Articles by David Burrell

Let's go back 60 years to 1953 -- and the Waldorf Astoria in New York.  In main auditorium is a wondrous display of General Motors production cars and dream cars. For this is the 1953 Motorama. The centre of the crowd's attention is a smallish, white, fibreglass bodied sports car showing off a red interior. Its designer is Harley Earl and its engineer is Ed Cole. Both know the car by its code name, EX122. You and I know it as the Corvette. The Corvette is only a concept car, but the strong, visceral reaction of Motorama visitors causes GM Chairman Harlow "Red" Curtice, to order it into production. Within seven months the six cylinder speedster is in dealer showrooms. Also in the auditorium, is another engineer. He's Russian, born in 1909. He's seen the Tsar toppled and the communists come to power in 1917. He's worked in Berlin during the rise of Hitler and because of his Jewish faith, had to make a fast escape through Paris and Spain, where he boarded a ship that landed him in New York in 1939. His name is Zora Arkus Duntov, and 33 years later at the opening ceremony of the National Corvette Museum 120,000 Corvette devotes will give him a standing ovation for all that he has done to make the car one of the most iconic marques of the automobile world. A brilliant engineer, in 1953 Duntov was already well known in hot rodding circles for his development of cylinder heads for flat head V8 Ford motors which increased power by a stunning 60%. What he sees in front of him at the Waldorf is his future. He writes to GM asking for a job on the Corvette program and is hired to help with engineering issues. Then as sales slow, less than 4000 sold in two years, and GM top brass get cold feet about the car's potential. Duntov puts his corporate neck on the line and writes a memo to the key decision makers. It is a passionate call for the need to have a car in the Chevrolet line up that speaks to the youth of America and to provide the whole Chevy range some much needed pizzazz. He prevails, and the Corvette gets a reprieve. Duntov then sets about making some changes. He rips out the six and powerglide transmission and inserts the new Ed Cole designed, small block V8. He adds a four speed gearbox and fuel injection, tweaks the suspension and within three years his magic has transformed the Corvette from a stylish cruiser into a object of primal desire for generations of Americans. And the rest of the story you know. When he died in 1996 American columnist George Will wrote of Duntov: "If you do not mourn his passing, you are not a good American". David Burrell is the editor of Retroautos.com.au  

In the early 1950s the Rootes Company, which owned the Hillman brand, decided to develop a range of small , four cylinder cars based around one body shell. They gave it the code name `Audax', which is Latin for 'bold'.Then they engaged famed American design guru Raymond Lowey to style the cars. At the same time Lowey had just put the finishing touches to the 1953 Studebaker range. And guess what? Lowey designed the cars to look like shrunken `53 Studebakers.Rootes was a master at badge engineering and they used the basic 'Audax' shell on a four door sedan, a station wagon, a two door hardtop coupe and a convertible for their Sunbeam, Singer and Hillman marques. Differing rear end and grille treatments plus varied interior appointments and engine combinations denoted the various models.The first model out of the blocks was the 1955 Sunbeam Rapier two door hardtop. No doubt about it, this was the pick of all the styling derivates, and looks as good now as it did then. The four door Hillman Minx sedans, station wagon and convertibles went on sale in 1956. These were the entry level cars.Singer also had a convertible model and four door sedan, known as the Gazelle. They were positioned were a little bit more up market from the Minx. The Sunbeams filled the 'sports/luxury' niche. Automatic transmission became optional in 1960. A facelift was developed for 1963, with squarer body panels. Disc brakes became standard.In Australia, Hillman and its siblings enjoyed some success in 1950s and early 1960s but when the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Viva arrived, with more modern styling and a cheaper price, the marque struggled. The same was reflected in the UK. Rootes itself had been absorbed into Chrysler in 1964 and the resulting change in design direction led to the Hillman Avenger and Hillman Hunter models replacing the "Audax "design.These were also sold in Australia, with some success. And then there was the Imp. Engineered and styled as a smaller version of the rear engine Chevrolet Corvair (that was the first of its problems), the Imp was supposed to fight the Mini. Quality problems and its slightly quirky nature hampered sales.The Hillman name disappeared in 1976 but the Hunter shape and mechanicals lived on in Iran until 2005. Known as the Paykan, they produced 2.3 million of them, making it one of the most successful car designs ever!David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au 

