Hemmings Motor News Blog Blog

Hemmings Motor News Blog

Hemmings Motor News has been around since 1954. We're proud of our heritage, but we're also more than the Hemmings full of classifieds that your father subscribed to. Aside from new editorial content every month in Hemmings, we have three monthly magazines: Hemmings Muscle Machines, Hemmings Classic Car and Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car.

While our editors traverse the country to find the best content for those magazines, we find other oddities related to the old-car hobby that we really had no place for - until now. With this blog, we're giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what we see and what we do during the course of putting out some of the finest automotive magazines you'll ever read.

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Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

Posted December 29, 2020 12:00 AM by dstrohl
Pathfinder Tags: muscle cars

What's more fun than a summer full of muscle cars? A winter full of muscle car driving, of course! Now, if you live in San Diego or anywhere south of the NC/SC state line, there's a good chance you can drive your vintage muscle cars all year-round. And while that's awesome, it's also the easy way out (says the crew at Hemmings HQ in the great northern Green Mountain state of Vermont). And it's this time of year that we're reminded that not all of us live in perpetual summerville.

Can you pilot your classic rear-wheel-drive muscle car through a fresh layer of snow? How brushed-up on your ice driving skills are you? What about that awesome Mid-Atlantic sleet driving? And then, there's the epic mixture of freezing rain that turns to a sheet of ice over softer snow that's so much fun to break through under the weight of four hardened big-n-little radials. Snow tires? That's a hard "nope." And a whole lot of fun. Truly, it is.

So, enjoy this bit of vintage celluloid and then grab the keys and the garage door opener, a pair of warm gloves, throw a shovel and a set of flares in the trunk, then get out there and find out what you – and your muscle car – are made of.

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#1

Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

12/29/2020 10:26 PM

A BIG transmission cooler.

Studded snow tires.

Practice drivi9ng SLOW! No SUDDEN moves. Pretend you are riding a motorcycle on wet leaves!

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#2

Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

12/30/2020 10:13 AM

In Wisconsin their are three types of snow drivers Bad, worse, and Chicago. The first two are a problem the third is moving too fast to be a problem.

Some folks hit a patch of ice and panic "Holy S***". I am the kind of person who hits a patch of ice and goes "Watch this S***"! How many complete 360s can I manage in an intersection while still making the turn? 4. so far.

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#3
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Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/01/2021 7:27 PM

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#5
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Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/04/2021 12:53 PM

Rashavarek, In the south it's "Hey Yall! Watchis!" often preceded (or followed) by "hold my beer".

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Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/01/2021 7:39 PM

In the rare event we get nicely packed dry snow on the roads here in Maryland, I like to leave my Suburban in 2WD and do slow-motion 'dirt-track' around the turns. (traffic permitting of course, because most Marylanders totally panic when they see a vehicle in anything other than longitudinal motion).

Growing up and learning to drive in New England means that winter driving is something to be relished, and not just avoided. Being a skier, means enjoying the drive to the slopes, no matter the weather.

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#6

Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/07/2021 11:51 AM

Reminds me of the old days, my first car a '66 Chevelle SS 4 speed, and living in upstate ny, Albany area....I drove kinda like that kid(?) from Tobacco road, without the affinity for the horn...I certainly did master the drift, donut, sideways driving style ...

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Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/07/2021 12:56 PM

The number of boneheads who haven't a clue as to what to do when the car starts going sideways is stunning. So many folks just panic and freeze with their foot firmly placed on the brake pedal.

I believe every driving test should include ten minutes on a skid pad and the driver demonstrating recovery from a good slide or spin. Driving school should have at least 30 minutes of training on a skid pad.

I'm dreaming, I know.

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Re: Watch This: Just in Time for Winter Driving, Hemmings Style!

01/07/2021 3:08 PM

Certainly a sound suggestion, I concur....Yes I've seen it a few times, it's hard to believe there are so many people driving that don't know how to recover from a loss of traction...I think the driving test should cover more than just the basics...vehicle inspection and maintenance for one...You should know all about the vehicle you are driving, not just the rules of the road...

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