This is one awesome cool car! I wish I could say it was mine, but it is not. I can always wish though. Props to whoever owns this flaming Hot Car!!!
The MGA was in production between 1955 and 1962, replacing the traditionally designed MG-T cars, the most famous of which was the MG-TC. It was introduced at the at the 1955 Frankfurt Auto Show, and by the time production ended in July 1962 some 101,081 units were assembled. Most MGAs were exported, with only 5869 cars sold in
In 1952 when MG designer Syd Enever created a streamlined body for George Philips' MG TD, slated to run at Lemans. Initially the design featured a high driver seating because of the use of the TD chassis. Consequently, a new chassis was designed with the side members further apart and the floor attached to the bottom rather than the top of the frame sections. The prototype based on this design was shown to the BMC chairman Leonard Lord, who initially rejected the new car, since he had just signed a deal to produce the Austin Healy. Falling sales of the MG-TD and the MG-TF 1500 models, however, caused Lord to change his mind about the radically redesigned sports car, and indeed the MGA was initially advertised as the "first of a new line." With its BMC B engine, a lower hood line was now possible. Featuring independent suspension, and rack and pinion steering, the MGA, came with either wire or steel wheels. In a 1955 road test the MGA had a top speed of 97.8 mph (157.4 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 16.0 seconds.
A Bit of History
The Karmann Ghia debuted at the October 1953 Paris Auto Show as a styling concept car.
Volkswagen contracted with German coachbuilder Karmann to build this car. In turn, VW contracted the Italian firm Ghia for a sports car design. Ghia took an existing, but unused, design and modified it to fit a slightly modified Beetle floorpan.
The body and nose of the car were handcrafted and significantly more expensive to produce than the assembly line-produced Beetle, which was reflected in the Type 14's higher price. Instead of fenders bolted and pre-welded together, as with the Beetle, body panels were hand-shaped and smoothed in a time-consuming and expensive process. At the time it was built, only the manufacturers of the finest cars took similar care.
The design and prototype were well received by Volkswagen executives, and in August 1955 the first Karmann Ghia, also known as the Type 14, was manufactured . Public reaction was excellent, and over 10,000 were sold in the first year, exceeding Volkswagen's expectations.
Since all Karmann Ghias used the same engine as the Beetle, the car was not suitable as a true sports car, but the car's styling and "Beetle reliable" parts compensated for this shortfall. It also shared engine development with the Beetle as the Type 1 engine grew larger over time, finally arriving at an engine displacement of 1584 cc which produced about 60 horsepower.
In August 1957, a cabriolet version was introduced. As with other automobiles, multiple changes were made. Notable exterior changes in 1961 included the car's new wider, finned front grilles, raised headlight relocation, and rear taillight lenses which became taller and more rounded. Cars made from 1955 to 1959 are referred to as "lowlights," due to the lower placement of the headlights. In 1970 larger tail lights integrated the reverse lights and larger wrap-around turn signals in contrast to the earlier "bullet" style lights. VW models of this era have earned the slang nickname fat chicks. Larger and wider tailights in 1972 increased side visibility. 1973 modifications included larger energy-absorbing bumpers and the provision of a package shelf in lieu of the modest rear seat.
The big enemy today when buying a Karmann Ghia today is rust. Rust around the front headlights and nose, and rust around the rocker panels can be costly to fix. In a later post, I'll tell you about my rusty 1969 Karmann Ghia, and its ultimate fate.
Hot Rod
The car hobby grew to be quite complex by the mid-1950s, and it involved both engine and body modifications along with creative painting techniques. Pre-WWII antecedents included the organization of dry lakes racing at
One example of the diffusion of hot rod culture from west to east involved the Granatelli brothers of
The tensions of this era relating to rodding were encapsulated in Henry Gregor Felsen’s Hot Rod, a novel directed to early 1950s youth but that became so popular that it remained in print to the mid-1960s. The central figure of the story is Bud Crayne, with an accompanying cast of half a dozen high school students from the small town of
Felsen’s writing about hot rodders and the police took a very different turn four years later in his Cup of Fury. In this story, the reader is introduced to a young hot rod enthusiast, Link Aller, not terribly different in character than Bud Crayne. Unlike the understanding policeman in Hot Rod, however, in Cup of Fury there is a new sheriff in town, and he taught young Link a brutal lesson in obedience and respect at their first meeting. After Link was caught spinning tires in the school parking lot, policeman Kern, introduced himself this way:
The cop didn’t say anything. There was a click and before Link could set himself, the door of the police car was hurled open, and smashed against him. It seemed to hit him all at once, from his head to his knees. He was stunned where it hit against the side of his face, and bruised where it hit his chest and legs . . . Holding his light inches away from Link’s eyes, Kern used his wrist to push Link’s chin up, and his head back. Link’s eyes were glassy. Except for the hold Kern had on him, he would have fallen. His mouth was open and he was fighting for breath. Kern pressed against him, choking him a little. Link’s left eye was beginning to swell and change color. Kern maintained his pressure as Link sucked air into his throat in long, noisy, tortured gasps. His eyes cleared and his limp body became rigid. He stared into the light that was being directed into his eyes, trying to remember what had happened.[5]
Most likely, the police of the 1950s in reality treated young men more like Link Aller than Bud Crayne. It was an era before such issues as police brutality and human rights were public concerns.
