Muscle Cars

Turning a deaf ear to pleas from two of the nation's automakers, U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner has refused requests to roll back fuel-efficiency requirements for 1990 model-year cars sold in the United States. The standard will be 27.5 miles per gallon, averaged among all models produced by each car maker. That's an increase of one mile per gallon over the average for 1989. Good for Mr. Skinner. The decision represents a 180-degree turn for President Bush.

With Detroit's main industry coming back and maybe not quite flexing, but at least stretching, its historical muscle, the 2012 Philadelphia Auto Show begins a nine-day run Saturday with renewed enthusiasm. "We've seen production ramping up, with manufacturers even adding third shifts," said Mike Gempp, the show's director. "So all of them are ramping up their displays, pushing their new models, wanting customers to see everything. " For the first time, the Philadelphia Auto Show will be using the entire main floor of the Convention Center, expanding more than 50,000 square feet from last year - up to 600,000 square feet.

March's arrival next week will be surrounded by a whirlwind of sales devoted to such oddments as silver-plated napkin rings, beer in steel cans, and a fleet of muscle cars. The 64 lots of napkin rings, decorated with pictorial motifs including butterflies, squirrels and cupids, will be a highlight of the first session of a two-day catalog auction conducted by the Alderfer Auction Co. at 1 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday at its gallery at 501 Fairgrounds Rd., Hatfield. "People like to collect them," Alderfer's catalog director Tara Flynn said yesterday, adding that some of the napkin rings, even though silver plate and not sterling, might sell for as much as $1,200 each.

The Ferrari 250 GTO was a special coupe designed for road-racing. Only 39 of them were built between 1962 and 1964. Rare and wild, this Italian stallion was always fairly valuable. By 1980, covetous collectors had pushed its original $15,000-to-$20,000 price tag to $100,000. By 1986, it had cracked the $1 million barrier at auction. Then the stock market crashed, and a number of investors started putting money in collectible cars. A Ferrari feeding frenzy followed, and prices for scarce models such as the GTO went through the garage roof.

Antiques/Art/Crafts Art Star Craft Bazaar More than 100 local & national artists present handmade items that reflect the quirky aesthetic of Art Star. Penn's Landing, Columbus Blvd.; 215-922-2386 (2FUN). www.artstarcraftbazaar.com . 5/14. At Your Service Auction Benefit auction to support the NAA. Newark Arts Alliance, 276 E. Main St., Suite 102, Newark, Del.; 302-266-7266. 5/14. 6-9 pm. Blast From the Past Classic Car Show Antique, classic & muscle cars, music, Chili Cook-off.

My first car was a 1934 Ford five-window coupe. I found it moldering under a cherry tree in rural Berks County, humiliated by disuse and the oncological onslaught of the elements. It was $50 and it didn't run. Later, after I had fitted this light little car with a large, powerful, overhead-valve V-8 resurrected from a wrecked Cadillac, it ran very well. It also had no small amount of social cachet on the diner parking lot where the car-crazed gathered. In the American Graffiti car culture I grew up in, the V-8 was the engine of choice.

In "Gone in 60 Seconds," a car thief eying a new Porsche decides to steal it by simply throwing a brick through the plate- glass window of a dealership. His partner protests. "This ain't 'The Dukes of Hazzard!' " It ain't? The outlaw hero (Nicolas Cage) drives a '69 Plymouth Roadrunner, helps his outlaw brother out of a jam, spends at least 20 minutes fleeing police in a high-speed chase, and at one point, two of his buddies feed laxatives to a Basset hound who swallowed valuable car keys.

Treasure or junk? West Fallowfield Township officials don't know exactly how many '60s and '70s muscle cars Nolan Stoltzfus has parked around his rented mobile home on Route 41. Earlier this week Supervisor Wayne Althouse estimated that there were 32. But Stoltzfus' landlady, Edith Kauffman, thought there were 26. And Bonita Walton, the township manager and code enforcement officer, said, "It's in excess of 20. " It was hard to count...

OLDIES SHOW The Atlantic City Convention Center presents the 1999 Atlantic City Classic Car Show & Auction, running FRIDAY through SUNDAY. More than 600 cars - hot rods, muscle cars, classics, collectibles and exotics - will be on display, in addition to a flea market area, antique mart and more. Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $12 (under 12, $3). Info: 800-227-3868. WORDMEISTERS Verbal jousting abounds on screen this weekend as International House, 3701 Chestnut St., presents the Philadelphia premiere of the indie film "Slamnation: The Sport of the Spoken Word," FRIDAY through SUNDAY, along with the spoken-word feature "Slam," starring poets Sonja Sohn (pictured)

A high-concept conflation of globe-trotting 007 huggermugger and pedal-to-the-metal extreme sports stuff, XXX is less a movie than a collection of pretty cool action set-pieces, linked together with some seriously awful acting and dialogue that even Dr. Evil couldn't deliver with a straight face. Vin Diesel, the bulked-up baldy (he looks as if he's using Dr. Evil's hair stylist) who somehow became a star thanks to last year's left-field drag-racing hit The Fast and the Furious, is the buff, tattooed sports dude who pulls off impossible stunts, such as stealing a sports car, driving it over an altitudinous bridge and parachuting to safety just before the vehicle goes kaboom.

