Kingstown Shipping Car of the Year Heat 2
Does this car look familiar to you? Because it should, we featured it in our December 2019 issue (CA344). Mike Nash is the proud owner of this stunning 1967 Dodge Coronet 440 that he acquired a few years ago and has found it to be every bit the gorgeous survivor car that it appears to be, with low mileage and ownership. Although it was originally fitted with a 318 motor, it now boasts a 1973 360cu in V8, hooked up to a 727 Torqueflite. The car hailed from Missouri originally and had been in the possession of an ex-Chrysler employee.
With those stunning cantilever C-pillars, there’s no missing this mid-century modern Mopar and it will make quite the splash at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC in November, so make sure you pop along to see it and all the other heat winners. Although Mike was contemplating selling the car, wife Diane and kids Benjamin and Summer have persuaded him that’s a terrible idea and for the time being the Dodge remains part of the Nash family!
There did seem to be fewer cars for sale than in previous years, again perhaps something to do with Covid or fewer cars being shipped over from the States. One car that caught our attention was a very nice Forties Studebaker, or there was a Day Van for a bargain price under £5k. Of course there were plenty of other weird and wonderful cars to look at, from a pre-war Humber that seemed to have front ends at both the front and back, to a Batmobile type custom and a beautiful hot pink 1957 Lincoln with factory air conditioning, including those unusual see-through pipes in the rear that funnelled air-conditioned air from the trunk.
Unusual looking was a 1963 (?) Ford Fairlane 500 four-door in black with right-hand drive. This diminutive little (relatively speaking!) car wore blinds in its rear window, suggesting it hailed from South Africa and was probably built from a knock-down kit over there. A road tax disc from Cape Town confirmed this. Maybe South Africa could be the next big thing for sourcing American cars, assuming one doesn’t mind right-hookers?! All in all it was a great show, if a little quieter than expected due to the poor weather forecast. ★