History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

Hey there, HJ, seems like a good time to mention the THREAD we had fun
doing earlier this year on the HAMB, for the benefit of those interested in the
King Midget but who mya not have seen that thread, entitled: Rodding a
King Midget ???

http://www.midgetmotors.com/index.html (HotRodding the KM)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpfKPegj3nk (youtube)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/crosley-farmoroad.html (fascinating
link to the biggest U.S. museum dedicated to TINY cars!)

 

This car was personally ordered by Mr. Edsel Ford, President of Ford Motor Co., in June of 1934 for his own personal use. It was garaged at Edsel's estate in Grosse Point Shores, Michigan.

The custom 'one-off' body was built by the coachbuilder of Cologne, Germany. It was shipped to America in August of 1934 and was mated to a standard 1934 chassis.

This was Edsel's 'concept car' and the precursor to the legendary Lincoln Continental that was to arrive a few years later. It is one of only two known Edsel Ford-owned cars surviving today.

 

Alsancle

Cool tech piece on the Auburn dual ratio and supercharger.

HAMBers. I have a picture of a bare Auburn V12 dual ratio chassis on my profile. It was photographed in the 30s during a rebody at the Richard Saunders' Shop. It shows the dual ratio selector and the V12. Beautiful even without a body. Take a look. There are a few details on the chassis and engine to look at as well.

Vintageride

 

Sorry, AlsAncle, I think my computer problems are getting squared away so that I can catch up! No, not familiar with the Gilmore; pretty nice, broad collection of cars & artifacts?

 

Can we say, "BEAST" ??? And NO, I wouldn't
wanna get in HIS way!


Hey, gang, having been in and out (mostly out) last 2-3 days
with computer issues, did you talk much, or any, about STUTZ
in racing? They see always to have been pretty committed to
a racing program, until their favorite factory driver got killed
(about 1930, if I recollect correctly).

 

1934 Ford Model 40 Special Speedster

Edsel Bryant Ford was born on November 6th of 1893 and passed away a short 49 years later due to cancer. He was the son of the legendary Henry Ford who had formed the Ford Motor Company Empire. Edsel was groomed to follow in the family business. In 1915 he became secretary of Ford and later became president of the company.

Henry and Edsel differed in many ways. Edsel was an artist and connoisseur. Henry did not favor a Ford with custom coachwork, but Edsel would. Edsel showed a strong interest in automotive styling and even took art lessons for most of his life.

In 1922 he purchased the Lincoln Motor Company and was named president. In 1931 he formed Ford's fist design department and worked closely with many coachbuilders, Brewster in particular, to provide custom bodies for Lincoln and Ford chassis.

Prior to Edsel's involvement in the Ford Motor Company, the designs were plain, efficient, and lacked any major frills. They were functional and conservative but lacked the allure of many other cars on the roadway.

Edsel appointed 24-year old Eugene T. 'Bob' Gregorie to head the small styling group. His resume was not that extensive at this point in history; he had worked with Harley Earl at General Motors in the Art and Colour studio and was an accomplished sketch artist who could transform an idea into reality. In 1931 Gregorie had worked as a draftsman at Lincoln.

One of the earliest Gregorie designs to be fitted on a Ford chassis was a European inspired custom boat tail speedster that was built atop a 1932 Ford chassis. A few years later, a second, more dynamic design was created. Several sketches were created and eventually a 1/25th scale model was created. The design was tested in a wind tunnel in Ford Aviation's Air Frame Building.

The chassis for the car was a stock 1934 frame that was lowered six inches in the rear by having the frame rails pass under the rear axle. the front was lowered by using new fabricated suspension parts. Additional modifications to the frame including moving the front axle forward ten inches.

The body was constructed from aluminum, given a tapered-tail, had seating for two, and was doorless (cut-down) and topless. The front had a vee-shaped grille that was as bold as it was dynamic. There were modified Ford Tri-motor aircraft 'wheel pants' that served as cycle fenders with the front that turned with the wheels. Stock Ford wire wheels were used but converted to custom wheel discs. The entire package was covered in a Pearl Essence Gunmetal Dark shade with a gray leather interior. Mounted in the long engine bay was a Ford Model 40 V8 engine with straight exhausts that ran through a section of the tubular frame and exited at the rear. The entire package weighed 2400 pounds.

