Farewell to 2011 and Looking Forward

This past year has been rather extraordinary, to put it mildly.  For most of us it has been a nearly constant struggle to just stay even or try not to fall too far behind.  I would be in that group.  I know there are some who still scratch their heads and say “What Recession”, but they are the minority for sure.

I opened a new Detail Shop back in April of this past year and while I knew the economy was down, I reasonable expected it to start turning around by late summer.  That was the overall prediction of the so-called economic genius’.  It wasn’t untill around May or June that most revised their outlooks.  Too late for me to back out.  Having sunk everything into my shop, it was only the option of scraping along that was available.  The good news is that I am still going.  Bad news is the economy is going to wait untill the end of 2012 to make its decision on better or worse…. or so those genius’ now predict.

 Currently sitting in my shop are a couple of vehicles waiting to be picked up.  A 1977 Pontiac Trans Am.  These are fondly called the “Bandit” model from the Burt Reynolds movies.  My kids think they are very cool and I would agree.  My attitude is these are great cars to actually drive and enjoy.  This particular one has its original 400 CID engine and automatic transmission.  Dollar for dollar, these are better than the Corvette from 1977.  My opinion is based on the fact thaT only a 350 small block could be ordered in the Vette, while T/A owners could get actual big block engines.  Add the fact that a family of 4 or even 5 if the kids are small enough, and a weekend cruise is possible.  With the Vette, you need to hook up a trailer to haul any kids along.  Maybe the point of the Vette is to leave them home?

 

The other vehicle sitting in my shop has a rather interesting heritage.  It was on display at the Guiness World Record Museum down in Tennessee until recently.  It was the vehicle driven by John Candy’s character in the movie “Delirious”.

While intended to be a Ferrari GTO, it is actually a Datsun 280Z, with custom bodywork to appear as the famed GTO.  Untill November or this year, the GTO had the Guinness title of being the “Worlds Most Expensive Automobile” as the few out there have been selling for anywhere from $6 Million up to an estimated $20 Million each.  This is just beyond comprehension how anything could be so expensive… much less a car.

The point I am getting to in my usual meandering way is that while business is slow for my shop and the general economy…..there are signs that something could change soon.

So Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year.

Davey Boy

Getting Back Into The Groove

  The Mecum Auction is over for St. Charles and while prices are somewhat depressed still, there were some very nice high-end cars that drew big money.  I am not going into those here since that isn’t what I deal in – nor is it what impresses me.  If you gotta haul your car on a trailer for a show, then what’s the use having it?

  I prefer nice “driver” quality cars and there are plenty of them available.  I admit to being old.  Physically I am 53….almost 54.  Mentally sometimes I am either 14 or 80.  Rarely anything in between.  While I promote the Muscle Cars as investment tools, there are also other cars that someone can purchase to either enjoy or sell and make a decent profit.  While I promote Muscle Cars, there are many Collector Vehicles that would make nice driver or investment vehicles.  The 4 speed Beetle pictured here is a 1974 and sold for a mere $3100.  If you ever owned an original Beetle with its “jingle-jingle” engine rattle then you would understand the slow but steady charm of tooling around in one of these reliable air-cooled boxer 4 cylinder marvels.

 

  Then if the Beetle doesn’t turn you misty-eyed we also have the Type 2 Wagon pictured here.  The ever traveled “Hippie” van, this one being a 1970 version.  The Westfalia version had a complete kitchen and bed in it, while this wagon is your basic passenger hauler.  Again, very slow compared to my normal preference for a livery, but when you go nostalgic not everything was built to do 90-100 mph in the 1/4 mile.  The other side of the “slow” equation is that Volkswagen’s were from Europe, not Detroit so they couldn’t be Muscle Cars even if they did have big V8 engines.  This vehicle sold for $5500.

  For the Pony Car people there were several Mustangs that sold for decent money.  Someone bought this 1967 with its original 289 and automatic transmission for just $6000.