Some might nominate the 1968 HK Monaro. Others the EH. But the one that's climbing in value is the FB Panel van. Built from January 1960 through to April 1961, GMH made just over 8300 of these in a total FB production run of 175,000. Most panel vans went to businesses, tradies, government fleets and farms. Few survived their hard commercial life, so the ones that remain are most sought after. Graham Price found his after a long, long search, and only then through word of mouth. He is no stranger to rare Holdens, owning a pristine Torana SLR 5000 and a very smart Torana SS Hatchback. But it is the FB Van that attracts the most attention. "Everyone loves this car" he says. "It does not matter what the age group, everyone who sees it makes a comment". Graham originally bought the car just to cruise around in, but after the amount of attention it gained, he decided it would be a good mobile advertisement for his business. And he's not looked back. "I've generated so much additional business from people seeing the panel van", he says. "I take it to car shows and most times get two or three orders while I'm there". When they were released in 1960, the FBs made quite an impact. And they still do. With their wrap around windscreens, juttying rear tail fins, flashy chrome and gaudy two tone paint work, Americana had well and truly arrived in Australia. Essentially they are a three quarter version of the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, which is why the FBs and their successor, the EK, have such a popular following. The interiors reflected the exteriors styling. The big black steering wheel was deeply dished and had the Southern Cross "floating" in a ruby red emblem at the centre. The speedometer had an orange curved indicator arm instead of a needle pointer. All very space age and ultra modern for the times. The motor of Graham's car idles quietly, reminding me that these old Holden 2.3 litres, six cylinder engines are so under stressed and so smooth when tuned. Graham drives the car everywhere. The FB boasts almost 20cm of SUV-like ground clearance, just perfect for that old country dirt road. If you want to relive the glory days of Holden, a time when even small dealers sold an average of a car a day. then the FB EK Holden Nationals are being held at Wangaratta over the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend 8th and 9th June 2013.  

This year sees the 50th anniversary of the EH Holden, and to kick off the festivities Carsguide has snuck into GM's vast storeroom of photographic images and uncovered once-secret pictures of the clay prototype of the EH. What they demonstrate is that GM designers had the iconic EH shape well and truly fixed right from the start. The EH Holden is arguably Australia's most loved classic Holden, and maybe the most admired car this country has produced. For an automobile that was styled in Detroit and given to local management in a box it has endured through the years as the quintessential representative of 1960s Australiana. But let's face it, the EH was no engineering innovator. It was a simple design with a six cylinder motor, leaf springs at the rear and drum brakes all around. The dashboard, in a passing glance to passenger safety, had a small soft crash pad. The rest of it was hard steel with nice pointy control knobs conveniently located at knee height. That said, it was really the styling that captured consumers. Maybe it was the way the sunlight glinted off the closely spaced, thin, elegant stainless steel bars which stretched horizontally across the V shaped grille. Maybe it was the squared off rear fenders, which lengthen the appearance of the car without adding actual length. May be it was vertical tail lights with the reflectors inserted into special bezel. Or maybe it was the formal shape of the roof line, which imitated the just released Pontiac Grand Prix and Buick Riviera, that added a regal air to the whole package. Whatever it was, the EH's flew out dealership doors. One quarter of a million were built during its 18 month model run. Nothing has come close since. The basic shape of the EH was set two years before it was released. The photos of the clay prototypes, taken in October 1961, at GM's design studios in Detroit, show that GM stylists were playing around with side trim, rear tail light and grille ideas, but the basic design theme was well and truly fixed. By January 1962 the US stylists had developed a full size fibreglass model which they put it in a crate and shipped it to Australia with instructions to "make it like that". Well, maybe not exactly those words, but close enough. EHs are still plentiful. The price range is wide, and condition is the main determinant. Rough examples can be had for as little as $2000, maybe less if you haggle, but fully restored Premier wagons easily go beyond $35,000.  

