Pfeil

John, you wrote something in 2014 here at AACA with the title of Crisis in the Vintage Chevrolet Club. I'll post it and can you please tell us what has happened since then. Thank you. Posted October 1, 2014 Hello Friends, As part of a coalition of past President's and Vice President's of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America (VCCA) I was asked to present some sad news for those who might not have heard. What we feel is a Crisis in the VCCA. After over a half century of operating under the mission of "restoration and preservation" a majority of the present Board of Directors of the club have decided to abandon the very same mission they took an oath to the membership to uphold. I would also like to ad many of these Board Members have been in the club for only a few years. We were the only Chevrolet Club was created for stock cars, and it has held reasonably close to that for more than half a century. Eight Board Members decided that the club now needs to recognize modified cars and change the identity of the club to suit their personal wants and needs, while failing to recognize that the existing 8,000 members joined for the originality aspect of the hobby. There are many Chevrolet clubs out there, some are even businesses that "pretend" to be a club. Some only cater to certain models, but they all cater to both modified and stock cars, we were unique we recognized all years and models of Chevrolet vehicles that were stock. Sure some modified cars have always shown up at our events. This has been true from the very beginning. They are normally "in the background" in some fashion -either as Display Only, or in the parking lot, or sometimes on the judging field where the judging process itself will exclude them with its results (as it was designed to do). It's not about "hating" modified cars, nor certainly not the owners of them - it is simply that modified cars are not what brings us together, really no different then AACA. We want to preserve history, or a reasonably close resemblance to history. What was it like to drive a car with skinny, bias ply tires, with mechanical brakes, sitting on itchy mohair, and 40 HP? You can't find out in a resto-mod with a chrome V8 and A/C. The VCCA has been the ONLY CLUB that is a home for the preservers of the historical Chevrolet. As has been said, there are hundreds of alternatives for the owners of "personalized" cars to find fellowship. But again, the VCCA is the ONLY place for those of us who love the correctly restored or preserved vehicle. Why would we throw away that unique identity? as I have heard from several other members: "I have a hot rod at home. I didn't join the VCCA for my hot rod - I joined for my correct, original car." After seeing the Hemming's headline a week or two ago "VCCA Welcomes Modified Chevrolets..." Myself and the other retired Executive Board Members were contacted by many members voicing their concerns, after contacting each other we decided to ban together and organize this fight for the restoration for the preservation of the VCCA. We have to push back, try to fight this opening of Pandora's Box. (I know, it's been slightly open for decades, but this is really taking off the lid). We're not trying to be negative towards folks with modified cars. We have a driver participation class for the somewhat modified vehicles, and almost anything can go on a VCCA Tour. But please, not on the cover of the G&D our monthly magazine. We are simply trying to draw a line, protect the integrity of the G&D, and establish once and for all that the VCCA is a club that is primarily about stick, original vehicles. Like it has always been. Our coalition has spanned twenty seven years of management of the club, and has a very good working knowledge of the by-laws. There is a provision that allows the membership to challenge and overturn an action by the Board, that is through a petition. Our first big push was to get the Petition sent out to all the VCCA Regions, This has been done, and now we have to make sure this gets in the hands of the members who are not in regions. If you are in the VCCA and like things the way they were then please click on the link below and that will take you to the VCCA Forum where you can find the petition. If you are not in the VCCA and know someone who is please let them know.We already have a couple hundred signatures before we truly even launched the effort, but we need many hundreds more to make this a reality. Hope to get a few hundred at Hershey, too. Many of our members will have the Petition at their spaces At this time space RNI 82-86 more location to come http://vcca.org/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/318838/Petition_to_remove_Modified's#Post318838 Thanks for your support - John Mahoney Past National Vice President Vintage Chevrolet Club of America

The first thing to be concerned with is change the above into something like this; if you want to accessorize the van do it the only way with VW accessories like this,

There are no real VW clubs anymore. Vintage Volkswagen club of America is just a shadow club, they do have chapters, but they are heavily into mods and do not reflect the mission statement.

