True Classic Cars Are A Thing of Beauty! Check Out These Unbelievable Classics!

When we think of classic cars, most of my friends are thinking 1955 to 1957 Chevys and 1962 Corvette split windows.  We argue over what is the best muscle car, the Mustang, the Firebird, or the Camaro.  But, there are some classic cars out there that our era simply cannot compete with!

While surfing the net the other day, I came across a site which in my opinion pictures some of the finest automobiles ever manufactured.  Without a doubt, they are magnificently crafted and simply beautiful to look at.

The site is called "Jalopnik" which can be found at www.jalopnik.com.  Kudos to authors of this great site and the folks that sent in the great photos here!  Entitled "The Ten Coolest Cars of All Time", the article covers some of the greatest autos ever made.

We've picked out our fave five right here!  The following is taken from the blog itself and all credits belong to www.Jalopnik.com.  Please enjoy and feel free to visit the site for some truly incredible machinery!

We'd like to thank the writers at Jalopnik.com for providing this very interesting information and the great photos!

Sit back, relax and enjoy these truly wonderful vehicles!  I find the craftsmanship of these great vehicles absolutely facinating!  You can imagine the hours of work that must have gone into the building of each one of these great cars. We have picked out just 5 of these autos to feature here, but, there are many, many more.  The era of the wooden vehicle was truly a historic era and one that changed the future of transportation forever. 

1939 Lagonda Rapide Tulipwood Tourer

This big British cruiser came powered with a 4.5 liter V12 churning out 225 horsepower. We imagine that's enough to get the brass-riveted tulipwood body up to speed with frightening alacrity for such a sizeable automobile.
The wood made for a good building material as it was light, could be made into aerodynamic shapes like this torpedo body, and was much stronger than the other lightweight car body material of the cay, canvas. If you're wondering how much it costs to get something as stunning as this in your massive garage, you'll have to have something around $450,000. That's how much this Lagonda went for when it was put up for auction back in 2007.
Photo Credit: Brandon Brubaker

Our #2 selection is the Morgan.  What a beautiful work of art!


Morgan got its start building three-wheelers back in 1911, and it did a remarkably good job at it. The trikes were extremely affordable and are often praised for their fine handling. The Morgan we are more familiar with began in 1936 with the 4/4, Morgan's first four-wheeled car.
They had little engines, but didn't weight much on account of their wood frame. Low costs and an endless supply of eccentric British customers meant that Morgan could keep on building its elemental four-wheeled cars and never have to stop. You can still buy one of these things new today, and they are regular front runners in vintage races all over the world.
Morgan even keeps its wood thing going with their new heavily aluminum Aero 8, with its Ash frame getting plenty of punishment form a nice, big BMW V8.
Photo Credit: Otis Blank

1924 Hispano-Suiza Tulipwood Torpedo

Most of the legendary Spanish Hispano-Suizas from before World War II were vast, luxurious cruisers, but one stands out as a remarkable exception. This 1924 H6C, with a 200 horsepower, eight-liter straight-six wrapped up in a tulipwood body was built to take on southern Italy's great road race, the Sicilian Targa Florio.
The coachwork of ¾ inch strips of wood was built by a French aviation company, Nieuport and it weighed a mere 160 pounds. Like the Lagonda, the wood was riveted together with brass, and it looks absolutely amazing.
Photo Credit: CarStyling.ru

The Tryane II by Friend Wood

Built by German carpenter Friend Wood, this little three-wheeler is built off a Citroën 2CV, sharing its chassis, engine, and three of its wheels. The body, though, is all rich, cold-moulded African mahogany. It took the builder over 2,000 hours to construct this wooden masterpiece.That light construction gives this little trike, built first in 1989, a remarkably low weight of just 900 lbs, so its aerodynamic body can just buzz up to 100 miles an hour and get something between 50 and 70 miles per gallon on the way there.
Photo Credit: Jalopnik

Marcos Xylon

  Up until 1969, the strange little British sports car builder Marcos built nearly all of its cars off of a basic plywood chassis that actually turned out to be quite effective for building successful road racing cars.
One such car was the Marcos Xylon, known to many as "the Ugly Duckling," for perhaps obvious reasons. The styling actually came from Frank Costin, who designed many of the most beautiful Lotus racers and even F1-winning Vanwalls.
The car didn't have much power, but it was extremely light, very aerodynamically efficient, and with the likes of Jackie Stewart and other great racers behind the wheel, the Xylon actually racked up an impressive competition record.
Read more on the Xylon and other classic wooden Marcos cars at this great fan website.
Photo Credit: Marcos

We hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!  We'd love to hear from anyone out there who has a wooden vehicle or is doing a wood car project!  Please send your photos to ldjautobody@yahoo.com. 

For our restoration enthusiasts out there, our newest project vehicle has arrived!  We'll be restoring a 1966 Impala SS.  The first pics will be posted either later today or tomorrow.  We'll closely follow the progress on this vehicle and we'll also be talking extensively about the methods used in the restoration of this vehicle for all our do-it-yourself readers.  Feel free to ask our technicians about any of the methods used or products used for the restoration.  We're happy to answer any questions you may have on this or your own project.

Dee Blackman
LDJ Auto Body and Custom Shop
ldjautobody@yahoo.com