unclescott58

Looks good. Scott

By the way, do you have a model of a Brazilian Maverick GT? I'd love to see that too. Scott

Love your work Turio. But you already know that. Still it's fun to see your models, always. Scott

Karrman Ghias are still cool. One of these days I've got to get my Tamiya '66 Ghia built. Scott

I still miss their cataloges. Especially their Christmas Wish Books. I think one of Sears' biggest mistakes was getting out the catalog business. In this day of buying on line from home, a real paper catalog would be helpful at times. This was a strong point for Sears in the past. Even though I grew up as a kid within 5 miles of Sears store, we still ordered a lot of things through their catalog back in the day. Then either picked up what we ordered at the store or had it delivered. All the tools on my dad's work bench in the garage were Craftsman. All of the appliances in the rest of our house were Kenmore. We were loyal Sears shoppers. And, you always knew if they didn't have it in the store, you could order it through their catalog and get it fairly quickly. 15 years ago, I bought a house only a mile and a half from that same Sears store we use to shop when I was kid. I've been that store maybe once or twice since, in those 15 years. For sure once, to help a friend with something he bought at that store. The mall this Sears was attached to has been torn down in the last 5 years, and a Walmart built in its place. I rarely shop that Walmart. But, I do shop it. There are two Target stores fairly close by I like better. There is grocery near the old Sears I still use. And a ton of fast food restaurants. And my bank near by. But, I never take the turn into the Sears parking lot anymore. Kind of sad. Scott

Very cool. Scott

As noted, I was getting together last night with my buddy whom I went to the Olds nationals with in 1997. We went to a very nice, every other Saturday, car show in Hasting, MN. We got talking about the Oldsmobile sedan deliveries we saw at the Olds nationals in '97 and the Old Cars Weekly article linked to above. As we talked, there were few points from the article that made no sense. The big one, why would Oldsmobile custom build 7 sedan delivery bodies for working vehicles, not show vehicles, then the GM A body, Chevrolet sedan delivery shared with Pontiac would fit just fine on the Olds 76 and 88 chassis? It doesn't make practical or financial sense to build custom bodies for this purpose. Second is there was a lot of incorrect information in that article. For example, the wheelbase difference between the Chevy and Olds making it impossible to use the Chevy sedan delivery body. Chevrolet and Pontiac had different wheelbases. 115" for the Chevy. 120" for the Pontiac. They shared the same sedan delivery bodies. The difference is in cowl forward. Pontiac has a longer chassis and front clip. But, shares all it's bodies, other than rear fender and trim, from the cowl back with Chevrolet and so did the Oldsmobile 76 and 88 models. The small A body Oldsmobiles rode on a 119-1/2" wheelbase. Do a Google search for 1950 Oldsmobile sedan delivery. These cars are talked about on other boards. The conclusion from other sources is there seems to be 3 presently known 1950 Olds sedan deliveries. One a model 76 with the Olds six cylinder engine and a split windshield. Most seem to think they were not done by Oldsmobile themselves. On one board, someone claimed there was an article in a magazine several years ago talking about how to convert a Chevy sedan delivery into an Oldsmobile. Also I knew Helen Jones Early who headed the Oldsmobile archives until she died a little over 10 years ago. Something said in the Old Cars Weekly article made me think there was something about these vehicles in the book she coauthored with James Walkinshaw on Olds history, "Setting the Pace, Oldsmobile's First 100 Years." I have autographed copy #16, by the way. There is no mention of 1950 Olds sedan deliveries being built or use by Oldsmobile in that book. Or any other Oldsmobile book in my collection. My conclusion? I'm not sure one way or another about factory built 1950 Oldsmobile sedan deliveries. I know I saw a couple at the 100th Anniversary celebration in Lansing, back in 1997. They were not displayed as "official" Olds vehicles at the show. This doesn't mean the story in the Old Cars Weekly is wrong. But, the more I looked in to it, the more doubts I have. I wish Helen Jones Early was still alive. She would have known for sure. Scott

Actually I got nothing today (so far) or yesterday. But, I walked into my first Hobby Lobby store yesterday afternoon. And no I did not burst into flames or get struck by lightning. Nobody accosted me with religious propaganda. I heard no religious background music either. I did not notice any religious artifacts for sale, until a friend pointed out we had just gone by an end cap with some crosses. Up to that pointed I did see anything religiously orientated. I did find a fairly good selection of model kits. And some die cast cars. Though everything I was interested in on their shelves, I already have. I was surprised by the fair amount of other automobile related things they had. Things like metal signs, reproduction old oil cans, and other things like that. A lot of car (and non car) stuff for decorating your garage or "man cave". Besides model kits, they had a good selection of fun old fashion type toys. Things like drinking birds. Rubber band powered balsa airplanes. Baking soda powered rockets, submarines, and volcanos. Fun, simple stuff like that. I thought their prices were fair. Not great. But not bad either. I did sign up to get email from them for their coupons. Over all I liked the place. I was impressed. I'm not an overly religious person. But, I respected the sign on their door giving their hours, and stating they are closed on Sundays so their employees can spend their day in worship and with their families. In this consumer driven world I kind of find it refreshing to find a place were the mighty buck does not always come first. I will be going back there to shop more in the future. And so will my buddy who went with me. Scott

