Author Archives: Trevor Freeman

About Trevor Freeman

Trevor is a real gearhead who loves everything from classic American muscle cars to high-performance exotics. When he's not reading about cars or taking photos at a car show, he's probably out cruising around. He is currently working on restoring a 1980 Chevrolet Monza hatchback.

1969 Mustang Mach 1 ‘Patriarc’ by Ringbrothers Debuts at SEMA 2022

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One of my favorite custom car shops is the Wisconsin-based duo of Mike and Jim Ring, and their shop Ringbrothers.

The brothers made their debut at the 2005 SEMA Show, and in 2006 captured the Mothers’ Polish award for their customized 1967 Mustang nicknamed “Reactor.” In 2014 they won a Chevrolet Best of Show award for their 1966 Chevelle “Recoil.”

The shop builds one to two cars per year, which are highly customized with one-off parts. What sets them apart from other builders is their attention to detail, and their impressive ability to manufacture custom parts using everything from carbon fiber to 3D printing to CNC machining.

Since 2005, their custom car shop has expanded as a parts supplier of high quality hood hinges, door handles, hinges, and other hardware.After sitting out the 2020 and 2021 SEMA shows, the Ringbrothers returned to SEMA 2022 in a big way, with four full custom builds on display throughout the show.

One project that caught my eye was the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 “Patriarc” which was on display at the Centerforce booth. The car starts with the 580-horsepower 5.2L V8 “Aluminator” crate engine from Ford Performance, coupled to a Bowler Tremec T-56 Magnum six-speed manual gearbox and a Strange Engineering 9-inch rear end.

The car rides on a set of Ringbrothers signature G-Code wheels that were developed with HRE for the G-Code Camaro in 2016. The wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. Handling is vastly improved thanks to an independent front and rear suspension using Roadster Shop Fast Track components with Penske Racing RS Edition coilovers. A Baer disc brake system with six-pison calipers and massive 14-inch rotors provides serious braking force.

Build time on the Patriarc Mustang is over 5,000 man hours. The body was widened two inches in every direction, and the rear quarter panels have been lowered. This required fabricating a new floor pan and transmission tunnel from sheet metal. While they were in there, they added a roll cage, too.The list of carbon fiber parts includes the air scoops, hood, and rear diffuser.

It is impressive that after building more than a dozen different one-off Mustangs, the Ringbrothers continue to push the boundaries of the resto-mod world with their creations. The Patriarc Mustang Mach 1 is a remarkable car from every angle.

2008 Cadillac XLR Custom Godfather Roadster

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Palazzi Motorcars in Kingsville, Ontario (Canada) is a custom car shop headed by Tony Palazzi. Over the years, Palazzi has given the “Godfather” treatment to an eclectic mix of late-model automobiles, transforming them to look like a classic car.

Rather than mass-producing a neoclassic style automobile such as Excalibur, Zimmer, and other manufacturers, all of Palazzi’s cars are hand-built one-offs. They have done a Lexus SC430 coupe, a 10th-generation Ford Thunderbird, and a Lincoln Towncar in the past.

One of Palazzi’s most unusual creations is the Godfather Roadster, which began as a 2008 Cadillac XLR roadster and was highly customized to resemble a classic automobile.

The XLR roadster was a one-generation car produced by General Motors between 2004-2009 as a retractable hardtop 2-door sports/luxury car. It was offered as a base model with the 4.6L Northstar V8 producing 320 hp, and as a V-model with a supercharger making 443 hp.

The high cost of the car didn’t make sense to many buyers, who preferred the Corvette and its smaller price tag. Production of the Cadillac XLR ended in 2009 with a little more than 15,000 vehicles produced.

The XLR has distinct, angular body lines with hard edges from the grille to the taillights. While it is an interesting car, it is in my opinion perhaps the worst platform to start with for trying to make a gracious and curving neoclassic automobile.