  Mustangs are usually very nice entry-level cars for someone who wants a fun, sporty car without breaking into their 401K to buy it.  This is because for much of the early models they were a really big seller and from 1964 through 1970 they produced literally millions of them in all body configurations.  From coupes to convertibles to fastbacks.  From straight 6 cylinder engines to small V8′s and even massive big block V8 engines.  You could buy them as economy cars all the way to full-bore factory prepped race track cars.  Mustang was the only car during the Muscle Car years that was marketed and designed to fill almost every niche in the automotive consumer marketplace.  The only missing piece would have been if Ford had actually built Mustang Station Wagons as well.  If you have been reading my blog, you realize I have actually had a photo of a Mustang Station Wagon before that sold at an auction in the past, but it was a custom conversion unit.

 While we are dealing with Ford vehicles, we need to touch on trucks a bit as well.  This is a 1970 Ford Bronco with its original 170 cubic inch engine and 3 speed manual trans.  These could be ordered with the 289/302 or upgraded further to a 351.  This was the most capable off-road vehicle of its time. Surpassed only by the Jeep CJ so far as rock climbing ability.  Properly equipped I have seen these Bronco’s go places no other off-roader would even think about.  They were small and built to take a beating.  They are still very popular with the off-road racing crowd.  This beauty went for $8500.

  Then we have this 1972 Ford Ranchero.  While the Ranchero did not have the following of the Chevrolet El Camino, it was a very nice looking vehicle for being a “quasi-truck”.  That is a truck that is built as a car….or is it a car that is built as a truck?  Most people do not like the big grille years such as this is, but for me the “fish-mouth” grill is what I like most about the styling.  I am also one of those who find the 2 head light El Camino sleeker and more stylish that the 4 head light versions.  I prefer the Chevelle with 4 headlights, don’t ask why…it’s the way my brain is wired I guess.

  The 351 Cleveland engined Ranchero went for $6700.  While the value is less for a 1972 compared to a 1970 or 1971, that’s due to the fact engine compression and therefore power was down significantly thanks to Federal regulations.  But they were still pre-Catalitic Converter so if you have basic engine skills it is relatively easy and cheap to bump the horsepower numbers back up on these.  And the ease of just swapping the motor for a serious big block such as the 428 or 429 is just icing on the cake.

  While talking about 1972 vehicles we turn to this 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with its 402 big block V8 engine that sold for $8750.  While rated at a meager 240 horsepower, that is very easy to change to closer to a rating of 350-400 horses since the 402 is actually the venerable 396 engine that Chevy used for many years in some of their grandest performance vehicles.  The Chevelle just a year prior with this same 402 engine was still being marketed as the SS396 because the Bowtie fans knew what a 396 was and Chevy did not want to have their fans think it was a new engine.  After all it wasn’t.  It came about because a group of blocks came through with scratches in the cylinders that Chevrolet had to hone out to be able to use them rather than junk the entire batch.  The increased bore is why it became a 402.  Once they had increased the bore size and pistons to fit they did not want to shrink the engine size back and admit that it was a “manufacturing flaw”.

  The final couple to review are both Oldsmobiles.  This is a 1969 Cutlass convertible with it’s “Rocket 350″ engine and a 4-speed trans.  Not as good as a 400 cubic inch 442 from 1969, but definitely a nice driver for summer fun.  This baby sold for $10,500.  Nice.

   Then we come to a true Oldsmobile 442.

  For the very reasonable price of $13,750 someone drove this green beauty home to their very own garage.  With its white vinyl roof and white stripes it was a nice looking vehicle.  The only thing I would change would be to put a Ram Air Hood on it instead of the base hood.  Aftermarket fiberglass would run about $450 while a steel NOS can fetch up to $1200 depending how authentic you want to get.  As you can see from both pictures, they used pretty much the same steel “Ralleye Wheels” for several years on the Cutlass and 442 lines.

