Breathtaking! That single word defines the 1970 Chevelle SS454 LS6. In 1990 the owner of an original LS6 gave me a ride. With a self-confessed “need for speed” – his Chicagoland daily driver was a 1987 Buick GNX – he held nothing back on this holeshot. Even on factory tires the LS6 launched as hard as any muscle car I’ve experienced, accompanied by the thunder only a 450hp 454 Big-Block can produce. This is elite performance from the muscle car era!

At the Barrett-Jackson Houston 2022 auction this beautifully restored LS6 coupe sold for $225,500, including buyer’s premium. While not record-setting, this was a high book sale. In general prices and sales of most vehicles have softened from the frenzy of the spring and summer of 2022. For more on this auction analysis, please see the March 2023 issue of Sports Car Market magazine: www.sportscarmarket.com⎘

December in Wisconsin is usually freezing and dreary, but on this day in 1998 it was in the 60s, a rare event.

I picked my daughter up from Kindergarten and we photographed a neighbor’s 1933 Alfa Romeo 2300. His collection was comprised of Italian classics (mostly Alfas) with little or no restoration, just the graceful patina of time. He lived a few blocks away in a large 1920s home known affectionally as “The Castle.” 

Often we’ll search for hours for the perfect location to photograph a vehicle; on this day “The Castle” was perfect!

Sinar F1 4×5 camera, Schneider 210 Symmar lens, Fuji Velvia 50 film.

Photos

Images © 1998 Tom Glatch – All Rights Reserved

Since 2017 Motorbooks/QuartoKnows⎘ has asked me to write the captions of their popular Muscle Car Calendar. I’ve worked with Motorbooks since 1991, and Publisher Zack Miller and Project Manager Dennis Pernu are the best in the book business. Telling the story of an automobile in 80 words or less is a real challenge, but one I thoroughly enjoy. The Motorbooks Muscle Car Calendar 2023 is now available on the Motorbooks/QuartoKnows⎘ site or wherever you buy calendars.

This week I’ve begun to write catalog texts for the upcoming Broad Arrow Group Palm Beach 2022 auction November 18-19. Broad Arrow Group is a new auction house made up of industry veterans. What I like is their mission of “a shared vision of bringing a new level of simplicity, transparency, and accountability within the collector car industry.” That’s sadly rare in this business. Their main auctioneer, Lydia Fenet⎘, is quite amazing, too. Writing the story of an automobile — and making it very attractive to potential bidders — in as few as 150 words is quite a challenge, but I write similar captions for our annual Motorbooks Muscle Car⎘ calendar in less than 80 words, so I’ve had some experience. Some of the texts I’ve written that are still available are…

1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray Convertible⎘

1950 Chrysler Town & Country Newport Coupe⎘

We have been members of The Original GTO Club of eastern Wisconsin since 2017 when they helped us greatly with our fourth book, The Complete Book of Pontiac GTO. The club welcomes all Pontiacs, since GTOs are becoming more rare and expensive every year. Each year the club has a Fall Cruise through the northern Kettle Moraine area of southeastern Wisconsin, and this year on October 8th we joined the club with “Annie”, our 1993 40th Anniversary Corvette Convertible (not a Pontiac, but a classic GM product just the same).

We started at Collins Deck Bar⎘ in West Bend, travelled to Parnell Tower⎘ in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, then to Harbor Lights Pub and Grille⎘ on Lake Ellen in Cascade for lunch, continued to Speiker’s Pumpkin Farm⎘ in Random Lake, and concluded at SoLu Estate Winery & Meadery⎘ in Cascade. Yes, that is an apple inside a bottle of homemade “apple pie”; club member Bob Brusky places the bottles on branches of his apple tree in spring, and hopes an apple grows inside it!

While we had a sunny day, it was cool and windy, and we could not drop the top, but we added 140 miles to Annie’s odometer and had a thoroughly wonderful day with a great group of enthusiasts.

