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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 9:05 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
The windows bulging outward at speed would capture a lot of my attention, too! :shock:

But some of my own favorite '60s cars had some real quirks, as well.

Many owners of the great Studebaker Avanti had the whole rear glass sucked right off the car at over 100mph, and the nifty little Daimler Dart (SP250) had a jewel of 2.5L V-8 cross-ram SU OHV Hemi engine, but the fiberglass body flexed so much, the doors popped open on turns!


Attachments:
Studebaker-Drivers-Club-4-06-2019-raffle-1963-Studebaker-Avanti-right-rear-550x284.jpg
Studebaker-Drivers-Club-4-06-2019-raffle-1963-Studebaker-Avanti-right-rear-550x284.jpg [ 72.02 KiB | Viewed 1963 times ]
Daimler_SP250_engine_1.jpg
Daimler_SP250_engine_1.jpg [ 107.74 KiB | Viewed 1963 times ]
Daimler-Dart-Fr-DS.jpg
Daimler-Dart-Fr-DS.jpg [ 450.26 KiB | Viewed 1963 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:07 pm 
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Posts: 678
That Daimler roadster is a new one on me! How have I never seen or heard of that before??

It looks like a cross between a sunbeam, triumph and an mg. Until you get under the hood. Then it's like a mini chrysler with a really interesting induction setup. I never knew there were SU fed V8s in the wild!


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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 5:21 pm 
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Posts: 14778
Location: CT
I thought they were great little cars and lusted after them when I was a teenager. That engine just threw me into another realm, having been teethed on the supercharged MOPAR hemi engines of the 1950s being used in then-current dragsters.

The little "Dart" (name soon changed to SP250 due to a lawsuit by Dodge) made 150bhp out of 2.5L pushrod V8; the OHC 240Z made that much from a 2.4L six 10 years later.

Because it was fiberglass bodied, the SP250 had trouble grounding the electrical systems, so (like my 100-4 Healeys) it was not unusual to suddenly find yourself driving in the dark for no apparent reason.

AND, the early models (while still named Dart) were so flexible that the doors popped open turning corners; hardly the thing your date wanted to experience more than once. People made fun of the 'catfish' front end, but I found it wonderful. Seeing one for sale at Syracuse University in 1963 I asked the owner "how much"? His only reply was a stony "Two Thou-Sand" as he walked away from the kid who obviously couldn't afford it. Thats the equivalent of about $17,000 in today's money. They are worth many times that price today.

The engine was designed by Harley Earl, if I'm not mistaken (corrections welcome) and I always felt it coulda/shoulda been used in several other applications, but never was to my knowledge. My Austin Healey 100s all had 90bhp OHV 4 cylinder engines in them and this little hemi V8 could have transformed those cars into really hot little items. Or the MG. Or the Triumphs. The Morgans always used other companies' engines, but when they wanted a V8 they decided on the larger, heavier Rover V8 (also with SUs). The Italians would never allow such a swap to happen to their Alfas, but can you picture the results if they did? Wow.

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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 5:44 pm 
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Location: CT
Here's an interesting intro to those cars, if you've never heard of them:

https://barnfinds.com/hemi-powered-1961-daimler-sp-250/

and I'm wrong again ~ the engine was designed by a guy named Turner.

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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:00 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:16 pm
Posts: 1180
Location: Ansonia, CT
Ah! The Avanti. One of those cars you either loved or hated. I loved it! My dad was a Studebaker guy and my first car was his hand me down 63 Studebaker Lark. But in 1963 when Studebaker introduced the Avanti, I was captivated by it's futuristic design and features and couldn't talk him into buying either the Hawk or the Avanti. So the family car won out.

Andy Granitelli set 29 records at the salt flats back then with a stock, but well tuned Avanti even breaking the "unlimited" stock car speed record with the car at 162.1 MPH. Lot's of clips on YouTube on this. I still love that car!

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 Post subject: Re: The AMC Pacer
PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:06 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
The Avanti was released my first year in high school, when I was starting out my auto mechanics "career" :roll: . I saw my first one at the NY State Fair, and got to sit in it. I was amazed that they had aircraft-like overhead switches for fans and lights, etc. Our teenage AutoMech shop was alive with chatter about the new Cobra, the split window Corvette (one word, now) and the Avanti. Also about Craig Breedlove and other gearhead stuff.

I talked about the Avanti so much at home that my father drove me down to the local Studebaker dealer to see one. They didn't have any at that time, but every other Stude on the showroom floor had a piece of cardboard under it to catch the dripping oil. I didn't care ~ I still loved the GT Hawk, the late-'50s supercharged (blown, actually) sports coupes, and the Avanti. In fact, I was conceived in one of those old Stuudies which looked like a flashlight going in either direction. I wondered why my My mom cried when we traded that car in on a Buick Roadmaster.

They didn't have an Avanti that day, but they did have a used CadAllard roadster on the showroom floor! That was the first one I had even heard of, and the salesman compared it to the Cunningham roadsters, etc.
I started going out of my way to visit that place on my way home from school.


Attachments:
File comment: The Allard was a handmade British roadster which could accept any one of several American V8s, making it a real screamer. The big 400bhp Cadillac engine made the best power/weight ratio (1:6) and this stunning design was often first to thunder over the finish line at road races.
iu-9.jpeg
iu-9.jpeg [ 39.39 KiB | Viewed 1946 times ]
File comment: The Cunningham was all-business, and competed well against the Jaguar C and D types of the day.
iu-8.jpeg
iu-8.jpeg [ 10.78 KiB | Viewed 1946 times ]
File comment: The Cunningham was an American roadster with a Chrysler V8 shoehorned into it. Other engines fit in there too, but the Hemi was the best combination.
iu-7.jpeg
iu-7.jpeg [ 25.4 KiB | Viewed 1946 times ]

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