. I don’t want to be one of those guys who says “Hey! Hey! Heyyy!”

So far, we’ve redone the transmission, the brakes and the motor. We broke in the engine correctly—on the dynamometer. There’s a diaphragm in the Bosch fuel-injection system that was originally made of some kind of lambskin. The original one was faulty, and the engine was running way too lean over the 3500 to 4000 rpm range. But we have a new one in now, and it’s running much better. If we had installed the engine in the car without the dyno test, we would have probably melted a piston, and the engine would have been destroyed. But luckily, we caught the problem.

These 3-liter Sixes were supposed to develop 220 to 240 hp. We cleaned it up internally, did a little work to it, and we’re seeing around 180 hp. I was disappointed, but I talked to a few Mercedes guys, and they said that was about right. It’s like the Jaguar XKE—Jag claimed 265 hp, but it was probably more like 210 hp. Back then, everybody lied about horsepower.

The 300SL has beautiful finned brake drums, but a chunk of one drum was missing. We could have made a new one with our CNC machine, but instead we called the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, which has parts for just about every car the company made. They’re not inexpensive, but try to find one anywhere else. It’s brand-new, and it’s made by Mercedes-Benz. Every Gullwing part is available from the Classic Center.

Honda used to do that. When Soichiro Honda, the company’s founder, was alive, he vowed that every part for every Honda motorcycle would always be available. But once he died, they brought in the accountants who said it wasn’t viable to keep Honda 50 leg shields in stock. Yet Mercedes-Benz has always produced those parts, and that makes people bond with the brand.

They built just 1402 300SL Gullwing coupes, but it was enough to support the spare-parts market. If you write a book on the Gullwing, you’ll always sell at least 1400 of them. If you write a book on, say, the Jackson car, made in Michigan until 1923, you’ll sell five. There might be five Jacksons left out there.

My vintage 300SL Gullwing will be finished at about the same time the new SLS AMG Gullwing hits the road. And the old ones still cost more than those brand-new ones. I think that’s funny, but I do like to see the heritage carried on. The Gullwing works because there’s a bit of theater involved. The car requires some effort: You can’t just get in and drive it. There are certain things you have to know about, whether it’s as simple as the flip-down steering wheel or the heater controls. You sort of pilot these cars; you don’t necessarily drive them. You have to understand the handling limitations of those swing axles too—in high-speed corners they can be a handful. Consequently, you tend to drive a bit more carefully.

I’m not one of those people who have to have the ultimate 300SL with the knockoff Rudge wheels either. That’s just extra cake frosting. I think the regular hubcaps and steel wheels look a little nicer. The knockoffs can loosen and come off, and I don’t want to drill them and put safety wire on them. With lug nuts, I know what I’m doing. It’s like women who wear those high heels. “Yes, but they’re really attractive,” they’ll say. And I think to myself, “But they’re uncomfortable!”

The Gullwing isn’t our only Mercedes project. I bought a 6.3-liter 600 sedan from the 1960s with 324,000 miles on it—my favorite Mercedes from a styling and performance point of view. I thought, why don’t we install the modern 6.3-liter V8? So we’re putting in a new AMG 563-hp V8, like the one in the SLS, with a seven-­speed transmission. We’ll turn it into the ultimate 6.3 Mercedes-Benz. Stay tuned.

Read more: Jay Leno's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Restoration - Popular Mechanics
source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/vintage/4346495
by Jay Leno

 

 

Vintage and Exotic Auto Restoration Bay Area - Restoration of a 1948 Buick Streamliner by Norman E. Timbs - FZ Restoration Livermore

Mechanical engineer Norman E. Timbs created this dramatic streamliner in the 1940s. He designed the project himself which included a custom aluminum body and steel chassis. It took him over two years to finish the streamliner which in many ways was the ultimate American hot rod.

Leading up to the design of this car, Norman E. Timbs had worked as an Indy 500 designer on cars such as the Blue Crown Specials which won Indy several times. Mr Timbs was no doubt influenced by the 1937 Auto Union Typ C Stromlinie and 1937 Mercedes-Benz W25 Avus Stromlinie which ran the 1937 Avus GP. His sensational shape was a very close approximation to these cars which ran the fastest GP race of all time nearing speeds of 248.40 mph (400 kph).

Unlike the Grand Prix German cars, the Mr Timbs' Streamliner was built for the road. It used a 1948 Buick V8 to power the 2200 lbs car to 120 mph. The engine was mounted in a custom chassis that placed it behind the driver. The main chassis is built up from four-inch steel tubes which kick up over the rear axle.

