Metzlers Classics

10/28/2026

Around this time in 1942, states across the country were putting a 35 mph speed limit into effect. They called it "Victory Speed," and it wasn't about safety. It was about tires.

After Pearl Harbor, Japan cut the US off from about 90% of its natural rubber. Civilians were allowed to keep five tires, and any extras had to be turned in. If you needed new tires or even a recap, you had to get permission from a ration board. Driving 35 instead of 60 roughly doubled how long your tires lasted.

It got worse from there. Detroit stopped building civilian cars in February 1942 and switched over to war production. Gas was rationed with a sticker on your windshield, and the most common one, an "A" sticker, got you four gallons a week. A lot of people just parked their cars for the rest of the war.

So if you've ever wondered why '42 to '45 is a gap in every car lineup, that's why. And the cars that were already on the road had to last, no matter what.

Anybody have family stories about driving during the war?

10/27/2026

On this day in 1948, the London Motor Show opened, and Jaguar rolled out the XK120.

Jaguar never planned to build many of them. The show car was mostly something to fill their spot while the new sedan was still being finished. But people went nuts over it, and Jaguar couldn't keep up with orders. It ended up in production for six years, with over 12,000 built.

The "120" was the top speed, and at the time that made it about the fastest production car you could buy. In 1949 they took one out on a highway in Belgium and ran it over 132 mph with a few tweaks. It ran a 3.4 liter twin-cam straight six making 160 horsepower, and that engine family stayed in Jaguars for decades.

Most of the early cars went to wealthy Americans, and it's a big part of why the sports car craze took off over here after the war.

10/27/2026

This week in 1954, Chevy introduced one of the most influential engines ever built: the small-block V8.

It started as a 265 in the '55 Chevrolet. Ed Cole's team designed it to be light, simple, and cheap to build, and it revved better than just about anything else in its price range. Before that, the hot setup at Chevy was the old Stovebolt six.

From there it kept growing. In '57 the 283 got fuel injection and Chevy advertised one horsepower per cubic inch. Then came the 327, and in '67 the 350, which became the engine that went in pretty much everything. Cars, trucks, boats, hot rods, race cars, you name it.

The original design stayed in production for nearly 50 years, and GM has built more than 100 million small blocks. You can still buy a brand-new 350 crate engine today. Parts are everywhere, they're cheap, and just about every mechanic in the country has had one apart at some point.
I'm a Mopar guy, but you've got to respect it. There's a reason it's the engine everybody else gets measured against.

#350

10/27/2026

This week in 1954, Chevy introduced one of the most influential engines ever built: the small-block V8.

It started as a 265 in the '55 Chevrolet. Ed Cole's team designed it to be light, simple, and cheap to build, and it revved better than just about anything else in its price range. Before that, the hot setup at Chevy was the old Stovebolt six.
From there it kept growing. In '57 the 283 got fuel injection and Chevy advertised one horsepower per cubic inch. Then came the 327, and in '67 the 350, which became the engine that went in pretty much everything. Cars, trucks, boats, hot rods, race cars, you name it.

The original design stayed in production for nearly 50 years, and GM has built more than 100 million small blocks. You can still buy a brand-new 350 crate engine today. Parts are everywhere, they're cheap, and just about every mechanic in the country has had one apart at some point.
I'm a Mopar guy, but you've got to respect it. There's a reason it's the engine everybody else gets measured against.

#350

10/23/2026

Remember the #86 Mopar kit car I posted the other day? Here's a closer look.

Under the hood is a class-specific 355 small block with W2 heads, topped with a big 2-barrel carb that the class rules called for. That's the same basic combo Chrysler and Petty Enterprises built the kit car program around back in the '70s. The W2 heads were Chrysler's race head for the small block, and they're a big part of why these things ran like they did.

These weren't street cars somebody converted. Chrysler sold the whole package so racers could buy a competitive car straight from the factory and go short track racing on Saturday night.
Anybody ever run against one of these back in the day, or turn wrenches on one?

10/23/2026

On this day in 1994, Dale Earnhardt locked up his seventh Winston Cup championship. That tied him with Richard Petty for the most titles ever.
Seven championships is still the record. Jimmie Johnson tied it later, but nobody's gotten to eight. Petty, Earnhardt, or Johnson, who's the best of the three?

10/23/2026

On this day in 1994, Dale Earnhardt locked up his seventh Winston Cup championship. That tied him with Richard Petty for the most titles ever.
Seven championships is still the record.

Jimmie Johnson tied it later, but nobody's gotten to eight.

Petty, Earnhardt, or Johnson, who's the best of the three?

10/22/2026

10/22/2026

On this day in 1903, Henry Ford got sued for building cars. Not for a bad car or a wreck, just for building them at all.

It goes back to a patent lawyer from Rochester, NY named George Selden. In 1876 he went to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and saw a big internal combustion engine built by a guy named George Brayton. Selden came up with a smaller, lighter version and filed a patent in 1879 for a "road engine," basically a gas engine on a four-wheeled vehicle with a clutch and brake.
Selden knew how the patent office worked, and he kept that application dragging along for about 16 years before it was finally granted in 1895. By then cars were actually becoming a thing, and he was sitting on a patent he claimed covered every gas-powered car in America.

A company called the Electric Vehicle Company bought the rights, and a group of carmakers formed the ALAM, the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers. If you wanted to build cars, you joined, and you paid a royalty of 1.25% on every car you sold. If you didn't, they sued you. If you've ever seen a little brass plaque on an early car that says "Manufactured Under Selden Patent," that's where it came from.

Ford actually applied to join, and they turned him down. So he just kept building cars anyway, and on October 22, 1903 they took him to court. Ford fought back with ads promising his customers he'd protect them if anybody came after them for buying a Ford.

In 1909 the court ruled against him and said the patent was good. Most guys would've folded right there, but Ford appealed. He had the brand new Model T on the line.

In January 1911 the appeals court flipped it. They said the patent was valid, but only for cars using Brayton's style of engine, and nobody was building those. Ford and pretty much everybody else were running Otto-cycle engines, the same basic four-stroke design we still use today. So Ford wasn't infringing on anything.

The patent only had about a year left on it by then, the ALAM fell apart, and anybody could build a car without paying the club. Eight years in court, and Ford beat the whole industry.

03/18/2026

Some of the new additions to the fleet.
77 Chrysler Cordoba 400-4
77 Dodge Diplomat Hurst T Top 318
78 Chrysler LeBaron 318
78 Dodge Monaco 318

Cordoba is a parts car for my personal stuff. Lebaron will be for sale after its revival as is the Monaco. The Hurst car on the other hand will under go an entire restoration to be debuted at THE Chryslers at Carlisle 2027