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

Don't know but like the C2 Vette reflection in the right rear quarter.

 

I personally don't think this is one of the cars done in France. Compare the differences with the car in the picture below that WAS done in France. Of course, it does look like the car in question could be built from one of the French cars with some trim changes.

 

Okay, guys, the plot thickens on Steve McQueen's Ferrari. At first, I thought this must be the '63 250GT Berlinetta Lusso. BUT, that was a coupe (and sold for 2.3 million in '07 at Christie's).

SO, this one must be the Ferrari he traded the first one in for in the early 1970s. I'm not a Ferrari guy (nor much of a foreign-car guy, either, for that matter). Ryan Cochran really digs Ferrari's. Maybe he'll see this and fill me in on the year and model.

 

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I know we've touched on the Graham Sharknose in the past but I don't think we ever really looked at how the Sharknose came about.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Hoping for a miracle, Graham unleashed the radical "Spirit of Motion" for 1938, a blown and unblown four-door sedan with a sharply undercut front that soon earned the dubious nickname "sharknose." It was Northup's last design before his untimely death in 1936. (Ray Graham had passed away in 1932; he was only 45.)[/FONT][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Graham was trying to be the style leader it had been with the Blue Streak, but the public didn't buy it -- literally, as model-year production ended at 5020. A "sharknose" two-door sedan and "Combination" club coupe arrived for 1939, when running boards were eliminated. Horsepower remained 116 supercharged, 90 unblown, and all models offered Deluxe and better Custom trim. Despite impressive supercharged performance (10.9 seconds 0-50) and fuel economy of up to 25 mpg, the "sharknose" remained a poor seller. It thus departed after 1940, seeing little further change save slight horsepower gains (to 120 and 93). Respective 1939-40 model-year production was 5392 and an estimated 1000.[/FONT]


[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The 1939 Graham "sharknose" sedan performed well but was poorly received.
It remained virtually unchanged until its departure after 1940.[/FONT]

1939 Combination Coupe pictured below. Roofline looks similar to 1939 Mercury Coupe. 1939 was the first year for Mercury

 

This 1956 Jaguar XKSS was a part of
Steve's personal garage of cars



Steve loved to drive this car FAST.

He collected so many speeding tickets in it that he had his drivers license suspended twice.

On one occasion, when with his 6 months pregnant wife Neile in the passenger seat, he was pulled over for speeding, he came up with the false excuse that she was in labour. The police dutifully raced them to the hospital, where a nurse rushed out to help Neile.

After the police had departed Steve informed the nurse that it was a 'False Alarm', and led Neile back to the Jag. Writer William Nolan quotes Steve on the incident: Neile was pissed. She didn't speak to me for the rest of the day. But, by God, it worked. I didn't get the ticket!

Steve originally purchased the car in 1959, then sold it in 1969, but nostalgia got the best of him and he repurchased it in 1977, owning it till his death in 1980.

 

The 1963 250 coupe previously owned by actor/racer McQueen. Photos taken at Christie's auction in '07

 

HJ, good work, man! Dude, the B&W pic from the rear end had ME fooled! Jag never even crossed my mind.

 

The Yellow Winton Flyer from The Reivers.



<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>The Reivers, based on William Faulkner&#8217;s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, was a departure from Steve McQueen's typical action/adventure films. While McQueen played the starring role of Boon Hogganbeck &#8211; earning a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination for the uncharacteristic part &#8211; many felt the real star of The Reivers was the Winton Flyer that carried Hogganbeck, his young protégé Lucius (played by 13 year old Mitch Vogel) and stowaway Ned McCaslin (Rupert Crosse, nominated for an Oscar for this role) across Mississippi to the big city of Memphis.

In some markets, in fact, the movie is titled Yellow Winton Flyer.

Steve McQueen, whose Solar Productions was instrumental in the production of The Reivers, turned to his friend Von Dutch to construct the movie car. The Winton Flyer had to combine four-passenger capacity and 1904 appearance with the practical requirements of strength and reliability that the shooting schedule demanded. It was an assignment particularly appropriate to the whimsical Dutch, who applied his peculiar brand of tongue-in-cheek style with his highly developed skill at creating functional mechanical gizmos. The resulting Yellow Winton Flyer looks, acts, rides and shakes like the 18 horsepower 1904 touring car it's supposed to be.</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>In abundant close-ups that focus closely upon details Von Dutch succeeded in maintaining the fiction much more closely than is common in film cars. From the carefully engine-turned sheet brass 'Winton Flyer' on the radiator, through the controls, to the rear axle and bodywork, his Yellow Winton Flyer looks the part. It does it, too, with brilliant Von Dutch coachlining, pinstriping and painted details that highlight the lighthearted, freewheeling attitude of the movie and its setting in rural Mississippi and Memphis at the turn of the century.

