Hemmings Daily: Sole (known) survivor - the 1973 Motion Manta Ray

1973 Motion Manta Ray. Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions. By 1973, the golden age of the American muscle car had come to an inglorious end. On New York's Long Island, Baldwin Chevrolet had changed hands and was largely out of the modified new car business, but Motion Performance soldiered on, creating one last radically styled Corvette in the form of the Motion Manta Ray. Just three examples were built in total, of which one was crashed when new and one was later lost to history. That makes the 1973 Motion Manta Ray

View in Browser | Subscribe Friday, July 15, 2016 Sole (known) survivor - the 1973 Motion Manta Ray Posted by Kurt Ernst - 1973 Motion Manta Ray. Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions. By 1973, the golden age of the American muscle car had come to an inglorious end. On New York's Long Island, Baldwin Chevrolet had changed hands and was largely out of the modified new car business, but Motion Performance soldiered on, creating one last radically styled Corvette in the form of the Motion Manta Ray. Just three examples were built in total, of which one was crashed when new and one was later lost to history. That makes the 1973 Motion Manta Ray... Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1970 Chrysler 300 convertible Posted by Daniel Strohl - 1970 Chrysler 300 convertible for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller's description: VIN # CM27T0C154025. Exterior color: Dark Green Metallic. Interior color: White (kind of pearl). Top color: White -Matching numbers car with only 33,000 original miles -Only 1,077 of this model were ever built -Car is in excellent condition with no rust -Everything works great incl. AC -Lots of factory options -Smooth and comfortable ride, drive anywhere ! -Extremely rare to find in this condition and miles -Researched the O...Read More Smithsonian gathers African-American racing artifacts Posted by Jim Donnelly - Leonard Miller poses with Benny Scott's Formula Vee Lola, circa 1974. Images courtesy Historic Vehicle Association. The Smithsonian Institution is in the process of collecting exhibits for its new National Museum of African-American History and Culture that opens in September in Washington, D.C. A lot of research and just plain looking has yielded some artifacts from the world of cars and motorsports. They involve a dedicated African-American racer named Leonard W. Miller, who's spent years trying to provide oppo...Read More Indy without the Indy: Millers on the Mile Posted by Hemmings contributor - By William Hall. Photos by the author. More than 20 years ago, car collector David V. Uihlein Sr. and a couple of friends rented the Milwaukee Mile at the Wisconsin State Fair Park to exercise their pre-war Indy cars on the oldest continuously operating oval racetrack in America. Dubbed Millers at Milwaukee in honor of the dominant race cars and engines created by Wisconsin native Harry A. Miller, the annual event now welcomes many breeds of vintage Indy and Sprint cars from the front-engine era. Eve...Read More In coastal Maine, a car show that supports the community Posted by Hemmings contributor - The weather didn't dampen the spirits of the crowd. They started trickling in to the Blue Hill Fairgrounds early on a soggy Saturday morning - a handful of Corvettes, a Ford Model A, a Model T, a 1971 International wrecker, a silver (originally, there was no other color) DeLorean. It was the 15th edition of the annual Sedgwick Volunteer Fire Department car show, a fundraiser for this rural Maine coastal town's firefighters and, in a way, an ode to 100 years of traditional county get-togethers. 19...Read More Sparks, Nevada, 1968 Posted by Daniel Strohl - Date: February 1968 Location: Harrah's Automobile Collection, Sparks, Nevada Source: Rick S. What do you see here?...Read More THIS DAY IN AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY 7/15/1903: Ford Motor Company takes its first order UPCOMING EVENTS Dave & Ed's Super Auto Events July 22, 2016 - Canfield, OH 2016 Keystone Chapter ATCA Antique Truck & Machinery Show July 22, 2016 - Martinsburg, PA 17th All British Car and Cycle show July 22, 2016 - Carthage, MO Chasing Cars in Mt Airy Swap Meet and Cruise In July 22, 2016 - Mount Airy, NC Wheels For Meals July 23, 2016 - Gilbert, PA Allen Community Day July 23, 2016 - Allen, MI See All Events FEATURED CLASSIFIEDS Sponsored By: 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 $9,500 1961 Plymouth Fury $21,000 1935 