Photos

We photographed this spectacular 1977 Ford LTD II for Collectible Automobile magazine in July. This beautiful Ford has only 24,000 miles (38,624 km) on it and is completely original, including the factory CB radio and antenna. The current owner just purchased this car from the original owner.

This was our first opportunity using the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.8G lens we recently purchased. The goal of automobile photography is to make the vehicle look as good as possible, and for nearly 40 years I’ve been looking for the perfect solution to separate the vehicle from the foreground and background. When we were photographing with a 4×5 view camera, I used 210mm and 305mm lenses, which are equivalent to 70mm and 100mm lenses in 35mm format. These came close to the “bokeh” I was looking for, but even with careful tilts and swings, I often had to stop down too much to fully blur the background while leaving the vehicle sharp.

Quite simply, the Nikon AF-S Nikon 85mm f1.8G⎘ lens is a dream come true! Look for these photographs in a 2023 issue of Collectible Automobile⎘ magazine.

Why would a 1970 Plymouth Superbird Hemi that normally sells for around $500,000 suddenly sell for $1.5 million? The ‘Bird wasn’t even exceptional quality. Simply, two bidders got into a war. When one bid $1.1 million, the other jumped to $1.5 million. War over! Add the buyer’s premium and this was a record breaking sale for a Superbird by large measure. Read all about it in the October 2022 issue of Sports Car Market magazine: www.sportscarmarket.com⎘.

Harry Miller’s cars won ten Indianapolis 500 events, and his engines dominated championship racing in the U.S. for decades, claiming 39 Indy 500 victories. When Johnny Rutherford took the checkered flag in the 1976 500, his McLaren/Offy became the last victor powered by a Miller-derived engine – 33 years after Harry Miller’s passing. Miller’s carburetors were the choice of racers in the teens and twenties, and he consulted with E.L. Cord on the front wheel drive Cord L-29. This is just a sample of Miller’s genius.

Fearing the legacy of Miller’s accomplishments would fade with time, industrialist David Vogel Uihlein, Sr. founded the Harry A. Miller Club⎘ in 1989. Knowing these machines were born to run, Uihlein also wanted track time for club members. They rented The Milwaukee Mile in 1995 for the first of what would be the annual “Millers at Milwaukee” event.

This is a fitting location, since Harry Miller was born in Menomonee, Wisconsin, and The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest continuously running automobile racetrack in the world, with the first contest taking place in 1903. Unlike other vintage events, Millers at Milwaukee is different: no competition, no concourse judging, no restricted paddock access – just the opportunity for comradery, education, and exercising these thoroughbreds. Any front-engine Indy Car is eligible, along with pre-World War II Grand Prix racers. David Uihlein passed away in 2010, but Harry Miller’s legacy is in good hands. That was evident at the Harry A. Miller Club’s 27^th annual Millers at Milwaukee event on July 8^th and 9^th this year.

Kelly and I covered this event which is scheduled for the Winter 2022 issue of Linkage⎘ magazine.

Photos

Images © 2022 Tom & Kelly Glatch – All Rights Reserved

On a 98°F (36.6°C) evening in June, we photographed this unusual 1974 Mercury Montego MX Station Wagon for Collectible Automobile magazine. With 66,886 miles (107,642 km) on the odometer, this unrestored wagon is very well preserved. Look for this Mercury Montego in the February 2023 issue of Collectible Automobile⎘ magazine.

Photos

Images © 2022 Tom & Kelly Glatch – All Rights Reserved

You don’t see one of these every day. Only 12 were built, and just two were convertibles. These were factory-built race cars with LS6 454 V8 power. The legendary 1967-69 L88 Corvettes the ZR2 replaced are more plentiful and better known, and generally sell for much more. Plus this one is factory original down to the tires, has all dealer documentation, and even has the original Protect-O-Plate warranty card. Selling for $962,500 this was right on the money, although I would have like to see it cross seven figures. Read all about it in the September 2022 issue of Sports Car Market magazine: www.sportscarmarket.com⎘.