Davey Boy

Ten Years and What I have Learned

 The date of 9-11-2001 is burned into the memory of everyone in America.  There will be literally millions of posts and retrospectives and endless rehashing of the events of that day and no doubt it will be to the point where our minds turn numb from thinking about the horrific events of New York City and Washington D.C. and even the Pennsylvania wooded crash site and what was perhaps the one shining event of the day, if you can take anything out of the day and say it was a “good” thing.  The passengers and their bravery to determine from what they knew from earlier events decided their fates and ended what was to be an even worse outcome and they brought their plane down before their attackers could harm countless thousands more.

  I was working as a “Handyman” at the time and as luck would have it I was off that day and at home.  I had the CNN news in the background on the television while I went through my morning e-mails looking for job leads and prospective projects.  Then they broke in with what was described as a small engine airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  When they cut to live video of the scene, the first impression was that there was a large amount of damage area for being a Cessna.  It turned out to be much worse than the first report.  By the time the second plane flew into the second tower on live TV, everybody watching knew we were under attack.  There was no “accident” in the events we witnessed.  This was an open and shut attack on America.

  To say the date changed my life is only to say the date changed the lives of every single person in the United States and quite possibly… the lives of nearly everyone around the world.  We in America know how our lives were effected, but as we put together our “coalition” of nations to wage war in Afghanistan and then further to invade Iraq, we effectively made our problems those of the world as well.  The chain of events caused by our “War on Terror” are now part of history and I am not going to debate whether good-bad-or indifferent.  They are done and we still are going to be paying the bills for what has happened for the next 20 to 50 years.  We basically borrowed the entire funding for the war and we have yet to start the payment plan.

  I do not get into politics here on my blog and I am not going to now either.  The point is, the events of 9-11 made changes not just to our government but to our citizens as well.  Personally, I decided life was short and the events proved to me that nobody has any guarantee for a future.  Most of America decided the same thing because as a whole… America went on a spending binge.  We went out and bought bigger houses and more cars and boats and RV’s and ran up the credit card debts to the point where when things started getting tight, everything came tumbling down.

  We went from under 5% unemployment to almost 10% in the past 3 years.  Literally millions of Americans have not only lost their jobs, but also their homes.  Real Estate in no longer “Money-In-The-Bank” as it has been since I was born in 1957.  The value of your home was a savings account for anyone who owned their home.  Those days are behind us as values are often half of what they were 3 or 4 years ago.  I live in a subdivision that was built about 7 years ago and just on my cul-de-sac of about a dozen homes there are 3 repossessed homes sitting empty.  It was 4 but after 2 years one was finally bought by the people who defaulted in the first place.  Apparently after 2 years of no mortgage payments they saved enough to not only buy their house at its new reduced price but also to put another $20,000 into landscaping and privacy fencing, new patio and a new car.

Anyway, even in a bad economy there are ways to make steps forward is the point I guess.  The Classic Car hobby has also changed in the past few years.  The million dollar “Muscle Cars” have tapered off and unless the vehicle in question has a substantial pedigree it certainly will not draw a million dollar bid these days.  That’s not to say new records for price are not being set…. they are…. but it has to be a historical piece, not just a low production hemi powered Plymouth convertible these days. 

  The current situation for what I see at the major auctions is more of a thinning of the herd in collector circles.  With the overhead associated with larger collections, they seem to be selling the lesser value cars for reduced prices in order to buy higher value cars at equally reduced prices.  In other words they are selling a 25,000 dollar Mustang for 12,000 in order to buy a $60,000 Chevelle for $30,000.  In their minds they are not losing $13,000…. they are saving $30,000.  Actually a gain of 17,000 when you consider the loss.  But the downside is they are using cash out-of-pocket to do it and will not see that gain for a few years in all likelihood.

  For the guys like me, this is good news because there are more cars available at what is considered entry-level prices that come already restored or at a minimum in very good “driver” condition.  Even my beloved 1971 Plymouth GTX with it’s 440 engine and 4 barrel carb can be found for half of its previous $60,000 value.  Patience is all you need and of course….cash.

