GM closed down the Pontiac brand during the global financial crisis but by that point its best was well behind it.  During the 2000’s it was offering insipid models with too much side cladding – A far cry from when it was GM’s performance division led by John DeLorean and setting the tone for the muscle car era.      This ad is a good representation of the image the brand was able to cultivate at the time.

Can you tell which Tempest is the tiger?

Easy.  The Le Mans on the right gets its power from our 4 – that’s the big 4 that stalks around acting like a V-8.   So you have to call it a tiger.

The other Le Mans Sports Coupe has our new 326 cu. in. V-8 ticked away under the hood – all 260 bhp of it.   That’s good for two tigers.   At least.  We called it the V-326.   It’s for people who are willing to admit that our 4 does go around acting like twice life size but still hanker for an heroic V-8.   So what’s actually with this Two Tiger V-8 that rates it more than a passing blurb? A weight-to-power ration of under 12 to 1 that bows only to machines so muscle-bound they can’t be driven happily on the street.   A whole bunch of no-nonsense torque -352 lb/ft of it.   And the only thing smoother drinks kerosene and carries stewardesses.

Suggestion:  Take a Le Mans with a Two-Tiger (we’ve got to stop calling it that or nobody’ll remember its real name), order it with $6.24 worth of heavy-duty suspension and one of our no-extra-cost performance axle ratios.   Then sit back in that left-hand bucket seat, depress the loud pedal, and blissfully contemplate The Good Life.

Wide-Track Pontiac Tempest.  

The post Ad of the week: Pontiac Tempest appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The Peugeot 404 is often compared to the Mercedes W114/W115.    It’s replacement the 504, is often compared to the W123.     The Peugeot 404 and 504 and the Mercedes W114/W115 and W123 were all popular in Africa.

A car almost impossible to criticize.

These are the words Road & Track uses to describe the new Peugeot 404. The magazine states that the 404 is “one of the best handling, most roadworthy compact sedans on the market.” Sports Cars Illustrated (now Car and Driver) predicts that the Peugeot 404’s body styling “will undoubtedly become a classic in years to come.” “Happy American Owners” according to Motor Trend “will testify that the 403 is one of the world’s most solid and dependable automobiles. They are soon to be joined by a good-size crowd who will be drawn naturally to the 404.” Won’t you join them at your nearby dealer’s showroom soon? There are over 500 conveniently located Peugeot dealers throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.

$2575 Suggested fully-equipped price. East and Gulf Coast P. O. E.

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Why do drivers “in-the-know” ride on Michelin “X” tires?

Because they know (as you will, too), that conventional tire structure is becoming passe… incurs limitations.

Whereas, Michelin “X” introduces a new concept.. The scope of possibilities is widended.

Michelin X Features:

• 3 layers of steel cords… A notable advance (through tread stabilization) in safety and surpassing mileage.
• Radial carcass plies… a significant step forward in new-found comfort.

The post Ad of the week: Michelin Radial X appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Coupe D’Etat

For over half a century, it has been the pleasure of men of state to drive, or be driven in a Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz now offers its newest car, a veritable coupe of state, to the discriminating few who can afford to be seen in this, the finest of machines. It is the new 220SE coupe with a fuel injection engine, optional power steering and a choice of automatic for four-speed transmission.

Its interior is completely hand-fitted with elegant leather and wood embellishments and represents the best of the coachmaker’s art. There is no similar car in the world. It combines sports-like performance with the dignity of diplomacy. Further, it carries its silver three-pointed star in the restful silence of complete discretion. That, of course, is in keeping with the seventy-five-year-old tradition of Mercedes-Benz.

The post Ad of the week: Coupe d’Etat – Mercedes W111 Coupe appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

This car has its ups and downs.

Moody?  No.  French, and logical.

When road conditions change, you can change the height of a Citroen car to suit the road.   Citroen can do it, and only a Citroen.

Deeply rutted road, heavy snowdrift?  Uo you go, and pull away with plenty of clearance.

Flat tire? Raise her up higher still.   The jacking is automatic, and only on a Citroen.

Regular road or smooth turnpike?  Cruise along at normal height.   The comfort is something to marvel at.

By means of a lever you control Citroen’s ups and downs without leaving the drivers seat (varying the driving clearance from 6 1/2″ to 12″).

Result?

Citroen’s exclusive Air-Oil Suspension system seems to actually change the road.   Reducing fatigue.  Eliminating ruts.  Flattening bumps.   As if Citroen was rolling out its own carpet of concrete.   What could be more French… or logical.. than Citroen, the Most considerate car in the world.

The post Ad of the week: This car has its ups and downs appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

If you were a prince in the 1930’s, you might have owned a Mercedes-Benz 540K.   Today, you can drive an even finer convertible – for $11,000 less.

Mercedes-Benz built its classic 540K Cabriolet (background) with all the delicate speed of an oyster constructing a pearl.

During the entire four year life of the model, 1936 through 1939, only 406 cars left the plant.

But these cars, snapped up by the rich and royal for the equivalent of $23,000 today, were enough to make the 540K a legend – the epitome of motoring splendour in the era.

Even now, miniature 540Ks adorn the shelves of modellers, and originals are the envy of aficionados at concours d’elegance the world over.

