Tag: Richard Lentinello

Matchless Model AAs – Ford built Model AA trucks in a variety of configurations – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

Matchless Model AAs – Ford built Model AA trucks in a variety of configurations – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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1931 Ford Model AA tanker. Photography by author.

Ford’s handsome little Model A was one of the most successful and popular automobiles of all time. It had the right look, was the perfect size, and priced so the majority of American could afford one.

Although the Model A was only in production for a little more than four short years starting in late 1927 and ending in 1932, nearly five million had been built. What’s more amazing is the amount of different body styles it was available in, including two- and four-door sedans, coupes, phaetons, roadsters and cabriolets, most of which could be had in either standard or deluxe trim. Then there were the trucks.

1931 Ford Model AA fire truck.

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Before social media, these vacation souvenir decals were how you shared your life with strangers – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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Long before Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and countless other online platforms made our lives a jumble of hot takes, thirst traps, and memes, back when you stuck a dime in your penny loafers in case you needed to make a phone call (that is, if you could find a phone booth) the primary social media instrument of the day was your car’s rear window and back bumper.

This was where you “voiced” your interests, in the form of bumper stickers or window decals.During the later part of the 1940s all the way into the ’60s, when Americans excitedly took to the new interstates to visit places of interests such as national parks, scenic towns, and national monuments, vacation decals were all the rage. Plastered on the rear window of the family car – especially on station wagons – they were a proud announcement to your neighbors that you had the good fortune to vacation in a place where few Americans at the time had visited. Those window decals were our Facebook posts of the day

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This is the only rotary-powered Mustang ever built – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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Rotary Pony

This is the only rotary-powered Mustang ever built

If there was any engineer who had an out-of-the-box mindset, Felix Wankel would be king of the pioneering thought process. His rotary engine concept, based on three-sided rotors spinning on a single shaft, was truly innovative, as it used 98 percent fewer moving components than conventional OHV or OHC combustion engines. Its simplicity of function is truly astounding.

The fan shroud is almost as long as the rotary engine itself, and sits well back in the chassis. Photo credit: Richard Lentinello

Wankel, an engineer in Germany, designed his rotary engine back in the 1920s, receiving a patent in 1929, but it wasn’t until he was employed at the German car company NSU that his engine was developed. In the ensuing years, NSU licensed the Wankel engine design to various car companies around the world, including AMC, Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, General Motors, Nissan, Suzuki, and Toyota, yet it was Mazda that made the Wankel engine a household name.

This is the only rotary-powered Mustang ever built

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Related – A mid-engine Corvette with rotary power – the 1973 XP-897 GT concept

Reminiscing – Model A Ford Days – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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[Editor’s note: This “Reminiscing” story, edited by Richard Lentinello, comes to us fromHemmings Classic Car reader Jim Zimmerman of Burlington, Wisconsin.]

In 1965 my father bought me a 1930 Ford Model A Town Sedan. It was purchased from a small used-car lot in Tama, Iowa, for $225. We towed it with a bumper bar back to Arlington Heights, Illinois, where we lived. It ran fine, but we were not quite sure of its reliability for the trip home.

Read Jim’s Model A story here

 

Air-Cooled Appreciation: A shrine celebrating all things Corvair opens in Illinois – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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Smack dab in the middle of America’s heartland there’s now a Corvair Museum honoring the existence and history of Chevrolet’s air-cooled mechanical marvel. The unlikely location for a museum devoted to the Corvair is Decatur, Illinois, which is 40 miles east of Springfield, three hours from Chicago and Indianapolis, and nearly a seven-hour drive from Ypsilanti, Michigan, where it was previously located. But, thanks to the good graces of the Chevrolet Hall of Fame Museum there, a sizeable room has been set aside for the Corvair museum’s new home.

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1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo – Richard Lentinello @Hemmings

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1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

CLASSIC ELEGANCE TAILORED TO YOUR TASTE.
If ever a car was built to tempt you, this is it.

First, Monte Carlo catches you with style. Strong, instantly recognized style that sets it above lesser cars, from its elegant formal roof line to its crisply sculpted rear deck. Monte Carlo’s classic elegance has made it one of America’s most distinguished personal cars.

Read the rest of Richard’s article here