The Yellow Winton Flyer features in nearly every scene of the movie (at least the ones that take place outside a boudoir or jail); Steve McQueen called it "the real star of the picture."

Following the movie's release in 1969 McQueen kept the Yellow Winton Flyer. It was part of his extensive collection of automobiles and motorcycles that was auctioned at the Imperial Palace in November 1984 after his untimely death and it has been carefully maintained since.

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
It is, as far as is known, the only Winton Flyer created for The Reivers and its survival through some pretty ambitious driving through fields and muddy sloughs conclusively demonstrates its reliability and solid construction. A unique automobile that combines the whimsy, skill and creativity of Von Dutch with the reckless enthusiasm which characterized Steve McQueen both in person and in his movie roles, it stands by itself. Now over 35 years old, the Winton Flyer is an antique in its own right. It was created by Von Dutch, one of the recognized geniuses of Southern California&#8217;s car culture. It was built for Steven McQueen, the creative, individualistic, free spirit whose personality and the film roles he played shaped popular culture in the Sixties and Seventies.

Estimate: $100,000 - 150,000

Sold for $100,000 plus Premium and tax .</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

The origins of Mercury are fraught with drama. If it had been up to Henry Ford, there would never have been a Mercury or Lincoln, only the Ford -- and it would have gone back to Model T basics in 1949. Yet, during the Forties Ford fielded only one medium-priced car to compete with the likes of Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Dodge, DeSoto, Hudson, Nash, and upper-level Studebakers.

Such was the pathetic lack of sound product planning at Ford Motor Company in the Thirties and early Forties. This backward and baffling "Fordonomics" produced only one car between Ford and Zephyr, the Mercury: pure Ford under the trim, but disavowing its heritage completely.

From its very inception in 1937, Henry Ford denied that the Mercury even existed. His only contribution to the marque was in finally allowing Edsel go ahead with it. The reason for the car was obvious enough: to put something into the gnawing $500 gap between the Ford DeLuxe and the Lincoln-Zephyr. The original 1939 Mercury debuted on November 5,1938, and shared Ford's antiquated transverse-spring suspension. However, the first Mercury frame wasn't quite the same as a Ford's because it was made more rigid and carried a four-inch-longer wheel-base.

The engine was pure Ford flathead V-8, bored out from 221 cubic inches to 239.4 to develop an additional 10 horsepower. However, the body was unique, sharing no panels with Ford, although design-wise the two were clearly related. Also unique to Mercury was the narrow B-pillared Club Coupe, arguably the forerunner of the hardtop body style.

While Edsel wanted to tie Mercury closely to Ford, design head E.T. "Bob" Gregorie and others in Ford styling wanted to set it apart. The Indians ultimately won out over the chief, at least for the first two model years.

Compare the roof line of the 1939 Mercury Coupe pictured below to the roofline of the 1939 Graham Combination Coupe in the earlier post. Pretty similar.

 

SunRoof, I remember my dad telling me about a friend with one of these. Dad said it was dual-ignition (meaning the Graham-adapted Continental). I never thought to recheck details with him, and now I cannot remember the specifics. Ever do this?

So, do YOU happen to know what might have constituted dual-ignition on one of these? Two plugs per cylinder, as on some fire engines? Merely two sets of points in the distributor, as on early MoPar Hemis? A primary, conventional ignition system, PLUS magneto backup, as on many earlier cars?

Any specifics?

 

SunRoof, not to be, er, mean spirited here, but maybe Ford mightn't have recovered had not the old man finally passed from the picture!

 

Jimi You were probably thinking of this Ferrari and got confused.

<TABLE border=0 width=424><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>

1967 Ferrari 365 California Spyder
in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection​

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And Thats the Truth- LOL

 

Quoting post 1015 of this thread.
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px inset ;"> Originally Posted by jimi'shemi291
Before we get too far away from the Graham make, I need to ask a question for the enigne gurus. I know Graham built up Continental sixes to their own standards, and I know how the optional superchargers worked.

But I distinctly remember my dad (who worked at a gas/service station as a high-schooler) being fascinated by a dual-ignition Graham. I was too young to appreciate details, THEN. Now, I wish I knew more!

