Ich Bin Ein Hotrodder: A Story of My Opel Diplomat

While JFK was busy capturing the hearts of the German people with his Ich bin ein Berliner speech, the GM engineers at Rüsselsheim were busy at work finishing their next big project – the series of full-size (on European scale) luxury models, called Kapitän, Admiral and Diplomat. Introduced in February of 1964, the new models were meant to take on Mercedes-Benz, though they shared something in common with contemporary America cars, in that they were really just one car, offered in different equipment levels, and with different engine options. Kapitän was the cheapest, with an inline six under the hood, standard manual transmission and relatively sparse equipment. Its size, equipment and power put it somewhere between American compacts and midsize cars of the time, like a smaller 1964 Chevelle, with a dash of Buick styling.

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Piston Slap: What Would Ed Lister Do?
TTAC commentator NoGoYo writes:

Sajeev,

I’m faced with a problem that’s hard to solve: the problem of being 21 years old and stuck with a grandma car. I drive a 1995 Buick Skylark coupe with the GM 60 degree V6 (3.1 liter) and a four speed automatic transmission. It handles rather decently for a pedestrian GM product, but as you would expect from a lower-RPM pushrod V6 hooked to a 4-speed slushbox, it has about as much power as Queen Elizabeth II.

I tried to sell my car and upgrade to something more speed freak 21-year-old friendly, but gave up after not even getting close to a sale. My question is…should I sell the car at a rock bottom price just to get a more lively set of wheels, or invest a couple of bucks trying to make the old Buick a bit less of a snoozer?

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Junkyard Find: Mystery Old-School Custom

I plan to visit the Brain-Melting Colorado Junkyard later today (to discuss the purchase of a certain early-50s machine I covet), and that means I’ll have a chance to ask the proprietor a question that’s been bugging me for over a month: What is this mysterious vehicle in your yard?

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And the Winner Is…

It’s been quite a year for the builders of the Model T GT: a feature article in Hot Rod, plus several races in which the T held the lead for quite a while before vaporizing the transmission. Finally, everything came together this weekend at Infineon Raceway aka Sears Point, and the world’s quickest road-race Model T turned more laps than every one of its 170 competitors.

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Rust, Tatts, and Brilliant Engine Swaps: Billetproof California 2011

The rules for the Billetproof show are simple: Nothing newer than 1964, no trailered vehicles, no post-1960s mag wheels, no fenderless cars with independent front suspensions, and— above all— no billet anything! I flew out to California Saturday to check it out.

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Cargo Capacity Slightly Diminished, But Totally Worth It!

Here’s a totally practical daily driver I spotted on the south side of Denver a while back.

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Shorty Shoebox-amino Astounds, Confounds

Not many of us wake up in the morning and say to ourselves, “I think I’m going to shorten and narrow a ’57 Chevy wagon, give it a truck bed, and install a 427 with a 5-speed!”

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  • Peter 20% raise to make up for the post-Covid inflation. 3% a year for the length of this contract estimated future inflation.Nothing for retired workers (It’s not the Automakers fault that the Union has stolen your money. Go talk to the 2 guys sitting in Jail)
  • ToolGuy Tier 2 for everyone would be fair. And would show solidarity (if that is your thing).
  • ToolGuy Here is a summary of the used EV tax credit (if you are poor and unsuccessful like me).
  • Jeff Isn't the fact that the CEOs are overpaid and the pay disparity one of the main issues in this strike? Not much the UAW can do about CEO and top executive pay but it does appear that they do have some valid grievances. As to how much of what they are asking for they will get is anyone's guess but both the UAW and the auto companies will eventually come to an agreement. I don't hate either the auto companies or the UAW members but I full understand why the UAW is striking. I doubt the union will get the exact pay increase they are asking for and the UAW has already rejected a 20% pay increase so it is a reasonable hypothesis to believe a 28% or 30% pay increase could be the agreed upon compromise.
  • Fred I guess it depends are you "supply side" or "demand side" economists. I doubt I'll be buying a new car anytime soon if ever, so let's just keep everyone working.