The body is nod to the German GP cars which at the time mimicked aeronautical practice. The smooth shape is long and low with a complete underbelly panel. With the engine occupying the rear of the chassis, the cockpit is pushed forward. In keeping with the aerofoil shape, no doors were are cut out of the body. A large one-piece rear panel opens hydraulically to reveal the entire rear end of the chassis.

Road & Track reported that it took Mr Timbs 2 1/2 years to create the car at a cost of $10,000 USD. The body was created entirely in aluminum by Emil Diedt for $8,000 alone.

At first the Streamliner was only used on the show circuit until Jim Davis of California bought it in 1952. He used it in and around Manhattan Beach, California and let Motor Life photograph it for a feature article.

The car was discovered in the desert pretty much intact in 2002. It was restored by Dave Crouse for the 2010 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.



Story by Richard Owen
http://www.supercars.net/cars/4688.html 

http://www.fzrestoration.com

Vintage and Exotic Auto Restoration - 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante coupe - FZ Restoration Livermore

 

When a garage-find Bugatti Type 57S Atalante coupe  sold at Bonham's Paris auction in 2009 for $4.4 million, the surprising thing wasn't its faded paint, rusty trim, and worn interior - it's that the car's condition likely bolstered its selling price. Ten years ago, the buyer probably would have sent this Bugatti in for a megabuck restoration. According to Rob Sass, a vintage-car expert whose writing has appeared in the New York Times and Sports Car Market magazine, a sympathetic mechanicals-only restoration is where it's at today. "Under the circumstances, restoring the car might well be cause for regret," notes Sass. At concours events around the country, the fastest-growing category is known as the preservation class. Its devotees prize originality over the bright and shiny, better-than-new restorations that for years have been the mainstay of top vintage-car events. 

 

 Part of this trend might be the effect of seeing the coolness of battered transports in the original Star Wars movies. Part might be the influence of PBS's Antiques Roadshow, where objects unearthed from attics and basements are brought to experts who routinely admonish owners for cleaning their finds - and potentially polishing off thousands of dollars. Whatever the cause, car collectors have increasingly grown to appreciate original finishes and the tools and craftsmanship needed to apply them. This is something the art world has known for years - don't try to make the old look new. Does that mean every worn-out hulk is now a preservation-class classic? Not at all, despite the hopeful spin of some sellers.

Although the rules of the preservation class are still being written, suffice it to say that an old Volkswagen Beetle pulled from a farmer's field isn't eligible. It's the cars that were rare, valuable, and important to begin with that are most prized, cars whose histories are worth preserving in their unaltered - if imperfect - as-found, original states.

source: From the April 2009 issue of Automobile Magazine - by Dave Kinney

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Vintage and Exotic Car Restoration Bay Area - The Resurrection of the Enzo - FZ Restoration Livermore

Matt Hales

 

Road & Track's relationship with Richard Losee goes back many years and covers a variety of cars belonging to him and his father, including our long-term test of his Ferrari Enzo. R&T called Losee and asked if he would allow us to do a road test with his new supercar in 2003, as Ferrari had made it clear that this very limited-production model would not be available for the usual testing procedures. Losee enthusiastically agreed. As a result of his generosity, we sent our crew to Losee's home in Utah to do the testing and photography for our July 2003 issue. And what a crew we sent: Ferrari World Drivers Champion Phil Hill, a long-time associate of R&T; photographer John Lamm, Design Director Richard Baron and Road Test Editor Patrick Hong. The test was fabulous—as was the Enzo—and some several days later our crew traveled from Utah to Nevada and into Southern California for the performance testing, accumulating some 1500 miles on Losee's new Ferrari, and setting multiple R&T test records.

Shortly thereafter, Losee talked to us about the endeavor of his putting many, many miles on the Enzo and we collaborated on the idea of making it an R&T Long-Term Test. As he told me during that discussion, "My father told me when I was a youth, `If a man is fortunate enough to have the means, he should drive a Ferrari.' And while he collected a variety of cars in those days, we always had Ferraris in the garage."

I agreed to Losee's offer and he even got a Utah license plate that read "MM ENZO"—with the MM standing for Most Miles. Within a few years, he managed to accumulate more than 31,000 miles on the Enzo, as it seemed to show up at Ferrari events and charity functions all over the West.

