I found a facinating website today that chronicles letters written by the late-and-great Stan Laurel. (of Laurel & Hardy...duh) http://lettersfromstan.com/ Anyway, reading through probably a 100 or so letters, I learned that in 1957 he was looking in to getting a newer car for his wife to drive, and in a letter dated May 9th...well, I'll let him tell it..."I have a '51 Mercury in very good condition (19000,miles) after I bought it I made two trips to England, which was 16 months I did'nt use it, then in '54. I had the stroke so has had very little use since -hence the low mileage. The reason I wanted a new car is on account of Mrs L. has to do all the driving now, & the steering is very hard on this Mercury & bothers her heart quite a bit, so she is anxious to get power steering - otherwise I would'nt consider buying a new one." That's material for the quintessential Kustom he's refering to! In May of '57, Stan and his wife Eda, moved from their home in Santa Monica, that he bought in '49, to an apartment on the beach in Malibu..."We are preparing to rent the house to move into an apartment - its too big for just two of us (the house) & a lot of unnecessary work, so we are in the throes of selling furniture etc. to save storing it all as the apt. will be already furnished". JULY 4th.'57. "After a couple of weeks searching, we finally came across this apt. right on the beach We moved in last Wednesday & are enjoying it very much - wish I'd done this long ago. I just bought Eda a '57 Chevrolet 'Bel-Air' with power steering, the Mercury we had was too hard to drive for her, every time she had to park etc. it bothered her heart. Expect the Chevy will be delivered today, so she is looking forward to the thrill of owning her first car. I did'nt turn in the Mercury, am selling it to a private party for $500. so am making a better deal than trading it in. I paid $2700. for the Chevy, so this will bring the cost down to $2200. (a big saving)". Does anybody know anything about this Car??? Is it still around? Is it still in 'stock' condition? Was it customised (chopped, shaved, etc.) by the new owner in '57? Maybe one of you guys (including 'Jukejointjohnny') with a '51 Merc that originated in So. Cal, are driving around Stan Laurel's old car that he purchased new!
Wow! Thats pretty cool. If the car is still around and in stock condition,it would be worth more stock because of the history. Was there any mention of how many doors it had?
I gotta say, I'm into this kind of stuff. I love the old Hollywood stuff. Heck I live across the street, from Charlie Chaplin's old house in the Hollywood Hills. Our street was poured (concrete) in 1926, I wonder how many cool cars drove by here.
That is neat! It is hard to picture Stan in a '57 Chevy when you think about the old L & H films with those Model T tourings they used.
'Rubberrodder' - "Was there any mention of how many doors it had?" - No, just a '51 Merc. with low miles. But, his only daughter was grown and married by then, just Stan & his wife...so probably a 2-door. 'Dreadman' - "I gotta say, I'm into this kind of stuff. I love the old Hollywood stuff. Heck I live across the street, from Charlie Chaplin's old house in the Hollywood Hills". - The website's really cool! And to go through all the letters, you get a feel for the times...like in the mid '50's, him raving about television and recommending to friends that they really should "get one". He talks about how hectic the times are...not like the old days, etc., etc. I found the website by chance when checking out a fishing yacht he had, that was recently restored. It was built in 1926, (for the president of John Deere) and at the time cost 120,000.00, and was the fastest boat on the west coast.
in 2001 august his 47 was auctioned Stan Laurel purchased his black Chrysler sedan sometime in late 1946 or early 1947. Shortly thereafter, plans for Laurel and Hardy's European Tour began to emerge. Since he was going to be out of the country for the next several years, Stan decided to sell the car to attorney, Ben Shipman. The automobile was eventually purchased by friend of the Way Out West Tent, Bart Williams. Now that he has moved to Arizona, Bart must part with the car that he has owned for so many years. Bart has always been very generous with showings of his car to Way Out West members and other Sons. The car has been in many parades and movies. It is currently in storage in Southern California, and will be taken to Michigan in August to be auctioned by Southebys.
The Jalopy Journal
