Tag Archives: neoclassic

Gatsby Cabriolet Neoclassic Car

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First published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is considered by the American Literary Association to be among the 100 best American novels published during the last century; it is also F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous work. While the story line is a standard tale of unrequited love, it is Fitzgerald’s vivid, flowing descriptive imagery and rich character development that makes his work so timeless.

The novel’s setting of New York City during the “Roaring Twenties” calls to mind images of Art Deco skyscrapers and extreme opulence in fashion and design. This was also a high point for automotive design as Duesenberg, Bugatti, and Rolls-Royce offered ever more luxurious models.

This lavish elegance is what Gatsby Coachworks, Ltd. sought to recreate in the 1970s.

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Spartan II Neoclassic Car

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Based on the picture, you may be thinking “Oh boy, here comes another lame kit car!” But if you lump the Spartan II in with the Excalibur, Gazelle, Tiffany, Zimmer, or any other neo-classic automobile, you would have made a serious mistake.

You see, reproductions of old-timey cars are often built around cheap mass-market vehicles such as a Ford Pinto or a Volkswagen. While this arrangement makes a neoclassic car practical to own, it also places them at the low end of the performance spectrum.

The Spartan II is different. While its rounded headlamps and swooping front fenders may harken back to the early days of motoring, it’s a completely different story under the hood. That’s because the Spartan II is actually based on the Nissan 300ZX, a compact sports car from Japan! With its front-engine, rear drive layout and 2+2 seating configuration, the Spartan II is a bit sportier than you might expect.

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The Pinnacle of Excess: 1972 Stutz Blackhawk

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Following the carefree fifties and the rebellious sixties, the 1970s were a decade of uninhibited excess. This was the decade that brought us leisure suits, disco music, and brutalist architecture. For the most part, the 1970s are remembered as a dark age of design, and cars were no exception.

During this decade, cars got bigger and heavier, less fuel efficient, and in many cases uglier due to a combination of Federally-mandated 5mph impact bumpers and the prevailing styles of the times. There is perhaps no other automobile on earth that embodies the lavish excess, the indulgence, and the absurdity of the seventies quite like this 1972 Stutz Blackhawk. Continue reading →

Hell Hall

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For those of you that remember Mike’s post about North Phoenix’s resident puppy-skinner, and are still concerned, let me put your fears to rest. She lives so close to me that I can see her backyard from the second story of my house. For the record, my kids were bummed that she didn’t give out candy on Halloween.

Classic Motor Carriages Gazelle Kit Car

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Although I feel my automotive proficiency is fairly well-rounded, there are a couple gaps in my knowledge. I understand that nobody is perfect, so I try not to beat myself up over the fact that I can’t make myself get into anything European or Japanese made before the mid-eighties, I’m not up to date on current supercars (hypercars? what are they calling them now?), and street rods all just look like the same ZZ Top album cover to me.

I also have a bad habit of  calling everything that that looks really old but not American either an Excalibur or a “Cruella de Vil Car”, depending on whether I am talking to a car guy or not. So when I saw this old lady barreling down the 17, with a death grip on the steering wheel and, I’m imagining, a cartoonish twinkle of determination in her eyes, taking a folding card table somewhere, wearing a rain poncho underneath her jacket, on a very hot, very dry day in Phoenix, I just assumed that I had just seen an Excalibur. A Cruella de Vil car.

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Classic Tiffany Is Remarkably Un-Classy

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Are you a crazy old woman from England? Have you ever thought about making a coat out of dalmatian puppies? If so, we’ve got the perfect car for you!

What you are looking at is a Classic Tiffany, although it is often mistaken for an Excalibur or Clenet. This car began life as a seventh-gen Mercury Cougar and was transformed into this, um, interesting creation by Classic Motor Cars in Florida. It was not a kit car, but was coach built by CMC as a replica of a 1929 Mercedes-Benz SSK roadster. Continue reading →