Okay. Doing some more checking on line. Reading several Jaguar forums on the subject. It sounds like my guess is correct. 1967 Jaguar XKE, Series 1 cars built before January of 1967 have covered headlamps. Those built from January 1967 on, have the open "sugar scoop" headlights. The so called Series 1.5s built later in '67 are considered 1968 models with carburetor changes to meet US emissions. Somewhere around that time, there were also changes made to dashboard. To know if your '67 XKE has covered or open headlamps you need to look at your VIN plate and see when it was built. Scott

I got to tell you I'm confused on this one. I'm pretty sure that cars built for US consumption, starting on January 1, 1967, were required by law to not have covered headlights. (Or knock off spinners with blades.) I did a Google search on 1967 Jaguar XKEs. Most photos show the cars with covers. Some without. And Wikipedia agrees with you, Lee. Other sources I have are vague on the matter, but seen to point to '68 being the first year without covers or spinner blades. All other manufactures complied with these rules for 1967. Why not Jaguar? The only thing I can think of, is all 1967 Jaguar XKEs sold in the United States were built before January 1, 1967. Those built after were considered '68s. Things like that were known to be done. By the way, the only other vehicle that I know of that used covered headlights in 1967, is the last of the first generation Volkswagen Transporters. The Beetle made the switch. But, the old "hippie bus" did not. So I just don't know. Why were these two vehicles, the XKE and the Transporter exempt of this regulation? I need to do more research. I also find it interesting that Jaguar did not list any sedans for sale in the US as 1968 models. The last US spec Jag 340s and 420 were '67s. The first XJ sedans on this side of the pond were considered '69s. I'm sure Jaguar didn't go a whole year not building sedans. Scott

Looks like nothing overly rare. But a nice haul non the less. Scott

Does any new car of the same size weight less than its equivalent model from the 60's or 70's? Scott

Look forward to see the model. Sorry to hear about your dad. Scott

Again, its the Feds that stoped new cars from having headlamps covered starting sometime during the '67 model run. Spiners on wheels also had to go. (I think the Feds got scared by those after watching Goldfinger. So the lack of spinners is Bond's fault. ) Scott

I'd love to see updates on this kit. It looked great the last time Chris posted photos. Scott

I forgot to ask. What will the build options be for this kit? Will I be able to build a show room stock 1965 Cyclone from this kit? From what info I've seen in the past, I'm guessing this be the case. But, Dave can you confirm this? Scott

Thank for the photos Ian. It looks good to me. Even the grille. Though it's not 100% correct. I like it. Scott

Very nice Sean. By the way, what is on the passenger's seat? Scott

I do not. Is it a white car photographed during a snowstorm? Because I can't see it. Scott

Federal law, starting in 1967 require the deletion of headlamp covers on all new cars for that model year. Big Chrysler New Yorkers and Imperials lost their headlamp covers for 1967. So did Volkswagen Beatles. Scott

Just finished reading the article on the Olds sedan delivery. Very interesting. E-mailed a link to my buddy whom I'm seeing tonight. Something new to discuss. Again Chris, thanks for info. Scott

Never mind the bit about confirming the info, I saw the link after I posted the message above. Cool. Scott

Interesting. This I did not know. From what I remember, the ones we saw were not all the same year. But, now you got me courious. The buddy whom I went to that show with and I are going to a local car show tonight. I'm going to have to bring that up. See what he remembers, and may know about the 7 factory built units. Not doubting what you've stated here, but do you know where I can confirm this information? And thanks for sharing this. I'm always interested in learning new things. Scott

Beautiful '59 Tulio. Almost as nice as one of your models. I also notice some interesting non US cars in the background. Any photos of those or the other Galaxie next to the '59 Scott

Why does today's Challenger weight more than the ones in the 70's? Do a crash test with either, you'll find out really quickly. The passenger compartment on a new car requires a lot of reinforcement that the earlier cars did not require. Notice how thick windshield pillars are on new cars. The present Camaros and Mustangs are fairly close to the size they were in the 60's. But, with the safety packaging, they are not as roomy as the 60's versions. Plus the present Challenger is a bigger car than the original. Heavier? Yes. But, a lot safer too. Scott