Well, Chrysler has done just that with the SRT V8 Hemi 300. The big American comes with a rich and heroic heritage stretching back through a long line of famed "letter cars" which combined high horsepower and indulgent luxury. It is this lineage which lays claim to being the first "muscle car". In the early 1950s Chrysler in the USA had a dowdy image -well engineered cars but no pizzazz! They hired stylist Virgil Exner to inject some life into their car designs in order to compete with the increasingly more stylish Ford and General Motors (GM) products. Exner's first effort was the `Forward Look' cars of 1955. The range topper in that year was a 'hero' car called the 300 to mark it as the first American production car to have a motor that produced 300 horsepower. Exner's basic premise was simple. Combine attractive and distinctive styling, excellent engineering, a high level of luxury, a big motor delivering outstanding performance then sell them at a nice premium price to people with lots of money. Hence they acquired the label of the "bankers' hot rod". Come 1957 and Exner excelled himself with a range of wide, long and low cars with towering fins. Chrysler's advertising agency came up with the slogan "Suddenly, it's 1960" and sales exploded. The 300C was the most stylish of these stylish automobiles. It is a well document fact that Exner's 1957 cars frightened GM so much they threw out their planned 1959 models and completely restyled every car in the entire range. By 1961 the letter cars-they were now up to '300H'-contained massive 413 cubic inch engines which catapulted them to 100kmph in a little over seven seconds. The letter cars ceased to be part of Chrysler's line up in 1965. Facing competition from Pontiac's cheaper and sexier GTO and a gang of other muscle and pony cars, the 300L was the last of the breed. Letter cars can vary in price. A couple of years ago, a rare 1960 300F went for almost half a million in the USA. A reasonable 300C fetches near $100,000. David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au  

...off the coast of Massachusetts, USA. How did it get there? Built in 1956 it was a four-seat, two door hard top coupe. It was destined to be Chrysler's featured attraction at American auto shows in 1957, headlining the arrival of the Virgil Exner styled new, low, lean line of cars. Although designed by Chrysler's stylists, the actual construction was contracted out to the Italian coach-building firm of Ghia. Exner liked Ghia's ability to produce low-volume vehicles and one-off prototypes, and they done a couple of previous show cars for him. Chrysler wanted a fully drivable vehicle, not just a rolling mock-up, so all normal systems for the power train, braking, suspension, were installed. What made this car really different was its revolutionary cantilevered roof, which was secured to the body only at the rear C pillars. There were no "A" pillars on this car. Quite simply, the windscreen supported the roof at the front. There was a power sunroof as well, an advanced feature at the time, which was difficult to integrate into a slender roof structure with no structural support at the front. The door glass was ventless, a styling theme that would become popular some ten years later. Because of the complexity of the Norseman it took Ghia a full year to construct the car. When the car completed it was shipped by Ghia to New York City in July 1956 on the ocean liner SS Andrea Doria, which was involved in a collision off the coast of Massachusetts with the MS Stockholm heading the in the other direction and sank, with the loss of forty-six lives and all cargo. Compounding the loss of the car and lives on the ship was that Xner had been admitted to hospital having suffered a heart attack days before the ship sank. When told of the situation he was philosophical and more concerned for the lives lost than for his car. Divers have been exploring the Andrea Doria since it sank. It lies on only 150 meters of water not far off the Nantucket coast, and some have claimed to have seen the Norseman in the ship's car hold, rusted to a hulk.  

