Held on Saturday, August 17, 2024 towards the end of Monterey Car Week, Concorso Italiano celebrated all things Italian, especially pertaining to Italian automobiles and the Italian way of life. For 2024 as with in many other years of the Concorso, non-Italian marques were also invited to attend. There was a smattering of American, British, and German vehicles also on exhibit, as if to provide a contrast to the numerous artful Italian automobiles that comprised a commanding presence at this year's event. Indeed, the Concorso Italiano media team even invited Classic Industries to partake in covering this longstanding Italian-themed super car and vintage iconic Italian marques celebration.

Pebble. This one word has abundant meaning for avid golfers. The same is true for those who have a passion for vintage automobiles. The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is the pre-eminent concours vintage car show on this great planet that we somehow manage to cohabitate. Classic Industries was at this prestigious event this year to cover all of the glorious action for the 73rd celebration on Sunday, August 18, 2024.

Classic Industries was at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to witness and celebrate 50 years of vintage auto racing history with the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2024. When Classic Industries' humble scribe (namely me) learned about this vintage racing extravaganza, he knew where he wanted to be from August 14 through August 17, 2024.

Though we spend our five- and six-day work weeks catering to the needs of our honored customers who own and are working on, driving, showing, and enjoying American muscle machines, many Classic Industries employees are wrenching away, driving, and enjoying our own vintage vehicles in our free time. Some of us drive our old cars daily. 

Author's Note: This is a Classic Industries team member's car. As of this writing, we've logged over 900 miles on our Factory Five Racing Mk4 Cobra roadster replica. Since this is the very same sports car that is the subject of the book that I wrote, How To Build Cobra Kit Cars + Buying Used, we thought you would enjoy reading about our first test drive of the FFR Mk4 after Dad and I constructed this little road burner.

Imagine finding a 1966 Corvette coupe that has its original L72, 427-cubic inch big-block V8 engine, the engine that was conservatively rated at 425-horsepower, and the Sting Ray has 66,000 original miles! If you were a Country Music artist like say David Ball, you'd write a song about such an incredible find. Maybe you'd have the creativity to call the song, "Riding with Private Malone."

A large number of vintage Chevrolet Corvette enthusiasts admire the 1963-1967 Corvette C2's the most of all the eight generations of the Corvette from 1953 to the present. There are many reasons why the C2 Corvette is so sought after. If you're unfamiliar with the 1963-1967 Corvette, you can learn all about the C2 by reading this article: 1963-67 C2 Corvette: History, Prices, Engine Options, & Production Numbers.

This article's topic may be a sore subject for some readers. There are likely to be several gotchas in this list, where a gearhead or two (or several thousand for that matter) might have rushed headlong into purchasing and starting a classic car renewal project that goes awry and is hopelessly stalled. It's not something to beat yourself up about. It's called being human and making mistakes. Don't let the fear of making a boo boo or two get in your way of reading this article for some helpful hints on getting your old car project going or restarted. If you keep these muscle car restoration mistakes in mind, you won't fall victim to them in the future.

Our lead photo of a restored Lemon Twist yellow 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda is courtesy of Mecum Auctions.

The Most Common Muscle Car Restoration Mistakes

Development of the second-generation 1963-1967 C2 Corvette began in the mid to late 1950's. Ed Cole, Chevrolet's General Manager, called it the "Q-Corvette" project. To achieve better handling, the chassis would have a four-wheel independent suspension system. It should also have four-wheel disc brakes, for better stopping power. For better weight distribution and elimination of the transmission hump, a front engine/rear transaxle foundation was planned. Read on as we take a look back at C2 Corvette history, concept cars, racing development, factory options, and model year changes throughout its five-year production run. We'll even share some data on original pricing and how many were sold each year.

General Motors car designer Harley Earl unveiled a two-seater 1951 LeSabre concept car at Watkins Glen racetrack in upstate New York in 1951. While watching the field of British and Italian sports cars careening around the track on that fateful day, Mr. Earl realized that American car companies weren't designing, engineering, and building anything like those fast, stylish, lightweight, and stunning vehicles that were flying around the track with such grace and ability. American cars, and even his elegant two-seat LeSabre, seemed ponderously large and heavy in comparison to the lithe European machines. So, Harley quietly began a project that would eventually lead to the creation of one of America's most legendary cars: the Chevrolet Corvette. In this article, we'll take a look at Corvette generations from the 1953 C1 through the 2020 C8, as well as some of the incremental changes that kept the Corvette a world-famous machine.