A GDYNETS®

PUBLICATION
Car Collector
Chronicles
© 2011, G. DAVID
YAROS. ALL ®
RIGHTS RESERVED.

Volume IV, Issue 5 Car Collector Chronicles May 2011

Exploring:

 Car Collecting Today High RPMs

 Classic Rides It is not even the first day of purchased a 6’ runner that for-
March as I am putting together merly saw duty in an Oldsmo-
 Reports From the Field
the May issue of CCC®. My bile dealer showroom. It is red
 Oldsmobile (1897-2004) experience is that here in Wis- and has a 60’s era Olds crest in
consin, spring/summer seems to black on it. I shall place the
 Cadillac (1902- ) come more than late. I do not carpet runner on the ground,
know about you, but I am ready along the driver side of the car,
 Allanté (1987-1993) for warm weather? I want to when SAVED 62 is displayed on
fire up a machine and take a the show field.
 Corvair (1960-1969)
“top down” drive! I also know that Auntie Pearl
I have resolved that The Gray will earn her keep by racking up
Lady will log some miles this some miles this summer. That
year; whether it be to/from is because we have every intent
some shows, or out on the of taking her on our summer
open road. I did not spend all sojourn, wherever that may
that time last fall rebuilding the happen to be. Before that can
IN THIS ISSUE: carburetor to let her just sit in occur I do need to bleed the
the car barn and look pretty! braking system. It is one of the
critical maintenance items on
Among the Cadillac items I the Allanté. Nor is bleeding
acquired over the winter is a 3’ Allanté brakes as simple as on car barn, wake them from their
High RPMs 1 x 5’ flag featuring the crests winter slumber and fire ‘em up! Can
older rides. The Bosch braking
Cadillac has used over the system is fantastic, but it does you tell that I am suffering from
years, displayed on a field of require reqular attention to “cabin fever?”
blue. My plan is to mount it on
GDYNets 1 reliably function. Of course, my first task is to shovel
a pole and plant the pole next
On the Web Just talking about the rides away the pile of snow currently
to the car at car shows.
gets my blood flowing, and barring the car barn door! One day/
For our ’62 Olds, I recently makes me want to go out to the thing at a time, right?
Kiwi Oldsmobiles 2

GDYNets® on the Web

Automotive 3
Ancestry
Find GDYNets on the web: SAVED 62: A website devoted DAVE’S DEN: A website de-
to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dy- voted to a myriad of interests.
CCC® -THE FORUM namic 88 convertible. The site Foremost is extensive informa-
Coming Next 4
also has a lot of information on tion on the “Steel City” of Gary,
Issue http://ccc.activeboard.com
Oldsmobiles and its founder, IN. There are also offerings on
Car Collector Chronicles-scribd Ransom Eli Olds. steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary
Photos 5 Saved 62 - 1962 Olds web site Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14
THE GRAY LADY: This web-
http://www.freewebs.com/ assault rifle, of course Oldsmo-
site features our 1955 Cadillac
jeandaveyaros bile, and the tragic story of the
Coupé de Ville and Caddy in-
The Gray Lady - 1955 Cadillac murder of Gary, IN Police Lt.
formation.
CCC® Forum Coupé de Ville web site George Yaros.
EMail:
[email protected]
Car Collector Chronicles Page 2

KIWI OLDSMOBILES

Another New Zealand (Kiwi) acquaintance has purchased an Olds. It

is a ’62 98 Holiday Sports Sedan. By the time you read this the shipping
container should have arrived in NZ from Los Angeles. (The car was
driven to the port of California from Henderson, NV.) Of course, a May
date of arrival in NZ means it will be late fall there. Hopefully, there will
be time to sort her out and get her ready for the road before having to
take a winter nap.
For the unknowing, “road ready” does not have the same meaning in
“… I have yet NZ that it does here in the states. The NZ authorities are a little more
picayunish than we are when it comes to automobile safety; in particular
to actually see with respect to imported classic rides. My understanding is that such
a 1962 98 vehicles must be “officially deemed” roadworthy, or they are not able to
be titled/licensed.
model that did
not have a 4
bbl. carb.
Absent a build
sheet, I have
trouble
accepting this This is the ride that
is crossing the wide,
car came out blue Pacific to its
of the factory new home!
that way?”

The purchaser of this ride is more than familiar with Oldsmobile. This
is his second. The earlier car was a 1962 Dynamic 88 4-door sedan.
He has now gone from the bottom of the line of full-sized Oldsmobile of-
ferings for the 1962 model year, to the very top! I hope he does appreci-
ate the fact that this 98 is 6” longer than his former 88? Let’s keep our
fingers crossed that it fits in his garage!

