I wonder about someone bringing back the Chevy Mona 2+2 with a modern Corvette V8 and transmission instead of the tragically castrated small block that was in the Monza.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Bringing Classic Cars Back from the Grave
My wife has sometimes wished that someone would start making the 1964 Mustang. I explained that meeting current emissions and safety standards would make that impossible or at least a rather different car. (yes, she's a big Mustang fan.) Jaguar is bringing back the 1960s E-type, apparently by restoring originals.
On the Monza, you'd still have to half pull the engine to change the spark plugs. Fortunately you'd not have to do that as often as back in the day.
ReplyDeleteThat was true for the V6 IIRC, until a GM employee drilled a hole in a frame member which allowed him to change that last spark plug without moving the engine. I believe he was awarded by GM his creativity.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds bad, but I have a 2005 Mercedes C230 with an inline 4 engine. The dealer's estimate for changing those four spark plugs on top of the engine was $250!
I'm not sure which is worse.
I'm sure this is thanks to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Volume_Motor_Vehicle_Manufacturers_Act_of_2015
ReplyDeleteManufacturers can make up to 325 vehicles with a federal VIN so that they are registrable in any state, and need to comply with NHTSA equipment standards (lighting, brake hoses, glass, tires. . .) but get exemption from safety standards that require extensive computer modeling and expensive sacrificial crash testing to demonstrate compliance.
I will forever be kicking myself for not buying an XK-E back when they were merely expensive; today those still running are only brought out on nice weekends for a short putt to the Auto Show where we all drool, but the thought of buying one is out of the question for most of us.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had the opposite reaction to mine: I thought the E-type was a rocket on wheels, and loved them; my Dad denounced them at every opportunity as an affront to humanity. He almost frothed at the mouth, he was so angry about their mere existence. Never could understand that, and still don't!
My dad, after years of wanting, got a chance to buy a used E-type around 1974. But the seller couldn't show the pink slip and my dad, afraid it was a stolen car, backed out. In the end if he had bought it it would have sat in the garage for years, only coming out on special weekends. And after his death it would have become an item we had to sell since no one would have had the money to buy it clean from the other three owners.
ReplyDeleteThis can be done with any car made B.P. (before plastic, that CAFE-caused abomination that has led to more obsolescence than any planning for planned obsolescence as complained of in that age of rapid technological advances back in the 50's and 60's.
ReplyDeleteI've recently thought of resurrecting an early 80's Mercedes SL560...mainly because I've always liked the styling.
ReplyDeleteBut, I also like having bluetooth-enabled music systems and GPS...integrating those into the dash is the stumbling block for me. It can be done, but the examples I've seen are not seamless.