Losee was having a lot of fun, and he was demonstrating his skills behind the wheel—after all, he had been the SCCA's Group 2 National Pro Rally Champion in 1997. So it was no surprise that he, along with navigator Sean Harris of Steve Harris Imports (the authorized Ferrari dealer in Salt Lake City), snagged two wins in the newly created Ferrari Challenge Rally competitions.

In the summer of 2006, disaster struck. Losee was participating in the Utah Highway Patrol's Fast Pass charity event. This is a 3-day drive for limited-production cars on Utah's most scenic roads to benefit families of injured or killed Patrol officers, as well as small cities and students throughout rural Utah. The final day's headline event was a high-speed run over a closed 14-mile stretch of road, with no-points "citations" given for highest speeds to raise money. Unfortunately, there was no pre-run of the course, and Losee had his Enzo up to 206 mph when he encountered a whoop-de-doo stretch of the road. The car went airborne. He recalls a big slide, a thought that this was not good, and that's all.

The incident made the front page of The Wall Street Journal. The Enzo Ferrari was demolished, with pieces strewn over a quarter mile of Utah landscape. Losee remembers but a few seconds of the ride in the life-flight to the hospital. His injuries were major and included multiple broken bones, including two vertebrae in his neck, that kept him in the hands of a neurosurgeon for the next 12 months. Losee credits Ferrari for safety engineering of the Enzo (and his full-face helmet) that allowed him to survive this horrendous crash.

As the recovery time went by, he began to think about what to do with the Enzo. Eventually he discussed it with his wife, Boni, and told her he was thinking of rebuilding the car, and making it faster and stronger than it had been. She knew Losee needed to do this and quietly said, "It's okay—go ahead." During that recovery period, Losee also spoke with me about the concept, and I assured him that Road & Track would want to be involved with the story all the way through this miraculous reconstruction.

 

Matt Hales

"I knew this was personal," Losee admits. "I consider myself a purist and I was putting back together a wrecked Ferrari with a story of disaster, and Ferrari automobiles don't typically do well with stories and wrecks. But I truthfully didn't care, because it was my car, we had a tremendous amount of history together...it meant something to me."

So it was with the help of Sean Harris, who agreed to devote his chief technician Randy Felice to the project, that Losee set out to resurrect the Ferrari Enzo. All of the pieces had been stored at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for about 18 months. With the help of Felice and restoration expert Kevin Marsh, they went through all the parts and pieces, and then aided by Ferrari North America, began to order what was needed to complete the rebuild—which took some 30 months.

The next step was the increased power and that's where turbocharging guru Shane Tecklenburg of Mission Viejo, California, came into the picture. Losee explains, "Ferrari had established the use of twin turbos before on the 288 GTO and the F40, and I felt with the resurrected car having been mostly destroyed, that even Enzo himself would not have minded that I added twin turbos to this storied car to go after a land speed record in my backyard at Bonneville."

Matt Hales

Thus RSL Racing was created to go for the speed record, and the team headed out to the Salt Flats in August 2010 for the SCTA Speed Week. This was a time for licensing, trying different configurations and learning as much as possible from the veterans of the Salt Flats. And it was a time when Losee spun the Enzo at about 195 mph—and realized he and his team had a lot to learn about the salt, including scrub radius, alignment, correct tires and Salt Flat-specific driving skills. "The great thing was the advice and coaching that came from some of the other competitors and the SCTA officials—people who had been dealing with the Salt Flats for many years. And one veteran driver in particular gave me the best advice after the spin—`Don't try to correct the wandering the car does on the salt, just think it back into the groove.'"

After exploring a different nose piece and a modified gear in the transmission, Losee and his crew decided to put the Enzo back into stock form (except for the Salt Flat tires and wheels, the SCTA-required safety equipment and, of course, the twin turbos) "and we felt it was capable of breaking the class record."

October came and the SCTA again was ready to oversee attempts to set new land speed records. On October 10, a news release went out: "Team RSL Racing based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, took its Steve Harris Imports and Miller Motorsports Park-sponsored Ferrari Enzo to a new Southern California Timing Association World Land Speed Record of 237.871 mph Saturday at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The new record was set using the average of the qualifying speed of 237.600 mph and the record run of 238.142 mph, as per SCTA rules."

As smoothly as the above reads, it was nothing like that on the Salt Flats. Thursday afternoon the Enzo had set a qualifying speed of 221.316 mph on the down run to qualify for a record run. But early Friday morning during the record attempt and after waiting out the effects from the heavy rains of the night before, the drag chute unexpectedly deployed and ruined that chance for the record. In the meantime, another team going after the "C (360-cu.-in.) Blown Fuel Modified Sport" category record had raised the bar from the 213.316 record to a new figure of 231.804 mph.