With Detroit's main industry coming back and maybe not quite flexing, but at least stretching, its historical muscle, the 2012 Philadelphia Auto Show begins a nine-day run Saturday with renewed enthusiasm. "We've seen production ramping up, with manufacturers even adding third shifts," said Mike Gempp, the show's director. "So all of them are ramping up their displays, pushing their new models, wanting customers to see everything. " For the first time, the Philadelphia Auto Show will be using the entire main floor of the Convention Center, expanding more than 50,000 square feet from last year - up to 600,000 square feet.

A Driver's Seat muscle-off: 2012 Camaro 2SS Coupe vs. 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 vs. 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302. Prices: Camaro - $37,725 ($35,450 base price). A $1,375 45th-anniversary package that adds accent stripes, HID headlamps, interior accent stitching, and more. Challenger - $49,005 (base price $43,995). Options included premium sound group for $1,995; five-speed automatic for $995; and $1,000 gas-guzzler tax. Mustang - $42,990 ($40,145 base price, and more about options later)

Antiques/Art/Crafts Art Star Craft Bazaar More than 100 local & national artists present handmade items that reflect the quirky aesthetic of Art Star. Penn's Landing, Columbus Blvd.; 215-922-2386 (2FUN). www.artstarcraftbazaar.com . 5/14. At Your Service Auction Benefit auction to support the NAA. Newark Arts Alliance, 276 E. Main St., Suite 102, Newark, Del.; 302-266-7266. 5/14. 6-9 pm. Blast From the Past Classic Car Show Antique, classic & muscle cars, music, Chili Cook-off.

Friday Of long noses and roses On Friday, the American Philosophical Society will open a new exhibit, "Of Elephants and Roses," which examines French natural science at the turn of the 19th century. The exhibit features scientific specimens, fine artwork, and rare books, many of which have never been displayed in the United States before. Admission is $1 for the exhibit, open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday to Sunday through Dec. 31 at the American Philosophical Society Museum, 104 S. Fifth St. Information: 215-440-3440; www.apsmuseum.org . Saturday Grillin' and chillin' A Heart Healthy Cook-Off will be staged by the Philadelphia chapter of the Links Inc. in partnership with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the American Heart and Stroke Association.

One had a passion for planes. The other preferred the power of a muscle car. Mark C. Jennings joined the Air Force as a young man, earned Top Gun honors as an F-16 pilot, and flew combat missions over Iraq. Stephen M. Moffa kept his cars, new and vintage, in meticulous condition. He was so good at it, the guy who sold him parts eventually hired him. On Dec. 14, the lives of the two Cherry Hill men came together in a fluke accident on Route 70 just west of Kings Highway.

TO BEGIN WITH, John Goral isn't much of a Phillies fan. Not much of a baseball fan, really. His wife, Gina, she's another story. She's a baseball nut . . . well, a newbie nut, one of masses who converted when the Phillies sprouted charisma during their 2007 run to the playoffs. She happened to take a shine to that slim Cole Hamels kid, the self-assured ace with the dreamy eyes. She even bought a Hamels jersey. Really, though, they're a football couple. Their Bensalem basement testifies their allegiances: His Steelers banner hangs on one wall, its Roman numerals signifying the Super Bowls won by that team.

Pete Perrotta's seen a lot of car shows during his career as an auto journalist and a salesman for Honda and Mercedes, but he says there is nothing like viewing all the new models showcased together. "People may be buying less, but the auto show is always fun," Perrotta said. "You see all the competition, and you never know when the economy will come back and you will remember the car you wanted. " The organizers of the 2009 Philadelphia International Auto Show are hoping that positive spirit will bring out the crowds this year.

When the stock market plunged a few weeks ago, Lou Mandich wondered whether the phone would ring again at his Last Chance Garage. Mandich, who specializes in the care and repair of vintage automobiles, needn't have worried. Customers still call, and Mandich and his team of three mechanics have at least a two-week backlog. "I think we are just fortunate to have a large customer base," Mandich modestly explains. He could have added "loyal" and "peculiar. " People who love old cars, anyone familiar with the hobby will tell you, love them profoundly and irrationally.

IN MARCH OF 1966, I ordered one of the great American muscle cars of the 1960s. It was a red Oldsmobile 442, four-speed with a white convertible top and the now-rare engine option, three 2-barrel carburetors, or L69. Today, it is documented that Oldsmobile made only 240 of these units. After 4 years of street and dragstrip racing, I sold it to a friend. I happened to bump into him almost 10 years later and persuaded him to sell it back to me. I have not seen him since.