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I had one, black with red interior. Fun to build more fun driving it. Lost it to an engine fire when carburetor backfired and ignited. Engine lid was locked and I couldn't get it out of the garage. Dialed 911 and grabbed a hose, fire department showed up before I could turn on the hose. Someone else must have called the FD because in my panic I didn't wait for 911 to answer and ran for the hose. Garage survived, Gazelle didn't.
Had a few Gazelle's, built a tan and brown Chevette based, bought a white Pinto based that was done except for wiring and Purple VW powered Gazelle I bought and sold the same day at Carlisle. ( Gordon made fun of that one but it quickly filled my pockets). Built three MGTDs and resto'd another 6 or so followed by a few of those Speedsters. CMC would not get away with their video' s Porsche references today that's for sure. CMC Auto Resolution and Street Beasts what a monumental " pork'n " that was.
@Alan Merklin posted:Had a few Gazelle's, built a tan and brown Chevette based, bought a white Pinto based that was done except for wiring and Purple VW powered Gazelle I bought and sold the same day at Carlisle. ( Gordon made fun of that one but it quickly filled my pockets). Built three MGTDs and resto'd another 6 or so followed by a few of those Speedsters. CMC would not get away with their video' s Porsche references today that's for sure. CMC Auto Resolution and Street Beasts what a monumental " pork'n " that was.
@Nolan posted:I had one, black with red interior. Fun to build more fun driving it. Lost it to an engine fire when carburetor backfired and ignited. Engine lid was locked and I couldn't get it out of the garage. Dialed 911 and grabbed a hose, fire department showed up before I could turn on the hose. Someone else must have called the FD because in my panic I didn't wait for 911 to answer and ran for the hose. Garage survived, Gazelle didn't.
Bummer; which is why running appropriate air cleaners, fuel hoses and a fire extinguishing system is a good idea. The promo includes all the styles they had; including the Speedster C, which was the first model that I loved; so different from the later extra wide body style. I find the Tiffany model interesting; it was a factory brand new Lincoln Mercury chassis and drivetrain (5.0) with factory warranty. Still don't like the VW Bug turn signals on the fenders. Quirky but interesting for sure.
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"Have you ever imagined cantering across the horizon, breathless and alone."
Was this their way of warning you to add extra towing coverage to your AAA account?
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@Sacto Mitch posted:.
"Have you ever imagined cantering across the horizon, breathless and alone."
Was this their way of warning you to add extra towing coverage to your AAA account?
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That's a good one.....
Man, that Tiffany is hideous.
@dlearl476 posted:Man, that Tiffany is hideous.
You know you want one.
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Hideous Motors aka Bob's Classics Bob's Classics, Inc. your source for replica autos, neo-classics, special interest and kit cars. (bobsclassics.com)
This guy has been around for decades in Florida and turns over quite the inventory.
Read the Brush With Death post on his web site, seems a disgruntled employee shot Bob in the ass years ago. :~)
@Robert M posted:You know you want one.
LOL. There are very few cars that I could honestly say “I wouldn’t drive that if someone gave me one.” The Tiffany is one. I’d drive a K car with faux-wood paneling before a Tiffany. Hell, I’d walk before I drove a Tiffany.
@Alan Merklin posted:Hideous Motors aka Bob's Classics Bob's Classics, Inc. your source for replica autos, neo-classics, special interest and kit cars. (bobsclassics.com)
This guy has been around for decades in Florida and turns over quite the inventory.
Read the Brush With Death post on his web site, seems a disgruntled employee shot Bob in the ass years ago. :~)
I’d forgotten all about these. IRL they look pretty good except the tail looks like it’s 7/8ths size of the rest of the car. One would rock with a 2L Ecoboost.
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Neo-classics are ugly. I wouldn't be caught dead or alive in one.
They really put the "kit" in "kit car".
They just might be the inspiration for the word "tacky".
@Alan Merklin wrote: "Purple VW powered Gazelle I bought and sold the same day at Carlisle. ( Gordon made fun of that one but it quickly filled my pockets)"
I was very impressed that you owned it for all of two hours or so (AND made a profit, so it at least paid for your Carlisle week), but that purple color just BEGGED to be sprayed over with something better. Someone had to be a true lover of Gazelles to want that thing.
One of the founders of the Data General computer company got in to building a high end Gazelle-like car for a while. IIRC, he invested in the floundering Zimmer car company and built a number of them on a Ford or Fiero chassis, depending on model. The big one looked like this (Alan: Notice it's NOT Purple):
This was a lark for him - He invested in a bunch of start-up computer companies that mostly did super-well so he could buy a car company just because he liked the car.
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That must be photoshop. A 200? Mustang with that front end???
No one could be that dumb... or could they?
Nope. That's the real deal, but remember - This would have been in the later 1970's or '80's, IIRC. And don't forget - The lowly Mustang II front end is sitting under a whole lot of Hot Rods built since the 1970's (Even Stan would love one, if he could squeeze it under a Speedster).
The big one was built on a stretched Mustang frame and the smaller one on a stretched Fiero. He also invested in a company that built a car called a Cumberford Martinique, but I don't think they ever got past a few prototypes.
The guy's name was Henry Burkhardt III and he started at Digital Equipment Corp. around 1963 after dropping out of Princeton, and created the highly advanced PDP-X computer (which was not adopted by DEC), was later a co-founder at Data General in 1968, then later Encore and a bunch of others. He held a lot of patents, one for the shared memory/multi-processor architecture used in all of our computers today. He also founded KSR which sold it's patents to SUN as the basis of all of their high-speed processors (SUN servers) later bought by Oracle . I only met him in passing at Data General, but his reputation there was huge.