  Anyway, I guess the point I am trying to make is that despite the current bad economy, and all we have been through in the last 10 years, there are bright spots for all of us.  And the brightest thing of all….. is that we are still here 10 years later.

  Davey Boy

Is The American Dream Dead ?

What a million bucks looks like.

It has always been said that the “American Dream” is to be your own boss and be the owner of a successful business, most likely doing something you love doing.  The old adage of the best way to make a small fortune…. is to start with a big fortune and open your own business… also comes to mind right now.

I would not say the “American Dream” is dead, but I would say it is in intensive care.  The bad news is that it is also under a HMO for its care.  Anyone in business knows that the current economy “sucks”.  Just totally sucks.  I chose to start my own business a few months back and while I am fortunate enough to still be in business after 4 months, it has not gotten any better.  The future looks bleak, but not without a few glimmers of hope.

I have been working in the “Automotive Detailing” field since the early 1980″s.  The first shop I worked for was an established company that I helped expand and grow from a few thousand dollars a year into one of the largest in the Chicago area at the time.  The second was a Marina on the Chain of Lakes that I did their “In-House” detailing for the boats they sold and their Marina customers as well.  I was a one man operation there.  The third was a tunnel car wash in Northbrook, Illinois that needed to be expanded into a full service Detail Center to expand their car wash business.

Each time the result was the same…. grow the business into a good cash flow and then I was shown the door when the owner decided to keep the cash himself.  There is nothing wrong with that, since it was their money on the line and I was well paid each time.

1967 Riviera

When I decided to go back into the Detail Business this time it was for a shop of my own.  Build something for me and my families security.  Of course, my thought was that with the economy down, it would be starting at the bottom with nowhere to go but up.  Nothing I read or saw prepared me for the fact the economy would run along the bottom in basically a “flat-line” for any length of time.  Normally you would expect to see either an upswing or even further dropping.

With my basic “Business model” now broken, it is time to either reinvent the plan or to expand into additional avenues for income.  So it is that now has become what will be either a colossal financial failure….. or a truly genius move on my part.

1976 Eldorado Convertible

Only time will tell which this will be, but as I said at the start…. The American Dream is not dead…. just in intensive care.

davey boy

Status Update and More Apologies

  After the first month in my new shop, we finally have the signs up at the business park entrance.  Small advances seem to be where we are at currently.  We also have the overhead door magnets on and the doors labeled.

  Inventory is in and we are open for business.  Now we just need customers.  The “Detail Business” is one of those types of enterprises where you just build slowly and eventually you get where you want to be based on referrals from your customers.  The whole key is doing quality work and letting your customers do your advertising.  There are people I have known who thought the mass mailing programs and coupons work, but in the end, if you get too big too fast and start slipping in your quality, then you are doomed for failure.

  The best thing to remember about “detailing” is that you are a service business.  That means people will spend what they feel is appropriate for what they perceive to be quality, but nobody wants to tell their friends they got taken advantage of and the referrals end at that point.  Anyway, we ran the Trans Am up to the Volo Auto Museum for their Car Corral, but the weather sucked and turnout was low.

So despite a guy interested in the car, it did not sell.  Not yet anyway.  Never know if maybe he will still turn up for the vehicle.  Well, the good news is I am posting again for the first time in over a month. Now I have to get back to the 1967 model year continuation.  It will be coming soon so check back.  I thank you all for your patience.

Davey Boy

Recent Project Moving Ahead

 The reason I am once again falling behind on my ongoing series of blog posts, would be the process of starting a new business.  Unit 21 is now in my possession and the process of ordering product and setting up a working “Detail Shop” has commenced.

 My past history with the business has been successful although with what I personally consider mixed results.  By that I refer to the fact that each previous startup or expansion has been for someone elses financial benefit.  Every other Detail Business has been for someone else and ultimately, when I have gotten to the place where there was a healthy customer list, it was time to show me the door and for the owner of the business to assume control himself.

