October 2022

Aerial combat advanced at an astonishing rate during World War I, and though it seems unimaginable today, there were no American-designed aircraft deemed suitable for battle in the skies over Europe. There was a U.S.-designed engine in the fight however: the Liberty V-12 or L-12.

The L-12 engine was America’s greatest technological contribution to the aerial war effort. Its initial assignment was powering the “Liberty Plane”—a version of the British-designed De Haviland/Airco DH-4 bomber produced in the U.S. by Dayton-Wright in Dayton, Ohio; Fisher Body Corporation in Detroit, Michigan; and Standard Aircraft in New Jersey. In addition to powering the DH-4 and a variety of other airplanes, over its long service life the L-12 powered tanks, high-speed watercraft, and land-speed racers.

An L-12 at home in the front of De Havilland DH-4 at the National Air and Space Museum. The engine weighed about 844 pounds and produced approximately 400 horsepower at a maximum rpm of about 1,800.Photo courtesy Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The L-12 came about because Packard’s head of engineering, Jesse G. Vincent, recognized the need for a standardized line of aircraft engines that could be mass produced during wartime. The government assigned Vincent the task of creating this engine and teamed him up with Elbert J. Hall of the Hall-Scott Motor Company. The two met in Washington, D.C., on May 29 and, with the help of volunteer draftsmen, created detailed drawings and a full report by May 31. This original design was a V-8, but in their report Vincent and Hall outlined how the engine could be configured as a four-, six-, eight-, or 12-cylinder engine.

By July 3, a
V-8 prototype assembled by Packard was running, and a V-12 soon followed. Due to its superior horsepower potential, the 1,650-cu.in. V-12 was given the nod for mass production.

An I.D. tag shows the L-12’s firing order and reveals that this example at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum was built by Lincoln on September 25, 1918.

Not only did the Liberty engine mark a great achievement for American aviation, it was responsible for creating a landmark car company: Lincoln. Henry Leland, who founded Cadillac, and his son Wilfred started Lincoln with a $10 million government contract awarded to build Liberty engines. The Lelands left Cadillac to form Lincoln because General Motors President William C. “Billy” Durant was a pacifist and initially rejected the government’s call for GM to build L-12s. (Durant later recanted and Liberty engines were manufactured by GM.) Production numbers seem to vary for output before and after the war but in total Ford, Lincoln, Packard, Marmon, and Buick produced 20,748 L-12 engines.

The L-12 was a liquid-cooled single-overhead-camshaft V-12, rated to make 400-plus horsepower. The deep box-section crankcase was two piece—upper and lower—and cast out of aluminum. The cases were joined by bolts around the case as well as by bolts on each side of the main bearings. The cylinders were individual with welded-on cooling jackets and the cylinders extended down into the crankcase for increased rigidity. The stroke was 7 inches while the bore was 5 inches and aluminum pistons on floating pins helped pump up 5.4:1 compression. The cylinders breathed through 2.5-inch valves (one intake, one exhaust) with exposed rockers and valve springs, while carburetion was handled by a pair of Zenith model US52s.

This De Havilland DH-4 at the National Air and Space Museum is a prototype — the first American-built version of the British designed bomber manufactured by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. It was used for testing and never saw combat.Photo courtesy Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The Liberty is a fascinating engine built with many advanced features. If you’re interested in some in-depth reading, a full report about the L-12 presented in 1919 to the Society of Automotive Engineers by Jesse G. Vincent, is available as a free download at jstor.org.

As Baby Boomers exit the collector car market, and at a time when performance EVs are reshaping the landscape, but 600-plus-horsepower late-model pony cars are still commonplace, will the hottest 1960s and ’70s American muscle cars dip from all-time high values? Or at least level off?

Coming in ninth of the top 10 most expensive cars sold at Mecum’s Monterey sale was this 1971 Plymouth ’Cuda convertible, which fetched $1.1 million (including fees). It managed to edge out a Monterey, California-appropriate 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS (one of the 1,308 Touring-spec cars, not a one-of-200 Lightweight)— once owned by the late actor Paul Walker, which sold for $1.072 million.

This would probably come as no surprise to muscle-era Mopar cognoscenti. A ’71 ’Cuda convertible with a 440 Six Pack, like this one, is like the Venus de Milo of B-bodies, second only to a ’71 Hemi ’Cuda convertible. (Speaking of top muscle car prices: One of those Hemi cars crossed the block at Mecum’s Indy sale in 2021 and the seller turned down a high bid of $4.8 million.) Plus, this particular example has a known history in Mopar circles as it was once part of Steven Juliano’s collection. Juliano died in 2018 after battling cancer and left behind an amazing 30-year stash of rare and unusual Mopars, Shelby Cobras, petroliana, and more. His treasure trove was auctioned at Mecum’s Indy sale in 2019 where this same ’Cuda convertible sold for $1.15 million. The car crossed the block again at Kissimmee in 2021 and sold for $962,500—a loss of $187,500. Earlier this year, it crossed the block yet again at Kissimmee where it bid up to $900,000, bringing us to the most recent sale, in Monterey, for $1.1 million. If you’re playing along at home, that’s $137,000 more than when it sold in 2021, but $55,000 less than what this car sold for in 2019.

