Cyclone GT barn find in Hawaii

agtw31 · #1 06-30-2010, 01:07 AM

wow!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

http://thegardenisland.com/news/loca...fb7355aaa.html

**mockingbird812** · #2 06-30-2010, 01:24 AM

Good for him! Nice find! I love original paint! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/

[/img]

al8apex · #3 06-30-2010, 02:26 AM

nice find!!!

I especially like the write up:

Anyone driving through the Kapaia area headed north into Hanama‘ulu has probably noticed a low gray building on the right side of Kuhio Highway with a large sign that reads “Ken Silva’s Auto Repair.” It is a landmark that has been cited to thousands of tourists seeking directions to Wailua Falls.

The man who works inside this building has been repairing cars there for many, many years.
“I’ve been driving cars since I was 14 years old and working on them since I was 16 or 17, and I haven’t stopped since,” said Ken Silva. Silva has also been involved in the auto racing scene on Kaua‘i and takes pride in his past achievements.
“I’ve been drag racing since I was 14 years old when I raced my first 1955 Chevy. I took that one all apart and made it as light as possible which helped me win the race. My dad towed it for me in his company truck all the way to Burns field.”
During his many years of racing, Silva holds a respectable collection of wins and gives much credit to his pit crew and most especially his cousin, Paul Silva.
“Paul was the head mechanic on all the cars I raced and I feel very fortunate for that because he believes in using the best parts and materials and is very meticulous on all of his projects,” said Silva.
Silva has raced on Kaua‘i, Maui and the Big Island with some of his cars running 10 and even nine seconds. Though Silva has owned quite a few American car classics — both muscle and six-bangers — he eventually sold them all and spent his life focused on making repairs to other people’s cars.
“My first car was a 1956 four-door Chevy followed by a number of ’55 and ’57 Chevys, and den a 1957 Corvette, and den a 1967 Corvette. Da ting about me was dat every time I sold a car; the next one was faster and faster and faster. So the fastest car I ever ran was a 9.82 in the quarter mile at around 140 miles per hour. Not bad for a 355 small block,” said Silva.
Silva has an interesting philosophy when it comes to keeping and collecting classic cars.
“I wish I had da time and da patience to collect and maintain more American classics, but you know it’s just like raising goldfish, if you don’t feed ‘em they gonna be upside down in the tank when you get home. Same ting wit your cars, you gotta take care of dem too,” said Silva.
One day Silva and his wife were waiting at the Honolulu airport when he decided to call his friend on Maui to catch up on the latest news.
“My friend said he was trying to e-mail a picture of a car to Paul Silva on Kaua‘i because Paul was curious to see the car, though not really interested in buying it. So after he told me the whole story about this 1968 Mercury Cyclone GT, I offered to buy it sight unseen,” said Silva.
It seems that the former owner had driven the car for about 23,000 miles when his employer decided to give him a company car to drive. The guy took advantage of his good fortune and put his gas guzzler in storage for the next 34 years and over time just forgot about it.
After Silva wired the money to the owner, he asked his two buddies, Howard Sylva and Jamie Texeira, both from Maui, to make the delivery of his latest acquisition. Sylva and Texeira slowly began the task of unearthing the car from its protective cocoon of cardboard boxes filled with 34 years of garage collectibles. Then they quickly shipped the GT off on the next boat to Kaua‘i.
When the car finally arrived at the dock in Nawiliwili harbor, Ken Silva was amazed to discover his 1968 Mercury Cyclone was still in like-new condition. That’s when he realized that he had made an excellent investment on a sight-unseen gamble. Sort of like winning the big roulette wheel in Vegas, minus the floorshow and dancing girls.
When the GT was finally delivered into Silva’s garage, cousin Paul surveyed the engine and offered his restoration expertise while good friends Richard Aki and Brodie Medeiros volunteered to work on the carburetor and other engine changeovers. “Richard Aki was very important in making sure that 4-barrel was installed and tuned up correctly so my GT now runs as smooth as silk,” said Silva.
Almost everything on this Mercury Cyclone is stock, including the paint job, interior upholstery, 4-speed stick transmission, with a nine-inch rear end, a 390-cubic-inch engine, front end disk brakes. The only things that have been replaced are the battery, tires, fuel pump, four-barrel carburetor, steering wheel and the exhaust.
“My plan is to keep this car because it’s rare and has lots of power. In fact, this car has so much power that I can probably go to Kekaha, buy an ice cream and by the time I reach home in Hanama‘ulu, it’ll still be hard yet.”
(Don’t worry, KPD … Ken Silva was jus’ jokin’ around. … Honest.)
There is a wonderful scene in the movie Terminator 3 — Rise of the Machines when Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator returns to earth all buffed out and pumped up for action. Dressed to the nines in his natural, the grim-faced T-3 strolls into a small town bar and orders the male stripper onstage to hand over his black leather motorcycle outfit. When the stripper snippily holds up his palm to Schwarzenegger’s face and says, “Talk to the hand,” Arnold simply grabs the hand and calmly says, “Now.”
Just like Schwarzenegger’s T-3, Silva’s 41-year-old Mercury Cyclone has suddenly awakened from its cryogenic sleep only to discover that it’s still a teenaged ‘68 GT all pumped up on steroids, with an uncontrollable desire to eat an ice cream cone … “Now.”

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

442w30 · #4 07-02-2010, 01:59 AM

I don't get it, because the grille and stripes scream 1969 to me.

al8apex · #5 07-02-2010, 08:11 AM

wow, you are right:

68:

69:

**PeteLeathersac** · #6 07-02-2010, 02:29 PM

Cool car and story!.

I was looking at the overhead shot of Central Chevy's Performance Ctr. again the other day and noticed one of these Cyclones in the line up..

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

442w30 · #7 07-02-2010, 03:26 PM

Where was that dealership located?

I'm guessing because it was "Centre" it's in Canada but ya never know what kind of creative license could be used in the States!

**PeteLeathersac** · #8 07-02-2010, 03:59 PM

London Ontario...one of Canada's major centres of performance!.
Central was a hotbed of action and rolled lots of new and used performance cars out their doors including Copo Camaros also were the only dealer other than Yenko to deliver any 1970 Copo Nova LT1 cars!.
They sold 2, one reportedly scrapped and the other survived and owned by Peter Simpson as seen in this Feature thread below..

https://www.yenko.net/features/2001/December2001.htm

Sorry for the hijack!

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

442w30 · #9 07-02-2010, 07:57 PM

Ah, *that* dealership!

I know the car, now I know the place that sold it!

**PeteLeathersac** · #10 07-06-2010, 04:10 PM

Update to the above posted Central pic, Lance told me this pic is from the grand opening of the Performance Ctr. and was from an Oct 3/68 ad that appeared in the London Free Press..
Note the '69 cars in the pic are new models that were in stock by then!.

Sorry aqain for the hijack..

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

Dedicated to the Promotion and Preservation of American Muscle Cars, Dealer built Supercars and COPO cars.