  This has caused me angst and many sleepless nights when I have thought of doing all the work for another build-up.  But after many years it has become time to do it again.  This time will ultimately be different however, since it is my shop and there is no other partner.  The plan does include a partner down the road however.  The long-term goal is to bring my brother-in-law into the business maybe next year as a minority owner.  He is not a minority, he would have less than a half ownership stake is what I am referring to when I say minority owner.

  Anyway, this gets me in further with the future goals I have in regards to the “Collector Car Hobby” and puts me a step closer.

 The shop is near the Volo Auto Museum.  This will make me accessible for collectors in the area as well as a nice retail base for the general public.  The address for anyone in the area would be:  27992 West Route 120,  Unit 21, Lakemoor, IL  60051.

  I already have the Phase 2 expansion plans ready for the next step.  Even before I actually have the place open.  Once this gets off the ground I will be back working on the blog, so I ask for your patience for a bit longer.  I promise it will be worth the wait.

  For anyone looking for a quality detail or a hand wash or any detail services come on by.  We hope to be open by the middle of April 2011.  See you soon.

Davey Boy

1967- Pontiac and Chevrolet

 For regular readers of my blog, I apologize for having to repost this article.  I will try to vary my wording so as not to repeat myself too much.  The “WordPress” site has a couple of quirks where new pages are not part of a sequence and cannot be simply placed where you want them, so I have to rewrite to try to keep the posts in a chronological order.

The GTO was by 1967 an American Icon and John DeLorean was setting his sights on going after even bigger fish.  He was developing the Banshee prototype to give Pontiac a true “sports” car similar to the Chevrolet Corvette.  Because of the stir he caused with the GTO, this did not sit well with the Executives at Chevrolet who basically shut down any challenge to their only “Ace-in the hole”.

What was offered instead was the new Camaro and Pontiac was told to develop a version of that.  The Banshee was dead as far as Pontiac was concerned, however in a rather slap of the back of the hand, it would resurface as the base for the next generation Corvette.

Because of the elimination of multi-carb setups, Pontiac decided to bore out the 389 and came up with the maximum 400 cubic inch engine allowed by GM for the GTO.  This at least made them head to head competitors with Buick and Oldsmobile as far as engine size.  So now everyone but Chevrolet had 400 motors.

The Firebird was the car Pontiac designed from the Camaro platform.  The base engine was a 6 cylinder with the 326 being the standard for V-8 engines.  The 400 from the GTO was the top engine option from the factory.  Several dealers around the country found that the newly enlarged 428 fit in the car and did some engine swaps to further upgrade the power ratio.  This was the former 421 that was used in full size vehicles at Pontiac.  As the corporate bigwigs came up with rules to keep the engineers from exploiting engine size and power ratios, the Division Heads came up with new tricks to open loopholes.

In future years the biggest loophole would be the COPO orders where engines were used in vehicles that did not show up on a dealers option sheet.  This was mostly done in response to what some of the Dodge and Plymouth Dealers were doing with regards to engines and transmissions.  More on that in future posts.

Pontiac even got their Grand Prix into the fray to some extent.  Although it was based on the full size chassis lines, it got styling cues from the intermediates with louvered tail lights similar to the GTO.  Even the front turn signals carried the louvered look.  And with its hidden headlights, the look was stunning to say the least.  Since it was a personal luxury vehicle, the name plates and exterior styling was kept relatively low-key.  The engine for the GP was a 428, which was as big as it got for 1967 at Pontiac.

Over at Chevrolet the Chevy II or Nova was now just called the Nova.  Its styling was smoothed out somewhat, but the designers still felt the time was at hand to restyle the car into a less boxy shape so the plan was just one more year for the body.  The cars narrow front end meant the top engine was a 327, which was now increased to 350 CID.

