Fathers Day At the Car Show
These are from a car show we went to in Manassas on Fathers' day. It was at
the Chantilly Plantation (or something like that) up off 28 near Dulles.
There were an awful lot of nice, clean cars from all over the spectrum.
The George Washington Model A Ford Club was running things so there were
literally dozens of early Fords. But, there was a lot of neat stuff from
later years, too. As you'll see, some of what showed up was a little on
the scarce side.
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This critter is an Amphicar from the mid sixties. They
were built in Germany and had a Triumph Herald engine and a German transaxle
that was similar to a Porsche unit and built by the same people.
The electrics were Lucas. They were sold in this country up through 67 or
so; there was a dealer on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington back then in the
Clarendon area, across from and a little east of the old Sears store. |
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Here's the same critter from the back, and now the reason
for the funny-shaped nose becomes evident. Down in the shadows under
the car are two propellors. The cars would do 65 or so on dry land and
then you could drive them right into the water. There they were not
quite so hot; I think we heard 7 knots mentioned as the top speed. The
props are driven by a transfer case built by the same folks who built the
Porsche transaxles, but the transfer case is unique to this application.
This example was in storage for twenty years and now belongs to a fellow
who spent three years restoring it. He told us he's had it in the
water a number of times, which is probably more than I would be willing to
do with something this age with Lucas electrics. |
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Here's a better look at the business end. These cars are
rare and expensive; something that's in boxes and has to be put together
brings over $15,000. A nicely restored example went recently on Ebay
for $45,000.
Patrice wants one, but I'm not sure how that's going to work out.
There's something inside me that really objects to the idea of shelling out
that much money for something with a British electrical system... |
I've got to tell you; I had not seen one of these cars since they were
sitting on the dealer's lot back in 66 or so. We thought it was a real
treat back over the Memorial Day weekend when we ran across one example in the
Wheels of Yesterday museum in Ocean City. It was quite a treat to find
this one just a few weeks later, and both of them are in very nice shape.
Coming tomorrow...the Supercharged Studebaker Lark (and NO, I'm NOT
making it up!)
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