In addition to Felsen’s fiction, the hot rod was also the subject of songs – actually many of them by the early 1950s. The seminal lyrics of many versions that followed was that written by George Wilson and performed by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys in 1950. “Hot Rod Race” proved to be the precursor of many future songs, including “Hot Rod Lincoln,” the best-known version of which was performed by Johnny Bond in 1960 and Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen in 1972. Initially, the song told the story of a family trip from San Pedro in a Ford that turned into a race with a Mercury. Surprisingly, at the end both the Ford and the Mercury are blown off the road by “a kid, in a hopped up Model A.” Later, the Ford and Mercury were replaced by a Cadillac and a Lincoln, but the continuity in common among the long chain of version is obvious.[6]
As one might expect, numerous B-grade films featured teens and hot rods during the 1950s – Hot Rod (1950), Hot Rod Rumble (1957), Drag Strip Girl (1957), Hot Rod Gang (1958), The Ghost of Drag Strip Hollow (1959), and finally, perhaps the best known of the group, Hot Rod Girl (1956). Following Felsen’s story line, Hot Rod Girl was about an attempt on the part of authorities to co-opt teen hot rodders by getting them off the street and onto the drag strip. Its actors and actresses are teens who look more like they are in their mid-to-late 20s and early 30s. Starring Lori Nelson as the “hot rod girl,” the budget for the film was so tight that Nelson drove her own 1955 Thunderbird to save money. With Chuck Conners playing the role of a sympathetic policeman and Frank Gorshin as the character “flat-top,” the highly unlikely and often silly plot involves a confrontation of “chicken,” several fatal accidents, and a happy ending. The message of the film seemed clear: in the war between good and evil that takes place in the minds and lives of teens, understanding elders know best and incorrigible rebels meet with an untimely demise.[7]
Shifting from cultural manifestations to the technology that made the hot rod possible, perhaps the best example of this tinkering that led to cutting-edge technologies was the efforts in
The hobby demanded not only new technology and expertise, but also equipment suppliers, and Hilborn marketed his fuel injection apparatus by the 1950s. Other prominent equipment manufacturers included Vic Edelbrock, Ed Iskenderian, and Phil Weiand, who ported, polished and in other ways modified Ford flathead V-8s in
[1] “Hot Rod History,” Hot Rod Magazine 1 (March 1948): 7. In Hot Rod Magazine: The First Twelve Issues (Osceola, WI: MBI, 1998). Especially important on this topic and more is Robert C. Post, High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing (
[2] Anthony (Andy) Granatelli, They Call Me Mister 500 (Chicago: Henry Regency, 1969), 46-63.
[3] The definitive work on the history of drag racing and its technologies is Robert C. Post, High Performance: The Culture and Technology of Drag Racing, 1950-1990 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1994). See also Stephan Wilkinson, “Tanks, Hot Rods, and Salt,” Air & Space Smithsonian 12 (1997): 60-63.
[4] Felsen, Hot Rod, 183.
[5] Henry Gregor Felsen, “First Skirmish,” in Evan Jones, ed., High Gear (NewYork, Bantam, 1963), 10-11.
[6] Joe Wajgel, “A Short History & Evolution of ‘Hot Rod Lincoln,’” http://www.rockabillyhall.com/Hot RodLncln.html (February 26, 2004).
[7] Hot Rod Girl, Alpha Video (1956), 203.
[8] For an interesting interview with Hilborn that discusses the various steps that led to his development of fuel injection, see http://www.cruzinmag.com/feature3.html (July 2, 2007).
[9] See ad for Ditzler custom colors for custom cars, Hot Rod Magazine 1 (October 1948): 28. See Andy Southard, Jr. and Tony Thacker, Custom Cars of the 1950s, (Osceola, WI: MBI, 1993); Nora Donnelly, ed., Customized: Art Inspired by Hot Rods, Low Riders and American Car Culture (
Donner explained that “Centralization means you are bringing into one level the operating decisions of the company. Coordinated control means that where policies have to be determined…you would have coordination” among operating units.
Thomas A. Murphy, who was treasurer when in the spring of 1969 he was placed in charge of the car and truck group. His job was to do a financial analysis of the operating side, and to get maximum commonality of parts among the car divisions.
As Ed Cole stated, a nail’s a nail.”
Under a program initiated in 1964, but given high priority in 1966, each division is given long-range design responsibility for an area of a car. Buick is responsible for brakes, Cadillac for parts that affect the driver’s vision, Pontiac for carburetion, and all suspensions for 1971 in 1971 models will be designed by Chevrolet.
From:
Mighty GM Faces its Critics,” Business Week, July 11, 1970, 72-73.
In sum, the distinction among the GM brands became blurred, and Brand value was ultimately diminished. Alfred P. Sloan's marketing strategy of a"car for every purse and purpose" was modified to meet modern complexities, but in the process its elegant simplicity, and that inherent power, was significantly diminished.
