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Dear Classic Car Enthusiast,Welcome to the October 2007 issue of Classic Motor News. This month our feature article looks at the mysterious Dodge Warlock, our garage tip takes some of the pain out of having a flat tire, and we also highlight a couple of picks from our classified ads, share the best of Ted’s Garage Blog, and more.So let’s get to it!1. Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
2. Classified Ad Picks of the Month
3. Feature Article: Dodge Warlock
4. Best of Ted’s Garage Blog
5. Garage Tip: Get a Good Jack
6. Recommended Reading: Brightwork
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1. Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
There have been a ton of updates done to ClassicCar.com over the past couple months. One of the most useful new features is the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet. We have launched the new Swapmeet feature so members can post parts and services for sale. No cars are allowed in the swap area, but almost anything else automotive related is fair game. This service will be free for the rest of the year! Everybody has old car parts, tools, and supplies laying around. Make a few bucks, help a fellow enthusiast out, and free up some garage space all at the same time.
Visit the ClassicCar.com Swapmeet
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2. Classified Ad Picks of the Month
Whether you want to buy or sell, the ClassicCar.com Classic Classifieds is the place to do it. If you are a buyer, browse thousands of cars from the early 1900s through the 1970s. If you are a seller, list your car for only $35.00 until sold. Sellers also get up to 10 photos, ad placement on over 35 partner web sites, 24/7 editing ability, and a highly targeted audience of fellow classic car enthusiasts. Classic car dealers can enjoy a special dealer’s package offering an unlimited number of ads in the section of your choice for just $69.95 a month. That’s less than a single ad placed in a weekly local newspaper.
ClassicCar.com Classic Classifieds
Now, the best buys for the month.
Best Pre-1950’s: 1947 Chrysler Windsor
Location: Allenstown, New Hampshire
Price: $15,900
If you are looking for a car roughly the size of a small battleship, this is your ride. What we have here is a numbers matching ‘47 Chrysler with the Spitfire 6-cylinder connected to a Fluid Drive transmission. The paint is approximately 30 years old but from the photos you would never know it. Most of the usual suspects have been replaced or rebuilt, including wheel cylinders, exhaust, shocks, battery, fuel pump, oil pump, generator, distributor, etc. The ad does not mention if the car is restored or original, but there seems to be many original interior components and the ad states, “NEVER any dents or rust.” The appraisal comes in at $18,500 according to the seller. If I had to guess I would say this car appears to have been recently freshened after a stint in storage.
1947 Chrysler Windsor 2-Door Club Coupe
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Best Post-1950’s: 1968 Ford Torino
Location: Sequim, Washington
Price: $22,000
The Ford Torino has always been the Rodney Dangerfield of the muscle car world. It’s a bit unusual looking and doesn’t get much respect compared its Chevy and Mopar counterparts. This particular example is a numbers matching 390 automatic and is one of 355 produced in this trim. The ad says something about a 6-cylinder, but I’m assuming this is a typo since the ad mentions the car having an original numbers matching big block. The car has been restored, and is ready to hit the road with lots of extras, including power steering, original window sticker, owner’s manual, bucket seats, and console. Garage kept.
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3. Feature Article: Dodge Warlock
It’s October and just a couple weeks shy of Halloween! Seeing that we have reached the spookiest time of the year, we celebrate this macabre month with a feature article about a truck with an appropriately devilish name, the Dodge Warlock. For those of you who have not sat through umpteen hours worth of Harry Potter movies, a warlock is a male witch or sorcerer.
Shrouded in myth and the fog of the late-1970’s, some would say the Warlock never existed. While the truck is definitely on the rare side, they are around. The short wheelbase Dodge Warlock was produced between 1976 and 1979 as a part of the “Adult Toys” line of Dodge vehicles. Other “Adult Toys” included a Dodge Tradesman full-size van ready for customizing and special packages for the Ramcharger and Power Wagon. This entry into the Dodge line-up would make the Warlock one of the earlier domestic sport trucks designed more for people and not necessarily for cargo.
