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November, 2010 (Archived)

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Pinned: AUTOMOTIVE MILEPOSTS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Gift Guide
Our popular Holiday Gift Guide returns for Cyber Monday, 2010. It's been updated this year, however we are still working on it today, so you can expect to see changes as the day progresses. If you're looking for gift ideas, please start here and know that your purchases made from the merchants on this page also help to support this site.

When you're ready to buy, please think of our Holiday Gift Guide first! We'll let you know when we've completed our page updates, but the links on the page now do work. Happy shopping!

Sunday, November 28, 2010 2:22 PM

News returns to Recent Updates and Announcements page! News headlines have been restored, using a new format. This one scrolls down from the top, and includes a scroll bar so you can scroll up and down to scan the top stories. Also, we have included over twice as many top headlines as before! We think this is a better format than the one used previously.

The anti-virus update is still offline. We are currently working on a page redesign for this page, and it may be restored at that time. We'll keep you advised.

Friday, November 26, 2010 12:03 PM

We have begun the holiday site updates, which will continue over the next few days. Typically, we've rolled out everything at the same time, but we are making some changes this year that will take longer. So, don't be surprised if it seems as if we're taking a long time to make all the changes for the holiday, this year we are compared to the past. Also, our Holiday Gift Guide won't be completed until next week. Our apologies for the delays.

Thursday, November 25, 2010 8:04 AM

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving today.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 7:31 AM

Thanksgiving Thunderbird Music Videos
The real-life family musical group that inspired the hit television show The Partridge Family joins The Thanksgiving Thunderbird Music Videos page today. At the top of the charts in April 1969 with their hit single Hair from the movie of the same name. The Cowsills were from Newport, Rhode Island and charted four top 30 singles from 1967-1969, the period of time when the group was most successful. Hair made it all the way to number one.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 10:00 AM

Thanksgiving Thunderbird Music Videos
The Grass Roots were at the top of the charts during much of 1969, and we've added a live performance of their hit song Heaven Knows which peaked at #17 during the week of November 12, 1969. The video clarity of this one is incredible, although the sound leaves a lot to be desired.

The Grass Roots join Elvis Presley, The Turtles, The Flirtations, and others...so give it a listen. You may have forgotten some of these songs.

Monday, November 22, 2010 6:00 PM

Classic Car Parts Auctions
We've made some changes to our classic car parts auctions results. We asked some of you for feedback on how you use these pages to locate the parts you need. Those of you who participated by answering our questions and sharing your concerns indicated you wanted to see more listings, and we're now showing you 50 results for each search term instead of 25.

Most of you said you'd prefer to see the new auctions listed first, as you check frequently and it would be easier if the new listings were at the top. Done, the most recent auctions are now listed first, at the top of the results.

Additionally, there was some information provided previously that wasn't important to you, and it actually cluttered up the results a bit. We removed the ending time column completely, so now it should be easier to scan the listings quickly. Also, don't forget that shipping fees can be viewed by moving your mouse over the price field. A text window will appear listing shipping on items where the seller has provided this information. Moving your mouse away from the price eliminates the window immediately.

We hope these changes will be helpful to you during the upcoming holiday rush. And our sincerest thanks to those of you who were kind enough to help us out with feedback.

Edit to add: We have not removed the ending time column on our pages that feature classic cars for sale. We feel this is an important consideration for anyone contemplating a purchase, especially true for auctions that don't have an option to purchase the car immediately. The other changes mentioned above still apply, except we show up to 200 results for classic cars for sale instead of the 50 we show for classic car parts. (If we need to show more than 50 results for parts, let us know.)

Saturday, November 20, 2010 8:49 AM

Another top 20 video hit from 1969 joins The Thanksgiving Thunderbird 1969 Music Videos page: Goodbye by Mary Hopkin. Hopkin was one of the first artists to sign on at The Beatles' new record label, Apple, in 1968. Her first hit was Those Were the Days in 1968 and Goodbye was the follow up to that release. Another single, Temma Harbour came out in 1970 and was also a hit. Paul McCartney wrote and produced Goodbye.

Friday, November 19, 2010 7:24 AM

Lincoln Continental Executive Limousine by Lehmann-Peterson is an incredible story about two men who converted a stock 1962 Lincoln Continental Sedan that belonged to Mr. Lehmann's Mother, Morella, into a limousine and drove it from Chicago to Ford Motor Company's headquarters to show it to Ford executives without an appointment! The car itself was their ticket to an audience with Ford. And that meeting resulted in a relationship that lasted just eight years, and produced some of the most elegant, dependable, and luxurious limousines ever made.

We tell the story of the first car and the meeting with Ford, as well as provide details on the conversion itself, the time frame required to convert a stock Lincoln Continental Sedan into an Executive Limousine, provide a list of famous owners, movies where the limousines were featured, and more. It's an incredible story that many aren't aware of. And the cars created—while few in number—are mostly still on the road today, a testament to the durability and quality of the original product as well as the converted product.

There will be additional pages in the future, with more information on the special automobiles created by Lehmann-Peterson, both for Lincoln as well as for individual customers. We will continue to work on these pages over the next few days, so don't be surprised if you notice things moving around a bit. Enjoy! (See also Executive Limousine Statistics and Details.)

Thursday, November 18, 2010 6:47 PM

Please note an update on our Site Status page. We identified an issue with compromised software on our server that needed to be dealt with, which has put us a bit behind schedule this week. Our apologies for the delay.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 7:38 AM

Yesterday, we added another video to the Thanksgiving Thunderbird 1969 Music Videos page. You Showed Me by The Turtles was a number one hit in January 1969, and many consider it to be the group's best song. More coming soon.