Matt Hales

"We were disappointed that we were unable to set the record because the chute fell out," said Tecklenburg, "and we were ready to load up, thinking we didn't really have a shot at a speed that high because we were out of gear using the stock drivetrain in the Enzo. But after a few calculations we determined that we might be able to get there by raising the factory rpm limit and dialing up the moderate turbo boost to 847 bhp."

Saturday morning dawned beautiful and wind-free, and RSL Racing was ready to give it another shot—yet unbelievably, at approximately 225 mph, the drag chute again deployed prematurely! But after that frustrating run, Richard was even more convinced the Enzo was strong enough to set the record, so the team quickly repacked the chute and towed the car back to the staging lanes, where it was the second to last car before the close of qualifying.

And then, as the last car to run at the 2010 SCTA World Finals, the Enzo Ferrari went 238.142 mph with an exit speed of 238.780, making it not just the record holder for its category, but also the fastest Ferrari ever.

Throughout the two and a half years of rebuilding the Enzo and getting it ready for the Bonneville Salt Flats, Losee says he knew in his heart he had to attempt this. And as the restoration was being finished, Losee partially straightened the severely bent MM ENZO Utah license plate and it was again bolted to the Ferrari. "I felt that I had been blindsided by the accident in the Enzo. And I lost some of my confidence and, frankly, some of my pride as a result of a crash that occurred by my irresponsibly failing to insist that I pre-drive the Utah Fast Pass high-speed course. Then, as I completed the Bonneville record run and knew we had set a new mark for the class, a calming sense of peace started to come over me. It was really nothing earthshaking, it was simply a speed record in a sports-car category, but I had needed to get back on that Prancing Horse. It made me realize that I had come to terms with an unplanned and unpleasant detour in my life, had journeyed through the long process of coming back from a terrible incident, and now I was going to be okay with myself again."

 

source: http://www.roadandtrack.com/special-reports/the-resurrection-of-the-enzo

By Thos L. Bryant June 13, 2011 / Photos by Matt Hales

 

 

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Vintage and Exotic Car Restoration Bay Area - LeMay car museum honors the American automobile - FZ Restoration Livermore

 

On display near the entrance is a gleaming 1947 yellow Lincoln convertible at LeMay car museum in Tacoma, Washington. Greg Gilbert, Seattle Times

 

The most important car in Tacoma's spanking new LeMay-America's Car Museum isn't the 1930 Duesenberg Model J or the ice-blue 1951 Studebaker that welcomes visitors through the lobby like a gleaming, four-wheeled family pet.

It's the one that draws you to it for reasons you don't quite understand at first. A latent childhood memory. A loved one. A time. One glance and the back of your life opens up like a garage door. And you're gone.

"It's the memories, the stories," said Scot Keller, chief marketing and communications officer for the new museum. "The audience experience is set up to stir the emotions, not the head."

Oh, but this shiny new shrine to the American automobile has been stirring up interest nationwide, and for years, as planning and funding have sputtered and restarted.

The four-story, 156,000- square-ft. LeMay-America's Car Museum is set on nine acres of land smack across the street from the Tacoma Dome.

From the street between the two buildings, the LeMay looks like an upstart - a sleek, shiny, structure that is almost conical, but wider and flat on the bottom.

"A quarter-panel? A hood scoop?" Keller said when asked to describe the building's exterior. "It reflects 'automotive,' but you can't define it."

The inside clearly evokes the Northwest: High, rounded ceilings of exposed Oregon spruce that look both warm and industrial.

LeMay, after all, has a long history here.

Before he died in 2000, Harold LeMay turned a good part of his waste-disposal fortune into four-wheeled fancies. He bought practically everything that caught his eye - entire fields of metal, sometimes - eventually amassing some 3,000 cars and a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest privately owned automotive collection.

They were kept in all manner of storage just a few miles from here, on the grounds of the Marymount Military Academy.

In 1998, LeMay and his wife, Nancy, established the Harold E. LeMay Museum nonprofit and set about building a new automotive showpiece.

But it was a frustrating venture that continued long after LeMay died in 2000. Both the state and the city of Tacoma had to approve plans for the $100 million project. Tacoma provided $10.7 million in land and improvements, and obtained a $1 million planning grant. The state provided $11 million for the museum.

The museum will house 700 automobiles, most of them LeMay's and some on loan or on contract, according to CEO David Madeira.