Was this dual plugs? Or, was it primary distributor-type ignition PLUS magneto (like a Pierce/Seagrave)? Or, was it a different system altogether?
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Just in from the Graham Club;

The dual ignition system was very simple. It consisted of dual points only and was used on the 1929 Graham-Paige 8 cylinder cars.
,
Jack Sill
GOCI Webmaster
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I totally agree and HJ is RIGHT!!

 

Hey, SunRoof, I noticed YOU didn't put a smiley face on your Ford post! LOL

And THANKS for the DUAL-POINTS-ONLY info find!!! And that was ONLY on the '29. INTERESTING!

 

HJ, I'm sure we can be forgiven for stopping a sec to pay a little tribute to a much under-rated actor in Steve McQueen. I side with those who say he was ROBBED on his best performance in "The Sand Pebbles" !!!

And, one has to credit him for break-out roles such as "The Rievers."

 

O/T My two favorites, Soldier in the Rain with Jackie Gleason and Tuesday Weld and The War Lover with Robert Wagner and B-17s B-17s B-17s.

 

EASY to get back on topic where Steve McQueen is concerned!
Best car-chase scene in motion-picture history. 390 Mustang
and 440-Magnum Charger.




Appreciation is expressed to
Wikipedia, source of this one-
sheet poster for "Bullitt," 1968.

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=970 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD width=970 colSpan=2 align=middle>The 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback which featured in Bullitt.


</TD></TR><TR><TD>During filming on Bullitt in 1968, Steve raced this car through the streets of San Francisco at speeds of up to 110 mph. Two identical cars were used for filming, one of which was completely demolished as a result of the intense speed, jumps and stunt collisions involved.

'Motor Trend' magazine quoted Steve on one particularly brutal chase scene: My car was disintegrating. Like, the door handles came off, both the shocks in the front broke, the steering armature on the right front side broke and my slack was about a foot and a half. The Mustang was really just starting to fall apart.

The surviving car was sold to a private buyer after filming. Steve tried to repurchase it in 1974 but the owner wouldn't part with it.
</TD><TD align=middle></TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=970 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD width=970 colSpan=2 align=middle>The Dodge Charger which featured in Bullitt.


</TD></TR><TR><TD>Steve employed stunt driver Bill Hickman to race this car through the streets of San Francisco at speeds of up to 110 mph. Writer William Nolan quotes Steve's comments on his choice for the Charger driver: I wanted Bill Hickman in the Dodge. Bill's an old stunt pro and I knew we could depend on him - so he drove the Dodge Charger in our film, playing the baddie, while I chase him, as Bullitt, in the Mustang.

Hickman came close to having a severe accident during filming when, whilst taking a sharp turn at high speed, the Charger's brakes failed. The Charger slid side on into a parked car and wiped out a film camera, narrowly missing nearby police and production crew. This scene actually appears in the film.
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I'll agree with ya there.

 

And talk about blazing speed!!!

Okay, it may not be pretty, BUT it was the first U.S. gasoline-engined horseless carriage (er, it looks more like a wagon to me). Anyway, the folks in Allentown, PA, recognize Henry Nadig's car, first run in 1891, as predating Duryea's of 1893. Nadig worked on the car from a least 1889, and naysayers contend that he kept right on modifying it in later years. Don't know how that could negate Nadig's achievements in 1891, scaring horses on Allentown's streets badly enough that the cops made him only drive his contraption after horses were stabled at night!

The remains of Nadig's car were located in a fallen-down shed and are being carefully restored (best as info permits, anyway) by the local museum, America on Wheels (which also houses the records of Mack trucks). Nadig did not build his car for sale, and he never made a second one, for that matter. He continued to drive the vehicle for his own pleasure for a number of years.

 

It's amazing what you stumble on to when your looking for something else. Any one know any more about this car????

​

Hollywood western movie star and stuntman Buck Jones & &#8216;33 Packard Special​

 

Okay, now there are those who contend that John W. Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio, built the "first practical" gasoline-powered automobile in 1891 -- with the expressed intention of making the cars for sale. According to a Wikipedia article on Lambert and the Buckeye Gasoline Buggy (really a surrey-topped tricycle), well-known automobile historian, editor, and publisher L. Scott Bailey did years of research supporting his position that Lambert was first, in early 1891, with a gas-power buggy, made for sale.

Lambert designed and built the car in 1890 and successfully tested it indoors in January 1891. He was driving his first vehicle on Ohio City streets by February when he also began distributing descriptive sales brochures to prospective buyers. Though the prototype cost Lambert over $3,000 to build, he offered copies at $550 each. But that was still a lot of money back then, so Lambert was unable to sell any cars at all.