The latest Mercedes-Benz luxury convertible is at the left. The 280SE. While modern technology has spurred production to a heady nine cars a week, helping shave the price to a mere $12,000, the car is a worthy successor to the 540K in every way.

If you could strip away the body, you’d find a chassis startlingly different from that of any convertible or sedan built in America.

The innards of an Indianapolis racing machine would come closer. You’d spot all-independent suspension, for matchless agility and roadholding. Massive, four-wheel disc brakes, for heroic stopping power. And an obedient steering system that blesses yhou with precise “Feel-of-the-road” control.

Of course, all Mercedes-Benz motor cars, even those under $5,000, have those same performance features.

But the Convertible is also a masterpiece of workmanship.

The body cannot be unbolted from the frame, as with a conventional car, because they are welded into one rigid, rattle-thwarting unit.

Hands in soft gloves caress the body to detect bumps and burrs, and smooth them away. Vital seams are soldered and buffed to oblivion.

Probing with stethoscopes, engineers have winnowed out harmonic vibrations in the drive train. Seat springs are actually tuned to the car’s suspension movements – to cancel out thousands of tiny, tiring tremors every mile.

Of course, all Mercedes-Benz motor cars, even those under $5,000 are build this way too.

So what makes the convertible worth $12,000? Finicky details, frankly. Like the exquisite leather that lines the car. Glove Box, underside of the dash, and all.

Like the handmade fabric top, so thick it houses a courtesy lamp, so padded it muffles rod noise better than most hard tops, so taut it refuses to flutter at turnpike speeds.

Like the trim of knurled walnut root, macassar or other rare woods.

For all the amenities of the Convertible, char with your dealer.

And, while you’re in the showroom, examine some other models. You may be surprised at what a splendid Mercedes-Benz you can get – even for a less princely sum.

The post Ad of the week: 280SE W111 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

What have all those Mercedes-Benz racing engineers been doing since Mercedes-Benz got out of racing?

When Mercedes-Benz brought its racing program to a close in 1955, the Racing Car Department section at Stuttgart-Untertukheim kept right on working.

Only the sign on the door was changed. The company had proved its point by winning two world titles in two successive seasons. So Racing Car Development rejoined Passenger Car Development. The same engineering brains that had devised the invincible W-196 and 300SLR returned to devising automobiles for everyday use.

That competition experience helped. Instead of vanishing into some dark back room, many prime features from racing machines – from fuel injection to overhead camshafts to rear swing-axle suspensions – soon turned up in production models, suitably modified, as standard equipment.

The engineers continued to insist on racing tolerances for many vital components once the cars reached production. (For example, engine bearings are still machined down to four 10,000ths of an inch.)

And when the rolled off the line, the testing section insisted on judging the handling and braking and high-speed stability of family sedans by the same harsh standards they had used to judge racing cars.

The end result of all this engineering skill is a series of automobiles every bit as invincible in their sphere as the racings were in theirs. Cars built to be efficient, without frivolity or fat.

Drive a Mercedes-Benz soon. It’s the best and the quickest way to find what those Mercedes-Benz racing engineers have been doing since Mercedes-Benz got out of racing. You’ll find they’ve been doing quite a lot.

Many of the legendary racing machines that have won more than 4,400 victories for Mercedes-Benz now stand in the Daimler-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Unterturkheim, West Germany. Many of the features they pioneered can now be found on Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.

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Cool off any strip

Lay on our 426-cube V8 and… ZAP! Drag records fall like pelted partridges. That’s because horsepower comes so close to matching displacement that few moving things are its equal.

The 426’s stablemates, too, give you more rubber-scorching potential than the competition. There’s the 383 with four barrels. The 383 with two. And the 318, our standard V8, that’ll out-drag about any standard engine in the low-price field. This one’s remarkably thrifty too.

And here’s one thing to remember. There are 24 models of the standard size ’63 Dodge. Every one is in the low-price field! See them at your Dodge Dealer.

Hot 63 Dodge

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This is a US ad, so the car is shown with US headlights.  US headlights were different as archaic laws meant headlights that turned with the steering were not allowed.   Nor were lights that adjusted with the suspension.  The car in the ad has panel gaps better than any new DS21 ever did!

Citroen introduced front wheel drive, chassis-less construction, replaceable wet cylinder liners, large-amplitude independent suspension system… as far back as 1934… The company possesses and apparently bottomless source of brilliant technical solutions to the rest of the world’s motor industries have either never noticed, or have pretended don’t exist in the hope they might go away.

So there are really only two kinds of cars in the world today: Citroen and the rest.

The post Ad of the week: Citroen Technology appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

This Mercedes-Benz Invites You to Europe as its Guest.

More than 60,000 owners of Mercedes-Benz motorcars in this country can tell you about substantial savings in fuel, routine maintenance, in repairs.   They will happily confide that, instead of trading in every two or three years, they prefer to keep on enjoying their Mercedes-Benz and keep their money in the bank.

But you can enjoy another advantage in Mercedes-Benz.   Arrange with your dealer to take delivery in Europe…  The dollar savings can pay for a glorious vacation.

We suggest you visit him, and ask for the figures.   And while you are there, take a drive behind the three-pointed silver star!

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