1937 Lincoln LeBaron Series K

I own a convertible that's one of 14, but nobody has ever heard of it and even fewer care. This is the real stuff and it's one of 12. A K series Lincoln (read V-12 engine) with a Lebaron convertible body, that's a four door convertible from the 30's folks. All that and it scored 100 points, not once, but twice at the Classic Car Club of America show as a senior car. Now that's impressive, but so is the car.

So, now do you want to hear about my one of 14? Didn't think so.

VINTAGE CAR RALLY IN BRANSON

June 11 through 15 will be the first "Hemmings-Branson Vintage Car Rally" and with all the teams already signed up it's going to be exciting. With over $60,000 in prize money plus a lot of suprises and a spectacular presentation. This is a time, speed, distance rally run on a "Hub" format where the cars will leave Branson every morning and return every night so they can stay in the same cozy room at the Hilton all week. A great event for cars made in 1948 or earlier and all the while raising money for Autism. If you'd like more information go to Hemmings.com or to Vintage Car Rally Association.com.

1986 Ferrari 328 GTS

You don't have to buy a Hawaiian shirt, wear shorts and grow a mustache to own a 3 series Ferrari, but it wouldn't hurt. What was that guys' name that actually owned Magnum's cars?

Anyway, 3.2 liters, 8 cylinder, 5 speed and the most recognizable Ferrari ever built, and with fuel injection, probably one of the easiest to maintain. This one has all the books, service records, tool pouch and tools and the original jack too. Beautifully detailed, well maintained and for some reason it has a radar detector. It's number 568 in the next Branson Auction at Celebration City April 20 & 21. Hope to see you there!

1962 Chrysler Imperial Crown Convertible

There were a lot of stunning and extravagant designs from the late 50's and early 60's but none quite as flamboyant as the Imperial Crown Convertible. The individual pod headlights, gun sight rear signal lights, the Imperial Crown emblems, all of them shouting "look at me". When new car introductions were still important I remember the anticipation of seeing the car in person. 45 years later, it's still spectacular.
This particular car (#570 in the auction) has been the recipient of some tender and loving care by someone else who obviously has fond memories of that bygone 60's era.

1958 Corvette "Fulie" in Branson Auction

It's one of the most beautiful and correct 1958 Corvettes we've ever presented with all numbers, date codes and necessary information included. What a beautiful and rare automobile and remember, next year it turns 50. I wish the same could be said for me!

This is but one of several "early" Corvettes being presented this year, so I sincerely hope that if a dream ride of the 50's or 60's was a Corvette in your memory, now is the opportunity.

We're looking forward to seeing all our old friends April 20 & 21 at Celebration City in Branson, MO.

'67 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2

Kathy and I made it home safely after an 18 hour drive out of ElPaso. Arrived 1 AM today and I still got to work in time for the poker game.
Jack (Flash) Gordon, our truck and trailer chauffer, didn't fare so well since he was a couple hours behind us, got caught in the storm and is still in Texas somewhere. He took the Shelby out to Russo & Steele, and he's bringing this back. Oh well. We had a great time, Drew and John treated us well and we're home safe but poorer.

Pat, Rich and Darren are still in school at Bondurant, and learning things they never new about cars. It's about time. We'll see if there really is a difference once they return.

I'll try to edit a synopsis of the week in the next couple of days for those who were not there and I promise you it's a lot more that what you saw on Speed Channel.

Aston Martin to die for

That's Darren on the left, Rich in the middle and
the Old Guy on the right, each wondering what bank we could rob. Of the 8 or 9 Aston Martins available this weekend, this was the pick of all litters! Maybe someday. Yeah right, and maybe someday I'll buy out Bill Gates while I'm at it.

Time out!

Here's a foursome you wouldn't expect to see if you
knew all the players. (I'm the 4th) Mike Swartz to the left, Kim Eldred in the middle and Brent Earlywine to the right. Mike and Brent got all the money ( sorry Kim) but I did get 2 bucks back for long drives. Nice day, great course and good guys to play a lousy round of golf with.

Is this Scottsdale?

Not in the picture outside our hotel are all the hotel employees gathered around looking at more ice than they have ever seen outside of a fancy banquet. Cold? Yes! Better than back home, absolutely. We sincerely hope everyone is alright and keeping warm. Out here it's 60's in the daytime and 30's at night. We think a lot of people will be delayed and many will have to pass altogether. Stay warm - more soon.

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KATHY ROCKS

No really, Kathy Rocks!
I'm trying here folks. We're on our way, the annual pilgrimage, to Scottsdale, take a break, Kathys pretty, the rocks are kinda neat, so there you have it. Stay posted,
and comment too, and we'll give you a report on Scottsdale as it happens.

Branson Auction Contest

Here's the deal. I'm sitting in the room in Scottsdale waiting for Kathy to get ready, going through old files. Ran across this old pic.
If you can identify the year, make and model of the car, the idiot in front AND the location, I'll give you a free entry for the April Sale. Just post your answer to the blog.

Which one is Jim Cox?

So a local genius got me to start this "blog" and I've been doing my best to keep it current, however, for some reason the people are supposed to respond to the blog instead just send me an email. Genius says it's wrong, I could care less. I did receive a funny one the other day and besides a lot of interesting questions which I tried my best to answer acurately he asked which one are you anyway? He had attended the past three sales and I had not had the pleasure of metting him, so I said I'm the old gray headed one up front. He responded with, "there seemed to be a lot of those. Which one are you?" Here's the answer, that's me in front of the Delahaye, the old gray haired guy. And no, I don't dress like that evey day, the genius said I should for this picture.

1961 Porsche 356 Roadster

I've had this car for many years and always enjoyed what it has to offer. Great top down driving, wonderful sounds and the pleasure of driving something kind of unique. Less than 600 produced in '61, and less than 3,000 ever made.
Supposedly valuable, (I refuse to check anymore) but pretty easy to take care of and parts are reasonable too.

This past summer I got to enjoy it more than ever before, and I wasn't driving! The couple standing behing the car are Steve and Lois Will of Springfield, great friends and gearheads to the core. Mighty fine herb garden too. That's me, sitting on a stump in the background, Kathy took the picture. Anyway, Steve arranged for us to participate in the Kansas City Ferrari club Crescent Rallye this past summer and we took some intresting iron. Steve was actually going to drive his Accura until I convinced him to use one of my rides and he picked this one. Now, I only know 4 or 5 people that I would actually trust to drive my toys and at the top of the list is this guy. Boy was I right, and man did I get rewarded. First, you can trust a guy whose driven a McClaren F1 and an Enzo. Period. Second, I got to see my car run!!! What a treat. Kathy and I followed behind on the wonderful winding roads around Eureka Springs and Steve took great lines through the curves and made really neat shifts and sounds. And I watched. I'd never seen my car like that before. Never noticed how naturally it turns in or how cool it looks even in the middle of a bunch of Ferraris. He got a little wet coming home, okay drenched, drowned, diluted just pick one, the top leaks okay. But it made the trip, made the run, was fun to watch and I had a great time NOT driving my car. Thanks Steve. Whats for dinner Lois?