CarPort

For more than thirty years the Fosters have driven old cars, exclusively. At one time we’d buy well-kept 16 or 17-year-old vehicles. These days we like our creature comforts and a bit of luxury so the cars are some eight years old when they come to us, with about 100,000 miles. I’m fond of saying….
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The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday.” Reportedly it’s the time when eager pre-Christmas shoppers put merchants’ businesses into the black, or a least they hope so. In any case, Black Friday has become like Punxsutawney Phil, a harbinger of things to come. Excellent sales on this one day are considered a portent for….
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The name “Willys” conjures up thoughts of Jeeps and their many variations, not ordinary passenger cars. This is despite the fact that the Jeep’s ancestor, the Overland, was second only to Ford from 1912 to 1918, and that until World War II Willys trucks were relatively rare. The company’s Whippet was the third-best selling car….
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Many months ago, the CarPort explored the marvels and mysteries of Fluid Drive. That installment covered only through 1948, a turning point of sorts. In this episode we tell, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. Actually, changes for 1949 were fairly minor. A new M-6 transmission replaced the M-5 unit, but….
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Many American presidents have been identified with cars, either a certain type of car or somethings a particular car. Lyndon Johnson was fond of Lincoln Continental convertibles of the type current during his 1963-69 presidency. Many were the stories of LBJ driving hell-bent across his Texas ranch with the white-knuckled press corps trying to keep….
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Chances are you’ve decorated your home for Hallowe’en, even if with a simple jack-o-lantern. A few years ago someone sent me this picture of a Vermont home with a witch driving a Crosley. She and her bevy of goblins exemplify the spirits that abound on All Hallow’s Even. What that says about the Crosley I’m….
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You’ve probably noticed that automakers frequently boast about their latest technologies by putting little emblems on their cars. I don’t mean the scripts that denote series, trim level or both. I’m referring to those that advertise new features or options. They became especially prevalent as automatic transmissions became popular, particularly in the low-priced segment. Chevrolets….
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As surely as August brings Macungie, so does October offer up Hershey, traditionally the end of the northeastern car show season. Formally the Eastern Division National Fall Meet of the Antique Automobile Club of America, carfolk everywhere know it by its location: Hershey, as in chocolate and central Pennsylvania. This year’s event was blessed with….
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Outbid by former boss Billy Durant, Walter Chrysler was disappointed to lose out at the auction for the old Willys plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Perhaps more important was the prototype automobile sold with the plant, a six-cylinder car designed by engineers Fred Zeder, Owen Skelton and Carl Breer. Durant, however, was on a roll,….
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Last week I attended an intriguing media event. The folks at Consumer Reports hosted a confab on “The Future of the Car” at their automotive testing site in East Haddam, Connecticut. CR had invited manufacturers to bring their latest alternative fuel vehicles for show-and-tell, and also brought in some local privateers to show what enthusiasts….
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