To your average magazine editor, that kind of money would buy a few cars, a big 4K flat screen to put on the back wall of the garage, a nice stainless kegerator, and who knows what else. But on a percentage basis, those aren’t enormous swings—particularly for people with a lot of disposable income. Prices of everything have gone up sharply post pandemic and collector cars have been no exception. You’d assume, then, that this ’Cuda would’ve bid up even higher in 2022 than the $1.15 million it sold for in 2019. Perhaps it’s reached a plateau? Somehow we doubt it. Price guides show that these cars fell off a cliff after the 2008 financial crisis, but they have rebounded with interest since. (The sale of this car in 2019 contributed to that average.) This could probably be said about values of almost every popular, desirable American muscle car—a scary fall from their prior-to-2008 highs and a sharp rebound less than 10 years later.

This sale was interesting to us because there’s been a lot of talk about interest in 1960s and ’70s muscle cars waning, in light of record high prices paid for trucks and SUVs, Japanese imports, and, of course, Italian and German sports cars, plus all the never-before-seen performance levels of new and late-model vehicles—electric and internal combustion. But this ’Cuda’s two seven-figure sales in a three-year span, while hardly typical because the car is so unusual, shows that muscle cars have legs— especially at the upper reaches of the market, where the most desirable examples live. There might be some ups and downs in the short term, but anyone holding out for the day when big-block 1960s and ’70s icons are affordable, might have a little longer to wait.

Pierce-Arrow built world-class automobiles from 1901 through 1938 and its name is as revered as Packard, Auburn, or Cadillac. But manufacturing cars of uncompromising quality requires significant capital, something the Buffalo, New York, manufacturer found itself short of in 1928. Having averaged a production of a little more than 5,000 cars the previous few years, Pierce-Arrow remained a known quantity to its well-heeled buyers, but with a factory capable of producing 15,000 automobiles per year, it could not quite break even.

The company was known for its large, powerful T-head six-cylinder engines that were expensive to produce, and by the late 1920s they lacked the cachet of straight-eight and V-8 engines from competitors. By 1928, Pierce-Arrow had a stunning L-head straight-eight in the works, but not enough money to bring it to market.

Enter Studebaker. In a marriage of convenience in the form of a merger that saw the Studebaker Corporation take control of more than 90 percent of Pierce-Arrow shares, Studebaker provided Buffalo’s finest maker of motorcars with some $2 million in much needed cash in 1928.

Photo by Terry Shea

For 1929 Pierce-Arrow introduced two new straight-eight-powered model ranges: the 133 and 143, so named for the length in inches of their wheelbases. Under their hoods was the all-new 366-cubic-inch straight-eight engine. Studebaker introduced its own straight-eight just a year before in 1928, with the same 3.5-inch bore, and the Pierce-Arrow engine is often—erroneously so—imagined to be simply a stroked version of that engine. But the Pierce-Arrow’s powerplant employed nine main bearings instead of Studebaker’s five. Studebaker did cast the iron Pierce-Arrow blocks in its Indiana foundry, though it used a higher-quality alloy than what its own blocks were made of. At 125 horsepower, the Pierce-Arrow straight-eight produced as much power as any other car on the market, save Duesenbergs. Although it had just a 5.07:1 compression ratio, the Pierce engine made a healthy 250 pound-feet of torque, giving both model ranges sufficient oomph for high-speed running.

Pierce-Arrow engineers also incorporated other innovations in their new engine, such as fitting a Lanchester vibration damper on the front of the crankshaft; a replaceable oil filter and mechanical fuel pump (in lieu of a vacuum tank), both features among the first in the industry; and a Stromberg two-barrel carburetor fed a split manifold, where one barrel managed the inner four cylinders and the other the outer four. Pierce-Arrows also utilized a hypoid axle for the final drive—the sort of thing that would come to Cadillac many years later. Shatterproof glass was sourced from the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company, another example of Pierce-Arrow engineering being ahead of the curve.

Photo by Terry Shea

The cars were restyled and more modern than previous efforts, yet still in line with the conservative looks Pierce-Arrow customers would have expected. Longer and lower than foregoing Pierce-Arrow offerings, the Model 133 and 143 were both a hit and available in many different configurations including the Sports Touring featured on these pages. With restyled bodies, the all-new engine and the extended reach of the Studebaker sales network, Pierce-Arrow sales achieved an all-time high in 1929, finding nearly 9,000 new customers.