The Warlock was available as either a two or four wheel drive 115 inch wheelbase D100 or W100 1/2 ton truck. The sheetmetal and mechanicals were identical to any other available stepside Dodge truck of the era, however what set the Warlock apart was the appearance package. The Warlock offered buyers a choice of four colors, including Bright Red, Black Sunfire Metallic, Orange Metallic, and Medium Green Sunfire Metallic paint schemes. The most popular color choice for the wickedly named truck was the Black Sunfire Metallic followed by the metallic green. Accenting the metallic paint was gold pinstriping on the exterior and interior dash and door panels. The pinstriping continued onto the eight-spoke black-painted wheels. Additional appearance improvements were provided by oak sideboards and an oak-lined bed, much like the well-known Lil’ Red Express. Unlike the Lil’ Red Express, the Warlock did not have the chrome stacks, the exterior oak panels on the sides of the bed, nor the large
door graphics.
The Warlock was available with a number of engines, including the workhorse 225 CID slant-six, a 318 2bbl or 4bbl, the 360 4bbl, and ended with the 400. Warlock enthusiasts claim that swapping out the smaller engines for the powerhouse 440 is a relatively simple task when the original engine gives up the ghost. Power was moved from the engine to the rear wheels via either an automatic or manual transmission.
The final year of the truck was 1979, and by that time the Warlock had become to be known as the Warlock II. Even though the name had been updated, little changed from the previous model years. The Warlock continues to be a relatively rare truck, and it would not be unthinkable that more than a few were transformed into Lil’ Red Express trucks somewhere along the way.
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4. Best of Ted’s Garage Blog
1- The Almost Certain Death of Mercury
The September 3rd issue of Automotive News took a look at Mercury’s future. It’s well known that Mercury has been under the microscope the past few years, and as a result in 1999 the Mercury brand was essentially killed off in Canada. Mercury’s recent image cars such as the Marauder were received with all of the lackluster enthusiasm deserved of a car made from the spare parts bin. Ford, of course, insists there are no plans to do away with Mercury. Ford also insisted that Land Rover and Jaguar were not for sale - until the “for sale” signs went in the window. Read more…
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2 - Cardboard Garage Flooring
In the October 1, 2007 issue of AutoWeek there is an interesting photo on page 25. In the “REVS” section the feature article is “Before Plastic and Chrome” by Phil Berg. The article looks at the works of a gentleman who restores and maintains a small fleet of brass era and other early cars and includes a few neat photos of the workshop. What caught my eye wasn’t the immaculate antique cars nor the Buick on a shelf, but instead the floor of the shop. Read more…
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5. Garage Tip: Get a Good Jack
Flat tires are a serious pain in the you-know-what. What’s even worse are the jacks that come standard with most vehicles. Classics are commonly equipped with bumper jacks, which do a wonderful job at destroying the lower edge of the bumper. Modern cars are equipped with tiny little bottle or scissor jacks that I wouldn’t lift a lawn mower with, much less a 2-ton vehicle, especially if it wasn’t sitting on perfectly level dry concrete.
You can save yourself a lot of potential suffering by purchasing a small 12″ to 14″ lift 2-ton floor jack for between $20 and $30. Buy a small floor jack for every vehicle you own and when the time comes — and it always does — you will thank yourself for not having to use the factory jack. You can also purchase inexpensive sets that come complete with jack and a pair of jack stands for added safety and some jacks come in a plastic case which makes storing the jack in your trunk or under the seat easier. Just make sure the jack isn’t able to slide around in the trunk. My jack came loose and put a nice little reverse dimple in the quarter panel of my Plymouth, much to my delight.
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6. Recommended Reading: Brightwork
Hundreds of automotive titles clutter the shelves of ClassicCar.com contributors, and from time-to-time, we like to share the absolute best. These books are not necessarily new or even very easy to find, but they are top-notch additions to anybodies library.
Brightwork by Ken Steacy is one of those books that wows the reader with detail and quality. Brightwork is filled with superb photos by photographer Rob d’Estrube of hood ornaments, horn buttons, script, and emblems. It is difficult to overstate how beautiful the photography is in this book. The ornaments start in the mascot days of the 1930’s and ends in the ubiquitous airplanes of the late 1950’s space age. If you are into collecting hood ornaments or emblems this is a must have book. The 120 pages are filled with not only great photos, but also tips on collecting, restoring, and the history of brightwork.
Classic American Car Ornamentation Brightwork
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