A bid farewell to a colleague, a mentor and a friend: FRED MACKERODT, A LIFE WELL-LIVED.
Frederick T. “Fred” Mackerodt died peacefully at home in upstate New York on Christmas Day, December 25, 2023, surrounded by loving friends. Born on September 17, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, he and his former wife of 35 years, Christy Woods Mackerodt, resided at the Stone House Farm in Chester, New York, and in New York City.
Fred was respected as a creative communicator, founder and president of...
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Joe Oldham
’70 BUICK STAGE I GS-455 – FIRST ADULT SUPERCAR
Certainly not in keeping with Buick’s traditional image, the ’70 BUICK STAGE I GS-455 – FIRST ADULT SUPERCAR catapulted the Flint automaker into the heat of the battle for Supercar supremacy.
The Skylark GS-455, in 360 horsepower Stage I trim, was the industry’s first “adult” Supercar. It was a powerful, high-quality, well-balanced midsize coupe (or convertible) with superb ride and handling qualities. Yet it was almost invisible compared with competitive offerings like the SS Chevelle,...
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’87 GNX REDUX: DRIVING BUICK GNX #002!
Scott Oldham recalls his GNX driving experience and being the first to be involved in a GNX fender bender. That’s something he’ll never forget. Neither will I.
In 1987 I handled media relations for Buick on the east coast, wrote the BUICK GNX book that went with each of the 547 GNXs and had #002 in my New York City press fleet. The first media loan went to Joe Oldham at Popular Mechanics magazine, and son Scott, later to become a respected member of the automotive media community, borrowed it t...
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MUSCLECARS 101: BACK IN THE DAY!
Musclecar was barely part of enthusiast vernacular when iconic GTOs, Hemis and Camaros and Mustangs were new and prowled the streets. Today, it’s the only word used to define those ground-pounding Supercars and Ponycars.
When Pontiac built the GTO in 1964 they jump-started Detroit’s performance car revolution; the Supercar was born. That same year, Ford gave us the Mustang. It became the quintessential Ponycar. It was Supercars and Ponycars, period. Musclecar was the catchall descriptor used ...
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