This Butternut Yellow beauty was the then “New for 1967″ Chevrolet Camaro.  It was built to not only compete with the Ford Mustang, but to beat it.  The base 6 cylinder was normally optioned out for the 350 or all the way up to the Chevelle’s 396 if someone checked the proper boxes on the order sheet.  One of the “flaws” in the ordering system was that you could order the SS and the RS on the same vehicle.  This occurred quite often and gave the dealer the opportunity to put almost every available option on a lot of Camaros.  The dealers had maximum profit potential if a vehicle left the lot fully loaded.  For the dealers who wanted to really make a profit,they put the 427 from the Corvette into the Camaro to create a vehicle that was just on the edge of insanity.  Since it was the dealers doing this there was no breaking of “Corporate” rules.

The Chevelle was designated with the 138 body series when ordered as an SS396.  Chevrolet now was the only division with less than the 400 cubic inch maximum engine in their “Muscle Cars”.  All intermediates were being redesigned for the following year, so styling changes were basically just minor sheet metal reworking.  Creases were smoothed out and tail lights and grilles were restyled.

So for the people keeping track, I used the same photos, and I think I did a good job of reworking the information.  Kind of like the factory when they rework a model for a new year.

 Davey Boy

1967- Oldsmobile and Buick Divisions

 While the Pontiac Division was trying to make its mark against the General Motors flagship franchise of Chevrolet, Oldsmobile was working on capturing a piece of the Muscle Car game as well.  Their shot into the midsize Muscle Car battle was of course the 442.  They further upped the ante by producing a version with an option called the W30 motor.  This started what would become somewhat of a legend in “Muscle” circles as the lexicon would now include “W-Machines”.  Some W30′s were made in 1966 as well but there were 502 built for the 1967 model year.

The trademark thing to spot on a genuine W30 is its front fender liners which would be red in color.  All also came with “Outside Air Intake”, which is known as OAI in “Muscle” jargon.  For the 1967 model they brought the air into the hoses feeding the carburetor from around the headlights.  In the following couple years it was a rough cut hole down under the bumper area.

The W30 got less sound and body insulation and all were built in Lansing Michigan which would be a “M” in the 7th place of the VIN.  VIN means “Vehicle Identification Number” which means the serial number that is displayed on a metal tag riveted to the car.

If you find the build sheet or a window sticker with the vehicles options it should say the vehicle has the L78 engine option, to be genuine as a W30.

Here is a photo of the engine compartment.

Notice the chrome air cleaner.

The Oldsmobile Toronado continued on with a fair amount of changes to its front appearance. It was still a front wheel drive car as it would continue to be going forward.  The 425 engine was rated as 385 horsepower which was not bad for a luxury model at the time.

For those who read my post about the Pontiac Banshee prototype here is a rear view photo of the Toronado so you know what I was referring to.

The styling of vehicles may have evolved slowly but rarely did cars merely change just the tail lights for an upgrade from year to year.  Modern styling seems to keep a body design around well past the time when manufacturers need to change a vehicles personality.

 Then we come to the Buick Division of General Motors.

 The Buick GS400 got freshened as well as the rest of the intermediates at GM.  Buick was not then, nor in future years a division to build overly flashy cars.  Almost everything about the Buick Muscle Cars was understated with the exception of the future GSX model.  But that is for another day. 

 The one oddity with Buick was their futuristic air cleaner however.  Today it is called the “Star Wars” air cleaner and you can see why, but in the time when it was made, it was just a fancy way of getting air to the carb to feed the 400 cubic inch engine.

Davey Boy

1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype

 The Prototype cars built as design exercise’s or as show cars were a way to gauge public appeal for upcoming models and ideas for all auto manufacturers.  One of the 1964 models was the Pontiac Banshee. There were to be an ongoing series of cars for the Banshee design, but the start was this vehicle.  Pontiac envisioned this as a Mustang Fighter and two versions were built.  The first had a straight 6 cylinder motor and the second had a V8.