The one aspect of this car that stands out to me is that, reportedly, it
sports a 2 bbl. carburetor. I need to get that verified by means of per-
sonal observation. That fact stands out to me as, with all my years of
involvement with Oldsmobile I have yet to actually see a 1962 98 model
that did not have a 4 bbl. carb. Absent a build sheet, I have trouble ac-
cepting this car came out of the factory that way?
Car Collector Chronicles Page 3

AUTOMOTIVE ANCESTRY

Yesterday I saw a car and said to myself, “Boy, one does not see too
many of them on the road anymore?” That sighting is the genesis for
this article. The vehicle in question was a PT Cruiser.

Wait one! I thought this pub was about collector cars? How do PT
Cruisers fit in that category? Read on.

Here are some cursory facts regarding the PT Cruiser:

Launched by Chrysler as a 5-door hatchback in late 1999 (for the 2000 model lineup).

Originally conceived as a Plymouth model. It received the Chrysler nameplate on in-

troduction in anticipation of the 2001 discontinuation of the Plymouth brand.

Designed by Bryan Nesbitt, who later also styled the Chevrolet HHR.

Chrysler specifically designed the PT Cruiser to fit the NHTSA criteria for a light truck,
in order to bring the average fuel efficiency of the company's light truck fleet into com-
pliance with CAFE standards. “Being able to
actually see/
Plants — Toluca Car Assembly, Mexico and Graz, Austria.
touch one
In some Austrian versions, one could actually get a Mercedes-Benz engine.
(Airflow) is an
On 9 Jul 2010 the PT Cruiser ended production. Worldwide production totaled 1.35
million units. experience

“PT” stands for ‘Personal Transport.’ few have had

today.”
At one point in its history, PT Cruisers were not able to be produced
quickly enough to meet consumer demand. This resulted in waiting lists
and dealers being able to sell them well above MSRP. Now, they are
not made. Will they become collectibles? Only time will tell. One does
have to wonder though, where are all those 1.35 million rides now?

So what is the collector car connection? It is that the PT Cruiser de-

sign was based on the Airflow. The Airflow was also a Chrysler Corp.
product. The Airflow was produced from 1934 through 1937. Not a lot
were sold, and not a lot survived. Being able to actually see/touch one
is an experience few have had today.

The reason the Airflow, badged as both a DeSoto and a Chrysler, did
not sell well was that it was way too advanced for its time. The Airflow
represented implementation of the “form follows function” concept. The
design of the car was dictated in the wind tunnel, with assistance from
Orville Wright. Until then (1934) not a lot of car manufacturers consid-
ered, let alone used, wind tunnels when conjuring up their creations.
Car Collector Chronicles Page 4;;

AUTOMOTIVE ANCESTRY—Cont’d.
More than interesting facts were learned through wind tunnel testing. Perhaps the
most peculiar was that the vehicles of the day were more aerodynamic when driven in
reverse! This was because they all had long snouts with
both upright radiators and windshields in front, and a
somewhat abruptly sloping tail in the rear. The lines of
the 1933 Oldsmobile (left) exemplify that fact.

The Airflow challenged the thinking of the time. The

engine was moved forward, placing it over the front
wheels. All the wheels were shrouded, by the fenders
in front, and by fender skirts in back. Both the hood and
windshield were canted back to reduce wind resistance.
The windshield also sloped to the sides of the car, further reducing drag.

The car had problems. Some resulted from such a drastic change in the production
process. The Airflow utilized what we now refer to as unibody construction. No other
manufacturer had attempted that in 1934. One serious problem was that at what was
then high speed (80 MPH), engines were prone to come free of their mounts!

However, the biggest problem with the Airflow was that the public simply was not buy-
ing. The design was simply too radical. It represented a radical break from the norm.
Total production over four years equaled less than 53,000. The price ranged from
$1,245 to $1,610, depending on the model.

The next page has pics for you. For more in-depth info, go to the Airflow Club web site
at http://www.airflowclub.com

Ok, I’ve had my say for the month. Now its your turn! I invite/encourage submission of
your comments, opinions and contributions, and ask that you help spread the word
about our pub. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should
be sent to CCC® at [email protected].

Now that you have finished reading this month’s issue of our pub, come start/join an
ongoing dialog with other CCC® readers and like-minded car collector folk on the CCC®
Forum. Stop by, check us out and share your views … .

_______________________________________
-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM!

COMING NEXT ISSUE:

 High RPMs
 I’ll Take One of Each!
 Kiwi Olds - Followup
Car Collector Chronicles Page 5;

The Airflow, from Chrysler Corporation

Airflow
and
PT Cruiser