It was a very aerodynamic, clean, stylish, and smooth design. It had lots of detail that could be noticed upon further inspection. The canted louvers were in the precise angle of the grille and the rakish windscreens. The faired-in headlights, lack of hood ornamentation, a fully enclosed radiator without a cap, no running boards, and lack of brightwork most certainly added to its seductive appeal.

When Edsel was not using the car, he stored it in an unheated shed on his Fair Lane estate. During the winter of 1939-1940, the engine block cracked due to the extreme temperatures. A new 1940 Mercury V8 engine was installed. In modern times, the Mercury engine was replaced with a stock 1940 Ford flathead engine with dual carburetors and dual exhausts.

One of the flaws of this cars original design was that the sheet metal partially blocks the flow of air to the radiator, resulting in overheating. Gregorie created a 1/10th scale model of a design he felt would solve the problem. The changes were approved and the upper grille on the car was shortened. A new horizontal lower grille with matching bars was fabricated. On either side was flanked by large headlights.

After Edsel's untimely death, this car along with five others were sold. The new owner had the Speedster shipped to Los Angeles and put into storage. A short time later, an ad in Road & Track advertised the sale of this custom Ford. The car did not sell. Another ad appeared in an issue of Auto Sport Review but again failed to sell. The $2500 price tag was rather steep for the time.

The car went back into storage where it would remain until 1957. It was brought back to Georgia and offered for sale on the Garrard Import used car lot in Pensacola, Florida. Early in 1958 the car was sold to John Pallasch for $603. At this point in history, the car was painted red to match its red leather. Pallasch was later shipped out for Vietnam on an extended tour and did not return until the late 1960s. The car was put into storage where it remained for nearly four decades.

Bill Warner is the founder of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. In 1999 he was searching for the Edsel Speedster for a special display at the concours. After some searching, Warner found the owner of the car. Upon contacting the owner, he found the owner willing to sell. So Bill immediately drove to Deland, Florida to inspect the car. It was in a garage and was showing many signs of a long life. It was mostly complete except for its custom wheel discs. Its odometer read a mere 19,000 miles.

Warner and his team rebuilt the Mercury V8 engine, touched up the body paint, repainted the fenders, and had aluminum wheel discs replicated.

In 2008 this very rare automobile was brought to the Automobiles of Amelia presented by RM Auctions. It has had only a few owners during its lifetime, with the last time it was offered for sale being over 40 years ago. The Mercury flathead V8 engine displaces 239 cubic-inches and produces around 120 horsepower. There is a three-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel mechanical brakes. The wheel base measures 122-inches. This car was one of the highlights of the auction. As the gavel fell for the third and final time, the car had found a new owner, and one that was willing to part with $1.76 million to own this marvelous legendary automobile.

More pics here;

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z15233/Ford-Model-40-Special-Speedster.aspx

 

sunroof pointed me at your profile a week or two back. You have to start a thread on Dick Saunders. Those cars mark the intersection of my interests - big classics modified for performance. Totally cool!

 

You see a lot (well, not a real lot) of European bodies on smaller America chassis and they almost always look great. There was a Graber bodied Packard 120 at Hershey a few years ago that was really cool. The level of detail and quality in those custom European bodies is very very high.

 

That is a great story and that car kicks ass. However, I don't see that 1.76 million as a repeatable number for quite a while.

 

Mr. Saunders did do allot of out there customs, and early on to boot.

Your Speedster thread shows there was quite the interest back east. Maybe a 1920s and 1930s East Coast hot rod/custom thread.

Vintageride

 

1932 Ford Special Speedster

Edsel Ford loved stylish, fast cars. In 1932, after hiring E.T. 'Bob' Gregorie as Ford Motor Company's first full-time designer, he and Gregorie collaborated on a speedster design. The result was this car, built in Ford motor Company's airframe building and finished in the Lincoln shops.

Within a few years, Mr. Ford had sold the car and by the 1940's it was in a Connecticut wrecking yard, where it was saved - but underwent extensive modifications by the new owners. As a result, for several years, no one knew that the car still existed.

