1973 Volvo 1800ES (“Chris’ ES”)

This is a long term project. The car came to us a number of years ago from Chris Clemmer. Chris decided he was not going to be able to get the restoration done, so e handed it off to us. It was structurally sound but in pretty sad shape. All the parts were in boxes. It saved us the need to strip the car! The plan is to restore the car to as close to new as reasonably possible. We really regret that Chris will not able to see this car completed. We lost him in January, 2018.

First primer

Dave’s second primer coat.

California white

The Dodge Max Wedge

This is really Dave’s project. He went looking for something big enough that he needed to buy a new rotisserie. It was purchased from the family of a racer somewhere in Maine and came to WI in about 2020. The car has a lot of provenance, but smelled like, well, lets just say it was not in secure storage.  Everything was removed. Of course the first thing he had to do was play with the motor. What came rusty is now …

… awaiting carbs for this enormous manifold and a body to put it in. The body was “water blasted” (don’t let what sounds simple fool you) to reveal ever imperfection.  In 2022 it was finished and had a prominent place in the Iola Old Car Show.

In September Dave put it through it’s intened paces at Wisconsin International Raceway’s dragstrip.  While this histrocal photo is impressive, keeping the front end on the ground is actually more desireable.

1971E

Never wanting to be without a project, or half a dozen, several years ago we acquired a stalled ’71E project from Nick Tarlton in Michigan. Much of the body work had been started on it, and now we are thinking of what it is to become, and are spending money on buying parts. What decade will this one be done?