Archive for October, 2008
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Participate in a sedan club if you enjoy the luxury cars and quality of sedan vehicles and classic cars. Sedan lovers appreciate not only a well-made car but also a comfortable car with style and eloquence. Engage in special activities and events surrounding sedans and get to know other sedan devotees. Read on to find out more.
1. Find out about sedan clubs and events held locally. Start with a local newspaper and look for listings about sedan cars for sale and clubs. Ask around—talk to car dealers like Honda, Chevrolet, Mazda, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz and consult with other people who seem to value and be knowledgeable about sedans and classic cars.
2. Investigate sedan clubs online. Determine which ones have local or regional events. Look at websites for information on sedan clubs, such as “Edmunds InsideLine” and “Old Cars Weekly,” and understand that sedan clubs tend to be car and category specific (e.g., Nash Car Club of America”).
3. Visit any local sedan club event held locally. Talk to people at the events and ask plenty of questions. Jot down important information. Figure out club fee comparisons and examine each club’s membership requirements. Determine which group is best. Make sure the group shares your sedan interests.
4. Select a sedan club and call or write the membership contact person. Ask about the procedure for joining the club. Fill out membership information either online or in person and submit it.
5. Participate in the sedan club of choice and start enjoying activities and comradeship centered on your current or future sedan.
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Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
C-34 Airmaster :
The Cessna Airmaster would develop into one of several models (C-34,C-37, C-38, C-145 & C-165) to carry the Airmaster name. This 4 place, high-winged cabin monoplane featured a 7 cylinder, 145 HP Warner radial engine that delivered a max speed of 162 MPH and offered a 550-mile range. The Airmaster series would win the title of “Worlds Most Efficient Airplane” in 1936. 42 C-34’s were built (out of a grand total of 186 for all of the Airmaster series), with a price of $4,985. Considered to be one of the classic aircraft from the golden era of aviation, the Airmaster allowed Cessna Aircraft Company to establish a firm foothold from the depression era, and emerge into a world power of general aviation.
172 Skyhawk :
The Cessna Model 172 Skyhawk, which first appeared in the mid 1950’s, along with it’s stablemate, the 182 - was built to compete with the Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, the top selling private plane from 1952 to 1956. The 172 evolved from the Cessna model 170 (tail-dragger) in 1956 in which the tri-cycle landing gear and new empennage design created a line of aircraft for sale that would prove to be the worlds most popular general aviation aircraft to date. Relatively affordable with docile handling characteristics have made this 4-place aircraft an all-time favorite with recreational and business flyers alike. Originally powered by a 145 HP 0-300 Engine (yielding a top speed of about 135 MPH), later versions used up to a 180 HP Lycoming 0-320 engine (yielding about 144 MPH) to carry 4 people.
337 Super Skymaster :
Originally planned as a safe twin engine aircraft (to avoid the asymmetrical drag associated with an engine-out of a conventional twin) the models 336 Skymaster (fixed gear) & 337 Super Skymaster (retractable gear) stand out as one of the most unique products brought to market by Cessna Aircraft Company. Approximately 2,000 Skymasters were built between 1963 - 1983, making it Cessna’s 2nd best selling twin. Utilizing an engine to pull, and another to push (twin engine redundancy - centerline thrust concept) and featuring outstanding visibility from the cockpit, the aircraft found usage by the U. S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era as a forward Air Control aircraft. The 6 place Skymaster made use of either a 210 or 225 HP Continental engine, yielding a top speed of 183 MPH.
188 AG Husky :
Cessna Aircraft Company developed and marketed several models of crop dusting / aerial spraying versions of the model 188. Originally developed in the mid 1960’s, the model 188 was sold under the names of Ag Wagon, Ag Pickup, Ag Truck, Ag Carryall and Ag Husky. The Ag Husky shown here featured a 310 HP Turbocharged engine and a 280-gallon hopper. Unique to these aircraft were safety enhancements that came in the way of windshield and gear wire-cutter blades to deal with any close-encounters with telephone lines, 4130 chrome-moly steel tube fuselage structure and night operations lights. Approximately 4,000 model 188’s were built.
310 :
With approximately 5,500 aircraft sold since it’s debut in 1954, the Cessna model 310 has earned the distinction of being Cessna’s best selling twin-engine aircraft. The 310 is perhaps best known as the “star” of the 1960’s television show “Sky King” (featuring a 1960 model 310D named Songbird II). Long considered to be one of the best looking aircraft to have been designed, the Cessna 310 aircraft for sale was available between the mid 1950’s until production stopped in the early 1980’s. Originally equipped with 2 Continental 240 HP engines, the last model featured 2, 285 HP Continental engines.
Citation X :
Having made its first flight in December, 1993, the Citation X (Ten) has set numerous records as the fastest production business jet in the world. Flying at Mach 0.92 (about 600 MPH), the only civilian aircraft that is faster is the supersonic Concorde. Powered by two Allison Rolls Royce AE-3007C turbofans (generating about 6,400 pounds of thrust each), the aircraft can accommodate a crew of two and as many as twelve passengers in extreme comfort. The Cessna Citation X aircraft for sale is the flagship of a long series of best-selling business jets whose name Citation is derived from the famous thoroughbred racehorse “Citation”.