Because of the success of the Pontiac GTO, General Motors execs at the time were worried that the Banshee would not only beat the Mustang, but also their beloved Corvette.  Judging from John DeLorean’s success with the GTO, they were probably right in their assumption.  After all the steel body Banshee weighed 500 pounds less than the Corvette.

The model was cancelled from further developement in 1966 and Pontiac was instructed to make a version of the upcoming Camaro model for 1967.

Judging from the look of the Banshee, we all know what the next Corvette design would have been based on.  The Banshee not only got cancelled but Chevrolet “borrowed” it’s styling for their own use.  Despite it never getting made as DeLorean had wanted he once again got the attention of the Corporate bigwigs.

Despite losing out on the production of the Banshee concept, Pontiac did get the tail light design for the second generation Trans Am from the effort.  Not much of a consolation prize, but sometimes it is small victories that add up.

Final thought, Oldsmobile must have benefitted as well, because the 1966 Toronado looks suspiciously similar from the rear view.

Davey Boy

Full Disclosure- Mercury had Performance Cars As Well

 I have received a couple of complaints and rightly so.  It seems that I have left out a portion of the history up to now regarding the developement of the Muscle Car Era.  What has been pointed out to me is that for every vehicle Ford came up with, they also had a Mercury division companion vehicle.  True and I thought I had mentioned that fact, but I did not mention model names nor did I show photos of these cars.

  This post will correct my omissions up to the point we are at, namely through the 1966 models.  The main point for talking about the Galaxie with its 427 CID engine was because of its sucess in NASCAR and how some of this trickled into other models and became part of the Muscle Car models.  Since the Galaxie was a full size car it technically was not a Muscle Car and neither were the full size Mercury’s shown here.  This is the 1963 Mercury Monterey S-55 convertible. Under the hood was a big block with a tri-power setup.   Mercury was a conflicted division during the 1960′s.  They wanted to be a luxury brand, yet wanted to be a full line manufacturer with the performance models just like it’s parent…..Ford.

For 1964 Mercury came up with a Montclair Marauder and then further upped the ante with the Super Marauder shown here with its 427 pushing out a factory claimed 425 horsepower.  Remember that unlike today, when the factory made a horsepower claim it was almost always under-rated.  People at the track and the “car magazine” reporters were figuring close to 475-500 horsepower was actual.  Remember that in the 1960′s they used “gross” horsepower not “net” as is used today.  Gross horsepower is rated at the flywheel, whereas net is at the rear wheels (or today possibly front wheels for front wheel drive vehicles).

 The obvious difference between the Marauder and the Super Marauder was that the Super used multi-carb setups such as this ones dual four barrel intake system.

  Unless you are very gifted as a mechanic, or know someone else who is multi-carb engines are very difficult to keep properly tuned and running.  Stick with a single 4 barrel engine if you want something to drive and enjoy rather than something you want to work on for weekend fun.  Just my opinion, of course, but that’s the only one that counts since I am the author of this post.

One of the nicest things about some of the full-size vehicles was the fact that because they cost more than most intermediates, they also had nicer interiors and used better materials where they did not need to cut corners to save money and hold costs down.

 This is the Interior photo for the Super Marauder.

 Full gauge instrumentation was also a benefit of full size cars and for any vehicle that had a performance image, idiot lights were not an option for high-end buyers.

Chrome trim was used inside and out on most cars from the era as well.  And it was real metal, not chrome plated plastic as is common today.  Sometimes old school is the best.

 For 1966, the Super Marauder got the 428 engine like the Galaxie and the 7 Litre model at Ford did.  The 428 delivered smoother power and could actually idle without shaking the car.  It was a perfect match for the image Mercury wanted to portray when compared to the bare knuckle attitude of the old 427 which was a race engine being used in a street car.

 As I pointed out Mercury also had the Caliente and Cyclone models which were based on the Comet model.  Check past posts for those photos.  That’s the update to include Mercury in the timeline I have been doing.

Any other suggestions let me hear from you, otherwise be posting the 1967 model lineups soon.

Davey Boy