Diamond T $42,500 1959 Edsel Ranger $13,500 1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia $17,500 2002 Pontiac Firehawk $25,000 1951 Chevrolet 3100 $40,500 1968 Plymouth $9,500 Model L Lincoln Motor 1928 1929 1930 $4,200 View All Classifieds FEATURED IN THE BLOG Packard plant owner plans partial restoration with original architectural firm The Smorkin' Mopar See All Featured Blog Posts FOLLOW US: View Newsletter Archives WEEK IN REVIEW Thursday, July 14, 2016 An old friend, our project 1980 MGB, heads to auction Posted by Kurt Ernst - 1980 MGB. Photo by Mark McCourt. It lived with us in Bennington, Vermont, on and off for nearly eight years. It arrived badly in need of restoration, and left returned to near-showroom condition, thanks to the work of volunteers who provided free labor and expertise, and suppliers who generously donated parts and materials. Next month, the 1980 MGB detailed in numerous Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car, Hemmings Motor News and Hemmings Daily stories will cross the block at the 39th annual New England Auto Auction,...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1973 BMW 3.0CS Posted by Kurt Ernst - >From the seller's description: The Car - History 1973 BMW 3.0 CS (European Specification) Original sale in Ferrara Italy in January 1974 Transported to USA before 1986 Car was owned by same owner from 1986 to 2014 Car has not been driven in the rain since 1986 Complete maintenance/repair records since 1986 204,000 kilometers (127,000 miles) 2004 Restoration by The Werk Shop in Lake Bluff, IL (www.thewerkshop.com) Only 2,700 miles on car since restoration Complete exterior restorati...Read More 1954 Carrera Panamericana-winning Lincoln comes to Lincoln Motor Car Heritage Museum Posted by Kurt Ernst - 1954 Carrera Panamericana-winning Lincoln Capri. Photos courtesy National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection), unless otherwise noted. Intended to publicize the completion of the Pan-American Highway through Mexico, the Carrera Panamericana was a grueling multi-day race that stretched for 2,000-plus miles across all types of terrain. Ferrari would go on to dominate the sports car class, but American luxury manufacturer Lincoln ruled the stock car class, winning the event from 1952-1954. Today, just one of t...Read More '50s Mopar wagons shoot it out in the desert Posted by David Conwill - Rick and Laura Griffin's '52 Dodge Sierra in the far lane versus Larry Underwood's '51 Plymouth Suburban in the near lane. Photos by Laura Ball Griffin Inspired by our piece "Suburban Simplicity" (Hemmings Classic Car 143, August 2016), Laura Griffin, of Reno, Nevada sent these photos of her husband Rick racing their 1952 Dodge Coronet Sierra station wagon (as seen in "Grabbing Life by the Horns," Hemmings Classic Car 122, November 2014) against fellow Battle Born Mopar Club member Larry Underwood in his 1951 Ply...Read More Make the Switch: 1956 AMC Rambler flyer Posted by Mark J. McCourt - Nash and Hudson both sold a version of the new Rambler for 1956, this model being the first genuine success of the American Motors Corporation. Planned fora 1957 launch but called into service a year early, the new Rambler sedan, hardtop sedan, station wagon and hardtop station wagon were safer, more comfortable and arguably more unique and stylish than their big-selling Big Three competition. We found this double-sided flyer in HMN's brochure collection, and noted that it promotes the Rambler, with no marque m...Read More Pilsrundale, Latvia, 1988 Posted by Daniel Strohl - Date: September 1988 Location: Rundale Palace, Pilsrundale, Latvia Source: Rick S. What do you see here?...Read More Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Giotto Bizzarrini's first automobile, the Macchinetta, to appear at Pebble Beach Posted by Kurt Ernst - Bizzarrini Macchinetta. Photos from the archives of Tom Fischer, courtesy of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Before Giotto Bizzarrini designed the cars that would bear his name, or the V-12 engine that would fill Lamborghini's engine bays (in several forms) from 1963 to 2010, or the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, he was a mechanical engineering student at the University of Pisa. There, he rebodied a Fiat 500 Topolino, hopping up its four-cylinder engine and revising its chassis for better handing as part of his...