When they pulled the curtains back on this little baby, there stood a confidently understated shape featuring razor sharp edges, a crisply-sculptured roofline and, unique and innovative for the time, frameless side glass. For Americans, it was the future arriving ahead of schedule. Even the Europeans thought it looked stunning. Pininfarina said the new Riviera was "one of the most beautiful American cars ever built". Conceived in the early months of 1960, The Riviera was the way Bill Mitchell, the new head of styling at GM, stamped his authority across a company whose car designs had been ruled by his predecessor, Harley Earl, since 1927. Earl liked the appearance of weight. He liked his cars to have curves, lots of curves, and high domed roof lines and chrome and chrome and chrome and chrome. Mitchell was the opposite. He liked minimal decoration, fine crisp lines and tautly drawn clearly defined panels. The "sheer look" he called it, and for 20 years it underpinned GM's global styling language. At first, Mitchell had no GM division funding the design of the Riviera. Yet he passionately believed GM needed a two door hardtop coupe to compete with the Ford Thunderbird which was selling a healthy 130,000 units a year, all at a price premium. One of Mitchell's best stylist, Ned Nickles, had the task of shaping the new car. By May 1960 he had the basics in place. At this stage it wore Cadillac La Salle badges, as Mitchell figured that GM's luxury division would want such a car. They did not. So he took it over to Chevrolet. They did not want it either. And so after some politicking and prodding, Mitchell lined up Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick managers, staging an internal contest to decide who got the car. Buick won the competition with help from its adverting agency and by giving a promise not to fiddle with the styling. The La Salle badges ripped off, and Riviera logos affixed. From there the engineers had barely 18 months to take the car from a full size clay model to the showroom. That meant little time for innovation, so they shorted a full size Buick frame, dropped in a standard V8 motor and automatic transmission, raided the suspension parts bin and threw the body over the top. One area that did focus engineering attention was the frameless side glass windows. This was quite an engineering feat and led the way for all hard tops and convertibles, even today, to adopt the technology. Buick craved exclusivity for the Riviera, so it intentionally limited production to exactly 40,000 units. They sold every one of them. David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au  

And so it goes with the Morris 1100. Released 50 years ago at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show in London, the 1100 (it had a 1098 cc engine) it was British Motor Corporation's (BMC) second car to feature front wheel drive and wheel-at-each-corner styling. The other was the Mini.The 1100 boasted "float on fluid" hydrolastic suspension, which was BMC's way of ensuring we knew that they were very smart and technologically up there with the Gemini space program.It worked by means of interconnected rubber balloons filled with a concoction of alcohol, water, an anti corrosive solution and green dye. Owners report it retains its "spring" for many years, though they say it can suffer a sudden and catastrophic bursting of a rubber diaphragm in one of the displacer units. This is a problem faced by many things over 50. The car went on sale in Australia early 1964 after considerable stress testing in the outback. It was an immediate success, outselling everything in its class and winning a Car of the Year award. During the next four years BMC Australia increased the engine size and power and added an automatic to the range. The hatchback Nomad came out in 1969 and was unique to Australia. To publicise the Nomad, BMC asked then TV personality Maggie Tabberer to develop a version for women. One prototype was made. It was painted a bright lime green. The interior was totally white, including the shag pile carpets. Maybe it still exists? Anyone up for a tribute car?BMC in the UK was not one to flinch from badge-engineering, and the 1100 morphed into Austins, MGs, Rileys, Wolseley and, of all things, a Vanden Plas Princess, for those who demanded "luxury". There was also a station wagon derivative, called the Austin Countryman and Morris Traveller.A red Countryman featured in the very funny "Gourmet Night" episode of the TV show, Fawlty Towers, in which an angry Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) shouted at it "you vicious bastard" and gave it a "damn good thrashing" after it stalled on him and refused to re-start. You can see it on You Tube.By 1971 the design was showing its 1950s origins and confronting fierce competition from Japanese imports and, in Australia, the Torana and Cortina. It was replaced by the Morris Marina. Morris 1100s in good condition sell for between $7000 and $8000 these days.David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au 

