Style In Steel
Explore the multiple and complex roles that automobiles have played in our lives. Celebrate the automobile, its enduring beauty, and the art that has been inspired by the influences of 20th-century designers.
Episode 1
North American muscle car expert Jim Bodanis has a rather tidy collection of his own, but he always admired the dentist’s car when he was growing up. Being able to locate one as an adult was a personal sign of success for Jim He takes us on a tour of this wolf in sheep’s clothing: the 1970 Chevelle SS LS 6 4 speed, one of the seven 4-speeds out of a production line of 4000. One of the most sensational classics of the 1930s is the 1931 Avions Voisin C-20, known as the Mylord Demi-Berlin. This one-of-a-kind automobile owes its unique design to the engineering genius of a French aircraft designer, Gabriel Voisin. The interior feels like the cockpit of a plane, and the exterior looks as if it could be owned by Cruella de Ville… this became the iconic design of the time period.
Episode 2
Gordon Miller Buehrig was just another young designer at the thriving Auburn Automobile Company in Pennsylvania before the war, when he was tapped to design what would be considered one of the top ten cars: the 1936 Cord 810. The Cord was low-slung, high-powered, and front-driven -- with its engine tucked in BEHIND the transmission. At the time, it was unlike any other car on the road. The Cord became so sought after that production demand nearly tanked the company. It took 30 years for the echoes of the 1936 Cord 810 to be felt. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was a tribute to its coffin-nosed predecessor with a stunning design that featured a horizontally-lined grille, hidden headlamps, and vented hubcaps. But the Toronado’s allure faded like young love. Sales dropped by half one year after its introduction, and although the Toronado name led a modest life over the next 25 years, this once great car never gained car collector status, became nothing more than a memory. It’s a situation that collector Mike Markowski was determined to change.
Episode 3
The 1938 Delage was one of the most stylish, curvaceous, and exotic cars ever built – all in the pursuit of a beautiful woman. Men may have bought the 1970 Corvette Stingray to attract women, but this car’s hourglass figure spoke to the male of the species. And the 1970 Roadrunner Superbird was created by Plymouth in an effort to win the heart of only one man: superstar stock car driver, Richard Petty.
Episode 4
This rare and outrageously expensive Rolls Royce had the engine of a 1939 model, and the body of a 1947 ‘dream car’; built by a New York businessman, its sole reason for existence was to tempt beautiful high society women into its luxurious interior. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the working man’s 1947 Ford, owned by a successful small-town real estate agent, reminds him of his youth and the girls he was able to get with it back in the day!
Episode 5
America in the late 1960s was crazy for muscle cars and Chrysler, Ford and Chevy duked it out in the car lots and on the NASCAR tracks… and so did fans. Meet three die-hard muscle car fanatics – tough guys get emotional! The Chevy ’69 Camaro SS vs the Ford 1970 Boss Mustang 302 vs the Chrysler 1970 ‘Cuda.
Episode 6
Pulling up in the glamorous 1932 Dusenberg Model J sent a clear message to the world: you had arrived. It’s hard to imagine that the automobile industry was just 20 years old when the greatest American car ever built rolled into production. Today, Dusenberg’s are considered the most collectible car, routinely selling for one million US dollars. The 1935 Auburn Sedan may have been considered one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and its powerful straight 8 engine and 2-speed axle can cruise down even modern highways with ease and keep up with any kind of traffic.
Episode 7
Collector Colin Kennedy accompanied his dad on a road trip to the local Honda dealer and experienced love at first sight: the 1962 S600 had the heart of a motorcycle, but to Colin, it sounded like the swell of an orchestra! Thirty years later, he finally tracked one down and nurtured it back to its original condition. Love came knocking for lawyer Ron Good when he was just a young boy, too: that’s when he saw his Dream Car – a 1951 Four-Door Kaiser Traveler. Good waited for forty years before he and his true love were united and they haven’t been parted since!
Episode 8
Owned by the well-heeled and driven exclusively by chauffeurs, the Pierce-Arrows of the teens and twenties were also the very last American cars to switch over from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. When collector Rick Morrison took on the task of restoring this 1926 Pierce Arrow it had seen better days. Little did he know that it would turn out to be 30-year labor of love. For Larry Pittman, his 1965 Lincoln Continental is all about winning. It’s a constant challenge making sure the car wins every competition it enters, constantly improving upon an already perfect car. But Larry learned from the best… the car originally belonged to his dad.
Episode 9
The story of the 1934 Graham, one of only 80 ever built and one of the last 12 in existence; what makes this particular one valuable is that it has never been restored, painted, or had any significant work done to it, making it the only one of its kind in the world. Legend has it that the supercharger was slipped to the Graham engineer from his buddy at… the Dusenberg plant! The Porsche 356 was the most powerful motor Porsche produced in 1939, at 95 horsepower. Designed by Ferry Porsche, son of Ferdinand, this is the revolutionary Berlin road raced a car that defined Porsche for the next 70 years. One of 50 that were made, this car’s charming owner wouldn’t trade it for anything… nor will he put a price tag on this invaluable piece of automotive history.
Episode 10
When French entrepreneur Emile Delahaye turned his attention from brick building to car building, the result was a collectible beauty that is currently worth over five million dollars: the 1948 Delahaye 135N. Some people become inextricably linked to specific brands: a certain whisky, or a particular style of shoe. That’s how it is for Oliver Collins. He’s always been an ‘Alfa’ guy, so when this 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 came his way, he was willing to do whatever he had to to make it his own.
Episode 11
The power episode: the pure power of the 1968 Plymouth GTX, powered by the legendary Hemi engine that was developed by Chrysler to not just win the horsepower wars, but to deliver a knockout punch; the overpowering looks of the 1953 Studebaker Starliner Coupe, once called the most beautiful American car ever built; and the staying power of the 1929 McLaughlin Buick, a distinctly Canadian car with a special dual primer pump that virtually guaranteed instant starting in cold weather.
Episode 12
The most important cars in automotive history: The Ford Models T and A that changed 20th-century lifestyle from being largely rural… to highly mobile. The alluring 5.5 million dollars 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible is a car of ‘lasts’: the last model made with suicide doors; one of only three made before the production molds broke at the factory; Lincoln’s last pure stainless steel body. The 1964 Plymouth GTO Super Bee, lovingly nicknamed ‘the goat’, was the muscle car you could race on the weekend and drive to work on Monday morning.
