Does Chrysler have a future?

The Chrysler Corporation has a wonderful and interesting history. It started with Walter P. Chrysler and the Maxwell Motors re-organization in 1925. Through the years Chrysler has offered many engineering and design features that were leading the auto industry. The first Chrysler automobile had both oil and air filters plus a pressurized lubrication system. Later models introduced four wheel hydraulic brakes and rubber engine mounts. In the mid-1930’s Chrysler built the Airflow, the first auto maker to consider aerodynamics and an all steel unibody type construction. The 1950’s brought us the first Hemi engine and the Virgil Exner “Forward Look”. We also could buy the first “Muscle Car”, the 1955 Chrysler 300. The 1960’s found Chrysler experimenting with Turbine power and building High Performance cars with 426 Hemi engines. The 1970’s brought us the Challenger and ‘Cuda. The 80’s had Shelby Daytona’s and GLHS’s, the 90’s introduced a V-10 Viper. So many exciting “American Dream Cars”, but what will the future bring?

Earlier this month, the New Chrysler Corporation presented their five year plan. Following the forced bankruptcy which gave Fiat (Fix It Again Tony) a 20% interest and managerial control of the “new” Chrysler, many feared there was no future. During the six hour long presentation, many planned changes were discussed, some good, many bad from a car nuts perspective. The Viper will cease production after just 500 additional units are completed. A new sports car is planned, but with Fiat influence. It seems the Challenger and Charger will continue, but with more emphasis on smaller engines, will they just be in name only. Lets hope the HEMI survives!! There are plans for continued involvement in Motor Sports. Team Penske will continue at NASCAR. Dodge trucks will become a separate Ram division and late next year, Fiat will import their mini Fiat 500 to be sold from Chrysler showrooms. With all these changes and heavy Fiat involvement, will Chrysler survive as an exciting American car company or just another International producers of small, fuel efficient “jelly beans”.

From its 1925 inception amid the bankruptcy, re-organization of the Maxwell Motor Company and now the Obama Administration’s forced bankruptcy of 2009, Will Chrysler survive this? We can only hope for the best. What do you think? We look forward to your opinion and comments.

AACA Fall Hershey Meet

The AACA Fall Meet in Hershey Pennsylvania was, as always, a very pleasant experience. Every time I attend this meet, I am amazed at the number of fabulous, beautifully restored vintage cars. We have prepared a photo collection that I took on Saturday, October 10th when AACA members bring their cars for judging and display. Follow the link to the gallery. Enjoy and please comment.

Click here to see the AACA Fall Hershey gallery.

2009 AACA Fall Hershey Meet

The weather was good for most of the 2009 AACA Fall Meet at Hershey, PA and I enjoyed seeing many historic and interesting cars.  Hotel rooms were available but harder to find and more expensive close to the show.  I personally think it is worth paying more to stay close to the meet because you [...]

The GM Futurliner at Fall Carlisle

If you have been following these blog posts, you have read that American Dream Cars attended and have vendor spaces at Carlisle. Our neighbor, this year, was the very impressive GM Futurliner #10.

Owned by the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States, #10 has visited several collector cars shows accompanied by several of the volunteers who helped restore this magnificent piece of industrial and automotive history.

The Futurliner is basically a bus with large clamshell type doors on each side. When opened, #10 becomes a stage where displays are set up. The volunteers have created an interesting display showing the Futurliner’s history. There was always a large numbers of visitors surrounding #10 and each visitor was given the opportunity to ascend stairway to the drivers seat.

Click here to view our photos and article.

Photo Gallery of Fall Carlisle 2009

For Collector Car enthusiasts, late September often means planning a trip to Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the annual Fall Carlisle Collector Car Swap Meet and Car Corral. This was the 35th year the meet was held. The weather was nearly perfect with lots of sun and almost no rain. Hundreds of venders selling everything automotive related. Hundreds of interesting collector cars were for sale in the Car Corral and thousands of attendees enjoyed the weekend.

Click here for the virtual tour.

Report On Fall Carlisle 2009

First and foremost we had a good time and the weather was pretty nice. The event seemed to be somewhat sparsely attended by both vendors and shoppers compared to past years. The Car Corral had a lot of collector cars for sale including some nice street rods but the spaces on the steepest part of the hill did not have any cars on them, which probably meant they did not sell. Can’t really blame people for not wanting to park their really nice cars there.

The GM Futurliner

American Dream Cars is officially at the Fall Carlisle Collector Car Swap Meet & Corral. One of the first things that caught our eyes was the very rare GM Futurliner. Only 12 were built and only nine Futurliners are known to exist, five of which are in total disrepair. Photographed below is Futurliner No. 10 restored to its original condition by Don Mayton. Enjoy and stay tuned for more posts from the Fall Carlisle show.

American Dream Cars At Fall Carlisle 2009

American Dream Cars is attending the Fall Carlisle Flea Market October 1st 2009 through October 4th 2009. Visit us at spaces IB75 though IB77 right in front of the grandstand. We look forward to meeting you.

If you can’t make the event don’t worry, American Dream Cars will be there taking photos of all the great cars and we will share them with you after the event.

What’s New at American Dream Cars

Welcome to the first post of the American Dream Cars collector car blog. We plan to write about topics effecting the collector car hobby, the American auto industry, and news about the American Dream Cars website. With all the things that have happened to the American auto industry in the last year we should have lots to write about.

The American Dream Cars website has had an upgrade or maybe we should call it a resto-mod restoration. This blog is part of it. We have also made it easier to submit your car ads, update your car ads, and delete your car ads right from the home page. In addition we have added a new section that has photos of some of the nice looking and interesting collector cars that have been advertised and sold on our site over the years. We call it Collector Car Photos and you can see it by Clicking Here. There is also a link to this new section from the American Dream Cars Home Page.