Where, in stock form, the bugeye Sprite is hardly peppy enough and the Miata has the spirit but not the charm of an old British sports car, combining the two seems the most logical thing to do. Thus, we applaud the seller of this 1965 Austin-Healey Sprite, who swapped in a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine and five-speed transmission from a Miata. From the seller’s description:

Bare-to-the-chassis rotisserie build including custom a-arm front suspension, tube shocks, RX7 rear axle with Wilwood disc brakes and limited slip diff, Electromotive ECU, Fiberglass Speedwell Bugeye Bonnet, Wire wheels, custom dash with Dolphin gauges, roll bar, etc etc…. Less than 200 miles since completion, runs strong.

The selling price of $12,500 doesn’t seem bad for a bugeye that’s been treated to this swap.

See more Austin-Healeys for sale on Hemmings.com.

Source: Daniel Strohl

It appears I missed a double-ended tank transporter when I was going over the LeTourneau- and Mack-built tank transporters last week, though this one’s somewhat different. Designated the XM376 (for the front unit) and XM377 (for the rear unit), each was an 8×8 rather than a 4×4, and both were designed to work together in one direction rather than with the ability to pull in either direction.

Crismon, who provided the information on this gigantor, was very critical of it. He noted that the entire unit weighed 64 tons, but was only designed to carry a 50-ton tank; that they were horribly non-maneuverable except in open fields; and that “the amount of money spent on this project must have been immense, and it served no practical purpose.”

We’re also not told who built this tank transporter. Both tractors used 560hp 1,195-cu.in. air-cooled Continental horizontally opposed eight-cylinder engines, backed by Allison four-speed automatic transmissions. Mack provided the axles (the two front axles on each unit steered), and the units were built in 1957. It’s likely the Army’s Detroit Arsenal assembled them, though I can’t yet confirm that supposition.

The transporter was designed to load tanks by uncoupling the rear unit, winching the tank onto the trailer, then recoupling the rear unit and driving off, at speeds of up to 35 MPH.

“The fascinating aspect of the double-ender story,” Crismon wrote, “is that for years prior to their advent, simple 6×6 tractors with normal semi-trailers had hauled tanks admirably, and they have done so consistently since the XM376/377.”

They were sold as surplus in 1961.

Source: Daniel Strohl

While we were in Long Beach, waiting for our ship to come in, we strolled past the city’s convention center where we came upon some sort of comic-con, or more accurately, a set of TV and movie cars helping to promote the comic-con. I’d seen the Obi-Shawn Del Sol around the Internet before, so it was kinda neat to see it in person. As to the provenance of the rest, I couldn’t tell, nor did I ask.

Source: Daniel Strohl

For the current issue of Hemmings Motor News, I wrote up a little introduction to the resilient wheel, a self-sprung technology that enjoyed not very much popularity in the decades before World War II.  But for an idea that essentially no one used, quite a few people wrote in to comment.

I’d never actually seen a car equipped with resilient wheels, either, until Jack Shea sent this photo in. The shot was taken in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1912, and the car is rocking a set of Isaac Jay’s wheels.

Aside from the patent (1,009,314), I’ve been able to dig up exactly bupkis on Jay. But Jack is actually more interested in the make and model of the car, and I’m nowhere on that, either. It’s something between one and four years old at the time of the photo, and there were Paige-Detroit, Stoddard-Dayton, Havers, Studebaker/E-M-F, Reo, Buick, Apperson and Franklin dealerships in Pendleton at that time, which is always a good place to start.

Any ideas, either on I. Jay or the car?

Source: David Traver Adolphus

From the same Yardley, Pennsylvania, based seller of the 1943 White from the other day comes this 1944 Ford M20. This one I had to look up in Crismon, where I see that the M20 was also designated the T26 and was based on the Ford T22 Armored Car. The difference between the two is that the T22 had a turret, while the M20/T26 had a Browning machine gun on a ring mount. From the seller’s description:

top speed 60 mph, restored & has field radio, complete, all it needs is gas to go to war

Crismon also wrote that the M20/T26 was powered by a 112hp Hercules JXD 320-cu.in. six-cylinder engine, though he pegged its top speed at just 55 MPH.

