Early Chop Top

This photo on Rivet Head interested me because of the 1940's tag.  I know chopped tops were easily around by the late 1950's, but I did not realize people were doing such a severe chop as the above even in the late 1940's.

1946 Silk City Diner For Sale

If you are interested in a career change, Hemmings may have a deal for you.  An upcoming Sotheby's auction on June 23-24 will offer this 1946 Silk City Diner at no reserve, complete with all the appliances, fixtures and furniture necessary for you to hang out your own "Eat at Joe's" sign.  You will have to move it yourself, and Sotheby's estimates the sale price will be between $200,000 and $300,000. 

Lacey Lady

First saw this story in my print copy of Hemmings Motor News, then found this website.  So, you're a gas station owner at your own birthday party in 1947.  What do you do for fun?  Well, why not make a bet that you could use a B-17 Flying Fortress as a canopy for your gas station, borrow $15,000 in cash from a friend at the party (who had it on him), go to Oklahoma and buy a B-17 that you don't know how to fly?  Then, you could try to fly it ALONE, crash it into another B-17, convince the base commander to write it off and sell you another one much cheaper.  Finally, bribe the local fire department with whisky to let you borrow their pumper trucks to siphon aviation fuel out of the other B-17s, fly it back to Oregon (with a copilot this time), and win the bet by putting it atop your gas station.  That's what Art Lacey did.  Seems like a perfectly normal birthday party to me.  Find out how to help restore the Lacey Lady here.

1940 Automobile Buyer's Guide

Ratings and reviews are commonplace in the social media era, but the publishers of the 1940 Automobile Year Book and Buyer's Guide were setting some pretty high standards for consumer information.  Posted on Hemmings, this guide included way more information than most folks would ever think necessary, either back then or even now.  As the Hemmings' post noted:

Besides the pages shown, other charts compare all the 1940-spec cars’ batteries, bearings, body finish, brakes and weights, capacities, carburetors, clutches, head room, leg room, hoods, radiators, springs, ventilation, wheel bases, and a whole lot more. And even exhaust valve seat inserts and steering post locks are compared.

1940's Biker Chicks

Before the 1950's, motorcycles did not have as much of an "outlaw" image as in later years, and they were often just an alternative form of transportation, not a vehicle of rebellion or rich folk's toy.  Here we have a photo, posted on Rivet Head, of two ladies and their Harley Davidsons in the 1940's.

Mel's Drive-In

Retro Planet's Planet Retro Blog posted this article about Mel's Drive-In, the first drive-in restaurant in San Francisco, which opened in 1947.  This photo shows the second location opened in SF, but the franchise eventually covered Northern California.  In the early 1970's, the diner became famous as the set for American Graffiti.

1940's Hot Rod

Here is a shot of a 1940's hot rodder, possibly at a dry lake bed for a race, posted on Rivet Head.

Period Appropriate Motoring Attire

This post on the Hemmings blog discusses the importance of accessories; specifically - period correct clothing to go with your vintage car.  The post has several references to resources for those interested in vintage clothing, regardless of whether that interest relates to automobiles or not.  One interesting point to me was that the desire for a "complete package" can run both ways.  While many folks may become interested in vintage clothing as an accessory to their vintage car, there are some, like the couple pictured here, who acquired their vintage car as an accessory to their vintage clothes.

1939 Nash

Although the ad for this 1939 Nash, posted on Vintage Ads, makes only a slight mention of it, one of the neatest features of the pictured sedan was the bed.  Introduced in 1936, the rear seat back hinged up, and in doing so opened up the trunk to the passenger compartment.  Two adults could sleep with their legs and feet in the trunk, and their heads and shoulders on the rear seat cushions.  I saw photos of one for sale a few years ago, and it was a cool-looking car, inside and out. 

Bonneville Salt Flats

Posted on Rivet Head, this Kodachrome photo gives us a nice color look at some Bonneville Salt Flats racers in the late 1940s.  The featured racer is a classic "belly tank" car, made from a war surplus auxiliary aircraft fuel tank.

Sinclair Gasoline

I found this post on Vintage Ads interesting because it is an ad for oil during wartime, when it was heavily rationed.  To the extent the manufacturers could still sell to the public, they still needed advertising.  

From Memphis To Sydney: A Cadillac's Ride

It can be a small world, both in terms of space and time.  For example, as Vance Lauderdale of "Ask Vance" recently posted, sitting in Sydney, Australia is a 1931 Cadillac V-12 Sport Phaeton that was first sold by Southern Motors Cadillac here in Memphis.  Vance tells the interesting story of the dealership and the car's trip from Downtown Memphis to Down Under.

