https://images2.imgbox.com/90/17/5crQyxKz_o.jpg

The moniker "Edsel" is synonymous with failure. Ford invested $250 million ($2.5 billion in today's money) into the car.

Of the $250 million, $100 million went into 3 plants. This paid off royally just a few years later . . .

https://images2.imgbox.com/d6/7a/ZA1D97aa_o.jpg

22,000 orders on day one . . . 417,000 sold in it's first year. A feat never duplicated. It was those extra plants that allowed Ford to build and sell so many.

Wheels
 

Didn’t think you were allowed wheel covers on for drag racing!

Not mentioned in the rules:

https://www.fastdrags.com/factory-stock-rules

FAST and Pure Stock cars get special dispensation, because of the emphasis on Stock Appearance.

We were at Norwalk or Indy last year and one of the Corvette trim rings let go on a mid 9 second pass.

(I could tell by the clips it wasn't an original trim ring!).

K

1964
 

Cruising in a 1964 Lemans convertible.

Cool cars in the parking lot.

Yeah, she's real inexperienced .... She's the "shoe' he's the tuner. Unreal performance for a street car...

https://images2.imgbox.com/e5/94/QJ13Tydj_o.jpg

https://images2.imgbox.com/be/26/AalyheHV_o.jpg

Article from 2009.

K

I believe that this is owned by a member here...and restored by Frank Arone

https://images2.imgbox.com/20/79/e6rTfbPm_o.png

https://www.mecum.com/lots/AZ0323-55...et-camaro-z28/

----Lee,,,I'd like to follow up on this LS6 ElC. Need to know if it's an automatic.....Bill S

Different Lee...but it looks like there's a Z bar under the steering shaft.

----Think you're right, different Lee. Oh well!....Bill S

Bill - it's a 4 speed bench seat car.

I don't think this has been posted.

A bit crass, but still clever. I am sure the guys and gals at the tag agency had no freakin clue.

And one more:

It's like Ron White says. He was talking about hurricanes, but in Oklahoma, its tornados.

"It's not THAT the wind is blowing; it is WHAT the wind is blowing."

I like the home made sign on the car after it (100,000,001).

Sometimes when there wasn't enough change between model years to stop, purge, and re-start the line, we would do a "rolling model change".

You would build the last 1984 model (or whatever) and there would be a vehicle right behind it that had a home made sign like the above that would say "First 1985".

Sometimes they would leave an empty carrier/space between the two; sometimes not. Definitely no fanfare.

The sign on the hood of the car below, all alone with nobody around, says "First 2013 Volt".

By the way, sometimes on those occasions we wouldn't reset the VINs. The sequential portion of the VIN would keep right on climbing.

K

Anybody else ever think about how they "knew" that was going to be the 100,000,000 (or 1 millionth, or whatever) car produced?

Based on what I know, my guess is they didn't.

If you have more than one, sometimes six or seven, assembly plants pumping these things out at 60 or 70 an hour, for two or three production shifts, how could you know? Sudden scheduled overtime, unscheduled overtime, production breakdowns, material shortages are all unanticipated items that can affect near term production output.

I speculate that they would pick a designated plant, probably the home plant or one nearby (ie, Pontiac Michigan for Pontiac, or maybe Flint Assembly for Chevy). If there was something big going on at a satellite plant, like Fremont, maybe they would throw their hat in the ring. Do some quick math and get close, anoint a specific car ahead of time to be the banner car (and maybe paint it gold), set up the microphones and the press passes and wait for it to happen.

That's how I picture it.

K