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day- 1940 Ford Siebert ambulance Posted by Daniel Strohl - 1940 Ford Siebert ambulance for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller's description: When the Flathead V8 was introduced in 1932, the coachbuilder that would be best remembered for its contributions to the professional car market using that chassis would be the Shop of Siebert and Associates in Toledo, Ohio, known colloquially as Siebert. Originally started as a wagon-making business in 1853 by founder Fred. L Siebert, from 1933 to 1964 they produced a highly practical succession of low-priced, coachbuilt professio...Read More Captain America motorcycle builder Cliff Vaughs dies at 79 Posted by Jim O'Clair - Cliff Vaughs. Photo courtesy the Motorcycle Film Festival. We learned of Cliff Vaughs's passing over the July 4th holiday but knew of his exploits from researching previous articles about Easy Rider bikes that have come up for auction in recent years. Although Cliff helped design and build probably two of the most famous motorcycles ever to appear on a movie screen, he lived a life of seclusion from the public eye until just recently. Many of the stories of his past are either legend or rumor, but his legacy a...Read More Midweek Matinee: Building a Highway, 1948 Posted by Ed Heys - All photos are frame grabs from video below. Vintage Road Construction Equipment Enthusiasts: Yeah, baby! Concrete Enthusiasts: This is your lucky day! Stimulating Narration Enthusiasts: Not so much. Concentrate on that ('42 Plymouth?) and trailer, and pay no attention to the fact that the good folks at Encyclopaedia Britannica chose to lead with a clip of... an asphalt highway. How to build a highway: survey and clear the land, run the dozers and scrapers, mix and pour the concrete, add sig...Read More Rare French Thoroughbreds: 1975 Renault 15TL and 17TL/17 Gordini 2+2 brochure Posted by Mark J. McCourt - Images are from the brochure collection of Hemmings Motor News This gem, dug out of the imported car brochure drawer in aHMN filing cabinet, offered a genuine surprise to this writer, as I was completely unaware of these Renaults' existence, never having personally seen or even read about them before in my 40 years of car-nuttiness. How did these sporty 1970s Renaults fly so far under my import-focused radar, especially that cleverly-designed17 Coupe Convertible? I have much to learn... If the Standard Cat...Read More Keystone, South Dakota, 1958 Posted by Daniel Strohl - Date: September 1958 Location: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota Source: LavonneUllrich, submitted by Gene Reiser What do you see here?...Read More Tuesday, July 12, 2016 Restored or restomodded Corvette? Denver auction demonstrates appeal of both Posted by Kurt Ernst - Denver top sellers included this restored 1963 Corvette (L) and this restomodded 1957 Corvette (R). Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions. Conventional wisdom says that a restored-to-original-specifications car will almost always retain more value than a restomod, which, typically speaking, is built to address a specific owner's styling and performance tastes. Last weekend's Mecum auction in Denver, Colorado, showed that both camps have strong devotees; of the five Corvettes in the sale's top-10, three were restor...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1948 Packard Super Eight victoria convertible Posted by Kurt Ernst - >From the seller's description: 1948 super eight convertible victoria, 22nd series It was my grandmother's car. which she restored in the '80s, parked it under a carport and used it very little. I acquired it and started restoring it again a couple of years ago. Since I've had it, most everything you can't see has been replaced or refurbished. The transmission has been rebuilt with the overdrive and electromatic clutch working without issue. All the hydraulic cylinders have been replaced, which allows all the ...Read More Mustang Club of America celebrates its 40th anniversary at Indy Posted by Kurt Ernst - Mustang Club of America members at an earlier Indianapolis event. Photo courtesy MCA. In 1976, the newly founded Mustang Club of America (MCA) ran an ad in an Atlanta, Georgia, newspaper, announcing its very first meeting at Stone Mountain Park. A total of 13 cars and 30 people attended, but in the four decades since, the MCA has grown considerably larger, now including 190 chapters in countries around the world. On September 1-4, the club will hold its 40th anniversary meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,...Read More International Harvester's "Slope Hood," the first modern IHC truck Posted by Hemmings contributor - Editor's note: Jim Allen and John Glancy's forthcoming book, the International Scout Encyclopedia, promises to cover everything a Scout enthusiast would want to know (and more). Octane press has sent us a few more bonus stories that didn't make the book's final cut; this one focuses on the first "modern" International truck, the 1915-'23 "Slope Hood." Photo from John Glancy's archives. By the start of World War I in 1914, it was clear the International Harvester Company had taken the Auto Wagon platform as fa...Read More A dream that never came true - Borgward's Traumwagen Posted by Kurt Ernst - The Borgward Traumwagen (Dream Car). Photo courtesy Borgward. While 1950s concept cars are typically associated with American automakers, a few European companies were pushing the design and engineering envelope at roughly the same time. To demonstrate what the future of the automobile might look like, German automaker Borgward challenged its engineers and designers to start with a clean sheet of paper, and the result was the rocket-styled Traumwagen, German for Dream Car. Creating such a vehicle would highlig...Read More West Hartford, Connecticut, 1960s, part 4 Posted by Daniel Strohl - Date: 1960s Location: Farmington Avenue and Kenyon Street, West Hartford, Connecticut Source: via Joe Sokola What do you see here? ...Read More Monday, July 11, 2016 Is Bonneville Back? Posted by Daniel Beaudry - Looking every bit like the snowpack inAntarctica, the salt crust at Bonneville this year is shaping up to be a raceable surface. Photo courtesy of SCTA. Well, there may just be a movie-style miracle in the making at the legendary but beleaguered Bonneville Salt Flats America's premier stage for setting land speed records has not hosted its main event, Speedweek, in two years. The 2014 event was cancelled because of a deluge whose effects lasted days, while last year's trialing was called off due to a ...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1972 Plymouth Valiant Posted by Daniel Strohl - >From the seller's description: 1972 Plymouth Valiant V8-318 with factory A/C. $18,200 spent on 8 year complete restoration including engine and dash wiring. A/C is cold and the vehicle runs excellent. Great for first time collector, or everyday usage. My vehicle was featured in Hemmings Classic Car Magazine - Issue #35- August 2007. This is a one-of-a-kind car that most everyone knows about or has driven at one time. Mint condition, ready for a new owner to enjoy. See more Plymouths for sale on Hemmings.com....Read More Selling vintage Soviet motorcycles, cars and military vehicles - from a showroom in Nebraska? Posted by Kurt Ernst - A model poses with a 1960 GAZ 69 in a scene from the company's calendar. Photos courtesy Arbalet Ukraine. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Alenka Miroshnyk earned a living as a fashion designer in the Ukraine. After, without work and without money, a friend visiting from America suggested she sell some things on an online auction site with global reach, and from these humble beginnings, Arbalet Ukraine, a company that specializes in sales of vintage Soviet vehicles and spare parts, was born. Now celebrati...Read More Do you remember "Hard Drivin'" for Sega Genesis? Posted by Thomas A. DeMauro - Photography by author. In the blog A brief trip down memory lane with a few vintage Atari 2600 racing video games, posted in October of 2015, I discussed some of my favorite car-based Atari games from my childhood. This blog will be quite different from that one. The reason being, after the Atari 2600, I bought a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), then a Super NES, followed by Playstation 1 and so on. I never had a Sega Genesis system, but thanks to this year's local library sale, and the Sega Genesis cartri...Read More Recommended Reading - The Book of Basic Machines, The U.S. Navy Training Manual Posted by Richard Lentinello - Like a strong foundation for a building, you need a solid base of knowledge to understand whatever it is that interests you. For us automotive enthusiasts, it's equally important to understand how all the mechanical systems on your car function and then some. More than understanding how engines and differentials work, it's good to know how other mechanical objects operate. Having a broader grasp of machines and their modus operandi will not only give you a better understanding of how things work but will empow...Read More Florida, 1960s, part 4 Posted by Daniel Strohl - Last grouping of photos of the unnamed Florida university sent to