classic cars - OKIEROVER.COM

February 17, 2014May 15, 2023

An Old Classic on an Old Route (Post #451) 2/17/2014

I was up in Oklahoma City on Sunday. My friend Grant was trying out for the Oklahoma City Energy. I told him I’d come up and watch him play. He is a good soccer player and I believe he had a legitimate chance to make the final two squads from which 3 or 4 players would be invited to the team. Over 200 hundred young and some not so young men were suited up that weekend.

It was a ridiculously windy weekend with steady winds of 25 and gusts of 35 mph and higher. Simply put a very windy day. How they played soccer in that wind was beyond me.

After the matches were over I decided to take the “back way” home. South Oklahoma City is laid out in section lines, one mile sections. When I was a kid and worked in South Oklahoma City at the Braum’s at 89th and Pennsylvania I would drive the section lines to and from the store. After you drive the highway a few hundred times you get kinda tired of the same old route.

Meridian Avenue used to be the main north and south route before Highway 62 was built. It had businesses and even a road house near the river bridge. Today the Southlake Soccer Complex is there and a few trucking businesses still call the area home. Farms and the airport complex are west of Meridian.

I got in the Range Rover and as I pulled up to Meridian a Nash Metropolitan rolled by. I looked it up and it appeared to be a Series IV. I don’t see Nash Metropolitan’s very often. In my parent’s neighborhood growing up a neighbor on the next block had TWO of these sitting in the backyard of their home. I got in behind him and followed him. I over took him on 134th street and snapped the picture. He wasn’t in a hurry. He was having a true “Sunday drive”. He looked like he was enjoying it.

Winter has broken on the southern plains. I hope to see more and more classics as the weather warms up and people take to the roads.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

February 7, 2014May 15, 2023

1969 Cord (Post #445) 2/7/2014

I was eating at VZD’s on an unusually pretty day back in January when I spied what appeared to be a Cord pull up in front. The owner came in and I asked him if that was indeed a Cord. He said it was a 1969. Four hundred were made.

He told me about them being made in Oklahoma. I found this snippet along with a Youtube video.

These cars were made on an assembly line in Tulsa and later Mannford, Oklahoma for three years. It is a production of the original Cord inspired design but gone is the Lycoming V8 and front wheel drive..instead there is a 5.0 liter Ford power plant. A Chrysler 440 engine was also offered. The body is made of a fiberglass like material, apparently scaled down from the original dimensions of Cord. An earlier version by another company had a Corvair power plant and front wheel drive…it did not last in the marketplace…it was replaced by these Lear models.

I found a history of the Cord company and its principals on this site.

http://www.stutzbearcat.com/cordhistory.htm

According to Hagerty’s has an average value of 21,000$(US). The owner said it was a toy of his and he had only owned it six months.

I wanted to share this little piece of automotive history, history of Oklahoma, and a rare car with you. It’s an eclectic bunch that eats at VZDs in Oklahoma City and their cars reflect that.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

December 20, 2008May 15, 2023

Observations at 181818 miles (Post #121) 12/20/2008

I managed to wrest the Range Rover from my dear daughter’s hands for some much needed care. I took the Classic down and got her a new exhaust. As you have read in previous posts, the catalytic converters were gone. They needed replacing in the worst sort of way. Also recently the right side exhaust gasket was also gone. So the sounds of the 4.2 had become a horrible caucaphony of sounds. I couldn’t stand it any longer.

So I swapped Rovers with her and when I got in I found that no less than three homeless people have been living in the spacious rear of my Classic. Okay, maybe not, but one nearly 18 year old was living out of the backseat. As you can see in the following picture an amazing collection of items have found their home in the floor of the spacious Range Rover LWB.

I don’t remember much about being 18, but I’m sure I didn’t live out of the back of my 1973 Ford Maverick Grabber. People actually sat in the backseat of my car on occasions. Yeah I know it’s hard to believe but I did have friends AND they liked me driving them around. I’m not sure any one can sit in the back seat of the Rover in it’s present condition.

So if you don’t have kids yet remember this picture. That way when you pass one of your beloved Land Rovers to your spawn you know what to expect.

While you are expecting the inside of your beloved British import to be trashed never fear, the outside will also be assaulted. As I remember marking on my friends cars with “shoe polish” I don’t remember it ever damaging anything. The kids have decorated my daughter’s Rover with many coats of shoe polish over the last two years.

The collection of stickers I have placed on the Rover have taken a beating. As you know stickers increase the off-road capability proportionately to the number you adhere to the outside of the vehicle. As you can see in the picture the stickers have been bleached clean by the application of shoe polish and the associated washings to remove the caustic stuff.

So each time you apply your own particular flavor of magic to keep your Land Rover motoring about the familiar landscape of your home town and the trails to your favorite fishing spots or camping sites remember no amount of maintenance and parts replacement can protect your Land Rover from an 18 year old. Eighteen year old’s and their affect on Land Rovers cannot be protected by applications of Waxoyl or installation of brush guards or applications of Lexol to keep your leather seats intact. No products have been invented that can protect your Land Rover from the day to day use by an eighteen year old. Only luck and the magical event of your dear little rug rat getting their first career job and their desire to “drive something else” will protect your Land Rover from the unanticipated affects of an eighteen year old.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.