Shark Attack! Corvette Style.

1961 Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark

We love to find and feature awesome Corvettes on “One of A Kind”. You may have seen our 1957 Airbox Corvette.  Looks like Amelia Island was the place to be for those of us who ‘em…

The Corvettes of Amelia Island Concours 2012

One can find it challenging to define an automotive “golden age”.  For someone growing up in before WWII, it might have been the roaring twenties and the rise of custom bodied cars.  That sun settled with the depression and the start of WWII.  After which gave rise to the nimble sports car which in turn gave birth to the “golden age” of the American muscle car.

In the fifties, the big 3 were focused on profit and marketing strategies.  Big was in as suburbia ventured out on the exponentially increasing highway system.  Even as the bean counters sought sturdy profits in comfortable sedans, there was an undercurrent coming from the youngsters. (read more at Velocity Channel).

In the Air Tonight. ’57 Airbox Corvette. Only on Velocity. Watch it now!

'57 Airbox Corvette

Fire Powered. Air Cooled.

How do you cool a high-performance engine?

This is one of the questions automotive engineers have struggled with since the first internal combustion engine. The sheer explosive propulsion of fuel-fired pistons could theoretically result in limitless power. But at some point, that power becomes destructive, warping the very pistons it was designed to move.

For years, engineers have pushed the envelope, trying to balance maximum power with optimal cooling. Most of these experiments, by design, result in cam seizures, blown gaskets, or thrown rods. They self-destruct.

But the rare ones live on. In 1957, GM engineers thought they had an answer to performance engines’ thorniest problem. And the answer was so simple, it made perfect, head-slapping sense.

Air.

The Airbox Corvette is one of the great experiments in engine cooling, and the crazy thing is that it almost worked. Find out how the engineers ingineously designed airflow, and what ultimately went wrong, tonight. Only on One of a Kind: Cars. Only on Velocity at 9:30.

When It Comes to Race Cars, Necessity is the Mother of Invention

by Eileen Marable

There’s nothing that a car loving gal like me likes more than finding out the history of some of the incredible finds in our shows.  While familiar with many of the bigger name models that ended up in mass production, I’ve got a long way to go before I’m schooled in the more rare finds out there.

'57 AIRBOX CORVETTE

This week the gang at One of a Kind give us a glimpse of the 57 Airbox Corvette and the Ferrari 412P…you’ll have to tune in to get the stories behind the amazing restorations, but here are the basic facts to get you in the mood.

‘57 Airbox Corvette

Man is this car sweet.  With its rounded lines visually it looks built for racing, even I can see that.  But the real hot stuff is under the hood.

According DZAUto, an expert on the Airbox Corvette over at Corvette Forums, the term “Airbox” came along when a design option was added on just 43 of the fuel injected cars from 1957.  (CLICK HERE FOR MORE)

Born to be Wild. The incredible true story of the 1953 Buick Wildcat Concept I. Tune in Tonight.

1953 Buick Wildcat Concept I

Most “Dream Cars” were anything but.

With deadlines looming, and pressure building, the heat was on GM designers to get concept cars out the door. In order to wow the crowds at Motorama, the cars just had to look good. In most instances, they didn’t even have to run.

The 1953 Buick Wildcat was completely different. GM engineers took the time to outfit this classic from bumper to bumper, from the engine to the radio. They made sure the Buick Wildcat could have been driven off the showroom floor — unlike any other concept car made by GM.

Then this Wildcat helped kill the concept car altogether.

What made this car both the pinnacle of the Motorama era, and the beginning of the end? You’ll find out, if you watch One of a Kind: Cars. Only on Velocity. Only at 9:30 E/P. 8:30 CST. And don’t forget to check in with @VelocityTV1 or @OneofAKindTV at 5pm EST for details on tonight’s photo caption contest (photo will be released at 5).

You can choose only one…

Thanks to everyone who tuned into last night’s episode of “One of A Kind”.Which car did you like best?

Have you ever heard of Figoni et Falaschi?  Perhaps not as they are a fairly rare find. They are flamboyant roadsters brought to life by Guiseppi Fignoni primarily in the 1930’s. His style as a coachbuilder is unmistakable…he was obsessed with fighting the wind and drag created around a vehicles tires. So in Fignoni et Falaschi vehicles you’ll see a signature “teardrop” enclosure sloping over the wheels. Frankly, it’s pure auto porn.

What about the Cadillac Pininfarina? That’s not a model that immediately pops to mind from this iconic brand. Pinin Farina was a specialist in building custom models of popular cars for big name buyers. He began his inroads into the US market in 1947 when a Cadillac distributor in LA asked him to design some special models for their Hollywood buyers. He was glad of the chance to make inroads to the largest market in the world. (click here to read more)

Top Five Ways to Modify Your New 1956 Chevrolet.

Chevrolet El Morocco

Congratulations on your new car, the 1956 Chevrolet. As you take it home for the first time, let us make you aware of the most popular ways to rip it apart and make it almost unrecognizable:

Replace the Front Bumper Guards. Almost anything will do. You say you have 1937 Dodge truck headlamp shells lying around? That’s perfect. Sand them down and plug them in.
Line the Sides with Olbrich Castings. The side trim is one of the most distinctive hallmarks of a luxury car, and your modified Chevy won’t look the same without it.
Replace the Wheel Covers. Put on some classic Sabre-Spoke wheel covers, making it look as if they belong to a car twice the price.
Customize the Steering Wheel. Add a touch of class to your new car by imprinting it with your own name.
But the number one way to modify your new Chevrolet to increase its resale value by nearly a thousandfold is…
All of these things actually happened to the 1956 Chevrolet as it was modified into a completely different automobile, the El Morocco. But to discover what the El Morocco’s most distinctive feature was, you’re going to have to tune in to One of a Kind: Cars tonight, only on the Velocity Channel.

New “One of A Kind” Episode Tonight.

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne. Welcome to the Future.

Sent to the Junkyward

The 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne should not exist.

Crushed. In a landfill. Recycled. Pulped. Unrecognizable. General Motors signed this car’s death warrant in 1959, and watched as a junkyard took it apart, piece by piece.
This car should be dead.
It’s amazing what we lose when we don’t pay attention. We throw things away because they’re taking up space, or because the new hotness comes along. We have a blind spot in our rear-view mirrors that doesn’t see the value in things that fall between old and new.

Rescued and Restored

General Motors was spending too much money keeping its museum pieces in storage, and they decided to clean house. We’ve all made that decision. We’ve tossed out old class notes, or clothes we’ve outgrown, or a pot we used to make pasta night after night. And it’s not until those things are gone that we realize that it had more value than we thought.

Someone managed to grab this car before it hit the crusher. A priceless ancestor of a generation of GM cars was saved. But the way it was brought back to life is simply unbelievable.
That’s why we built a show around it. Tuesday, check out a brand-new episode of One of a Kind: Cars, on Velocity TV. It’s a car show that’s so much more than a car show, but we’re biased.
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