us by Dean Luchaco. The first appears to be the counterpart parking lot to the one in yesterday's photos, while the two below appear to be from the outskirts of said university. And for the first time in this series, we see an empty parking spot -- must've been toward the end of the day. What do you see here? ...Read More Sunday, July 10, 2016 Four-Links - Curator on the Go, Acrobatic Auto, NYC to Boston in 12 Hours, Bloodhound goes Supersonic Posted by Kurt Ernst - Miguel Llorente is the former curator of the Al Ain Classic Car Museum in the UAE, but he's also the explorer that "discovered" the Cuban Gullwing. His dream is to open a new museum, the "Petersen of the East," in the UAE, incorporating the best ideas and practices from museums across America. He's created a Curator on the Go Kickstarter page to raise money for his cross-country odyssey to study 80 museums and collections. Last week's Sunday Cinema featured Jay Leno and Bob Riggle in the Hemi Unde...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1977 Ford Mustang II Cobra II Posted by Daniel Strohl - >From the seller's description: 1978 Ford Mustang Cobra II, 16,543 miles from new. The car is in immaculate shape. The paint and interior is what you'd expect of a brand new car with 16,000 miles. Everything mechanical is in sound condition and the car runs down the road great. The car is equipped with the very rare 171 Cubic inch Colonge V6. This is one of the most unique mustangs left around today, and it gets attention everywhere it goes. See more Ford Mustangs for sale on Hemmings.com....Read More Sunday Cinema - Pikes Peak 1965, tire pressure explained, The Wild Racers Posted by Kurt Ernst - The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has been on our bucket list for years, but somehow we never seem to make it to Colorado for the Race to the Clouds. Today, the road to the summit is completely paved, reducing (to a small degree) the inherent risk of driving it flat out. In 1965, however, it was a run on dirt from start to finish, yet the race routinely drew the biggest names in motorsport year upon year. The Race to the Clouds video, from the Motorland Channel, is worth watching just to see Parnelli Jones han...Read More Hemmings Find of the Day - 1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta Sprint Veloce Posted by Kurt Ernst - >From the seller's description: 1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta Sprint Veloce, Car was bought from original owner in South Carolina in 1989. It was driven until 1998 when the engine and transmission were rebuilt by an Alfa shop in Charlotte NC. The car was driven approximately 1800 miles before it was stored, inside. It was recently brought out of hibernation and the fluids, tires, battery, one front brake disk and the clutch slave cylinder replaced. There are still a few minor items to clear up but it runs sweetly and r...Read More LAST WEEK'S MOST READ Homebuilt pickups and trailer hitches: How underage teens skirt the law to drive in Sweden Posted by Hemmings contributor - Photos by the author. Some of the most interesting cars that Sweden has to offer are hiding in small, rural towns, not in museums. That's because 15-year-olds are allowed to drive virtually any type of car if it's been converted into a two-seater pickup, and modified to top out at about 20 MPH. These home-made pickups are considered tractors by Swedish law, and they've been around for nearly a century. In the early days, real tractors were expensive and difficult to come by, so skilled DIYers began c...Read More LAST WEEK'S BEST DISCUSSION Open Diff: When it comes to tires, how old is too old? Posted by Kurt Ernst - Jeff Yost's 1976 Corvette. Those tires were manufactured in March of 1993, 23 years ago. Photos by Jeff Yost, unless otherwise noted. Last week, Hemmings reader Jeff Yost and I were discussing the subject of tires and collector cars. When Jeff purchased his 1976 Chevrolet Corvette through a Hemmings ad in April of 2016, he thought it would be a good idea to check the age of the tires on the car, a set of pristine B.F. Goodrich Radial T/As. Since they were manufactured prior to 2000, decoding the date required the...Read More Hemmings Motor News will not sell or share your e-mail address with other companies. For more information about this newsletter, email webmaster@hemmings.com or write to: Customer Service, Hemmings Motor News, 222 Main St., Bennington VT 05201. If you do not want to receive this newsletter from Hemmings Motor News, you can change your email preferences here.