MY FEEDLY

1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – The Model That Won The SCCA Trans Am Championship

This is an original 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302, this was the final year of production that the Trans Am homologation model was offered and Ford sold just 7,014 of them nationwide.

Ford developed this car specifically to compete with the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 in the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) Trans-Am racing series. The Mustang had been the first “pony car” of course, even lending its name to the genre, but other American automakers hadn’t been idle – many of them developed their own Mustang competitors which were quickly climbing in popularity.

The Pony Car Arms Race

This pony car arms race kept Ford busy and the Boss 302 was to be the Blue Oval’s shot across the bow of Chevrolet and their still-new Camaro which had been introduced in 1967. Trans Am racing was hugely popular in the USA in the late 1960s, the maximum engine size allowed was 5.0 litres (305 cubic inches) which forced American automakers to leave their “there’s no replacement for displacement” philosophy at the door and delve into making the most powerful 5.0 litre engines they could.

Ford engineers threw everything they could into the development of the Boss 302 V8. It features a block with a thin-wall, high nickel content casting which is notably different from regular Ford 302s. The engine also has four bolt mains, screw in freeze plugs, and special heads developed from the Ford 351 Cleveland V8 with larger canted valves and larger ports for better flow.

The street-legal version of the Boss 302 V8 was capable of 290 hp and could send the car from 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds, with a 1/4 mile time of 14.6 seconds, and a top speed of 137 mph.

The Boss’s (Secret) Car

A slew of changes were also applied to the rest of the car which was styled by the great Larry Shinoda who had been brought over by Semon “Bunkie” Knudson, President of Ford who had brought in Shinoda from GM’s Chevrolet Division.

It was Shinoda who developed the distinctive look of the Boss 302, he also gave it its name. The project was being kept top secret when it was first launched in 1968 and so whenever someone asked Shinoda what he was working on, he would jokingly reply “the Boss’s car!”

Above Image: The Boss 302 V8 was a significantly reworked engine capable of 290 hp in street-trim.

This nickname stuck and both versions of the car were officially named the Boss 302 and the Boss 429, the former car was intended for Trans Am and the latter for NASCAR.

A slew of performance changes were made to the car for the track, and Ford had to build a minimum of 6,500 of them for sale to customers to meet homologation requirements. Some of these changes included front disc brakes, larger sway bars, tougher spindles, reinforced shock towers, and a 4-speed manual transmission that could handle the power output from the new Boss 302 V8.

The cars went toe to toe with the Camaros in 1969 and narrowly lost the Trans Am Championship. It was later realized that a number of races had been lost in the pits as the Camaros were being run by Roger Penske who was famous for his impeccable organization and efficiency.

Lessons were learned and the Boss 302 won the 1970 championship with Parnelli Jones at the wheel. Sadly Ford executives would cancel the Boss 302 program after this win and so the model was only produced for two years, 1969 and 1970. Years later in 2012 Ford would release a new line of Boss 302 Mustangs influenced by their earlier forefathers.

The 1970 Boss 302 Mustang Shown Here

The car you see here is from the second and final year of production. According to its Marti Report, this car was built on the 29th of December 1969. Its base price was $3,720 USD, this car includes the optional “shaker” hood scoop, trademark rear window slats, rear spoiler, AM radio, Traction-Lok differential, and Goodyear Polyglas white letter tires on Magnum 500 wheels. All options included it cost its first owner $4,321.50 USD.

At some point in its history this car has had a full rotisserie restoration, it’s still in excellent shape throughout with good panel fit and a nicely detailed engine bay with proper wiring and hoses.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 22nd of May and the price guide is $75,000 to $85,000 USD.

The post 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – The Model That Won The SCCA Trans Am Championship appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/1970-ford-mustang-boss-302-muscle-car/
via gqrds

The Amazing Story Of Johnny Dark And The Woodill Wildfire

This article was written by Geoff Hacker, the founder of Undiscovered Classics and a leading global authority on low-volume, mid-century American sports cars like the Woodill Wildfire.

Geoff will be debuting their Woodill Wildfire from the 1954 movie Johnny Dark this Sunday (May 23rd, 2021) at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, he’s also created a 130+ page book on the subject that you can read here for free.

Introduction – Johnny Dark And The Woodill Wildfire

Johnny Dark was filmed in 1953 and debuted in June, 1954. It is an emblematic film which perfectly captured early post-war American handcrafted sports cars at their best. In the Universal Studios “Production Notes” released in early 1954 (shown in their entirety later in the book) reference is given to one of the most “vigorous movements” in the automotive field, “sports-type vehicles … which are fast beginning to revolutionize Detroit”.

The “Production Notes” elaborated “Because most of Detroit’s contemplated domestic sports cars are as yet in blueprint state, the studio made arrangements with a dozen top car designers” for sports cars for the film. Further, “these vehicles in many respects are years ahead of their time and expected to be of great influence in the design of commercial cars”.

