A GDYNETS® PUBLICATION Car Collector © 2012, G. DAVID YAROS. ALL ® RIGHTS RESERVED. Chronicles Volume V, Issue 2 Exploring: Car Collector Chronicles February 2012 Car Collecting Today High RPMs — B-J Classic Rides I can only speak for myself, Bill Stephens back on the crew. but the B-J AZ extravaganza, He at least had a sense of hu- Reports From the Field a.k..a. “Collector Car Auction,“ mor and added a bit of sponta- Oldsmobile (1897-2004) just ain’t what is used to be. It neity to the show. What I have seems as though I see more learned is, the best way to view Cadillac (1902- ) commercials than I do cars the program is in delayed crossing the block,. Referencing broadcast mode; while heavily Allanté (1987-1993) many of the cars going across exercising the FF button! the block as “collector” any- Corvair (1960-1969) thing is a bit of stretch. What is Lest one thinks all cars that collectible about a 2011 Ford cross the B-J auction block go Explorer, with or without an for prices somewhere in the stratosphere, here are the ten accompanying guitar? cars that sold for the least For me, a high moment was on amount of bucks: Day 1, when a 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint convertible outsold a 1968 Ultra Motorhome - $1,375 IN THIS ISSUE: 1965 Ford Mustang convertible 1971 Kelsen Sports Rider (both blue) by $6K! A low mo- Electric Motorcar - $1,540 ment was to see a ‘47 Cadillac Fleetwood Sedan covered in 1979 Datsun 280ZX coupe-$2.2K candy apple paint and outfitted High RPMs — B-J 1 1946 Chevrolet flatbed - $3.3K with a red crushed velour inte- 1961 Chevrolet Corvair wagon-$3.85K rior. Hardly representative of 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 2011 Ford 8N tractor replica - $4.4K the Standard of the World! 6.9 sedan - $3.85K (Yes, I know it is not a car. Nor was GDYNets 1 In fairness to the folk at B-J, Ford making 8N tractors in the 21st 1965 GMC Camper pickup - my dissatisfaction has more to Century!) On the Web $3.85K do with the Speed TV coverage 1977 Lincoln Continental sedan -$4.4K than with B-J. Speed TV needs 1974 Volkswagen Beetle -$3.85K The Zimmer 2 Quicksilver GDYNets® on the Web Reader Mail 4 SAVED 62: A website devoted A website de- Automotive Trivia 5 Find GDYNets on the web: DAVE’S DEN: to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dy- voted to a myriad of interests. CCC® -THE FORUM namic 88 convertible. The site Foremost is extensive informa- also has a lot of information on Humor on wHEELS 5 http://ccc.activeboard.com tion on the “Steel City” of Gary, Oldsmobiles and its founder, IN. There are also offerings on Car Collector Chronicles-scribd Ransom Eli Olds. steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Saved 62 - 1962 Olds web site Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 In the Year 6 THE GRAY LADY: This web- assault rifle, of course Oldsmo- 19 and 62 http://www.freewebs.com/ site features our 1955 Cadillac bile, and the tragic story of the jeandaveyaros Coupé de Ville and Caddy in- (Ads/Events) murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. The Gray Lady - 1955 Cadillac formation. CCC® Forum Coupé de Ville web site George Yaros. EMail: [email protected] Car Collector Chronicles Page 2 The Zimmer Quicksilver Thanks goes out to Hemmings Daily® for the lead on this ride. That is where I first learned of it. To me, the car appears to bear DNA from a lot of marques. I see a Mercury Cougar, a Buick Riviera, a Lincoln Towne Car and the targa-topped rear window line of the 1969-1975 mid-engine VW- Porsche 914. It is none of those. It is a Zimmer Quicksilver. To further con- “To me, the car fuse matters, the car is build on a Pontiac Fiero chassis. appears to The Zimmer Co. began in the 50’s, making manufactured homes. bear DNA from Twenty years later It branched out into RV’s, yachts and van conver- a lot of sions. In 1978 Paul Zimmer purchased an Excalibur to drive around just for fun. Feeling the quality and design of the Excalibur was somewhat marques. I see lacking, Zimmer decided he could do better. Thus was born the Zimmer a Mercury Motor Car Division of Zimmer Manufacturing. Cougar, a He built his version, and people bought them. Even though 176 cars Buick Riviera, or more per year would roll of his assembly line in Pompano Beach, FL, the existence of back orders attested to his success. In all, about 1,500 a Lincoln