Exactly what you say TerryB, and my own two bits. Rally and Blackwall's 1st. 2nd with redlines. Rally wheels suggest a car guy. When no special wheels were produced for cars of the 50's from car manufacturers the marketing/accessory development guys started producing wire wheel covers or like in 53 when Oldsmobile started producing tri-bar spinners. These cars suggested a youthful image and they were the rage of their time and by 58-59 everyone had them. Then in August 1959 Pontiac, with DeLoreans new patented eight lug wheel/drum the era of specialty wheels/mag wheels came of age. As with cars as well as wheels for cars, Pontiac's General manager (1956-Late-1961) once said "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but you can't sell an old man's car to a young man." If you put the wheel covers or the full wheel covers with any tire treatment, W/Wall with period correct width would be best suited, it seems to me you will have an old man's car. That old man could like his car and like it to be nice and shiny and well cared for because he by nature likes to take care of things but he's really not a car guy IMO. As my old friend who was once in charge of Pontiac advertising account (1959-1969) who said many times " the first things a young car guy does is want to personify his car" and what better way to start than to add some factory youthful wheels.

The thing I like about the Gen 3 Chevrolet engine and the Pontiac OHC sixes is that the bottom end is very strong with seven main bearings, plus the engines (except the 292) are oversquare. I like having a main bearing between each connecting rod for support. I also like Gear to gear instead of a timing chain in the case of the Chevrolet. I also like the Chevrolet intake manifold being part of the cylinder head, while not good or impossible for racing and a reputation for cracking, the head, if warmed up slowly will not crack and inside has a better distribution of intake runners than the 62-75 intake manifolds and better thermal efficiency for better emissions and low-end torque.

What I hear is " I didn't know Oldsmobile made a Nova" Always asked how fast it can go. One guy with a 79 Seville said to me, " you know that Oldsmobile has a Chevrolet engine", so I replied, "you know you know that Cadillac of yours has an Oldsmobile engine and a NOVA subframe."

It's the classic cautionary tale about the pitfalls of doing business in foreign countries that can be found in hundreds (if not thousands) of books about marketing: General Motors introduced their Chevrolet Nova model of automobile into a Spanish-speaking market, then scratched their heads in puzzlement when it sold poorly. GM executives were baffled until someone finally pointed out to them that "nova" translates as "doesn't go" in Spanish. The embarrassed automobile giant changed the model's name to the Caribe, and sales of the car took off. This anecdote is frequently used to illustrate the perils of failing to do adequate preparation and research before introducing a product into the international marketplace. It's a wicked irony, then, that the people who use this example are engaging in the very thing they're decrying, because a little preparation and research would have informed them that it isn't true. (The sources that repeat this little tale can't even agree on where the Nova supposedly sold poorly, variously listing locales such as Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America, or simply "Spanish-speaking countries.") This is another one of those tales that makes its point so well -- just like the fable about George Washington and the cherry tree -- that nobody wants to ruin it with a bunch of facts. Nonetheless, we're here to ruin it. The original Chevrolet Nova (initially the Chevy II) hit the U.S. market in 1962. (This car should not be confused with the smaller, front wheel drive vehicle which was produced in 1985 as a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota and also assigned the Nova name.) Between 1972 and 1978 the Chevrolet Nova was also sold in Mexico and several other Spanish-speaking countries, primarily Venezuela. Shortly afterwards the great "Nova" legend arose, a legend which a little linguistic analysis shows it to be improbable: First of all, the phrase "no va" (literally "doesn't go") and the word "nova" are distinct entities with different pronunciations in Spanish: the former is two words and is pronounced with the accent on the second word; the latter is one word with the accent on the first syllable. Assuming that Spanish speakers would naturally see the word "nova" as equivalent to the phrase "no va" and think "Hey, this car doesn't go!" is akin to assuming that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name Notable because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn't include a table. Although "no va" can be literally translated as "no go," it would be a curious locution for a speaker of Spanish to use in reference to a car. Just as an English speaker would describe a broken-down car by saying that it "doesn't run" rather than it "doesn't go," so a Spanish speaker would refer to a malfunctioning automobile by saying "no marcha" or "no funciona" or "no camina" rather than "no va." Pemex (the Mexican government-owned oil monopoly) has sold gasoline in Mexico under the name "Nova." If Mexicans were going to associate anything with the Chevrolet Nova based on its name, it would probably be this gasoline. In any case, if Mexicans had no compunctions about filling the tanks of their cars with a type of fuel whose brand name advertised that it "didn't go," why would they reject a similarly named automobile? This legend assumes that a handful of General Motors executives launched a car into a foreign market and remained in blissful ignorance about a possible adverse translation of its name. Even if nobody in Detroit knew enough rudimentary Spanish to notice the coincidence, the Nova could not have been brought to market in Mexico and/or South America without the involvement of numerous Spanish speakers engaged to translate user manuals, prepare advertising and promotional materials, communicate with the network of Chevrolet dealers in the target countries, etc. In fact, GM was aware of the translation and opted to retain the model name "Nova" in Spanish-speaking markets anyway, because they (correctly) felt the matter to be unimportant. The truth is that the Chevrolet Nova's name didn't significantly affect its sales: it sold well in both its primary Spanish-language markets, Mexico and Venezuela, and its Venezuelan sales figures actually surpassed GM's expectations. The whole "Nova = "doesn't go" tale was merely another in a long line of automotive jokes, like the ones about "Ford" being an acronym for "Fix or repair daily" or "Found on road dead" or "Fiat" being an acronym for "Fix it again, Tony!" These humorous inventions might adequately reflect the tellers' feelings about the worthiness of various types of automobiles, but we don't really expect that anyone ever refrained from buying a Ford because he actually believed they needed to be repaired on a daily basis. The one bit of supporting evidence offered to back up this legend is spurious as well. General Motors, we're told, finally wised up and changed the model's name of their automobile from Nova to Caribe, after which sales of the car "took off." The problem with this claim is that the Caribe sold in Mexico was manufactured by Volkswagen, not by General Motors. (The Caribe was the model's name used by VW in Mexico for the car more commonly known in the USA as the Volkswagen Golf.) The Nova's model name was never changed for the Spanish-speaking market. The Chevy Nova legend lives on in countless marketing textbooks, is repeated in numerous business seminars, and is a staple of newspaper and magazine columnists who need a pithy example of human folly. Perhaps someday this apocryphal tale will become what it should be: an illustration of how easily even "experts" can sometimes fall victim to the very same dangers they warn us about.