The Tempest is a perfect example of the depth of General Motors technical capabilities and financial wealth back in the early 1960s. In 1960-61 the rapidly growing small/compact market segment, dominated by the VW Beetle, had Detroit's big three taking very different approaches to get a slice of the action. Ford went down conventional front engine, rear drive route with their Falcon. Chrysler also trod that path, but with “unique” styling and a slant six engine. General Motors response was stunningly diverse. Chevrolet offered the air cooled, rear engine Corvair. Buick and Oldsmobile enticed buyers with a range of semi-luxury, sporty cars powered by a new lightweight aluminium 3.5-litre V8. Pontiac, urged on by its chief engineer John Z DeLorean, went into the market with its Tempest, boasting independent rear suspension taken from the Corvair, a rear mounted gearbox linked by a flexible drive shaft to a 3.1-litre four cylinder engine that was really a V8 cut in half. The 3.5-litre V8 was also on the options list. Michael is only the third owner of his convertible, having bought it in 2009 at auction. “I'd gone to an auction with a mate who wanted to buy a Daimler. The Pontiac came up without a reserve, and no one bid on it, so I put my hand up and said $10,000, and it was mine”. At that price this rare and rust free car was a bargain. Similar examples go for upwards of $18,000 in the USA. Mind you, Michael is no stranger to classic car ownership. He's bought and sold a 1972 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, a bunch of Cadillacs from the fifties and sixties, a 1965 Fiat 1500 and a 1960 Chevrolet Impala hardtop that was imported by the American embassy. Right now, a 1977 Mercedes and a 1962 Studebaker Lark are in his garage. Out on the road the Tempest lopes along on its soft springs. “It does not have power steering but the gearing is low and it does not take much effort,” Michael says. “I drive it all the time. It can cruise on the freeways at the legal limit and city driving is easy as well”, he adds. The interior of the convertible is surprisingly roomy. Michael's explains that the “combination of the four-wheel independent suspension, flexible drive shaft and the rear mounted gearbox means there's almost no transmission tunnel." The gold convertible was optioned with the Le Mans luxury pack-better seats, radio, heater, wheel covers styled to look like the eight luggers on the full size Pontiacs, power roof-and a powerglide automatic. The auto box is selected by a small level on the dashboard. Pontiac originally decided to call the car the Polaris and early pre-production cars carried this name. At the last minute the switch to Tempest was decreed. www.retroautos.com.au  

...until someone walks up to him and says "I used to own one like that". The next thing he hears is "I wish I still had it." Lance acquired his current EH because it reminded him of the first EH he owned. He explains it this way: "In 1971 I got my driver's licence and had saved up $900. It was an adventure going to the car yards. My brother Robert and I stumbled across a tiny yard located in Toongabbie in Sydney. The moment I saw the 'Saltbush' green EH wagon I wanted it. I handed over $800 and it was mine". The wagon had the 'big' 179 engine hooked to a Hydramatic transmission. The first thing Lance did was to throw the obligatory mattress in the back and strap on a set of surf board racks. Over the next couple of years he travelled many miles on surfing safaris and visiting speedways around in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Eventually the car was traded-in but the memories remained, so in 2005 Lance set out to find another Saltbush green EH, preferably a wagon. "I wanted to have a piece of Holden history sitting in my garage and to remind myself of when I would drive everywhere to go surfing and to all the speedways", he reminisces Two years later , after almost giving up hope of finding a reasonable example, he found a well kept sedan sitting in a shed on the outskirts of Sydney. Ok, so it was not a wagon, but that was not a deal breaker. It was a 179, automatic and saltbush green. The car had been idle for 25 years so as soon as the EH was in his garage Lance commenced the refurbishment. "I went to a good friend of mine, Frank Tedesco, who is a guru on Holdens", Lance explains. Over the ensuing months Lance and Frank cleaned the engine bay, replaced all the oils, tuned the engine, fitted new wheels, reset the suspension, gave it a wheel alignment and installed a bigger radiator. The next job on the list was repadding the seats and after that a genuine diamond dot AM push button radio was fitted along with an electric clock. Lance is careful with his EH. "It only sees sunshine", he says.  www.retroautos.com.au