Collector Car Corner / Cars We Remember; From Soap Box Derby to the Iron Curtain and back again

Q: Greg, I’m a fan of just about any older car, and the older the better. I think of many older cars as works of art and always drool when I see them with thumbs up and a compliment. 

I watch as many TV car shows as possible and think of Bad Chad’s TV show creations as some of the most awesome on TV. Thank you for answering my email, as I didn’t think I’d receive a reply from you. The only people who send me emails are the people that want me to buy their goods.  

I’ve been an upholsterer and cabinetmaker all my life, leading to which I restored cars. I even remember my pedal car fire truck as a toddler, and in fourth grade I made my first go-kart with my dad. Dad knew how to design a really awesome cart, with brakes and all the amenities a Rolls Royce of a cart needed.

Then the soapbox derby car was next, and I built it all by myself at age 13. I won two heats and finished third, but it was too light at inspection, so we poured concrete in the nose of the cart to make it up to weight (to be legal in the future). 

At 17 I bought my first car. It was a 1951 4-door Chevy, black in color. I bought it with the money I saved working at a gas station. 

Then I was off to Germany to drive a military deuce and a half truck. For a year I went to the Iron Curtain, saw the towers with guards and machine guns at the ready, and landmine areas to keep people from leaving in one piece. I realized how lucky I was to live on 41st Street in Portland, Oregon, and be able to see and do so much here in the U.S.A. Sincerely, Dennis Demoor of Portland, Oregon.

A: Dennis, no words are necessary other than thank you for your service and wonderful letter. Take a bow, as I salute you in print.  

Is it or isn’t it a Z28/SS?

Q: Greg, I am the owner of a 1996 Z28 convertible and I’m trying to learn if my Z28 is one of the SS conversions talked about in the recent article on the Z28/SS models. You talked about identifying SS markings placed by SLP on the cars produced. I installed my VIN on their website and it comes back as not found. Thanks for your help in advance in trying to get this question resolved. I really appreciate your help. I just learned of this SLP SS conversion program and thought I would dig a little deeper into it. Thanks again for your help. Lon Wolf, New Holland, Pa.

A:  Hi Lon. Unfortunately your great looking 1996 Camaro Z28 ragtop is not one of the special Street Legal Performance (SLP) Z28/SS models built in 1996 by the Toms River, N.J. business. Today, SLP is called SVE (Specialty Vehicle Engineering) and is still located in Toms River. Remember, Z28/SS or not, your convertible is a great looking muscle car, so take good care of it as the current Camaro lifespan is in jeopardy; some say 2024 or 2025 may be its last year.  

1960 Chevy El Camino info

Greg, I ran across one of your articles regarding the first generation of El Camino’s (1959 and 1960). As I own a 1960, how could I find specific information regarding my particular auto? Such as of the 14,000-plus made, how many 1960 El Camino’s were built with a 348-V8 engine with the 3-speed automatic? Kent Nomura, via email.

A: Kent, I wish I had a solid breakdown on the 348 with the Turboglide 3-speed automatic, but I haven’t been able to track down reliable numbers. Of the 14,169 El Caminos produced that year, the best rumored number from blogs I’ve checked is “in the neighborhood” of 3,500 that came with the 348 big-block. These 348s came in several flavors, from a single four-barrel 280-horse version all the way up to a solid lifter, 335 horse tri-power (3×2 carb) option. Wish I could do better, but even the GM Heritage website does not have that specific information. 

First new car and more Berwick tank memories 

Q:  Greg, a friend handed me a copy of the Owego, N.Y. Pennysaver that carried your Collector Car Corner article about the Stuart Tanks built in Berwick, Pa. I don’t know much about car engines, but do remember the “slant-6” in my ‘65 Valliant Station Wagon (first new car) and the 318-V8 in my ‘69 Plymouth wagon. That ends my knowledge of engines. I used to say that if it isn’t made of wood, I don’t understand it. 

