After many, many months of editing, authoring, and producing, I'm proud to add the word "shipping" to the list of accomplishments regarding this DVD.

And now, while I'm shipping units out to investors, I want to offer all of you orphan car fans the opportunity to invest in and own a copy of this DVD.

It contains almost two hours of vintage AMC Gremlin and Pacer movies and commercials. It's mostly Pacer stuff, but I guarantee you've never seen most of this footage.

It was shot by AMC for their own publicity purposes, but it was stored away in the back room of some Kenosha film company that liquidated its assets in 2006.

Here's a list of the DVD's content:

Gremin Films:
1973 Clean Air Economy Run (featuring AMC’s economy driving champ Les Viland)
1974 Gremlin Manufacturing Scenes - 25:09

Pacer Films:
1974 Pacer at Michigan International Speedway (October 1974) - 8:49
1975 Pacers at Riverside (January 1975) - 11:19
1975 Pacer Press Preview - 20:50
1975 Pacer Manufacturing Scenes - 22:52
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Spoof” - :30
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Shell (Nova)” - :60
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Shell (Nova)” - :30
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Shell (Grenada)” - :30
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Piper” - :60
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Sandwich King” - :60
1975 Pacer TV Commercial “Sandwich King” - :30

It adds up to 119 minutes worth of rare and vintage AMC content. If you're a 1970s AMC fan, this DVD is for you! Order now, because this is a limited edition DVD. Once I'm done making the current two dozen or so copies, there won't be any more. Click on the PayPal button below to get your copy!

I really like what Collectible Automobile has done with their Design Fantasy sketch series.

Basically, CA has asked, "What if Brand X cross-pollinated with Brand Y to create a car that looked a little like both?" Publisher Frank Peiler then sketches up the results.

These visual mashups are fun. Some of them force you to do a double take. The Ford/Nash mutation in the June 2008 issue almost makes me do a spit take.

Good job, Editor Biel. At least you're trying to lighten up the magazine while maintaining its scholarly credentials. (Now if we could just get CA to create a web site!)

Snap! Crackle! Pop! That's not the Rice Krispies elves, kids. That's the noise coming out of your vintage orphan car tube radio!

You'll jump on it first thing after that engine rebuild, right? Well, now you don't have to wait.

Torq-O talks with Jim Cross, the owner of Vacuum Tubes, Inc. Jim will tell you why car radios with tubes aren't that difficult or expensive to repair.

Listen here, or check out the Enhanced Version on our Podcast page!

Pete Koziell, a Nash Car Club of America member, has co-produced a new documentary about the folks who crash cars for fun and not so much profit.

The movie is called Hell Drivers: America's Original Crash Test Dummies, and Pete plans to take it on the road through the film festival circuit this summer.

I checked out the web site. Although the film seems to be about modern hell drivers, I know that Pete has probably included historical footage of past hell drivers like Lucky Lee Lott (who wrecked Nashes for a living) and Aut Swenson (who destroyed Kaiser-Frazers).

You might love old cars, and you're good with a wrench. At Torq-O, we love orphan cars, but we're better with a video camera.

We've just posted a new video on YouTube that we think you'll like. It's a behind-the-scenes look at how we produced all of the media for our upcoming Gremlin/Pacer DVD. Watch below, and enjoy!

Production Update: this sucker is 90% done! I still have to create introductions for two of the movies on the DVD, but everything else is ready to go.

Bottom line: the DVD that all of you have been patiently waiting for will start shipping near the end of April.

Hot Rod did a bad, bad thing.

In its April 2008 issue, writer Steve Stanford gave us the scoop on "the biggest story of the year, and no one saw it coming." His six page article is stuffed with details about the resurgence of AMC. He even had illustrations of modernized AMC classics like the Javelin, the AMX, the Gremlin, the Pacer, the Ambassador, and even the Matador coupe as visual proof that the brand was coming back.

But then you get to the very bottom of the article where you learn that "...Hot Rod and Steve Stanford have been jacking with you-APRIL FOOLS!"

AMC fans have responded with all the humor of a Marine drill sergeant. Check out the responses on The AMC Forum. Over at the HotRod.com General Topics Forum, the response has ranged from "Chrysler are you listening? This is your chance to make a difference and make AMERICAN mean something! American Motors! Do it!" to "Do you know how many guys I have to tell that I'm a dumb ass - for not reading the fine print!"

To the editors at Hot Rod: look both ways before crossing the street. Some AMC fan might want to turn you into a hood ornament.

I've been meaning to tell you about John MacDonald's site Old Car and Truck Pictures.

It features just about the largest collection of old car photos I've seen in quite a while.

If you're looking for a reference photo or a simple visual reminder of what a certain make and model looks like, then John's site should be the first place you visit. It's worth bookmarking.

Here's another entry for the Been There Done That folder.

Last Thursday, I spent the day at Cobo Hall in Detroit for the 2008 North American International Auto Show.

I've been going every year since 2000, and I'm always interested in two things: concept cars and recycled design trends. (Bonus points if the concept cars use recycled design trends.)

Apparently, the AFT Trinity Power Corporation was mesmerized by the rear end of the 1949-50 Nash Airflytes.



Am I wrong here?



According to AFT Trinity, their XH-250 Plug-In Hybrid Sedan "could potentially achieve 250mpg". Instead of increasing gas mileage to several thousand miles per gallon, maybe they should get some fins on the drawing board. Back in the day, even Nash wasn't too thrilled with the dung beetle look. They added some fins to the geometric shape I can only describe as rumpazoidal. I always thought that the '51s were the nicest looking of the first generation of Airflytes.

Stay tuned. More sights from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show are coming soon.

We finally found some time to add some pictures to our interview with Tom Dulaney, the new owner of the long-lost AMX/3 push car that was first displayed at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show.

Check it out on our Podcasts page.

Remember the old guy in the neighborhood who would sit on the porch and shake his bony fist at you while shouting, "You punks get off of my lawn!"? Jim Donnelly is starting to sound an awful lot like that toothless geezer.

Please ignore his babbling, incoherent rant against the changing world in the February 2008 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.

For all of its high-quality columnists like Jim Richardson who warmly reflect on the past, HCC also employs writers who can find nothing good to say about the present. It gets especially tedious when writers like Donnelly rage against trivial things like internet abbreviations in general and the changing world in particular. He's like the loud grandpa who yells at the TV when guests are visiting.

Then again, maybe he was tight against a deadline and HCC had little choice but to print his first draft. I just wish he didn't come off as such a Cranky Old Fart.