The key point of emphasis in reading this book about the movie Johnny Dark is that the cars in the movies were viewed as “state of the art” and reflective of post-war American sports cars. Period. Retroactively, we may categorize these cars as American Specials and/or handcrafted sports cars. But in the era of the early 1950’s, such nomenclature was not accurate.

Above Film: Watch the full Johnny Dark movie courtesy of Undiscovered Classics.

Eight sports cars were introduced in the movie. These included the Woodill Wildfire, Victress, Glasspar G2, Grantham Stardust, Lancer, Bohman Special, Tatum Special, and Kurtis Sports Car. The oldest of the bunch was the Kurtis Sports Car having been built in 1949-1950. The remaining cars were built in 1952 and 1953—spot on for the golden years of designing, building and racing such cars.

The movie and the history of American sports cars shown in Johnny Dark reflects the excitement of the times, the design creativity of the individual and the entrepreneurial spirit of those in the postwar years. And what makes this even more interesting is that the cars, their history and the achievement of those who did so much back then has largely been forgotten—including the full legacy of the postwar American sports cars.

This was a time when American road racing had yet become commercialized. Where the achievement of an individual in building and racing their own car could level the playing field such as Max Balchowsky did in his Old Yeller race cars. So much was accomplished back then and so much has been forgotten now. We hope to change that fact.

But the story gets better when you jump from the reality of the movie to the real-world. Back when the Corvette debuted in 1953 (the same year that Johnny Dark was filmed), there were nearly 50 American Sports cars you could buy, build, and drive.

Universal Studios took the “best of the best” of the handbuilt sports cars that were built in and around Los Angeles, California in 1953. As for the cars featured, the aluminum cars shown were either one-offs or out of production, but the remaining five cars could be bought or built by the public at that time. These were the Woodill Wildfire, Glasspar G2, Victress S1A, Lancer and Grantham Stardust.

Above Image: A scene from the Film Johnny Dark as contestants prepare for a grueling endurance race from the Canadian border across the United States to the Mexican border.

The actors in the movie were top-notch “A” listers. Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie and Don Taylor—these were major movie stars when this was filmed, and while some think of this as a simple car film for its time, it’s far from that point. Some of the stunt drivers used were famous race car drivers and/or stuntmen in their own right.

Phil Hill (road racing), Louis Tomei (Indianapolis 500), Don Freeland (Indianapolis 500) and Chuck Tatum (road racing) were the famous drivers. Stunt drivers included Carey Loftin who later was the stunt coordinator for the movie “Bullit,” Johnny Daheim and H. Haile Chace – were all accomplished stuntmen well-known in Hollywood.

In researching this film, Chuck Tatum, Phil Hill and Universal Studios historians were personally interviewed. We also spoke with many of the families who were involved with the individuals who built and/or raced the cars. In writing this book, we did our best to give you a window into the past—one that gets more distant with each passing year.

You can view the full-length movie in excellent resolution by visiting YouTube and searching for Johnny Dark. No doubt you’ll have great fun watching the movie. You’ll also find the Johnny Dark movie trailer which is fun to watch as an introduction before viewing the movie.

So make some popcorn and lookout for these special cars when you watch Johnny Dark. Think of it as the old “Automobile Bingo” game we used to play when traveling by car during vacation.

And while you’re watching the movie…..perhaps……just perhaps you just might get hooked on these low volume handcrafted sports cars built at a time when anything was possible. Collectively, we call this part of American postwar sports car history as “The Greatest Story Never Told.”

Be sure to visit our website Undiscovered Classics for further information on the Johnny Dark movie.

The post The Amazing Story Of Johnny Dark And The Woodill Wildfire appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/johnny-dark-woodill-wildfire/
via gqrds

The BMW M1 – The First BMW “M” Car That Was Almost Built By Lamborghini

The BMW M1 is the end result of BMW wanting to beat their fellow Germans over at Porsche in Group 5 racing. The Porsche 935 was going to be impossible to beat with any of the cars BMW had in production at the time, so this in mind they approached Lamborghini to collaborate on a mid-engined supercar that could trounce the 935 and get the roundel back to the front of the grid.

The original plan had been to have Lamborghini actually build the car however the Italian automaker was on somewhat shaky financial ground at the time. Early prototypes of the M1 had been built at Lamborghini with a tubular steel space frame chassis developed by Gianpaolo Dallara, with a body designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

As the relationship with Lamborghini fell apart a group of former Lamborghini engineers set up a company called Italengineering and offered to continue developing the car. BMW accepted and the M1 continued its development cycle in Italy just 10 miles down the road from Lamborghini’s headquarters.

