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The WPC
Club Chrysler Products Restorers
Club
Established 1981 |
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Plymouth, Dodge, Fargo, DeSoto, Chrysler,
Imperial, Maxwell, Chalmers, |
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Tom McCahill's Quotes
Veteran autombile tester Tom McCahill tested new cars for
many years for Mechanix Illustrated Magazine.
Tom has long since passed away, but his humorous and interesting quotes will
forever live on. "Uncle" Tom tested all makes and models in his
career, but his favourite cars
by far were Chrysler products. I have
included here a few quotes from several copies of old Mechanix Illustrated magazines from the 50s and 60s.
We all know our beloved Mopars are the best, and Uncle Tom thought so
too.
Read on
and enjoy these quotes by Tom :
On the 1960
Valiant:
"When
equipped with the power pack, they are the hottest cars in the world for under
$2500.00.........Gets my vote as the best buy of the three new compacts,
and the one I'd most like to own. "
On the 1962
Plymouth:
"
It was raining like tears in a onion cannery when I
did my test.......I don't know of a car in its class that can top
Plymouth. It offers the best roadability in its class, and this, tied up
with good brakes makes it just about the safest. .........the slightly teutonic looks of the Valiant, enlarged (on the 62
Plymouth) stand out like a hip flask in a
bikini."
On early
30's Classic Imperials:
"These
long-hooded brutes had more sex-appeal than a boatload of starlets anchored off
Alcatraz."
On the 1960
Dodge Dart Phoenix:
"When
equipped with the optional D-500 engine, displacing 383 cubic inches with 2 four barrel carburetors, it should be able to chew around
a race course with enough stuff to turn the humidity into steam.......... (and) make a helluva ridge-runner
for the moonshine boys."
On the 1959
Dodge:
"The
front end is as new as next February's cold."
On the 1959
Plymouth:
"Plymouth
for 1959 is the best car of the low priced three in
our bald-headed opinion, and we've tested all of them."
On the 1959
Imperial:
"This
doll was as loaded as an opium peddler during a tong war........Swivel seats
make it as easy to get into as a floating crap game with fresh
money..........On the 31 degree banked turns the big Imp
hung in there like oil going through a hose......The finest car built in
America, and I've been testing cars for a long time."
On
Chrysler's famed torsion bar front suspension:
"Chrysler's
torsion bar suspension is SO far superior to anything else being made in this
country that the contest isn't even close."
On
Chrysler's re-designed torqueflite transmission for
1962:
"features
an oil filter to comb out the rocks and dog hair."
On the 1966
Dodge Coronet Hemi:
"With
no exception, the blockbuster Hemi 426 is the hairiest full size stock
production car ever tested for these pages..... This family sized rig has
all the belt of a 2 mile swim in a whiskey vat...... When you put your foot
through the firewall make sure your teeth are well anchored.......It is as
furry as a mink farm and as snarly as a bengal
tiger in a butcher shop."
On the 1956
Chrysler Windsor:
"The
most car for the dough - for looks, performance,
comfort and price."
On the 1957
Imperial:
"The
most spectacular looking new car to date..... will get
down the pike like a vaselined arrow, and with
no more effort than skipping off a cliff."
On the 1962
Chrysler 300:
"I
had the car for over a month, and had as many adventures with it as a Siberian
trapper would have in Miami Beach. ......The new 300 is the old Windsor, sexed
up and poured into a sport suit.....When you slide behind the wheel you
get the feeling that this is a big compact, and not an oversized barge as awkward
to handle as wearing moose antlers in a telephone booth..... A functional car
that gives top performance with lots of room for beaucoup stuff, which might
include wine, weazels or women...... In summing up,
the (1962) Chrysler 300 is the best value in the
medium priced field that I have driven in several years."
Uncle Tom Also had a few things to say about Ford and GM....
On the 1959
T-bird:
"It
went over like a keg of brandy in a prison camp.....(but)......rolls like the
Queen Mary in a full gale."
On the 1959
Chevy Impala:
"The
rear deck treatment is pure Louis Armstrong: gone, man, gone!"