History 1933 & 1934 Motor Magazine Annuals; Muroc & Bonneville

Back in the spring of 1986, my ex-wife's grandmother died. After the funeral, we went to the family home in Buffalo where the ex opened a hall closet to discover a bunch of old stuff: two Motor magazines (which were automotive trade magazines), January of 1933 & 1934, along with some old car brochures; a 1942 Packard sales manual, 1948 Mercury, 1948 Studebaker, 1948 Hudson, a '48 Harley-Davidson brochure, and an original October 1951 Hop Up magazine. Apparently her uncle, who died in the Korean war, was a car nut. Knowing that the stuff probably was going to be throw away, she let me have the magazines and brochures. I really wanted to go through the rest of the house, as her grandmother was the daughter of Michael Shea, who brought vaudeville to Buffalo, and started a chain of movie theaters, including Shea's Buffalo, a historic theater still standing.

So I thought I would share some of the magazines here. Motor Magazine as mentioned, was a trade publication published by International Magazine Company, owned by William Randolph Hearst. Throughout each magazine are ads dealing with automobile jobber stuff; oil, bearings, brakes, etc., along with articles of the new cars and the general automobile business of the time:


January 1933 Motor Magazine Annual cover.


2 Million Year Old Speedways: Muroc, California, and Salduro, UT. Article on lake beds racing.


Zeppo Marx's supercharged Mercedes & Phil Berg's Duesenberg at Muroc.


Ralph DePalma's Miller racing car.


DePalma's car at Muroc.


Ab Jenkinsin a Pierce-Arrow at Salduro, Utah.


The West Decides the Championship. Article on the then new banked dirt mile track at Oakland, California.


Bob Carey's Meyer.


Fred Frame's Miller-Hartz Special.


Sir Malcolm Campbell at Daytona Beach.


1933 Rockne 6 and model.


1933 Willys article.


Detail, 1933 Willys 4 Cylinder Coupe. Wouldn't you want to have one of these now!


1933 Oldsmobile ad.



January 1934 Motor Annual Cover. Illustration by Hans Wesso, who apparently was pulp fiction illustrator.


Kendall Oil ad. A year before, Kendall introduced canned oil.


Midget Racing at Loyola track in Los Angeles article.


Detail.


Speed, an article on racing.


Sir Malcolm Campbell at Daytona.

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Pierce-Arrow at Salduro, Utah.

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Article on Chrysler's new Airflow.

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Detail; 1934 Chrysler Airflow.

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Chrysler Airflow designers using a windtunnel. Models were vertically cut at "B" pillar so different front halves could be put on different rears to quickly find the best aero results.

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'34 Airflow advertisement.

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Detail.

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Detail showing "Floating Ride".

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Detail; Birdgework Frame.

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1934 DeSoto Airflow interior.

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1934 Ford article.

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Detail.

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Ford V-8 Phantom View.

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Supercharged Graham Custom 8 Engine article.

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Article on '34 Hupmobile designed by Raymond Lowey.

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Hupmobile details.

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Hupmobile Coupe details.

 

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to scan this stuff. I really enjoy seeing prewar stuff.

 

Wow, very interesting-Thanks

 

I've been meaning to post the "great Mercedes/Duesenberg" match race for a long time. Theoretically the SS Mercedes should have taken the Duesenberg but there is speculation that the dude driving the Mercedes over used the Blower and lost fuel pressure. I have a few of these Annuals, they go for around 50 bucks on eBay and are well worth it for the artwork alone.

 

Thanks! I will try to post some of the relevant ads and any other article that is cool!

 

very cool. Zeppo Marx was one of the Marx brother, never knew he raced. This early history is irreplaceable, so thanks for sharing it!!

 

very cool photos! Thanks for taking the time to share them.

 

A guy over in the ACD forum posted a complete scan of a lengthy article on the Mercedes Duesenberg match race.