The M1 would be the first mid-engined BMW production car and it would remain so for decades until the release of the BMW i8 in 2014. Giugiaro used the earlier 1972 BMW Turbo concept car designed by Paul Bracq as his inspiration for the M1, applying his own distinctive style resulting in a car that was unmistakably a child of its era.

The purpose of the M1 project from the outset had been motorsport and as a result, every aspect of the car had been designed with the race track in mind. The rigid tubular steel space frame chassis was fitted with a BMW M88 3.5 litre inline-six cylinder engine which was longitudinally mounted behind the driver and passenger.

The M88 engine was a master stroke of engineering from BMW icon Paul Rosche, it has four valves per cylinder operated by double overhead cams. The head is alloy and it has an iron block, and it makes use of six individual throttle bodies feeding in ample air for the 3453cc swept capacity.

A few versions of this engine were developed including the M88/1, M88/2, and M88/3. The road going version fitted to the production M1 was capable of 273 hp at 6,500 rpm and 243 lb ft of torque at 5,500 rpm, however the Procar version was turning out over 450 hp in race trim.

Above Image: The interior was provided comfortable accommodations for two people, with modern refinements like electric windows, air conditioning, and a stereo.

Suspension on the M1 consists of double wishbones with adjustable coil springs and Bilstein shock absorbers front and back, rack and pinion steering was used, and the car was fitted with ventilated disc brakes measuring 300mm up front and 297mm in the rear.

A 5-speed manual transmission was used with no automatic transmission offering unsurprisingly, and the somewhat snug interior could comfortably accommodate two people with refinements like electric windows, a stereo, and air conditioning.

Over the course of the 1978 to 1981 production run just 455 examples of the BMW M1 were built, with 56 of these being race cars not intended for the road. Today the M1 is remembered as the German company’s first dalliance with mid-engined cars, and the sound of that M88 six singing over your right shoulder is enough to make anyone a fan for life.

The 1980 BMW M1 Shown Here

The M1 you see here is a 1980 model and unusually it was imported into the United States relatively early on in its life, in 1984. Only a small number of M1s were imported into the USA and as a result they’ve always been a popular car throughout North America, both for their desirability and their scarcity.

When it was imported in late 1984 federalization and emissions modifications were completed by South Coast Compliance in Santa Ana, California. In 1987 the car was bought by its current owner who has kept it in remarkable condition for 35 years, accumulating just 3,075 miles in all that time and spending over $50,000 USD on the vehicle since 2018.

It’s now due to cross the auction block with RM Sotheby’s on the 22nd of May with a price guide of $350,000 to $425,000 USD. It’s accompanied by a matching spare wheel, service invoices, historic documentation, and a BMW Classic certificate confirming the presence of its numbers-matching engine.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

The post The BMW M1 – The First BMW “M” Car That Was Almost Built By Lamborghini appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/bmw-m1-history/
via gqrds

Jaguar XK150 S – The Cheapest XK150 In The World (It Needs A Little Work)

The final version of the Jaguar XK150 S was released in 1960, it would be the most powerful version of the car ever made with 265 hp and a top speed of 135 mph – a remarkable figure for the era.

The XK150 S you see here has obviously seen better days. The reason it looks the way it does is because on one rainy day in 1996 the owner had a slight mishap on a rain soaked curve in the road. The car spun off into a tree leaving the front severely damaged, the rear right side seriously indented, and the driver miraculously unharmed save for a tow truck sized dent to his pocket book.

After the accident the owner kept the car tucked away out of sight and weather for almost 25 years, only rolling it out recently to have it photographed for the upcoming Bonhams MPH May Auction due to be held on the 22nd of this month.

With a price guide of $14,000 to $21,000 USD this is undoubtably the least expensive Jaguar XK150 S for sale anywhere in the world at the moment, particularly considering it’s in complete (albeit damaged) form with the engine, gearbox, chassis, and body all accounted for.

If you’d like to read more about this car you can click here to visit the listing, if you’d like to read more about the XK150 you can scroll down and read on.

The Jaguar XK150

The Jaguar XK150 was released in 1957 as a replacement for the XK140, which itself was a replacement for the XK120.

The Jaguar XK line of sports cars was heralded by the arrival of the XK120 in 1948, just three short years after the end of WWII. The XK120 came about almost by accident, it was developed as a show car to display the then-new Jaguar XK engine to the general public at the 1948 London Motor Show.

Above Image: This XK150 has certainly seen better days, though hopefully it’ll soon be in the hands of restorers.

The overwhelming positive reaction to the car was such that Jaguar put it into production, so quickly was it put into production that the first 242 cars had handmade wooden body frames with hand-shaped aluminum alloy body panels. Later cars would be all steel once the factory had been tooled up for full scale production.