To say that this man was a genius fell far short of reality, both on the technical and business side - His founded companies almost always made money. When he died in 2000, C. Gordon Bell (co-founder of DEC) wrote his eulogy, which can be read below. It's worth a few minutes to read about this truly remarkable person, no matter what kind of career you've had.
https://gordonbell.azurewebsit...emorial_Comments.htm
BTW: Gordon Bell introduced "Bells's Law" which, loosely paraphrased, states that computers are introduced at a constant price over time with ever increasing functionality due to advances in technology.
That's why new laptops, smart phones and tablets keep coming out with new features or faster speeds but still cost the same when new. He's worth doing a Wiki-Search on, too.
Bob's right, that's a 2000-something Mustang body.
That Mustang is the revival one, coming out in 2007.
I know because I bought one of the first ones.
@Bob: IM S6 posted:That Mustang is the revival one, coming out in 2007.
I know because I bought one of the first ones.
The quicksilver isn’t half as hideous, in a fiery meets mid-70’s Buick kind of way. If they were well constructed, they probably would be a pretty unique car.
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@Gordon Nichols posted:@Alan Merklin wrote: "Purple VW powered Gazelle I bought and sold the same day at Carlisle. ( Gordon made fun of that one but it quickly filled my pockets)"
I was very impressed that you owned it for all of two hours or so (AND made a profit, so it at least paid for your Carlisle week), but that purple color just BEGGED to be sprayed over with something better. Someone had to be a true lover of Gazelles to want that thing.
One of the founders of the Data General computer company got in to building a high end Gazelle-like car for a while. IIRC, he invested in the floundering Zimmer car company and built a number of them on a Ford or Fiero chassis, depending on model. The big one looked like this (Alan: Notice it's NOT Purple):
This was a lark for him - He invested in a bunch of start-up computer companies that mostly did super-well so he could buy a car company just because he liked the car.
That makes sense. Looking at Stan’s link I was trying to figure out the connection between the Zimmer and Tiffany cars. FWIW, I think the changes they made to the rear of the car improved it at least 10%. Still very Liberace-like, but some people like that.
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If he built that car in the early '80s, Gordon, he must have held some impressive patents on time travel, too:
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Gordon’s photo is a modern Mustang/Zimmer. That photo comes from a 2016 article written by Doug Demuro. https://www.autotrader.com/car...y-300000-plus-256736
Here’s a 1982 Zimmer:
And a 1986 Zimmer:
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I really can't decide which one I like better...
" Take the wheel of your automobile and head on down to, Tumor Motors "
A neighbor a couple of doors up stopped by when I was adjusting the clutch. He offered to give me a spare set of jackstands.
We walked back to his garage and hidden inside was a non-running '80s Excalibur that he is going to get around to one day.
I said polite things, but not my cup of tea.
@dlearl476 posted:That makes sense. Looking at Stan’s link I was trying to figure out the connection between the Zimmer and Tiffany cars. FWIW, I think the changes they made to the rear of the car improved it at least 10%. Still very Liberace-like, but some people like that.
“Liberace-like” YOU NAILED IT....;-p
kill it with fire
Being a fan of both Fieros and Regal/Riattas, I think I could live with a Quicksilver. There’s one listed on Stan’s link (the pics I posted) that was built on a brand new Fiero, with like 25,000 miles iirc.
@Michael Pickett posted:A neighbor a couple of doors up stopped by when I was adjusting the clutch. He offered to give me a spare set of jackstands.
We walked back to his garage and hidden inside was a non-running '80s Excalibur that he is going to get around to one day.
I said polite things, but not my cup of tea.
In my mind, an Excaliber is a completely different animal than a Tiffany (or even a Zimmer). Originally, an MB SSK body on a Studebaker Hawk frame/engine, it was subsequently powered by everything from 350’s to FI Corvette engines to 454’s after Studebaker’s demise.
Granted, styling isn’t for everyone (I think it says it all that Phillis Diller owned 4) but it’s a world away from CMC’s Tiffany.
@dlearl476 posted:Granted, styling isn’t for everyone (I think it says it all that Phillis Diller owned 4) but it’s a world away from CMC’s Tiffany.
Haha. It does. I'm not much for the older classics, but this style is more pleasing to me than any of the above:
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@Robert M - Your photos do not display. gn
@Michael Pickett posted:
Yeah. Too bad they’re not mass produced and cost so much. I saw an article not too long ago that someone makes a Tipo 138 Alfetta replica that uses Miata mechanicals. $10k.
@Gordon Nichols posted:@Robert M - Your photos do not display. gn
I see ‘em.
That is one beautiful car.
@barncobob posted:kill it with fire
But my eyes! I can't un-see all this crap!
@Gordon Nichols posted:@Robert M - Your photos do not display. gn
@dlearl476 posted:I see ‘em.
Me too. I can't unsee them.
@DannyP posted:Neo-classics are ugly. I wouldn't be caught dead or alive in one.
They really put the "kit" in "kit car".
They just might be the inspiration for the word "tacky".
LOL.
I don’t know, I think that Bernardo is better looking than a Morgan +6.
Definitely needs 16” Dunlop wires on it instead of the ones that are one it. (13”? 14”?)