some Zimmer Excalibur-type cars, actually dubbed the Golden Spirit, Towne Car and were produced between 1978 and 1988. In ‘88 the company went bank- rupt. It was ultimately purchased by Art Zimmer, no relation. One may the targa- still buy a new Golden Spirit today. They are built strictly on an “on or- topped rear der” basis, in Syracuse, NY. The cost? A mere $175,900! window line of The Quicksilver the 1969-1975 model did not make its appearance until 914 mid-engine 1985. Production VW- Porsche.” total for this model is all of 170. Today, no Quicksilver parts are available for re- pair purposes. As mentioned, the body sits on a Pontiac Fiero frame. To house the body the frame was modified by adding one foot extensions fore and aft. The body design is the work of GM stylist Don Johnson, whose signature appears on the doorsill plate, a la GM/ Fisher Body fashion. The car carried a MSRP of $51,950. Car Collector Chronicles Page 3 Here are the specs for the Quicksilver: Top speed: 121 mph (193 km/h) 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h): 9.7 sec Engine type: V6 Displacement: 173 ci (2,834 cc) Transmission: 3-speed auto Max power: 140 bhp (104 kW) @ 5,200 rpm Max torque: 170 lb ft (230 Nm) @ 3,600 rpm Weight: 2,920 lb (1,327 kg) Economy: 24 mpg (8.50 km/I) Here is what the NADA Blue Book has to say: 1985-86 Quicksilver 2- DR Coupe 8,300 11,800 15,900 1987-88 Quicksilver 2- DR Coupe 9,000 12,650 17,200 Is it a sheep in wolf’s clothing? http://www.zimmermotorcars.com/ Car Collector Chronicles Page 4;; Reader Mail Last month I indicated I would be taking a look at reader mail. Yes, now and then I do get a communication that is collector car related. Here is some of what has landed in my email box from readers and web site visitors: ______________________________________________ Hello - Having some time to sit down and enjoy the Christmas season I came across your Aug. 2011 newsletter ref. us weird Canadians and their cars. Enjoyed it! [Ed.—Hey, I did not refer to “youse guys” as weird. Different, yes. You’re the ones who have currency known as a looney, not us! I find the differ- ences (sometimes subtle, sometimes not) to be of interest.] YOUR RIGHT – THAT WAS THE ‘LABEL’ I USED, WE LIKE WEIRD / DIFFERENT / LOONEY. I’M NOT SURE I’M THE ‘FRONTENAC’ GURU THAT YOU REFER TO IN YOUR NEWSLETTER – BUT I AM A YOUNG GUY WITH AN INTEREST IN OLD CARS – IN WHICH I’M NOT SURE THE NEXT GEN- ERATION HAS THE SAME VIEWPOINT? I am trying to do a few repairs on my 1962 Olds 88 Dynamic. Specifically, I need a diagram for the vac- uum hoses. Can you help? Hi Dave.... I wanted to say hello, and hope all is well.... The Hwy. 27 Tour is going great, about 600 regis- tered this year, keeps getting bigger every year.... Mark it down, August 21-26-2012, get in the car, come join us again… Take care Dave, stay in touch.... http://www.old27tour.com/ I am an "old school" letterman and pinstriper. I learned of your newsletter, Car Collector Chronicles, from Captain Bob with the Hotrod Radio Show. Keep up the great work on your newsletter! I really enjoyed it and passed along the word to many of my fellow car nuts. Just wondering if you needed any material for your news letter? [Ed.— Yes!] I found a 394 c.i. 4 bbl carb and intake manifold here in Tauranga, New Zealand. I have sand blasted and painted it (no, not the correct colour), Chevy orange. It came out great. No one here will worry about the colour difference. As I can not get the correct paint shipped here I decided that I would got with Chevy Orange. At least it is a GM colour. I had the carb rebuilt here by a Malasian bourn chap that really knows his stuff. He was able to rebuild as well as acid bathe and electro plate all parts. I have the correct air cleaner which I am having chrome plated at the moment. I have the correct decals sent over from Fusick's in USA. I was surfing on the internet and found your Cadillac website with information on the subject (repair of Se- ries III Bendix Hydrovac). I have three units to refurbish and repair kits for this hydrovac seem to be very rare. Can you help me? I need at least 3 repair kits for the hydrovac. I’m restoring a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood (body 6019X). It come from the factory with an air conditioner with roof ducts. I have these ducts missing. I can't find on the web any photo or mention of these ducts.