Anyway, I enjoyed your article on the Berwick, Pa. ACF plant manufacture of the light tank. I was born in 1942 and was told by my Mom that she rocked me to sleep behind black curtains while Dad worked as a tool and die maker at the ACF, frozen to his job all during the war. He began working at ACF in 1928 right out of high school and stayed with them until they closed in 1961, and while I was attending Bloomsburg State College.

I still have a lot of my folk’s stuff from the war years, including a war ration book with my name on it. After reading your article, I googled more information and discovered that Berwick now has one of those tanks, having purchased it from someone in England. Pennsylvania Heritage magazine also ran an interesting article on the ACF during the war. 

Again, thanks for your article. I haven’t been back to Berwick for many years since all of my relatives there have either moved or passed away. Your article brought back some memories from my past. Sincerely, J Lars Edburgh, Willseyville, N.Y. 

A: Thanks Lars, your letter is very much appreciated.

Lucky Ed

Q: Greg, you’ve got a fellow “Shamokin boy” here replying to you, another native Shamokin boy. Being fellow car nuts, I own a ‘67 Corvette Coupe and a factory air-conditioned ‘63 Impala. Also, concerning our email conversations, yes I’m the guy that won a brand new ‘92 Corvette back then, and I just sold the car two months ago to my ex-business partner in Arizona. His wife always wanted a little red convertible, and the first time she drove it she had it sideways coming out of the driveway!

My ‘67 Vette is a 327 300-horse version and I wish it were a big-block. I had Korek Designs from New Berlin, Pa. strip and paint her, and it came out beautiful. Have you heard of Korek? Good people!

In ending, I want to comment on your auto articles as the information you write about each vehicle is so over the top, honest, and in depth; I tend to learn something every time I read one of your articles. Keep up the good work. Don’t know how you do it. Ed Linkus, Shamokin, Pa.

A: Ed, thanks so much, as letters like this is what keeps me going! I do my columns mostly from memory, as I’ve loved cars from day one. However, even though my brain is filled with car information I do a lot of research when it comes to production numbers, engines, trims and the such, and I need to check my many books and the internet, the latter that is filled with incorrect information.

Thanks also for the photos you sent and yes, I’ve heard of Korek as they are one of the premier body and paint concerns in the central Pennsylvania. Regardless of that small block 300-horse engine in your ’67 Corvette, it is indeed a beautiful example of a vehicle that has been taken care of. 

Your ’63 Impala is also a beauty! My first car was a 1963 Impala, 283-V8 and I put a T-10 4-speed in it, Duntov cam, “power pak” heads, 4-barrel carb, and a modest 3:55 rear gear. It ran high 15 and low 16s in the quarter. Most of all, I remember when you won that red ’92 Corvette. You were the talk of the town amongst all us car nuts. Thanks again Ed, and let the managing editor at The News-Item in Shamokin know you enjoy my columns. 

The Green Hornet ‘Two’ 

Q:  In 1955, my Grandma bought a Martha’s Vineyard house (which our family still owns), and, according to a long-standing tradition at the time, she also bought a car on the island to go with the house. That car was a brand new solid green 1955 210 Townsman Chevy wagon with the manual transmission and the 6-cylinder engine. My Grandma, my Mom and my aunt drove us around the island in that car when we were children. 

In its later years, I personally got to drive our “Green Hornet” around the island on a number of occasions. By the early 2000s, the “Green Hornet,” as we affectionately called it, had become too difficult to maintain, and reluctantly my aunt sold it. My Grandma and my aunt are no longer with us to tell me more about the fate of that car. It was very similar to the article you did on a Chevy 210 wagon a while back. Our Chevy 210 wagon, however, did not have the roof rack. 

Thanks, from Karl Hahn, a car lover from Martha’s Vineyard.  

A: Karl, the article you refer to that featured Alan Kline’s 55’ Chevy Wagon ran the week of Nov. 25, 2019 in many Gannett owned newspapers. If any readers would like to look it up, just do a search and you’ll find it right away. Thanks for your letter. 

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions and comments on auto nostalgia and collector cars at greg@gregzyla.com).