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Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
After two years of watching the Ford Mustang cars enjoy tremendous success, General Motors finally launched its entry into the high performance pony car segment introducing the Chevrolet Camaro. Although available with a mediocre six cylinder for volume sales, the Camaro could be equipped with several V8s and a myriad of performance options. By definition Muscle cars are normal production models built to put that manufacturers hottest engine and performance options to make them into street legal drag racers.
Inspired by the success of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet launched its own pony car, the Camaro. Chevrolet stated that the “Camaro” was named after the French word for “comrade,” although some linguists argued that it was actually Spanish for a type of shrimp. Not exactly an awe aspiring name for a new pony car. Luckily, the Camaro had the muscle to back up its case. The Chevrolet Camaro car for sale was based on the upcomming 1968 Chevy Nova platform, and featured a unibody structure from the windshield and firewall back, with a separate steel rail subframe for everything up front. The Camaro was available from the start in hardtop coupe and covertible body styles, and could be order with nearly 80 factory options and 40 dealer accessories, including three main option packages and a choice of four different engines.
In December 1966, Chevrolet then quietly released one of the most famous options codes of all time, option Z-28. Unpublicized and unknown by most of the buying public (and most Chevrolet sales people for that matter) and not mentioned in any sales literature, the only way someone could order the Z-28 package was to order a base Camaro with the Z-28 option, mandatory front disc brakes with power assist, and the Muncie 4-speed transmission.What you got was a unique 302 cid small block (Non-California emission cars were labeled MO while California emission engines were labeled MP) that was created by taking the 327 block and installing the short-stroke 283 crank. Specifically designed to compete in the Club of America Trans Am racing series which placed a 305 cid limit on its entries, the Z-28 was available to the public solely to qualify the car for racing. Advertised horsepower was listed at just 290bhp, which was not very impressive until one hooked it up to a dyno and got actual readings of 360-400 bhp. The Z-28 also came with a competition suspension, broad racing stripes on the hood and trunklid and could be combined with the RS option package. There was no Z-28 badging at all, lest it attract to much attention. The Z-28 proved to be difficult to launch on the street because its high reving engine was lethargic under 4000rpm and worked best when it was shifted at 7500rpm (!). Once it got going, the Z28 was tough to beat and boosted a 140mph top speed and numerous racing victories. Only 602 Z-28s were sold in 1967, making it a truly desirable collectable.
1969 saw several noteworthy changes to the Camaro.The Camaro also received new fenders, door skins, rear quarter-panels, grille and taillights which gave it a wider, lower appearance. Inside, the Camaro received a redesigned dash and more comfortable seats. Endura rubber bumpers were available on the Camaro as well as two ram air induction systems for the SS. The first was a new special hood with a rear facing inlet and cold-air duct underneath the hood. The second was a dealer installed cowl plenum kit that came with a special air cleaner and adapter. No special hood was needed. 1969 saw an explosion in engine choices. On the low-performance side, a new 307 V8 (a 327 crank in a 283 block) rated at 200bhp was added and a new 350 V8 rated at 255 bhp replaced the more powerful 327 engine. The Z28 continued with its seriously under-rated 302 (now called DZ) engine. The RS package was still popular, and included a special grill with concealed headlights (of a ribbed design) and washers, chrome wheel well moldings, drip rails, pinstripes, and RS badging. The SS standard 350 received a slight power boost to 300 bhp while the 396 engines continued in 325/350/375 bhp versions. Once again, a white RS/SS convertible with the 396 engine paced the Indianapolis 500 race, and Chevy offered replica versions as white convertibles with orange stripes and orange houndstooth upholstery (though most replicas were powered by 350 engines.
But real performance is more than special upholstery and the big news for 1969 was the availability of special 427 cid V8 equipped Camaros. The first were special dealer-installed units, most notably the Yenko Camaro 427. Yenko Sports Cars, based in Pennsylvania, along with other Chevy dealers such as Nickey in Chicago, Dana in California, and Baldwin-Motion in New York, would install the L72 427 cid block, rated at 425bhp by Chevrolet, ordered under the Central Office Production Order System (COPO) code 9562 into a buyer’s Camaro. The Yenko Camaro 427 is a typical example: it came from the factory with no ornamentation, badging, and the 427 engine in a crate. Yenko installed the 427 block, changed the rating to a more realistic 450bhp, and added 15-inch rally wheels, bigger front roll bar, and sYc (Yenko Sports Car) badging. A full complement of racing add ons were available and sub 13 second quarter miles were possible with a few more dollars.
Chevy needed to build 50 to qualify the car for racing, and in the end built 69 Camaros and 2 Corvettes with the ZL-1 engine. Their high price made them difficult to sell and at least 12 engines were removed and about 30 cars were returned back to Chevrolet. It took until the early 1970s to sell them all. One can only wonder what they are worth today.
Production of the 1969 Camaros continued into the beginning of 1970 as the all new 1970 Camaros were not released until mid 1970. To add to the confusion, some late 1969 cars were titled as 1970 models.
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