My Grandfathers Mass Collection......

I wonder if that Speedster was one that was really driven over 100mph before delivery. Not implying it wouldn't but I remember reading that maybe 1 in 5 were actually tested in that fashion.

Right on for posting and it sucks that none were slated for inheritance.

 

What a broad array of different type and brand cars.

 

Yes we were there. You probably talked to me or my dad.


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Thanks for all the compliments. He was a pretty cool dude.

He was also Ryan Cochrans god father to boot. My grandfather (Don) and Ryan's dad (Jerry) were best buds back in the day


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Epic thread!!!

Thank you for sharing this with us.

 

Thank you Kirk for sharing. Lots to see. This is the best part of the HAMB.
The 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Supercharged is so bad ass. Thanks

Slim

 

Was there a black unrestored "hot rodded" Cord at the Leake auction? If that was one of the collection I sure wanted it. It was converted to rear wheel drive and I think it had a Caddy in it.

 

I see he has an '05ish Legend Lime Green Mustang GT convertible in the mix there...that's a very rare color combination on that car. My dad has one exactly like it.

 

Slim that was a 100% original car. Even had the original tires on it that weren't cracked at al. He was only the second owner. If memory serves me correct he bought that car around 82-84. They used to go race it on the weekends around town. Not sure if it's true or not but they even got a couple of cops to race them in there cruiser's.

 

What a nice collection. I'm glad you got to keep a piece of it. words fail me. thanks for sharing that.

 

Yeah that was a pretty odd car (and cool). He bought that car our of Ardmore, OK from the original owner's family in the early 2000's late 90's. It had been convertered to a rear wheel drive car. You ar correct it had a 53 Caddy frame, motor, and front and rear bumpers and a Chryasler rear end. they took that car to the Hamb drags in Tulsa around 2003 (i think) That was one of his favorite cars because people had no idea what it was.

 

That thing sticks out like a sore thumb in this collection. It was an 06 and it only had about 24,000 miles on it in 2010. It was my cousins car that he bought for her to drive in high school. When she graduated she wanted to sell it for another car (he said that was totally fine). He didn't want to let it go to another person so he bought the car back a second time.

 

My dad's is an '05, I think the first year for that color. It was only available in '05 and '06 I think. His only has about 15k on it today. I just can't get excited about any Mustang - they made too many of them. I like odd shit.

 

really neat collection too bad you couldnt keep them and carry on his legacy

if i had to have one it would of been the 57 ford......

 

Amazing!

 

Wow your Grandfather had quite the stable there Impressive is an understatement.

 

Here is a pic of the hot rodded Cord that you were talking about. Again, it has a 53 Caddy frame, engine, trans, and bumpers cut down. It had been converted to a rear wheel drive car with a Chrysler rear end. My Grandfather bought it from the original owners family in the late 90's early 2000's out of Ardmore, OK. If I remember right Ryan Cochran put him on the car. Maybe he can clarify. He hand formed the aluminum and wood bows for the top as well. He was a damn good fabricator as well. Any way here's a pic of it.

 

Here is a phtoto of Ab Jenkins running one of those Auburns at Bonneville. I started collecting these images when I realized the link between these speed runs and the Diamond T truck I recently found stashed away in southern Utah. I've also been a long time fan of the ACD cars.

 

Here's another Auburn photo from the Salt Flats. In many of the photos you can see other Aurbuns in the background. The sedans may not have gotten run on the flats, but likely came out from the Salt Lake City Auburn Cord dealership owned by OJ Wilkinson.

 

Here's a photo of Ab Jenkins and OJ Wilkinson who owned the Salt Lake City dealerhsips for Aurburn, Cord, Duesenberg and Diamond T trucks. Note the vented transmission cover on this convertible. There are photos of Cord sedans being run at Bonneville with the same louvered front cover.

 

Some of the Cord speed runs were conducted just after the assembly line in Connersville was shut down for good. Presumably, the publicity helped to sell the remaining dealerhsip inventory, even though the company was out of busienss for all intensive purposes. The Auburn speed runs likely occurred at separate times prior to the Cord runs.

