Thursday, April 26, 2012

One-owner Cobra and vintage car crashes in this week's Thursday Drive-By

Week after week, there's just more neat stuff to see out on the Internet for the Thursday Drive-By.

This time, we've got an original, one-owner Shelby Cobra, vintage car crashes, and an amazing car-themed orthodontists office. What's the greatest V8 engine of all time? And what happens to an Enzo Ferrari when you abandon it in Dubai?

The answers to all of these questions can be found in these links below.


I've always thought it was neat that my dad owned his '61 Corvette since the late 1970s, but this story from Edmunds Inside Line even has that beat. Here, we learn about 72-year-old Hank Williams, who purchased his Shelby 298 Cobra new in 1965 and still owns it today. The story talks about how Hank raced the Cobra extensively in those early years, and even became a celebrity in his own right. Hank claims to have turned down several offers, including one for $1.5-million for the rare Cobra. Hank is also listed as one of only two African-Americans to own a Cobra from the factory; the other is jazz musician Herbie Hancock. Read the full story here.   

Like V8's? Yeah, I do too. And Hot Rod Magazine asked their readers to help them determine which where the twenty best V8's of all time. From Caddy to Chrysler and from Ford to Pontiac, all the biggies are listed right here. I'm glad to see that the readers chose the 1955-2003 Chevrolet small block as the number once choice. That's not only because I usually own a car with some version of that engine, but also because I just think it is the correct choice. Chevy big blocks, Chrysler Hemis, Buick Nailheads, and Ford Flatheads all earned spots on the list too. What would be your choice as the best V8 engine ever? Take a look at this article and see what Hot Rod readers think.

Motor Authority is one of several sources that have been reporting on an Enzo Ferrari that was abandoned somewhere in Dubai, and awaiting its fate in an impound yard. It is interesting to see the rare super car covered in dust and filth, sitting in such a dismal place. The Enzo was supposedly abandoned by a British citizen who leased the Ferrari and then fled Dubai when they couldn’t afford their payments and traffic fines. At any rate, the Enzo is back in the spotlight because it is about to be auctioned off. Only 399 of these were built for the public, and prices for good ones can reach upwards of $1-million. Learn all the details here.

This is just a photo album I ran across at Acid Cow. I don't know any more about it other than it is a collection of old car crashes from the early 1950s. I've got a couple of books in my collection that feature these types of pictures, and I think they're fascinating. Some of them illustrate how unsafe some old cars actually were, and many of them capture the demise of an old car that would never become a prized classic. Most of these pictures come from police accident reports or newspaper archives. At any rate, they're a little sad to look at, but impossible to turn away from. Check out this photo album here.

The Garage Journal finds all kinds of neat ways that people store and display their cars. This link doesn't depict a garage, per se, but it is interesting. This Arkansas orthodontist loves old cars so much that he made his orthodontics office look like a small 1950s American car town. He has details like gas pumps in front of the Sinclair station, a front counter that looks like a Ford woody wagon, and couches made from '59 Cadillacs and '56 Oldsmobiles. There's a storefront that pays tribute to Watson's custom paint shop, and even a facade that resembles a movie theatre. If you need to go get braces, this looks like a cool place to do it. Check out all the fun pictures at this link.

1 comment:

  1. That's so cool! I wish our local Perth orthodontic clinic looks like this.

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