Source: Daniel Strohl

While the auctions in Scottsdale are usually the big winter news within the collector car hobby, the pre-spring events in Florida – in particular the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance – are one of the early signals that warmer weather is on the way over here on the East Coast.

Attending this year’s four-day event (scheduled to kick off on Thursday) is our very own Daniel Strohl, who is also planning to stop at the two auctions in town during the weekend.

Among RM Auctions‘ 114 lots that are scheduled to cross the block on Saturday is lot 182: a 1964 Shelby Cobra USRRC Roadster (CSX 2557) (see image above). Currently, the RM estimate is $1.5 – $1.9 million.

Nearby, Gooding & Company intends to hold their 72-lot auction on Friday, which will include a 1947 Mercury half-ton panel truck (lot 15) offered without reserve.

Both auction companies’ full catalogs can be found on their websites via the links above, or here and here, and look for Dan’s reports in the coming months within the pages of our Hemmings titles.

Source: Matt

“Instead of submitting such specific objections, defendant’s written submission consists of rambling, conclusory, and overly broad objections,” Warner wrote. “Furthermore, to the extent defendant has identified any specific vehicles, he provides only speculative arguments about vehicle values and generalized criticisms of the government’s appraisals.”

The sale is now on for April 1 and 2. While there are some interesting cars, as one of our commentors said, “I’ve seen this “collection” and there is not much there…The majority of these cars aren’t appreciating they are just getting older.” As we mentioned before, it’s heavy on questionable modifications and replicas.

So to build interest, auctioneers Erkelens and Olson have added a second day, with 50 more cars from an unrelated collection. Suddenly, this is a major auction of over 200 cars, bikes, boats and whatnot. This unnamed sale dovetails nicely with the Mowen cars, as it’s heavy on Fords and street rods.

The sale may have some controversy attached, but it’s certainly well-publicized, and Salt Lake City doesn’t see many auctions. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

Source: David Traver Adolphus

From Eddie Stakes comes this ad for a 1968 AMC Javelin, “the first of the AMX cars.” So, if we read literally into this, is the AMC Javelin the tool of the hunter or the hunter itself? Will it eat up all the Mustangs, Cougars, Barracudas and Firebirds once it’s hunted them down, or is it just meant to spear them for the fur bikini chick? And it’s a little ironic, donchathink, that AMC had just chucked the Marlin a year before this ad came out.

Source: Daniel Strohl

While most of the rest of the Hemmings staff who took the latest Hemmings cruise to the Mexican Riviera spent a couple days prior to the cruise bopping around Los Angeles, taking in museums and seeing the sights, Heather and I stayed in Long Beach, visiting friends and enjoying the warm weather.

Which is not to say I didn’t do my best to grab some shots of the Long Beach automotive wildlife while we were there. A walk along the marina provided a bit of sightseeing, and from the conditions of some of the vehicles, it appears they belong to boat-dwellers at the marina. On the solid ground side of the parking lot, it appeared the city had already begun setting up for the Long Beach Grand Prix next month.

Then at the end of the walk, we got a clear view of the Queen Mary. We later got a chance to walk around the great ship, which was a great opportunity, but the condition of the ship – deteriorating and neglected – was downright awful. I just read the other day, though, that there’s currently an effort underway to upgrade the QM. Hopefully they do her right.

Source: Daniel Strohl

The writers for RM are usually great about filling us in on the details of the cars they auction off, but the story behind this 1948 Mercury ute is rather thin. Over on the RM Fort Lauderdale site we see that it’s from the John O’Quinn collection (and that it’s estimated to sell for $20,000 to $40,000), but we see little else. From the auction description:

A rare right-hand drive example, this Mercury features an older body-up restoration, a flathead Ford V8,a wooden bed and a box cover.

Based on the number plate, this is the same Mercury ute that I saw at the Leake/Kruse Tulsa auction in 2005. It sold there for $19,750, and I rated it in #3+ condition.

See more Mercury vehicles for sale on Hemmings.com.

Source: Daniel Strohl