 

Hey, did your Grandfather own a trucking company? I remember our area VP from Kenworth mentioning one of our customers having a HUGE vintage auto collection here in Oklahoma. Never did get to dig into who it was.

 

I don't know what this photo commemorizes, but it includes Auburns, Ab Jenkins, and a bunch of Indians.

 

that barn/garage was like a time machine. i would have cried to see those cars go.

 

Finally, for now; I'll relinquish my hijacking of this thread with a photo of one of the Diamond T trucks that Wilkinson provided to assit Jenkins on the Salt Flats. You can see the dealership logo on the door. This photo is take much later. It illustrates the on-going relationship between the Jenkins and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg dealer long after Auburn quit producing cars. The Chicago-built trucks would cease shortly after. In fact, that may be one of the last of the rare pickups ever produced.

 

Continuing with the Cord's, here are the other two he had. They are both 1937's What was so special about these cars were the front wheel drive (I believe it was the first FWD ever produced), the electric over hydraulic shift and you can't forget about the hand cranking hide-away headlights. There was also a little toggle type lever on the side of the column that you used to shift the car.


This car won several awards including the Cord Auburn Best of show around 85. The car was beautiful in every way.


Believe it or not this car still had the factory paint on it and was 100% original. It even had the original glass in it. It was an incredible car. They got the nickname "coffin nose" for obvious reasons.


The next car will get some likes. This 30 Model A in about 81-82. He bought the car from Jim Taylor out of Missouri. Some of you may know the name. He was a pretty well known restorer. He recent;y retired. He was mainly known for Corvetttes. My other Grandfather bought the car back at the RM auction in Michigan. He still has it and it runs great. It was neet because of the quail radiator cap, stone guard, luggage rack, and the twin spare tires.


The 41 Linciln was actually his very first car he bought for his collection. It retained the original V12 and ran like a dream. I personally didn't care for the looks of the car but that one was one of the harder ones to see go because it was the one that started it all.


The 48 Nash Ambassador convertible was a pretty rare car in itself. They only made about 750 of them if memory serves me correct. The blue color and tan top were the correct combination making it one of only 7 built this way. The power top worked flawlessly. This car was a total restoration project that he did.


This car was one of my favorites of the collection. 1930 Cadillac V16. It was totally restored by my dad and grandfather. They did it when I was a baby (mid 80's). They took this car to the Cadillac National meet and it won best of show not once but twice (two different years) It was graded 998 out of 1,000. I used to sit in the back and he would drive around town acting like my Chauffer. I would pull up to other cars and ask them if they had any Grey Poupon. When I was 13 he let me drive this car around town he would ask other drivers how old they thought I was. When they would answer he would tell them my real age and we would speed off. One time we needed to stop and get gas. When we pulled up to the pump we put about 5 bucks worth in (this was before pay at the pump). He said to go ahead and get the engine running again. After he hung the handle up he ran around and jumped in and told me to drive off. WHen I asked him why he didn't pay he said not to worry about it he wanted to do an expiriment. We continued to drive around for another hour or so to see if the police would ever come pick us up. They never did so we went back and paid the attendant. He wanted to see how the attendant would have described the car to the cops. She said she was going to call but didn't know how to explain what the hell it was. We took her for a ride when she got off for putting up with our shenanigans.



The 27 Chrysler was a neat car. Had a little four cylinder that resembled a flat head type engine. It always reminded me of the Ford for obvious reasons. He bought this car in 87. I didn't know much about this car other than he bought it from a little old lady out of Oklahoma. The things that stood out the most on these were the moto-meter radiator cap and the pull shades for the back seat and a flip down foot rest in the back seat, and of course the wooden wheels.

 

WOW! Very impressive collection. Thanks for sharing

 

Simply amazing.

 

No he was in the cattle/farming business. He had feedlots and would average 4-5,000 head of cattle. He also pioneered a company called catlle management systems. They figured out how to make cattle gain the most weight in the shortest amount of time while cutting cost. His system could save a rancher up to 15% in cost and make the cattle get to market weight about two weeks faster than normal grazing and feed.

I would be lying if I told you I didn't shed some tears.

 

Way cool Merc man. Glad you got to keep a part of it.