58L-Y8

Thanks, With the known benefits of a 90 degree crankshaft already standard practice, why would they revert to flat plane crankshaft when developing these V8 engines? Exhaust gathered across then exited down through the block! Sounds as if the understanding of back pressure and excessive heat dispersed into the cooling system wasn't well understood...

Was the Viking a half step up from Olds or a half step down? Matt Viking was a half step up from Oldsmobile, in the $1, 595-$1,695 range for the two years respectively, around $500 more than the general Oldsmobile range. In terms of spec's, they were like a Fisher-bodied '27 LaSalle 303 but with a 259 ci rather than a 303 ci V8. They unfortunately competed with the '29 Buick 121 and 129 and the '30 Series 50 and 60. Filling the price gaps was becoming more problematic with too many nameplates.

That was true at the time, certainly in the early 1930's. I suspect the lessons learned from those two engines was included in the development of GM's next mono-block V8; the '36 Cadillac 322 and 346. This time, they got it right in spades!

Oldsmobile listed a sedan delivery and coupe pickup in 1940 for their 60 Series, along with the 1941-'42 66 and 68 Series sedan delivery, coupe pickup and station wagons.

A mass-produced mono-block V-8 engine fully three years before the '32 Ford V-8 that everyone thinks was the first. GM deserves more recognition for this accomplishment with both the Viking and Oakland-Pontiac mono-block V-8's. One wonders why these engines weren't developed further and utilized by both automakers rather than straight eights.

I recall first seeing the '63 Thunderbird Italien photos in a copy of the Ford Times magazine that my father received as a customer of the local dealer. First impression was it was neat they transplanted a '60-'61 Starliner roof onto a Thunderbird convertible body. Of course, looking closers, that's not the case as the details are very different. But the concept is the same. Oddly enough, as attractive as it is, there was no follow-up as a production model for 1964, so it was a styling dead end.

That must be a tinted post card which were popular then, usually the images weren't very sharp. This is the best I could raise it with photo manipulation software.

The Peerless V-16 is a Franklin Hershey design masterpiece on an engineering masterpiece chassis. But for the Depression, the public would have seen a surpassing V-16 even beyond the Cadillac and Marmon, a high standard indeed.

Is that ever an understatement!

AMC had to find an avenue to differentiate their cars or at least a halo model from the Big 3. Sophistication was becoming a viable avenue to do so by the late 1960's - early 1970's when affluent customers were increasingly turning to English and European imports to satisfy their taste. A 'what if' exercise ask us to scrape the rust off our imagination and consider what other such avenues might have been pursued. Its a worthwhile mental exercise to keep creative juices flowing. With the growing acceptance of sport sedans, a four door 'coupe' AMX could have been just the ticket to enliven the AMC showroom. Imagine the contrast of one with a humble Rambler American across the showroom floor...

Of all the body styles at that time, the European coachbuilders truly grabbed the convertible Victoria and ran with it to the farthest degree for absolute stylish elegance and verve.

1930 Packard Deluxe Eight 745 convertible Victoria by Waterhouse. Or 1931 840, hard to tell by the angle.

This is a good point to raise the question about the '32 Imperial CH performance capabilities relative to its contemporaries. From reading the spec's, it appears as if the CH would be on par with the '30 Packard 734 Speedsters. Now, those who have been fortunate enough to drive each, please describe your experiences to satisfy our curiosity.

Yeah, birdies were flying around in his head by this time, and those paranoid voices only got worse. Henry Ford badly outlived his greatness.

In 1950-'51, no one at Ford knew or cared who Lee Iacocca was. He didn't come to any prominent notice at Ford until he came up with the "A '56 Ford for $56 a month' The Lido is a resort area on the Italian coast.

Thanks for enlarging on this subject, the difference between the 7 passenger touring car and the five passenger phaeton still seems be a misunderstood distinction. Both styles were open cars, both with four doors, both utilized side curtains so seem to be the same. The major recognizable difference is the length the rear section of the body (tub) extended past the rear axle plane: the 7 passenger can nearly reach the frame ends versus the phaeton which is generally more close-coupled nearer the rear axle plane. The former recalls the earliest configurations of multi-passenger styles, the latter has more attractive proportions, rarely accommodates jump seats for additional passengers in the tonneau. By the mid'1930's, the preference for the comforts of the closed sedan was nearly universal; the open touring car or phaeton left to the province of the parade car or the sportsman's fair weather companion.

I think both are 1933 models. The ring-style 'coach handles' were used on Packard touring car bodies at least through 1933 whereas the phaetons had the more modern bar style. The 'coach handles' were an archaic style by then but an easy identifier for the touring car.

To get answers from those familiar with your car, you should post in the Pontiac Flathead Owners section under GM Products Divisions found by scrolling further down. Pontiac Owners Club International (POCI) also has an Early Times Chapter for flathead Pontiac owners which would be worth joining. Good Luck with your '35 Pontiac restoration.

Great, glad to see another Marmon return to the road!

1949-'51 Nash Airflyte

Just an informal survey of known owners of current Camaro, Mustangs and Challengers in this area finds they are almost without exception gray-haired retirees. Widening the notice of who is seen driving those cars returns the same results. Its a dying demographic, the companies are now trying to figure out whether a follow-up model is worth the investment. Younger people are buying diesel 4x4 extended cab pick up trucks, that's their hot vehicles now.

Very good likelihood it was a salesman's label pin. You should post your inquiry on one of the Packard club sites or on PackardInfo.com for expert identification.

Its interesting to see what is being done with 3D CAD modeling and rapid prototyping equipment these days. I worked for a major company you'd recognize in that field trained on Unigraphics software and had parts made from polymers for various projects. That is, up until the tech bubble burst in 2001 and the economy tanked. After which, the demand for those 3D skills dropped to zero and stayed there for five years. Legions of us saw our skills atrophy in those years, turned to other work which paid the bills but wasn't nearly as interesting or satisfying. Its a shame, we had more real contributions to make to the advancement of applying that technology for industry and they affectively killed it for most of a decade.

What's the median age of those purchasers? I generally see only gray-haired men driving new Corvettes now.

I watched your show, enjoyed it greatly. Finally, an automotive show about something of substance. Its wonderful you're making an effort to bring the obscure designers and makes to the public's attention. As many talented, skilled designers and engineers contributed to the development of the automobile, they should to have time in the spotlight. They're an inspiration to those coming along now.