The current owner purchased the car several years ago unaware of its historic provenance. When he learned it was originally built for Edsel Ford he decided to return the car to its original condition. The restoration is currently underway.

 

The Glimore is in Michigan and is sometimes refered to as the CCCA museum. There are a dozen (huge) restored barns that have the cars. Pierce Arrow has a barn for their Museum, the CCCA has a barn, and some others I think. It is a great museum that must be seen at least once, if not for the cars then for the freakin barns.

I'm going from my leaky memory but in one of the Barn's they have a room setup like a Tucker Dealership full of unopened tucker parts (radios and what not). It is all real stuff. I think they have blueprints and other related memorabilia.

 

1932 Ford Type 18 German Cabriolet

This is a 1932 Ford Type 18, with a custom coach-built cabriolet body. The car varies from the American-made convertible sedan styles; the top has no side rails to slide on.

The car was originally purchased by a high-profile German official. In 1938 or 1939, the car was hidden, actually walled up in a basement in Austria, to prevent military confiscation. In 1947, the car was shipped to England. It arrived stateside in 1964, as the possession of a Wisconsin antique dealer. From there, it was sold to the current owner in Jacksonville.

The bodywork is from Deutsch of Koln, the chassis assembled by the Ford Werks A.G. Koln. Unusual features abound such as an underhood siren, dual flag shafts, a Bosch driving light and spotlight, and trafficators. This is the only known example by this coachbuilder and one of five German-built convertibles known.

Former Staff Car for the Third Reich. Owner was a non-Nazi and hid the car from confiscation by the German Army.

The car has all of its original parts, with the exception of the engine (now correct) that was lost during long ago restoration. There are currently only seven of this body type known in the World.

Has been shown at Pebble Beach, Amelia 'Island, Hilton Head, Palos Verdes, and a new Concours in San Bernadino. Also was on display at the Petersen Museum for the Anniversary of the '32 V-8.

Only one other '32 known with this Body-type.

 

While at the 2005 Amelia Island concours I parked nest to it while the CAAM displayed
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1932 Ford V8 Drauz

Ford Motor Company was already a major global automaker, with assembly operations in many countries, by 1932. The chassis for this unusual example of the new-for-1932 Ford V8 came from the Ford plate at Cologne, Germany. The 5-passenger Convertible Victoria body was built and finished by Drauz, a large, well-known coachbuilder at Helbronn, in the German state of Baden.

Coachbuilt cabriolets on American chassis were popular and prestigious on the Continent in the 1930s. Sometimes they were offered in limited series, as 'catalog customs,' by the original manufacturer. Such cabriolets make for interesting and, due to their extreme scarcity, often unique, collector cars today.

This Ford V8 was a relatively expensive, large and powerful car in the Germany of 1932. The cabriolet body crafted for it by Drauz was well appointed, with full leather seating, a burled walnut instrument panel, natural ivory control knobs and many other special touches. Features such as the coachbuilder's special hood, a grille with Lincoln-like thermostatic shutters and the European-style 'trafficator' turn signals resulted in a 1932 Ford V8 that had remarkably little in common with the standard Ford of the same year built for the U.S. market.

The owner has this very special Ford since 1973. It was restored from a very rough car with what can only be called loving attention to detail.

 

Here is a Graber bodied Packard but not the one I saw at Hershey. I think this was mentioned earlier in the thread but for anyone interested in custom coach building you need to keep up with www.coachbuild.com

 

Definitely give him is own thread. I'd love to talk in detail about some of those cars. It would be great if some of them were still around.

 

1935 Ford Type 48 German Cabrio

This is a 1935 Ford Type 48, with a custom coach-built cabriolet body. Little was known about the car's past until the body panels were stripped to bare metal for restoration. It was evident from the modifications and previous damage that the car had been confiscated for use by the German military during World War II.

The current owner located the car in March of 2005, in Portland, Oregon, through an ad on E-bay. The auction reserve hadn't been met, but a subsequent phone call resolved the situation amicably and the car relocated to Jacksonville, Florida.

The bodywork is from Drauz of Heilbrunn, Germany, and the chassis was built by the Ford Werks A.G. Koln, Germany. This is proven by the red Ford/Koln emblem and the German data plate. Notable European features include suicide doors, louvered hood sides, landau irons and German instruments. This is one of two examples known.