The original car was lost in a fire in 1904, but not before Lambert's designs became the basis for the Union automobile which was, indeed, sold to the public beginning in 1902.

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Sincere appreciation is expressed
to Wikipedia, the Free Online
Encylopedia, source of this photo
of John Lambert's 1891 Buckeye
Gasoline Buggy.

 

There was no photo on my side, so here's another one.

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1891 Lambert Three Wheeler

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The Union Automobile & The Union Automobile Co.

The Union Automobile Co.
Union City, IN

1902-1905
The Union Automobile Co.
Anderson, IN

1905
The very first of several American Automobiles called the Union was built in Union City, IN and designed by John W. Lambert. Lambert also owned the Buckeye Manufacturing Co. of Anderson, IN where he made carriage and buggy parts.


1903 Union Automobile

<center></center> He also owned the Lambert Gas and Gasoline Engine Company also located in Anderson, IN. The Union was built as a two passenger carriage with a collapsible front seat which enabled it to be converted into a four passenger automobile. The wheelbase was 72 inches. A five passenger Tonneau model was made in 1904 and 1905.

<center> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> <center>
1902 Union Automobile </center> </td><td valign="top"> <center>
1902 Union (Lambert) Engine </center> </td></tr></tbody></table> </center> The Lambert engine was a water cooled 8 horsepower four cycle double opposed cylinder engine shown above. A friction disk change speed gear transmission is used with the flywheel of the engine used as the friction surface. Other features include a gas tank behind the seat, 125 mile fuel capacity, dry battery, magneto, steel artillery wheels - 34 inches, 3 1/2 inch tires, Kerosene lamps and steering by tiller.

<center> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="95%"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> <center>
1902 Union Automobile Co. </center> </td><td valign="top"> <center>
1903 Union Automobile Co. </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
</center> The 1904 tonneau was equipped with a 10 horsepower engine. In 1905 most Union production was moved to Anderson, IN where the engines were made. Production of the 1905 tonneau was with either a new Lambert 12 horsepower or 16 horsepower engine. Both were equipped with a specially designed Lambert transmission.

<center>
1904 Union Automobile Company Advertisement </center>

 

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]It's not a Packard, it's a Cadillac

Historically chronicled below is information on how the very first experimental Cadillac with fins (a prewar creation of the 1930s) came into existence. Not surprisingly, it's another mystifying climax-in-sheet-metal from the chain of Harley J. Earl milestones. An article in the November-December 1998 Cadillac LaSalle Club magazine was written by Kirk Wentland. In his own words, he explains how this one-off custom job was indeed brought to life for Buck Jones by the late great Designer-Earl

You can read the Kirk Wentland article here;
http://www.carofthecentury.com/the_buck_jones_cadillac.htm

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[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]In October 2000, I (Richard Earl) started having conversations with Kirk Wentland on how this motoramic masterpiece was shaped by "Hollywood" Harley Earl...He sent me his historical photos, which I then had professionally duplicated. Then I put up the following page of information that has been located at the "Tail Fins Rising" section of the Official Harley Earl website - carofthecentury.com - for the last four years. In other words, the research done so far clearly indicates the Buck Jones Cadillac to be 100 percent authentic.In February 2005 Jon Janofsky purchased this car from Kirk and his father, Charles Wentland who were involved with the car for over fifty years! Here's what Mr. Janofsky said in a recent phone conversation, "I probably wouldn't have bought the Buck Jones Cadillac if I hadn't seen the historical information (shown below) on this car up at the Official Harley Earl Website."
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Okay, here's an early experimental version of the cars Lambert eventually made and sold as the Union. This according to Wikipedia, the source of the above photo. The cars were built in Union City and, then, Anderson, IN, from 1902 to 1905. They were built by John Lambert's Buckeye Manufacturing Co. Over 600 Union autos were made and sold, then Lambert started calling his cars -- guess what??? -- Lambert automobiles. Lambert automobiles and trucks were built through 1916.


1908 Lambert. Sincere appreciation is expressed to the wonderful web resource, American Automobiles (www.american-automobiles.com) and Farber International LLC.

 

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] Richard Earl helped with the sale of the Buck Jones Cadillac and in order to have Harley Earl's first high-finned motoramic roadster become a turn-key Pebble Beach Concourse car, it will need a proper restoration.
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[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Last two photos, shown above, are of the B.J. Cadillac in its original form.[/FONT]​

 

SunRoofJim, RE Post #2492, THAT is one of those GREAT sidebar stories of the why and wherefore of how things happened on the U.S. auto scene. Sometimes the machinations took place behind the scenes and generally were not known to the public at large. Interesting coverage!