The post-WWII boom years were a golden age for many parts of the world and cars like the Jaguar XK series were driven by some of the most famous and influential people in the world including Clark Gable who took delivery of the very first XK120 production car.

When it was first released the XK120 was the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 120 mph, this top speed would be bettered by each following generation with the XK140 achieving 125 mph and the “S” version of the XK150 managing the aforementioned 135 mph.

Jaguar had ensured that its XK series had always been luxurious by the standards of the time, however the level of luxury increased slightly with each of the three generations culminating in the XK150 which was more of a gentleman’s grand tourer rather than the dashing droptop sports car piloted by Clark Gable back in 1949.

When it was first released the XK150 was offered as either a fixed head coupe or a drop top coupe. For the uninitiated a fixed head coupe is a two door car with a fixed metal roof and a drop head coupe is a convertible with a thicker, heavier roof that provides almost coupe-like levels of noise and weather protection. An open top roadster with a minimal folding roof would be released a year later in 1958.

As with all the XK models the XK150 was powered by the Jaguar XK engine with had donated its name to the model line. This was the engine that launched Jaguar to the very pinnacle of motor racing in the 1950s with triple back to back wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the engine bay of the Jaguar D-Type in 1955, 1956, and 1957 with the D-Types taking five of the top six places in 1957.

The combination of speed, beauty, and luxury have made the XK150 an enduringly popular car with a devoted following around the world. Of all of the surviving cars the most highly sought after are the XK150 S models like the one shown here – so there can be little doubt this car will be snapped up by someone who’ll have it rebuilt.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

The post Jaguar XK150 S – The Cheapest XK150 In The World (It Needs A Little Work) appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/jaguar-xk150-s-project-car/
via gqrds

The Rare Jowett Jupiter Mk 2 – The Only One Ever Built

This is the only Jowett Jupiter Mk 2 ever made, and interestingly it was built for the first time 58 years after it was originally designed.

The reason for this almost six decade gap between the design and eventual construction of the car was due to the fact that automaker Jowett was forced out of the car building business for economic reasons in the mid-1950s – leaving the Jupiter Mk 2 as a completed design that would never be built. Or so it was thought.

Jowett had originally been founded all the way back in 1906, the company built engines followed by small affordable cars and commercial vehicles up until the outbreak of World War Two, when all automotive production ceased and they were tasked with building engines and aircraft components for the Allied war effort.

The company would release two new cars in the post-war years, the Jowett Javelin and the Jowett Jupiter. The Javelin was an economical four-door family car which was produced in significant numbers, over 23,000 left the production line between 1947 and 1953.

The Javelin was a sports car designed to appeal to both the local and export markets – particularly the US market which was buying British sports cars hand over fist at the time from marques like Jaguar, Triumph, and MG.

Against all odds the Jowett Jupiter proved to be a remarkable success on the race tracks of Europe, they would take a class win at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours, a class 1st and 2nd in the 1951 Monte Carlo International Rally, an outright win in the 1951 Lisbon International Rally, and a class 1st and 2nd in a 4-hour race at the Dundrod Circuit in Northern Ireland in 1951.

Above Image: The interior of the car is exactly as spartan as you would expect from a 1950s-era roadster, with seating for two and a bank of centrally mounted gauges.

These victories no doubt helped the sales of the small sports car, approximately 900 were built between 1950 and 1954. A large part of the reason for the Jupiter’s success was its engineering team, the tubular steel chassis was designed by Eberan von Eberhorst, formerly with Auto Union, and the lightweight aluminum body helped keep the curb weight down to 2,100 lbs (953 kgs).

The car was powered by a the 1,486 cc Jowett flat four engine which was mounted up front, the entire front section of the car would lift up for engine access which also provided access to suspension and other components.

The race track successes and general popularity of the Jupiter led Jowett to put the wheels in motion for an upgraded Mk 2 version with a more modern body but many of the same underpinnings. These drawings were lost to history for decades until they were rediscovered in 1979 when they were bought by Jowett enthusiast and restorer Allan Fishburn.

Fishburn set about building the Jupiter Mk 2, the first and only one that would ever be made. He started with the chassis from an original Mk 1A Jupiter that had been damaged and had an all-alloy body shaped to the original Jowett drawings from the 1950s.

The project was completed in 2011, then purchased in 2016 by the current owner who set to work bringing the car up to the standard it would have been in had it been shown to the world at the Earls Court Motor Show.

A full rebuilt costing thousands of pounds stirling was undertaken with specialists rebuilding the engine, redoing the body, and putting it all back together with remarkable attention to detail. As it stands today this is the only Jowett Jupiter Mk 2 and it likely always will be.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Silverstone Auctions. It’s due to cross the auction block on the 22nd of May with a price guide of £25,000 to £30,000, which works out to approximately $34,700 to $41,600 USD.