Auto Doctors

29/12/2021

Chung Ju-Yung founded the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company in 1947. Hyundai Motor Company was later established in 1967. The company's first model, the Cortina, was released in cooperation with Ford Motor Company in 1968. When Hyundai wanted to develop their own car, they hired George Turnbull in February 1974, the former Managing Director of Austin Morris at British Leyland. He in turn hired five other top British car engineers. They were Kenneth Barnett body design, engineers John Simpson and Edward Chapman, John Crosthwaite ex-BRM as chassis engineer and Peter Slater as chief development engineer. In 1975, the Pony, the first Korean car, was released, with styling by Giorgio Giugiaro of ItalDesign and powertrain technology provided by Japan's Mitsubishi Motors. 

28/12/2021

During the early 1950s, the fastest stock car in the U.S. was the Hudson Hornet, the pride of the Hudson Motor Car Company. Drivers in Hudson Hornets took virtually every major NASCAR event, and the wins paid off in sales. That got the attention of the Big Three: Ford, Chrysler, and GM. They began supporting stock-car racers the way Hudson did, and soon began to win. In an effort to stay ahead, Hudson merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, which let Hudson replace the Hornet's old flat-six engine with the big Nash V-8, providing more power. The first Hudson Hornet with a Nash engine was offered on this day. But the new Hornet didn't handle as well, and the Big Three kept improving. After 1954 the Hudson Hornet's fortunes declined quickly.

27/12/2021

All the Cadillac V16 were finished to custom order, and the car was built in very small numbers; only 4076 cars were constructed in the eleven years the model was offered. The majority of these were built in the single year of 1930, before the Great Depression really took hold. This was the first V16 powered car to reach production status in the United States.

26/12/2021

25/12/2021

The Sportsman Convertible proved to be the only brand-new design for Ford in 1946, as all automakers largely resumed their pre-war models to quickly meet the overwhelming demand created by the conflict’s production moratorium.Poised atop Ford’s Super Deluxe series and minimally produced with a mere 2,274 examples, the Sportsman was adorned with a host of standard luxury amenities that served to further bolster its desirability. Accordingly, it was the first Ford to retail for more than $2,000 since the 1908 Model K. Largely acknowledged to be the finest of the Ford woodies, today the Sportsman is classified as a Certified Milestone Car by the Milestone Car Society, a benchmark of the most distinctive and desirable post-war automobiles.

24/12/2021

23/12/2021

Lambretta A had a top speed of 45 mph from a 123cc, fan-cooled engine. 9,000 of them were sold the first year. The tubular frame was made of 2 sections; the front end was made of pressed steel connected to the steering and front forks. It came with a tool box, gear indicator, foot pedal gears and an oil measuring jug integrated into the petrol tank cap. The 123cc engine was shaft driven and direct air cooled. The Model A also came with a 3-Speed Gear Box, the front forks consisted of 2 bushes only and there was no rear suspension. It came with drum brakes and 7 inch chrome wheel rims.

21/12/2021

The Porsche 912 Targa was turned over to the Baden-Wurttemberg state police during a small celebration at the factory. The 100,000th car, carrying appropriate engraving on a silver dash plaque, is one of the first Porsche safety cabriolet Targas delivered, a design particularly well suited to police use thanks to its basic concept. A later press release noted ”40 police cars, mainly 912 Targas and some six-cylinder Coupés were delivered in 1967 alone”. In the late 1960s, Japan employed four 912 Coupes as Police Cars, one for each of their north, south, east and west highways, where they were faster than anything else on the road in Japan at that time.

20/12/2021

The first thunderbird 2nd gen was completely designed by the styling team headed by George W. Walker and the first of the submarque to have four seats. It was offered in both hardtop and convertible body styles, although the latter was not introduced until June 1958, five months after the release of the hardtop. The new Thunderbird was considerably larger than the previous generation, with a longer 113.0 inches (2,870 mm) wheelbase to accommodate the new back seat. The increased size also increased the car's weight significantly by close to 1,000 pounds (454 kg). Along with a new, more rigid unibody construction was new styling, including dual headlights (for a total of four), more prominent tailfins, a bolder chrome grille, and a larger, though non-functional, hood scoop. Powering the Thunderbird was a new, 300 horsepower (220 kW) 352 cu in (5.8 L) FE V8, available with a 3-speed manual or automatic transmissions. In the part of model year 1958 that the car was available, sales were 37,892 units, outselling the previous model year 16,000 units. For 1959, the car received a new grille and a newly optional, 350 horsepower (260 kW) 430 cu in (7.0 L) MEL V8 for 1959, sales climbed even higher to 67,456. For 1960, the Thunderbird was given another new grille and other minor stylistic changes along with a newly optional manually operated sunroof for hardtop models. Dual-unit round taillights from 1958 to 1959 were changed to triple-units after the fashion of the Chevrolet Impala. Customers continued to approve of the car as it broke sales records yet again with 92,843 sold for 1960. Ford went ahead with a redesign for the Thunderbird to debut in 1961.

19/12/2021

The first 6,155 cars were built between 1964 and 1966 and powered by the 260; they were followed by just 534 examples of the Mk II, which used Ford's 289cu in (4727cc) V8 engine pushing out 200bhp; giving it a top speed rose to 125mph. Who knows how long Tiger production might have continued if Rootes Group, which produced the Sunbeam, had not come under the control of Chrysler in 1967. Selling a car powered by a competitor's engine was impossible, and no Mopar V-8 was judged suitable for the task. And so, the Tiger was retired.

18/12/2021

The Ford L-series (also named Ford Louisville or, for the 1990s aerodynamic models, Ford Aeromax) is a range of heavy-duty trucks that were assembled and marketed by Ford between 1970 and 1998. Ford had been producing their "Heavy Duty" trucks since 1948 and their "Super Duty" lineup since 1958 marketed by various GVW ratings. Truck weight classifications 1-8 were a new concept brought about by the DOT National Highway Administration. The first dedicated Class 8 truck produced by the company, the L-series range replaced the F-series "Super Duty" and N-series.

17/12/2021

At first the was priced at £561, with a heater extra, at £11 5s, while a factory fitted Ecko radio added a further £28 to the total. When the 105E Anglia was launched in 1959 the 100E became the Popular, a no-nonsense, low-budget machine intended to lure customers away from the sub-£500 Mini.