This is one of four known 1935 custom coach built Fords. The body is 'metal-over-wood' construction and is the only one of this style from the coach-builder. This is a classic German styled Cabriolet with the body channeled over the frame and the low side top with strong chrome landau irons giving the car a racy sleek European line. There are several unusual features of this auto including: Ford of Koln grill emblem (in red), suicide opening doors, louvered hood sides, frenched in spare tire and German gauges.<!--halfWideBoxBottomLines-->

 

That is a spectacular car and could only be improved by a black roof .

 

1939 Ford Special Roadster

This 1939 Ford Special Roadster was built especially for William Clay Ford, grandson of Henry Ford. He received the car as a gift at the age of 15. This Roadster was hand-crafted at Ford's British factory in England; therefore, it is the only one of its type that exists in the world.

The <nobr style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: darkgreen;" id="itxt_nobr_1_0">engine</nobr> is a 4-cylinder Ford engine and the transmission is a 3-forward, 1-reverse speed.

This car was displayed at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, prior to its current location at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum in Tallahassee, Florida.

Looks like an MG to me.

 

1905 Viquert Five Passenger Touring
The Viguert Co., Long Island, NY
1905


Zenkmobile Factory


Interior of Krit Company automobile shop

1910 Lambert Automobile at its Buckeye Automotive factory
Anderson, In.


1903 Prescott Runabout,
Prescott Mfg. Co. Pasiac, NJ.
1901-1903


1884 Kerosene fueled automobile built by E.S. Callihan in Woonsocket, Dakota Territory

1910 Metropol Racer,
Metropol Motors Corp. Port Jefferson, NY
1909-1913

I just love obscure vehicles!
​

 

1903 Conrad
Conrad Motor Carriage Co. Buffalo, NY
1900-1903

Another Buffalo built car.

 

1908 Koen Runabout
James R. Koen, Buffalo, NY
Only year built

 

Man, SWI, you came up with a BUNCH of really EARLY defunct ones !!!

 

I was reading the eBay ad for this and I will agree it's very cool. HOWEVER, how does one use the word "Factory" when he says right in the ad that it started life as a fire truck. The other thing, when you are selling a high dollar item like this and the value could fluctuate 100% (or more) based on when the modifications took place shouldn't you give as much history as possible?

 

History may be hard to come by. I would think saying it seems to be a one-off effot would suffice. Just my two cents.

 

We talked at some length about the '31 Jordan Speedway Ace-Z, But Old School HAMBer The37Kid pointed me to this ULTRA-RARE '31 Jordan senior sedan, which I was unaware of, frankly!. This "Sportsman" is on page 181 of The American Car Since 1775. Does ANYONE have a copy of this book? AND, does anyone know if ANY of these survived???

37Kid's comment was, "Looks a lot like a Stutz Monte Carlo, doesn't it?" I am not in a position to know. Anyone who's been on this thread have an opinion -- OR a pic of the STUTZ Monte Carlo ??

My motive for revisiting Jordan is that I've still not come up with a PIC of the ill-fated "Little Custom" that fatally wounded the successful Jordan company. Help, guys! Surely, one must survive in a museum???

1931 Jordan "Sportsman" 5-passenger sedan, bodied by Baker, Rauch & Lange

 

Hmmmm

 

The Jordan Sportsman does look like a DV32 Weymann Monte-Carlo. There is one of these in the CCCA barn of the Gilmore Museum, or at least there was one when I was there.

 

SunRoof, I really want to thank you for Post #1211. I have always respected Edsel Ford for following his vision and "working with" his crusty dad to bring some opportune and successful innovation to the F-L-M lines. BUT, I never had the opportunity to look into the details of his life. Given that (at least compared to Henry) Edsel was a sort of renaissance man, it seems a truly bitter irony that the failed Edsel should be named for him. With so many success to his credit, it is too bad that his name is inovked, often, as a synonym for blunder and failure.

Though he made many contributions, maybe it was his imaginative PUSHING during the depression years that made Ford almost thrive, instead of, perhaps, going the way of so many other companies during that long, trying decade.