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History Rickenbacker - faded into obscurity? Anyone seen one? Own one? Hot rodded one?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Gigantor, Jan 1, 2012.

  1. Gigantor
    Joined: Jul 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,823

    Gigantor
    Member

    Last winter I was out scoping parts behind a fella's garage and he points to this pile of snow and ice with a few pieces poking out and tells me it's a Rickenbacker. There's not much to see, but he tips me off about how Rickenbacker was America's WW1 Ace pilot and created his own car company. Intriguing.
    Wikipedia has a lot to say about the guy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbackerand it's an interesting story, but there seems to be very little to say about the cars themselves other than some neat tidbits like he was the first to offer 4-wheel brakes but that his cars were too expensive for the average consumer.

    Yesterday I stopped by the gentleman's house again since there was no snow and I stood there in the freezing rain surveying the pile of parts. There's not much there but it's intriguing nonetheless.
    He sold me the grille shell sans "Hat in the Ring" emblem but says he will call me when he lays hands on it (his wife took it inside the house to identify it when he got ahold of the parts).

    I've never seen one in person other than the pile of rusty parts out back there. It got me to wondering though what kind of cars they were. The pics on google don't tell much. Does anyone have any first hand experience with these? Anyone ever hot rodded one? Is that equivalent to chopping a Dussenberg?

    It's just a neat story to me. He was America's A-list pilot before being overshadowed by Lindbergh, he raced cars before and after the war and started his own car company. I wish I knew more but thought I'd ask the HAMB crew.
     
  2. flathead okie
    Joined: May 22, 2005
    Posts: 1,480

    flathead okie
    Member

    I've got his autografted autobiography. It's good read. He accomplished alot.
    I would love to have one of his cars. Pretty rare. But if you don't have all the parts..rod it.
     
  3. Gigantor
    Joined: Jul 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,823

    Gigantor
    Member

    I am up to my eyeballs in my roadster so this is something I would pass along to someone a lot crazier than me if he was willing to sell.
     
  4. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    [​IMG] This was the 1926 factory show car with copper plated features. Saw it at Hershey, looks better live than in the photo. Check out the Race cars 1894-1944 thread here on the HAMB for Eddie Ridkenbacker racing info.
     

  5. flathead okie
    Joined: May 22, 2005
    Posts: 1,480

    flathead okie
    Member

    I just got into my 30 Model A a month ago and I'm tapped out. I would like to get it but just haven;t the time or money. If I'd known about it before I got this I'd probably jump on it.
     
  6. Thumper
    Joined: Mar 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,610

    Thumper
    Member

  7. krooser
    Joined: Jul 25, 2004
    Posts: 4,584

    krooser
    Member

  8. My grandmothers family were friends with the Rickenbacker family. Eddie took her up for her first ride in an airplane.
     
  9. My brother [Jangleguy here] scored the back half of a '26 Rickenbacker touring with doors and a model A ford cowl..started making a hotrod but ended up selling to another HAMBer [lockjaw] and he's slowly putting it together. Sorry, I don't have a photo on my computer but I have a few snapshots.
     
  10. Vimtage Iron
    Joined: Feb 28, 2010
    Posts: 561

    Vimtage Iron
    Member

    A buddy of mine in Montana has a basket case and is missing some parts, I haven't seen it and its piled up in his garage, I'll have to ask what year it is.
     
  11. Southfork
    Joined: Dec 15, 2001
    Posts: 1,465

    Southfork
    Member

    I saw a Rickenbacker car chassis that had been trailered into a iron/scrap salvage yard a few years ago. I remember it because the yard employee with the cutting torch pointed out the 'top hat' embossed or pressed into the rear of the diffential as he was cutting the axles up. Just didn't seem right for him to torch that chassis. I made up for losing that one by buying a complete 'Rockne' chassis from the same yard a couple of years later.
     
  12. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    They were popular for a while but faded out of the picture after a few years. Sold in the upper medium price bracket, think Cadillac or Lincoln territory (there were lots more expensive cars back then).

    For some reason very few have survived. They had some innovative features besides the brakes. Like 2 flywheels (one on the front) for smoother engine balance. The first car to have an electric gas gauge. There may have been others but I don't remember them.
     
  13. There's a Twilight Zone episode with Orson Bean. He drives a Rickenbacker
     
  14. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    There is a bit of trivia you won't find on other websites!:eek:
     
  15. xix32
    Joined: Jun 12, 2008
    Posts: 593

    xix32
    Member

    Captain Eddie
    [​IMG]
     
  16. The radiator emblem may look like this...
     

    Attached Files:

  17. willowbilly3
    Joined: Jun 18, 2004
    Posts: 4,356

    willowbilly3
    Member Emeritus
    from Sturgis

    I had a cowl and hood from one a few years back. All I saved was the dash and it's in my rpu.
     
