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Category Archives: Classic Bits

THE FORD MODEL A—FOLLOWING A TOUGH ACT PART 2

FOUR YEARS OF THE MODEL A FORD couldn’t match the Model T’s 19 years. But tidbits still abound. Here in Part 2, we continue with R&T’s February 1957 discussions, together … Continue reading

March 31, 2023 · 4 Comments

THE FORD MODEL A—FOLLOWING A TOUGH ACT PART 1

THE Model T Ford was certainly a tough act to follow. Indeed, the Model A that succeeded it in 1927 wasn’t even the first Ford Model A. Ford’s 1903 car … Continue reading

March 30, 2023 · 2 Comments

AMERICAN EXUBERANCE FROM ACROSS THE POND

JULIAN BALME WRITES A CHARMING ARTICLE “Austin A90 Atlantic: One for the Album” in Classic & Sports Car, March 14, 2023, about a car built in 1950 that made an … Continue reading

March 26, 2023 · 15 Comments

VINTAGE DRIVING—RECREATED IN 1957

“CLASSIC TESTS” WERE AN R&T FEATURE for awhile, wherein editors would assemble data from contemporary sources and write a virtual road test of the classic era. The Bugatti Type 49 … Continue reading

March 23, 2023 · Leave a comment

“ON A JAG IN A HEALEY”

A STRANGE SUBHEAD for an R&T road test? Even more so: One of the road test’s stars was a 28-year-old David E. Davis, Jr., three years before his association with … Continue reading

March 16, 2023 · 1 Comment

JENKS ON “TIGERING” AND OTHER RACE-DRIVING MATTERS

LEAFING THROUGH R&T APRIL 1959 (some time-gobbling in addition to this website and GMax), I came upon “The Racing Driver,” excerpts from Denis Jenkinson’s book subtitled “The Theory and Practice … Continue reading

March 7, 2023 · 1 Comment

COMPACT COMPARO PART 2

R&T INTRODUCED ITS READERS to compact cars in November 1959. Yesterday in Part 1, its chart identified 21 of these with wheelbases between 100 and 110 in., and the magazine’s … Continue reading

February 28, 2023 · 4 Comments

COMPACT COMPARO 1959 PART 1

WHAT WITH OPULENCE GONE WILD in the late 1950s domestic auto scene (and increasing popularity of foreign cars notably the Volkswagen Beetle), compacts were a rational response. R&T was there … Continue reading

February 27, 2023 · 5 Comments

ON GRAUPEL AND A STRANDED CAN-AM CAR

I WAS RAISED IN CLEVELAND and spent undergrad years in Worcester, Massachusetts. So snow is nothing new to me. Indeed, it’s where I learned about not just drifting snow, but … Continue reading

February 26, 2023 · 3 Comments

007, YOUR CAR IS READY (IF PREMATURELY)

THE 1959 ASTON MARTIN DB-4 could well have been 007’s first car, though it wasn’t. His Bentley 4 1/2 Litre (first appearing in the Casino Royale novel, 1953) was “almost … Continue reading

February 20, 2023 · 1 Comment