I know, I know. It will draw a crowd more than most though.

The June 2024 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine has the story of the OHC Pontiac six 1966-1969. This is the engine that GM should have used through to the end of the 70's instead of the Gen3 Chevrolet 250. Royal Pontiac and Knafel Pontiac along with 421 Catalinas, and 389 GTO's also fielded drag racing teams for the OHC six LeMans. Originally a 230cu. in. with 206HP the 68-69 versions were 250 cu. in. @ 230HP @ 6,500 RPM in the sprint versions. These cars ran (206HP) in the mid 14's at just over 90MPH. In a Motor Trend Magazine performance test a Royal Bobcat prepared ‘66 Tempest “Sprint” with 4-speed, ran a high 14-second quarter mile at 91 mph. In the fall of 1965 John DeLorean called Bill Knafel and asked him to help him convince the Hierarchy at General Motors that the new rubber and fiberglass timing belt developed for the new OHC 6, could stand up to heavy duty use. Mister Knafel ordered this 1966 LeMans convertible with the Sprint 6 and raced it at the NASCAR Winternationls and won its class. It also competed on NHRA J/S and frequently won its class.

All mileage checks at HWY speeds. What else is there in N. AZ. 1962 Pontiac Catalina. Non op. built for grand touring. Expect 15-18 MPG VP leaded racing fuel 100LL octane. 1963 Pontiac Catalina 389 12- 18 MPG 10% ethanol 87 Octane. 1964 113 VW Beetle deluxe 1200 40hp, 34 MPG 10% ethanol - 38MPG Ethanol free 87 octane. 1965 111 VW Beetle 1200"A", 1200 36hp, 38 MPG 10% ethanol - 42MPG Ethanol free 87 octane. 1969 Pontiac LeMans 7.58 L Grand Touring 15-18 MPG VP racing fuel leaded 100LL octane. 1976 Oldsmobile Omega brougham 4.1L, 24-26 MPG 10% ethanol 28-30MPG 87 Ethanol free. 2012 NISSAN Sentra SL, DOHC 2.0 4cyl, CVT, steady state level ground 3,000 elevation 70 MPH= 2100RPM and 42MPG, at 100MPH 37. MPG 10% ethanol 87 octane. 2019 NISSAN Frontier Crew Cab DOHC 4.1 VQ, 5sp automatic with 4 & 5 gear with lock up converter. 26-28MPG 10% ethanol 87 octane. It seems that all the cars that can run ethanol free fuel get 4mpg more mpg than 10% ethanol fuel. Think about that and the millions of cars in the U.S.A. using 10% ethanol and how much fuel we could save if all fuel were ethanol free. And the powers above us want 15%, what stupidity.

I don't know did they?

You still haven't given an example.

Your 1952 Cadillac came with under hood insulation. Insulation does just what it says, it insulates engine heat from the hood surface. without it you could have some paint issues.

Quite right they have detachable cylinder barrels with head from the engine block. Like many aircraft engines especially radials.

Example please!