Ok, the pic i posted before was of my great, great grandfathers blacksmith shop. This is him sitting with one of his sons in their De Deon, a vehicle he bought when his sons were young so they could tinker and gain some mechanical knowledge. This is my great grandfathers shop, which was across the road from his fathers blacksmith shop on Canterbury rd, Melbourne, where he worked on Whippet and Overland vehicles. This is my great grandfather testing his modified aircraft engine... ...which powered his self-built aircraft, making its maiden voyage in the early 30's out of Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Australia. This is my great grandfathers brother, Alexander Staig, on his Excelsior circa. 1920... ...and this is him at speed at Melbournes Motordrome. He was killed while racing at the Motordrome in 1922 when he was in his mid 20's. And this is my grandfather just after WW2 with his '32 roadster...a car that was left in the backyard when the family moved from northern Victoria down to Melbourne.
Here's a picture of my Great Uncle and his car. Unfortunately my Grandparent's and anyone who new anything about the photo are now gone. I'm guessing the photo is pre WWII. That side of my family is from central Indiana. Guess it proves there was some car action this side of the Rockies back then. Do remember a story about my Great Uncle driving it down some farm roads and rolling it over into a ditch. Had to wait for a passer by to come and help him get out from under the car. Apparently with no injuries.
Been surfing the HAMB for awhile... but finally joined to share some family history that someone besides me might find interesting. Let's see how good some of you are out there. Can you tell what kind of car is in the first two pictures? I'll stall a second while you think about it. It's a Tucker! If Dad is right, that's Grandpa driving and my Dad in the back seat. Story goes that Grandpa bought a Tucker dealership for the state of CA. I've seen the paperwork but an un-named relative claims not to have it now. The Conoco station was my Great Uncle's (Amos). I just love the picture and can just imagine fill'in up my 36 there. Last picture is Amo's holding my uncle (who is now in his late 60's. Enjoy
Yeah, these are neat pics. I'm going to print and frame some of them and put them in our Cafe we just bought. We are decorating it with old petroleum memorabelia and old car photos. I have some pics already there and 2 of 'em were stolen. One was a pic of the 1960's Mokan dragster and the other was of Ryans coupe next to the P-51. Guess the thief thought he was getting origianl pics. I started useing 2 screws to mount them instead of one now. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
Here's my Grandpa in the early 1940's. I never had the chance to know him because he died about six years before I was born. The car looks like a 1939 Hudson. Here is the same car with my dad (the youngest)and his brothers in 1946.
Ryan, a photo of your (young) Grandfather standing in front of his own Garage in greezy white overalls, your family name over the door and a 36(?) five window parked out front; priceless. I would have kept it too. Your Aunt should be happy that the photo resides with the "right" family member. If I were you and it was mine, I'd have it framed and hanging in pride of place!
I hope this thread goes on I am really enjoying the pictures and stories. If I can get up to my folks I have a couple of pictures to post as well. My grandfather standing next to his Model A tudor sedan during WWII (He was an attorney stationed in the states). Followed by a picture of my grandmother my sister and me taken on the runningboard of my dad's 29 Ford tudor sedan (second owner bought in '68) around 1975. Then a picture of my son and my niece on the running board of the same sedan taken a few years ago. I liberated the car while my parents were out of town. It was about time, the car hadn't seen the light of day for 20 years. Imagine my dad's surpise to see a new picture of his car posted on the refrigerator door when he came home from vacation. It took 3 hours to dig the car out of the garage in another hour it was running again (it's amazing what a teaspoon of Marvel Mystery oil and hand turning the engine over every couple of years will do for an engine during long term storage). -Tad
My grandfather William "Bill" Zona. Is the roots of my automotive family tree. Owner/operator of a Texaco station on main st, Kingston Ma. Pictured here with his 1938 Harley Davidson. And this insurance photo dated 1955...a drunk driver crashed through the door at his Texaco service station knocking his "A roadster" off the lift.
FYI - That is pretty nice Saddlebred horse there - not cheap or common by any means. As for a carriage horse, that would be like a Mercedes today -
My family heirloom is the trophy my Grandfather holds in these pictures. Taken in Germany or Africa, not sure which. He didn't make it home from Vietnam, but I'm sure we would've had much in common.
Looks like that family tree might have a small branch in Kellyville, Ok. A friend's wife is either the granddaughter or great granddaughter of Belle Starr.
Seems like everyone has a rich automotive family tree. Most of my heirlooms are military related (ironically, since we don't have any close relatives in the military now). I have a footlocker from my great grandfather, Also George Brantingham, who was in the army air corps and commanded a bomber group of B-17s. Jimmy Stewart came in as what would have been his superior just weeks after he left. My grandfather's cousin Has Henry J. Brantingham, who was JFKs direct commander in the Soloman Islands, when the famous PT boat wreck happened. PT 109 was JFKs, PT159 was Henry's http://www.pt171.org/PT171/writeups/171and109.htm And if you really search back in the family tree.... there's this place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brantingham It has been around for a long time. It was listed in the Doomsday Book of 1086. The only oldest relative we can trace back is Thomas Brantingham, who was Lord High Treasurer of England and Bishop of Exeter, he died in 1394 http://www.britannia.com/bios/tbrantingham.html From my step-grandfather I have his log book from when he was in WWII. He was a bombardier in a RAF lancaster. The little book has page after page of targets they went after in Germany and the outcome. I'm pretty sure from the brevity of the entries, he wrote this as they we on the plane. It's pretty chilling to read, especially about the flak concentration and damage the endured to get the plane back. I was also given his '72 Jaguar E-type V-12 roadster when my grandmother passed. Has an even more interesting lineage. Any famous Scotsman in Scotland's history probably had some connection to one of his relatives. One fought alongside William Wallace and died at Falkirk. A later relative of his was John Graham Marquis of Montrose (guy in the movie Rob Roy). The XKE still has the Clan emblem he had put on the grille.
His Texaco station was disassembled and put in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan in an exhibit.
The Jalopy Journal