1940's Hot Rod Footage

According to Vintage Everyday, the above film shows hot rods at a southern California race track in the 1940's.  I'm going to hazard a guess that this footage was from the late 1940's, since fuel, oil and rubber would have been severely rationed during World War II.  I like how several of the cars get into drifts apparently just to avoid the camera vehicle.

V-J Day In Honolulu

Vintage Everyday posted this color film footage from V-J Day, August 14, 1945, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  While I like Jimmy Durante, I would not have minded if they had not put his song over the sounds of the film. 

The Race Of Gentlemen

I've been meaning to post something about The Race of Gentlemen for some time, and I finally got around to it.  TROG is a live action tribute to the hot rodders of the late 1940's, featuring races on the beach in period correct cars and motorcycles.  It has become a popular event in the auto enthusiast crowd, popping up in Hemmings Motor News, Chasing Classic Cars and Fast & Loud.  From the TROG website:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES…

Join us to experience the greatest race on earth! The Race of Gentlemen is an automotive carnival that celebrates American racing heritage. A true homage to automobile and motorcycle history, hosted by the Oilers CC/MC. Spectators and racers alike will experience a simplier time of when guys were gentlemen and cars were king! Stultz & Green Productions will exhibit their hand-selected group of gentlemen, who will showcase their pre-war machines at the water’s edge on the beach of Wildwood, New Jersey. Commonly referred to as TROG for short, the carefully curated event will give you a history lesson and an unforgettable weekend, all rolled into one.

Race fans, hold onto your seats while vintage motorcycles and automobiles battle it out on the shore against the rising tides for your viewing pleasure. Indian, Harley Davidson, Excelcior, Ford, Dodge Brothers and more! An extraordinary display of why America’s love for vintage automotive will never fade. Do not miss your chance to see these fine men flog their jaw dropping machines on the sand, just like in days gone by. Come one, come all to watch in awe as they roar at the shore!

They are series about being period correct.  Competition cars must have a body that is 1934 or older, and American made.  The engine must be 1948 or older, and run only on gas (no alcohol or nitro).  Transmissions can be up to 1953, but modern disc brakes, alternators, etc.  One of these days, I hope to visit one of these events, and in my wildest dreams, build and race a car there.

Graham Hollywood: The Ghost Of A Cord

The Hemmings blog has been finding some interesting items for its "Find of the Day" recently.  Yesterday, for example, the featured car was the above 1941 Graham Hollywood.  I've always found the Hollywood interesting, because it was the second partial resurrection of the 1936 Cord 810 sedan (below).

Cord, along with its sister companies Auburn and Duesenberg, closed up in 1936.  Graham was in dire straits in the late 1930's, and as part of a last gasp, it struck a deal with another automobile manufacturer, Hupmobile, that gave it access to the late Cord's dies and tooling.  Hupmobile ended up getting the dies and tooling from Cord's creditors, and tried to resurrect the Cord itself in the Skylark (below), but it had problems with production. 

So in 1941, Graham produced the Hollywood.  Like the Cord, the Hollywood had a high horsepower, supercharged engine.  Unlike the Cord, the Hollywood was a traditional front engine/rear wheel drive layout; as opposed to the Cord's advanced, front wheel drive design.  Neither the Skylark nor the Hollywood featured the Cord's distinctive "coffin" nose or retractable headlamps, but the exterior design was otherwise the same.  This repeated resurrection of the original design demonstrates why the Cord, and its subsequent iterations, are considered classics.

Practically New 1948 Tucker For Sale

As seen on the Hemmings blog, for a mere $1.1 million, you too can now own what is essentially a brand new, original 1948 Tucker Model 48, a/k/a the Tucker "Torpedo."  Tucker only produced 51 of these vehicles before stopping production, and only 47 are known to exist.  This 48th vehicle was assembled from authentic Tucker components and a drive train that were either salvaged from other Tuckers or never used.

How Many Guys Can You Fit In A '32 Ford?

This photo, posted on Rivet Head, reminded me of a scene from All the Cats Join In, a 1946 Disney animated short featuring Benny Goodman and his Orchestra.  Everyone hopped into an overloaded hot rod and rode to the malt shop to listen to the juke box and jitterbug. 

Drive In Deco

A nighttime photo of Simon's drive-in, Los Angeles, California, circa 1940, courtesy of Vintage Everyday.  This is some serious style. 

LA Then And Now

Boing Boing posted this split screen video, produced (ironically) by The New Yorker, showing the same car trip around Los Angeles 70 years ago and today.  Fun car spotting, especially when a car starts following the camera in both screens.  No Audis in the 1940's.  Lincoln Zephyrs and Packards ruled.  Also amusing is when the modern trip is thwarted by construction detours.