The wide fender flares, white wall tires, and combination of curved bodywork with the angular roofline really looks bizarre. Confusingly, the car wears the hood ornament from an Excalibur, which is a competing brand of neoclassic automobile.

This car was offered at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale 2023 no-reserve collector car auction. The seller description says that the “Palazzi package cost $79,000” on top of the purchase price of the car. It says the car was built with a retro look that resembles a Mercedes 540K from the late 1930s. The car shows just 10,866 miles on the odometer.

I was surprised to see this car sell for $44,000 at auction! What are your thoughts on the custom “Godfather Roadster?”

1979 Puma GTE at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023

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The 1970s saw a surge of interest in fiberglass kit cars built on a Volkswagen chassis. Cars such as the Bradley GT and Fiberfab were popular at the time.

The Puma GT is based on the chassis of a Volkswagen Brasilia chassis. The Brasilia was a 3-door economy hatchback, but here it has been reimagined as a 2-door, rear engine sports car.

This car is titled as a 1979 Puma GTE and features a 1600cc engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. The car has a leather interior, air conditioning, power windows, alarm system, and touchscreen audio system.

The Puma 1500 GT was first revealed at the 1970 Ibero-American Exhibition in Seville, Spain. Later that same year, the engine capacity increased to 1600cc and the car evolved to the 1600GTE.

The Puma GTE, the most famous sports car made in Brazil at the time, was produced with a fiberglass body and Volkswagen boxer engine from 1970 through 1980. This model was based on the Puma GT; the letter “E” added to the nomenclature means “export” or “Europe” according to other sources. This was the more successful Puma model with a higher-volume production.

I see a little bit of Porsche, Datsun, and other cars in the design and styling of the car.

This car sold for $23,650 at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023 collector car auction. What do you think about the Puma GTE?

Honda Goldwing Turbo Phantom Reverse Trike

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Recently I attended the Hot Wheels Legends Car Show in Gilbert, Arizona on September 10, 2022. There were many cool vehicles to admire, but one that really stood out to me was this amazing reverse trike.

A reverse trike is a 3-wheeled vehicle with two wheels up front and one at the back. Though it has been around for a while, the idea really took off in 2015 with the introduction of the popular Polaris Slingshot.

This trike is the 80s version of the Slingshot. It’s based on a Honda Goldwing motorcycle, but converted to a 3-wheeler. Two passengers sit inside of a fully enclosed cockpit, which has a clamshell or canopy door that opens up like a fighter jet to climb inside.

The interior looks cramped, with two bucket seats wedged side to side. A radio is mounted to the overhead console, due to lack of space for it anywhere else. When the canopy opens, the dashboard and steering wheel tilt up with it. I spy some sort of digital gauge cluster sitting on top of the dashboard.

On the exterior, the fiberglass body shell has a vaguely Corvette-shaped front end with pop-up headlights. Two side mirrors protrude from the otherwise sleek looking body, which has a pointed front beak that looks like the rear of a 1963 Corvette.

A few websites were helpful in telling the history of this unique vehicle.

The vehicle was originally designed by Ron Will, a designer at General Motors, and his brother Lee. It was powered by a Honda Goldwing motorcycle which was attached to a tube chassis. The front suspension was sourced from a Volkswagen and the steering from an MG.

The vehicle debuted at the 1978 LA Auto Show, with a total of 3 units being built. However, the Turbo Phantom never went into production.

Today, the vehicle belongs to Ron Will, who lives in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Ron later left General Motors and went to work for Subaru, where helped design the original Subaru Outback.

The Turbo Phantom is a seriously cool, very 80s vehicle and I am grateful to the owner for bringing it out to the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. It was very cool to see this vehicle in person!

 

2020 Chevrolet Corvair Custom by NewRide

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The Chevrolet Corvair was produced by General Motors from 1960-1969. Though it featured many innovations that were ahead of its time, the car was done in by a wave of accusations that it was unsafe to drive.

In the many decades since, General Motors has gone on to re-introduce discontinued names such as the Camaro and the Malibu, but they have not taken another look at the Corvair. Well, someone else decided to do it for them!