By 1933, however, Studebaker was bankrupt, and Pierce-Arrow was sold to a group of Buffalo businessmen for $1 million, ending the arrangement with South Bend. Pierce-Arrow never fully recovered, ultimately going out of business as a car maker in 1938, but to the very end, the marque never relented on its promise of superior engineering.

Photo by Terry Shea

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 366 cubic inch, L-head straight-eight

Bore x stroke: 3.50 x 4.75 inches

Compression: 5.07:1

Horsepower: 125 at 3,200 rpm

Torque: 250-lb-ft at 1,200 rpm

Transmission: Brown-Lipe three-speed manual

Brakes: Bendix internal four-wheel mechanical drum

Wheelbase: 133 inches

Overall length: 203 inches

Shipping weight: 4,100 pounds

Photo by Terry Shea

Hot rodding is as much about reinvention as it is personal expression and craftsmanship, and there’s probably no better example of those tenets than this 1957 Morris Minor listed for sale on Hemmings.com. It’s gone through multiple incarnations before the seller settled on its current form: a van cut down to a roadster built for road racing with a massive win on the back and eye-searing green paint that would put all the Mopar High Impact colors to shame. Once the seller settled on this form, however, it appears he spent plenty of time refining it for the street and for road racing with a custom drivetrain and an extensively modified chassis. There’s no mention of how it does on the track, but it’s already proven itself an attention getter. From the seller’s description:

I’ve owned the car since the early 1980’s when it was built from a GPO Engineering van into the extensively modified open top machine that it is today, via stints as a 70’s street machine, an 80’s roof chopped van to its current guise as a corner burning road racer which first appeared in 1992. It has appeared in a number of magazine features & at numerous shows in the UK & in France.

Whilst it is based on a 1957 Morris Minor Light Commercial Vehicle the only remaining unmodified parts from that are the scuttle & lower bulkhead, the outer door skins & the rear body sides. Everything else has been custom built over the last 40+ years. The original van body was cut down into a pickup with the windscreen surround chopped to give a low but usable screen. Door tops & rear sides of cab have been panelled over to complete the roadster look. The rear has a custom aluminium tailgate with twin fuel fillers & an opening aluminium tonneau cover with a high level Varis carbon wing. Fibreglass Morris Traveller wings cover the 8 x 18 rear wheels. The front end is a one piece fibreglass moulding incorporating a deep front spoiler, custom grille & driving lights & covers the 7 x 17 front wheels. Paint is VW Cliff Green 73 twin pack. There are fully functional carbon ground effects pieces on front & rear of car, a smooth bellypan with rear diffuser & fully ducted cooling & air feed for brakes, carburettors, oil & water cooling.

Inside it are two custom built upholstered aluminium bucket seats, carbon interior panels, a custom centre console with armrest, ancillary gauges & switchgear & a high power sound system. The vehicles is RHD. There’s a removable carbon tonneau cover over the passenger seat & a full fabric tonneau for the cockpit for when it’s parked. There is no roof!

The chassis is a semi spaceframe, based on the original chassis with new front & rear frame rails & an integrated 6 point roll cage which incorporates B/C post & scuttle brace & shear panels on the spaceframe. All is welded to the body, giving a very stiff structure for an open top car. The chassis locates a custom built rear suspension with coilovers, 3 trailing links, & a Panhard rod on a disc brake equipped Ford RS 2000 rear axle & a Lotus / Triumph front suspension with coilovers, Lotus Eclat discs & a custom built adjustable anti roll bar. A custom Ford Escort pedal box is fitted onto the bulkhead with remote adjustable brake bias control & a hydraulic clutch.

The unique powerunit is set back 12 inches from the original mounting position & offset 1 inch towards the passenger side to aid weight balance. It comprises of a 1340cc BMC A series engine mated to a Toyota AE86 T50 5 speed gearbox via a Dellow aluminium bellhousing & driving through a custom propshaft to the live rear axle. The engine is a replica Morris Engines XSP unit as fitted to 1968 Le Mans Sprite with a Works Weslake cross flow 8 port head, billet cam & custom made cast inlet manifold with twin 40 IDF Webers. It delivers 100hp at the rear wheels & enough torque to make the lightweight car very driveable.

This is a super turnkey hot rod that is immediately usable, it starts & runs easily & offers a focussed but fun drive. It has 30 years old paintwork so there are a few small chips & cracks, there is a very small amount of rippling in the flat body sides. There is no rust in the car (there isn’t much steel left in it) & all of the structural welding is in great shape. Full build details come with the car, together with copies of the magazines it has appeared in. It is fully street legal in the UK & has a Historic Vehicle registration document. The vehicle is located in the UK, so any buyer would need to arrange shipping – I can help with this, if required.

See more Morrises for sale on Hemmings.com.