I managed to come along just as North Tonawanda’s Bill Winch was about to pull out of this driveway in my Tonawanda neighborhood, and convinced him to pose his 1978 Volkswagen for a quick couple of photos. As you can see, this one’s wearing a pair of fender skirts, rarely seen (at least by me) on old VWs. Asked where he happened to find them, he answered — and I should have guess
If you were in the market for an American compact 47 years ago, there’s a good chance you ended up with one of these: a 1970 Chevrolet Nova — Chevy sold over a quarter-million of them. This was the third year for the second-generation Nova, which began life in 1962 as the Chevy II, with the Nova nameplate being its top-of-the-line offering. Those first cars were offered in a full line-
KEN-TON TEAM REPRESENTS WNY AT NATIONAL AUTO TECH COMPETITION… Finish eighth in the country by Jim Corbran, Automotive Columnist Two seniors in the automotive technology program at the Kenton Career & Tech Center traveled to New York City last month to take part in the National Automotive Technology Competition, which is held annually in conjunction with the New York International Aut
Now here’s a cruisin’ car — a 1969 Buick LeSabre. Built long before General Motors downsizing program of 1977, the LeSabre (and stablemates Wildcat and Electra 225) were products of the longer, lower, wider school of car building. Which made for some great boulevard cruisers, even if they did have problems fitting into some American garages. As long as they still fit in some, The
This 1988 Ford Mustang LX is from the third generation of the original pony car, which began with the 1979 models (successors to the Pinto-based Mustang II of 1974-78), and ended with the 1983 cars. In 1988 there were still three body styles to choose from, officially called 2-door sedan, convertible, and hatchback. The Mustangs of this era, IMO, looked best in the sedan and rag-top models —
Saw this 1988 Toyota Supra over the weekend while bicycling around Tonawanda, probably the first one I’ve ever seen with a trailer hitch! When the Supra was introduced in 1978, it was pretty much a Celica, stretched to accommodate an inline six-cylinder engine (Celicas were all fours). In fact, they were sold as the Celica Supra until mid-1986 when, after a total makeover, the Celica moniker
The rims on this 1973 Continental Mark IV look a lot like American Racing wheels, but the blank center cap leaves me wondering. One thing for sure, the tires are Vogues, and I think this is a great combination on this car. The ‘73s had the federally-mandated large front bumper, but still wore a relatively normal-sized one out back. On the dash of the Mark IV’s sumptuous interiors was a
You might not think so to look at it, but this 1957 Chrysler Windsor four-door sedan was the least expensive Chrysler model you could buy that year. Of course, this one’s been fancied-up a bit with two-tone paint, fender skirts, quad headlights, curb feelers (!), and other goodies, but its curb appeal puts many of today’s high-end sedans (which is was Chryslers were back then) to shame
If you found yourself looking for something a little different 39 or 40 years ago, a handful of world-famous design houses (Bill Blass, Cartier, Pucci, and Givenchy) lent their names (and, one would hope, their design skills) to a series of luxury cars which were based on one similar to this c1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V (top). As the V would indicate, this was the fifth-generation of the Mark
Yes, the tags say Arizona, but my GPS told me I was in the City of Tonawanda when I came across this 1966 Buick Skylarkthin-pillarcoupe last summer. If this one is V-6 powered, it’s rare indeed, as only 1,454 were so equipped. Even if it has the 300 cu. in. V-8, it’s still pretty rare, as fewer than 7,000 of those left the factory. Two-door hardtops were much more popular than these pi