At the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, I happened upon this “2020 Corvair Custom” by NewRide, a French-based company. The car pairs a 1966 Corvair coupe body with a 2018 Camaro SS chassis. Finished in Audi non-metallic gray, the car has a very unique look.

The car borrows its headlights from a Dodge Demon, taillights from the Ferrari 812 Superfast, and side mirrors come from a 2020 VW Polo. Pretty much everything else is custom, from the bumpers to the rear glass to the headlight and taillight surrounds.
The car was completed by Romain Roulleau of the Burgundy region of France. He estimates that more than 5,600 man hours of labor went into creating this one-of-a-kind custom car.

Under the hood is GM’s standard 6.2L V8 LT1 engine producing 455 horsepower. It rumbles via a custom stainless steel exhaust. A set of Vossen Evo-1R wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, concealing the EBC Disc Brakes. The whole car rides comfortably on AirLift Performance bags and can be slammed to the ground at the touch of a button.

For more on this build including an album of build pictures, please visit https://www.newride.fr/ or follow @corvair2020newride on Instagram.

Supercars Capture Top Auction Sales at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023

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The 2023 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction featured a record 1,907 vehicles on the docket. The bread and butter of the auction has always been American muscle cars from the 1950s-1970s, and this year was no exception.

Here are some numbers showing a partial analysis of Makes/Models in the 2023 auction:

154 Chevrolet Corvette
113 Chevrolet Camaro
102 Ford Mustang
64 Pontiac
58 Chevrolet Chevelle
58 Mercedes-Benz
46 Plymouth
45 Jeep
45 Cadillac
43 Porsche
36 GMC
29 Volkswagen
24 Buick
23 Oldsmobile
21 Ford Thunderbird
21 Bentley
20 Chevrolet Nova
18 BMW
16 Mercury
15 Lincoln
13 Jaguar
12 Ferrari
10 Maserati
9 Rolls-Royce
8 Lamborghini
7 Nissan
4 AMC
3 Volvo

As you can see, American cars such as Ford, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Jeep, and others dominate the auction catalog by a wide margin. There were only a handful of exotic cars with 12 Ferraris and 8 Lamborghinis, which says a lot about the customer base that both sells and bids at this auction. These are blue-jean wearing, bona-fide muscle car guys.

In 2018, 7 of the top 10 sellers were mid-century cars with only two late-model supercars and one boat in the top 10. This year was a different story, with 7 of the top 10 most expensive sales going to late-model supercars.

This 1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione in Nardo Grey was the top seller at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale 2023 collector car auction, with a final sale price of $2.75 million.

1. 1989 Ferrari F40 (Lot #1405.1) – $2,750,000
2. 2005 Porsche Carrera GT (Lot #1405) – $1,595,000
3. 2019 Ford GT Lightweight Carbon Series (Lot #1419) – $1,320,000
4. 2020 Ford GT Carbon Series (Lot #1390) – $1,320,000
5. 1966 Shelby Group II Mustang – Built for Ken Miles (Lot #1396) – $770,000
6. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Convertible (Lot #1367) – $770,000
7. 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (Lot #1353) – $770,000
8. 2012 Lexus LFA (Lot #1382) – $748,000
9. 2021 Ferrari SF90 (Lot #1391) – $742,500
10. 2019 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ (Lot #1407) – $671,000

It was a similar situation in 2019 and 2020, with supercars dominating the Top 10 rankings. 2021 had an even split between vintage cars and late-model cars.

Is this signaling a change in the collector car market? I have to wonder if the sixties Camaros and Shelbys peaked in value few years ago before the pandemic, and if they will ever see those numbers again.

On the other hand, those vintage cars may be holding steady in their value. It could be the case that supercars are dominating the block just because there have been more of them offered for sale in recent years. A supercar is a highly liquid asset, one that can quickly be bought or sold relative to other investments.

Where do you think the collector car market is headed? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.