More importantly, the exhibits will be rotated to keep things fresh and interesting.

The potential is there, with 15 galleries for cars, trucks and motorcycles; a banquet center; a cafe; a gift shop; an educational center; a theater; and a 3.5-acre show field for car shows, concerts and drive-in movies.

Madeira expects the museum to bring $34 million to the area annually, through ongoing events, including the annual Kirkland Concours d'Elegance, which will move to the LeMay ACM from Carillon Point in September.

Upcoming, themed events will focus on the British Invasion, the Indianapolis 500, Ferrari in America and the collection of jewelry magnate Nicola Bulgari, who is lending ACM his collection of American cars, now stored in Allentown, Pa., and Tuscany.

"He loves American cars," Keller said. "Buicks, Chrysler Town & Countrys …"

The museum will feature three high-tech racing simulators and a club where members can sit back and enjoy wine that they will be able to keep in storage here, if they're so inclined.

"It's a place where you come together and get involved around the automobile," Madeira said. "We want to evoke the memories and the engagement that bring people back."

Of course, it is still all about the cars: The 1969 Ford Thunderbird, the 1932 Chevrolet "Huckster Truck." There's a 1994 Flintmobile George Barris Kustom made for the movie of the same year. And there's an AMC Pacer.

"We consider ourselves Switzerland when it comes to cars," Keller said. "If you like it, we like it."

The most important car for Keller? The 1963 Corvette with the split window.

"See? It doesn't have to be a special car," he said. "It doesn't matter."

By Nicole Brodeur, The Seattle Times (MCT)

Vintage and Exotic Car Restoration - Bay Area - Death of design in cars is nothing but a loss - FZ Restoration Livermore

 

There are times when you look at lines and curves and realize that beauty is framed by the contrast of space, filled by air, metal and longing.

It's the arc of a Porsche 356, the tail of a Volvo P1800 or the inimitable sleekness of a Ferrari 246 GTS.

Sunday brought together these images through an amazing line up of vintage cars for the Laguna Beach Rotary Club's ninth annual Classic Car Show, which has become the city's own Concours d'Elegance. From Aston Martin to Pantera, there were so many fine details that it was overwhelming.

But what was especially interesting was what happened after the show ended, and the cars started making their way back home. Dozens of them drove up Laguna Canyon and all along the route, people stopped and pointed, pulled out iPhones and took pictures, grabbed their kids and waved like it was some Disneyland parade.

It's not just a guy thing, it's a people thing. It's not for some lost era but for the quality we seek in our daily lives.

"It seems like every year we get a few more unique cars," said Harry Bithell of the Rotary and chairman of the show.

Bithell spends his off time going to other shows, chasing cars for this invitational event. His effort is worth it. The exquisite characteristics of the vintage cars here are obvious.

The interior of a 1931 Cadillac 370A blows away a modern Cadillac XTS.

A modern limo has nothing on a 1931 Lincoln Town Car.

Who decided that contemporary cars should all look like they came from the same mold?

"What we get is the interesting cars," Bithell said. "The Jaguars we get are probably the best collection I've seen."

Most people define their lives by their generation. If you grew up in the 1950s, you probably like Thunderbirds and Elvis. The 1960s were Mustangs and Beatles. And so on.

Now we have Kias.

There are no real cars that define our age. People will look back at these years as the low point in automotive design. Sure, we are making more efficient engines — but not by much.

The average new vehicle only gets about 23 miles a gallon, which is about the same as my old 1975 BMW 2002.

Ironically, we claim to be modern but still live in the car dark ages.

Search Google Images for the Ford Comete or the Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite or Reo the Fifth.

These are cars designed with lines and purpose. They have form and nuance. There is subtlety because the creators cared.

There is no visual brute force that you see today — only respect, intelligence and balance.

We deserve more.

The reason people point at cool vintage cars is not because it reminds them of their first love. It reminds them of the love they never had.

We want more. We want to have lines in our lives that reach the horizon. We want perfectly formed knobs that we can pull, not anonymous electric buttons.

Sure, I will take satellite radio but give me the option to change my own oil.

We want only what is necessary. Simplicity is good, with smooth, practical features. Things that are palpable. Handles that click and chrome that shines without trying.

Current designers act as if our lives revolve around the strip mall: boxed, mindless and half empty.

We are more than that.

We are by design.

We are made up of the spaces between lines and curves that connect on a summer road.

It's a road where driving used to be fun.

By David Hansen