We're still working on the 1965 Lincoln Continental section, as well as pages on the Lehmann-Peterson Executive Limousines. The limo pages should be online soon, hopefully followed closely by the '65 Lincolns. We're also updating our Gift Guide, likely one of the biggest changes we've done to the page. We'll keep you advised, enjoy your day.

Monday, November 15, 2010 9:04 AM

The Thanksgiving Thunderbird returns for 2010 with 1969 Music Videos! Our annual update that ushers in the Holiday season each year at Automotive Mileposts continues with hit music and music videos from 1969. Yes, they did indeed have music videos back in 1969...only they called them "promotional videos" at the time. We start off with six hits, including one called Nothing But a Heartache from The Flirtations (click arrow in screen at left to view), an all-girl group that sounds surprisingly like Diana Ross & The Supremes! Creedence Clearwater makes an appearance, as does Lou Christie. Of course, no hit music page from 1969 would be complete without Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and they're featured as well.

We'll be adding additional videos for the rest of the month, so check back often and let us know if you like this feature. If you do, we may expand it in other sections of the site going forward.

For those of you not familiar with The Thanksgiving Thunderbird, just click the link and it's all explained on that page. We started off with just the story at the top of the page for the first year, then added more information below the story each year, and it's continued to grow ever since.

Sunday, November 14, 2010 1:24 PM

In The Classic Car Showroom:
1976 Continental Mark IV Cartier Designer Edition—Dove Grey inside and out, silver tinted Power Moonroof, rare and expensive Versailles Velour interior option, deep dish wheels, Autolamp, AM/FM/8-track stereo, etc. Stored for years, original condition and low (under 30,000) miles. This is a real Cartier Edition.

Saturday, November 6, 2010 7:39 PM

AutomotiveMileposts.com surpasses record 2009 traffic totals on Thursday, November 4, 2010!
Thanks to you, Automotive Mileposts exceeded the total traffic the site received for the 2009 calendar year—with almost two months left in 2010! And 2009 set a new traffic record as well! In fact, we were up 146% over 2008 traffic totals. We realize this would not be possible without the support of you, our readers.

Thank you for spending some of your time at Automotive Mileposts! We appreciate it very much.

Friday, November 5, 2010 10:05 AM

We have recently updated the Production Numbers and Specification pages for the 1964-1970 Lincoln Continentals (1965 hasn't been published yet, but is being worked on now). This was to add production figures for the Lehmann-Peterson built Executive Limousines. These custom built vehicles are being added since Ford Motor Company authorized their dealers to sell these motorcars, and they were featured in sales brochures during several of those years. Lincoln's full warranty was also extended to include the limousines, despite the fact they were actually built by another company.

Automotive Mileposts is preparing a special page that will cover all of the Lehmann-Peterson Executive Limousines built for Lincoln. It should be online in the coming weeks.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 7:51 AM

1967 Lincoln Continental Coronation Coupe II Show Car
For the second year in a row, Lincoln worked with Chicago-based Lehmann-Peterson to create a distinctive show car for the auto show circuit. Similar in concept to the Coronation Coupe of 1966, the new 1967 version was updated to reflect changes in interior and exterior trim for the '67 Lincoln model year. Fitted with production front bucket seats and console and the new reclining passenger seat option with power headrest, the Coronation Coupe II was stunning in its pearlescent gold metallic finish with matching vinyl roof and leather interior.

The biggest change was the addition of a power sunroof, which was becoming a very popular feature on show cars at the time, and would be widely available on an optional basis on many production cars within a few years.

The Coronation Coupe II made its debut at the Chicago Auto Show and provided a few hints as to future Lincoln styling, especially in the roof rear quarter area, which would receive a major restyling in 1968 on the Lincoln Coupé.

Post 2: Monday, November 1, 2010 3:12 PM

We updated the image link above to take you to the 1964 Lincoln Continental Contents page. For some reason, the image was linked elsewhere. Our apologies for any confusion this may have created.

Monday, November 1, 2010 6:40 AM

Classic Car Parts Auctions
We wanted to let you know that eBay instituted a policy change on October 26, 2010 regarding duplicate listings. Recently, it has been more difficult than necessary to locate classic car parts due to the huge number of duplicate listings. You can probably think of a few yourself, but one that comes to mind for us is the individual spark plug listings, where you buy one spark plug for less than two dollars. Who buys just one spark plug unless you're changing the plug in a lawn mower? We counted more than 50 of these listings at one point, all on a search for a particular model year classic car. These repeated listings were done by the sellers to intentionally flood the search results with their auctions, hoping to increase exposure and sales. What it really does is annoy people, and hide the good parts people would really like to find.

This became an issue some time back, after eBay decided to mix eBay Stores listings in with the auction listings. Stores listings used to be under a separate tab, and as such were separate from auction listings placed by individual sellers.

Ultimately, what this managed to do was annoy people who were searching for other things, because they now had thousands of listings for duplicate items to wade through to find the good listings for NOS parts, or original used parts. With auto parts stores located every few miles in most areas, people don't need to go to eBay to buy spark plugs. What eBay does offer is new old stock and used parts for classic cars that aren't always available elsewhere. And when those "real" parts are drowned with multiple listings for spark plugs, after market floor mats, stainless steel screw kits, and sending units for warning lights when the car the parts are listed for has gauges, etc., it can be annoying to say the least.

This is not to say that sellers using the Stores concept don't have good parts to sell, as they do often have NOS parts listed. However, it seems there needs to be a way to separate after market parts from the original OEM parts. Hopefully this new policy will reduce the amount of duplicate listings, making it easier to find the original parts most of us really want. We'll be watching to see if sellers continue to abuse this policy.