(Note: I’m far from an authority, so if you have comments, stories, corrections additions, etc. please hit “comment” below. And share this with interested friends. They and I will thank you!)
I had a couple of minutes today, and it seemed like a good time to gaze through my office front door, ford the asphalt river of Tennis Lane, and stream into the Showroom of Unbroken Dreams at Vern Eide’s Exotica College of Cool Wheels. Immediately upon entrance I knew it was going to be a “workout” of source. Today’s theme: MUSCLE. Let’s take a look.
The minute I walked in…THE JUDGE. Actually, it’s a stock 1970 GTO cloned into a GTO Judge. I looked up the color, and found in 1969 The Judge came in Hummer Orange. It is a clone (a regular GTO with Judge paint,decals, etc.), so its possible the ’69 color could have been put on a ’70 car. Regardless it was beautiful…even with the spoiler.
As Muscle and Color are part of our theme today, the car right next to The Judge? A beautifully restored 1972 Dodge Challenger 383 Four Barrel in lovely, shocking and scrumptious Purple Passion. Not many cars or trucks can pull off a purple exterior, but as any fan will tell you Purple Passion on a Challenger is pretty sweet. Flawless car, probably in better condition than when it rolled off the line.
In the rear of the showroom we stick with the GM Orange theme: A 1971 Chevrolet Camaro. The color is again Hugger Orange, but again a factory color a year earlier in 1970. Whatever, the car was sharp and shiny, and just marked down to $32,000.
Muscle strength came in many forms, and while this car is not classic American Muscle, it is a classic, and has PLENTY of muscle: A 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS. YES, other than color, this is the car made famous by actor Tom Sellack on the hit TV Series “Magnum PI”, and also driven by a scotch-swilling, DUI-eluding character played by Dean Martin and his sidekick played by Sammy Davis Jr. in the movie “Cannonball Run”. It’s not the classic Ferrari “Arrest Me Red” color, but no matter, it still looks like its going 200 kph even whenstanding still. Like I always say, if something’s good enough for Thomas Magnum and 2/5ths of the Rat Pack, that’s good enough for me.
Finally: This is not a muscle car, unless you measure muscle by the weight of your wallet. Nothing says British Hootie-Patootie like a Rolls Royce. This unit is dated 1980. I think it is a Silver Shadow or a Silver Wraith II. If you can clarify or correct, please do by leaving a comment below. What I DO know is his one has only 33K miles and is priced below $28,000. Heck, for that money you could buy this car and hire a driver on weekends and still not spend what you’d have to do buy a new late model pickup…although I don’t recommend hauling a load of quartzite gravel in the trunk of this genteel car-about-town.
If you have additions, corrections or real-life stories of your experiences with any of these cars, please hit comment and add them. And please share this post with the beloved motor heads in your like. They’ll be glad you did.
Bibs and Pieces 