  18. Curly Hand
    Joined: Mar 24, 2009
    Posts: 324

    Curly Hand
    Member
    from Tucson

    Talented people those Rickenbackers:

    "Adolph Rickenbacker (April 1, 1886 – March 1976) was a Swiss-American who founded the Rickenbacker guitar company. He was born Adolf Rickenbacker in Switzerland. He emigrated to the United States with older relatives after his parents died, settling in Wisconsin. He moved to southern California as a young man. He later Anglicized his name to Adolph Rickenbacker to capitalize on the popularity of his distant cousin, America's top Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker".
     

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  19. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    So much for music, Eddie Rickenbacker bought the INDY 500 track in 1927, and added the infield golf course.
     
  20. flathead okie
    Joined: May 22, 2005
    Posts: 1,480

    flathead okie
    Member

    Gigantor, any updates on this
     
  21. 327-365hp
    Joined: Feb 5, 2006
    Posts: 5,429

    327-365hp
    Member
    from Mass

  22. bykerlad
    Joined: Mar 14, 2009
    Posts: 260

    bykerlad
    Member
    from australia

    I just bought a flathead motor of an old bloke here in oz,he has one complete and running,kool looking car allright
     
  23. "T'RANTULA"
    Joined: Aug 6, 2011
    Posts: 661

    "T'RANTULA"
    Member
    from Ohio

    I just watched that episode yesterday, man did it smoke like a freight train!!! Wouldent mind havin it though :D
     
  24. Here's the clip from the Twilight Zone.

     
  25. His Autobiographies are real good readin'. He was quite a guy. He was Gen. Blackjack Pershing's driver before he went to flight school, and sand cast replacement bearings (inserts?)on the side of the road for the broke down vehicle they were in. The General was so impressed with him, he got him in flight school. He flew Nieuports (sp?) and Spads in France in WW1. Was an Ace. Read "Fighting the Flying Circus" he tells all about it. In WW2 he and 3 or 4 others survived on a liferaft for a crazy amount of time, ate a raw seagull that landed on one of 'em's head. He started Eastern Airlines, and survived a crash in Atlanta where one of his eyeballs, was danglin'. He was a childhood hero of mine- can you tell?
    His other Autobiography which covers all aspects of his life- "Rickenbacker" is really good, too. Amazing guy.
    I realize this ain't about the car, but still...
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2012
  26. jamn47
    Joined: Jan 3, 2011
    Posts: 135

    jamn47
    Member

    It sure is a fantastic read..I also have one autographed, sometime in the 60's at a book signing. I also have Col. Bud Anderson and Maj Gen. "Boots" Blesse' sign the same book next to his name..WWI-WW2-Korean war fighter aces in that order...Real American Idols!
     
  27. Hot Rod Grampa
    Joined: Apr 25, 2011
    Posts: 83

    Hot Rod Grampa
    Member

    One of my neighbors has been collecting them for years. Brings one out every summer to tool around. Does not attempt to restore, just preserve and maintain in running condition. Awesome cars up close but hard to find parts.
     
  28. Gigantor
    Joined: Jul 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,823

    Gigantor
    Member

    Not yet - I know the fella a little and he's a straight shooter. He says his wife was the one who could lay hands on the emblem for the grille shell but that she was laid out with a broken back and wouldn't be up and around for a couple months. I'll give the missus all the time she needs - there's nothing quite like back pain, I can only imagine what kind of agony she's in.

    But I got to thinkin... I don't know if those pieces are to a 6 or an 8. I'm curious about the hood, if it's longer than, oh, say, a Model A hood. From what I could see, it had some very cool louvers... I might need to see about going to take another peek sometime soon. This time I should bring a camera since photos of these things seem to be rare although a couple cool ones popped up pretty quick around here! Thanks guys!

    Very neat Twilight Zone catch!
     
  29. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    You have it upside down. Note the emblems painted on the sides of the Indy pace cars.
     
  30. SakowskiMotors
    Joined: Nov 18, 2006
    Posts: 1,240

    SakowskiMotors
    Member

    More Hamb Trivia

    My Grandad Tony Saks, a Rickenbacker salesman, got all The Beatles to sign a Rickenbacker Guitar in gold. Kept it his whole life working class life.
    http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/raritiesbeatle.html

    More trivia: at George Barris car show a number of years ago, a really old timer musician came up to me at a booth and started talking to me about an old friend Tony Saks / Sakowski that used to play in big bands with him around LA back in the day... turns out it was the same grandad.

    Well, pretty interesting to me.
     

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