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

Turning Wheels, February 1977
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From Coachbuilt.com

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/b/briggs/briggs.htm


LeBaron designers were responsible for the design of the aerodynamic 1933 Ford V8 and the influences of various Briggs’ and LeBaron designers can be seen in a number of vehicles they designed later on. Historically, Briggs most important designer was John Tjaarda, and his most important design, the Briggs Dream Car that was exhibited at the Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition (1933-1934). Tjaarda based it on a series of aerodynamic monocoque rear-engined cars he began working on starting in 1926 called the Sterkenburg Series, named after his family’s Tjaarda van Sterkenburg estate which was located in the Dutch province of Friesland.
The very first Sterkenburg was designed while Tjaarda was working for Rochester, New York coachbuilder Locke & Co. He continued working on the vehicle in his spare time and even entered it into a contest while working at General Motors’ Art & Colour. Harley Earl showed very little interest in Tjaarda's design and after some unsuccessful attempts at getting it financed he went to work for Briggs, who were more receptive to the streamlined concept.
At about the same time Briggs had hired a friend of Edsel’s named Howard Bonbright, in a bid to get more business from Ford. Bonbright was put in charge of Briggs’ Ford Policies and Relations Department and one of its first projects was a unit-bodied, rear-engined car based on Tjaarda’s Sterkenburg concepts. Three proposals were submitted to Edsel, the first a unit-bodied rear-engined car that closely resembled Tjaarda’s original concept. The second looked just like the first, but substituted a conventional front-engined drivetrain. The third was a convertible coupe version of the first rear-engined design.
Briggs built a full-size wooden mock-up of the first rear-engined prototype for exhibition at the December, 1933 Ford Exhibition of Progress in New York City. The car then made the rounds of a few of the country’s larger Lincoln dealers, winding up at the Chicago Century of Progress exhibition where it was prominently displayed in the Ford Rotunda for the rest of 1934.
Although, that particular vehicle never made it to production, Tjaarda’s basic design served as the basis for the 1936 Lincoln Zephyr. The production Zephyr featured Tjaarda’s bridge-truss structure with a conventional front-engine layout and drivetrain. With input from Edsel, Ford’s E.T. (Bob) Gregorie restyled Tjaarda’s Sterkenburg concept creating one of the most striking cars of the pre-war period. The Zephyr provided the basis for Lincoln’s 1939-1948 Continental and heavily influenced other builder’s streamlined offerings during the later thirties and forties.
The engineering work of Tjaarda is also evident in the monocoque designs of the 1934 Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow. Holden “Bob” Koto facelifted the 1935 Ford to become the 1936 model and assisted Ford designer E.T. “Bob” Gregorie in the design of the Zephyr front end. The work of Philip O. Wright can be seen in the streamlined Packard LeBaron’s of 1934-35, the 1935 Ford and the 1935 Chrysler and DeSoto Airstream. Alex Tremulis is credited with the aerodynamic Thunderbolt re&shy;tractable hardtop convertible of 1940 and Ralph Roberts handled the design of its sister showcar, the Newport parade phaeton. Six examples of each idea car were built and taken around the country to introduce Chrysler’s all-new 1941 line-up.
Ironically, Ray Dietrich joined Chrysler Corp.'s Art & Colour staff in 1932 and worked indirectly with Briggs and LeBaron on Chrysler Corp. styling projects through 1940.
The clay model was used extensively under Roberts’ and Tjaarda’s tenure at Briggs. They became a major ingredient of Briggs’ successful styling presentations to Ford, Packard, Plymouth, DeSoto, Dodge, Chrysler, Hudson, Studebaker, British Ford, Graham, and Franklin. Additionally, if they placed their body orders with Briggs, auto manufacturers would get the use of Briggs/LeBaron’s designer’s and body engineers at no additional cost. Briggs employed a number of talented engineers in addition to their much-recognized designers. Albert Ball and Trygre Vigmostad served the firm for many years in their experimental laboratories, and Briggs’ capable body engineering department was headed by Clifford Doty.

 

Another strong hint that F. Porsche was closely watching what was going on in the U.S. during the '30s, hmmm? Martin's & Lewis' prototypes, the '33 Pierce Silver Arrow, Tjaarda’s Zephyr and the Chrysler/DeSoto Airflows certainly bear a strong family resemblance to the "Bug" Porsche suddenly had to rush out to keep Hitler happy. I also seem to recall that officers of the Third Reich loved to drive the Tatras, as well.

 

1936 Toyota AA Replica - Jay Leno's Garage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=IHUs9qmrheA&feature=youtu.be
YouTube - Videos from this email

 

Hi. My name is Bruce, and I'm a car junkie. I have lurked through more than a few H.A.M.B. threads, trolling for arcane information about this, that, or the other weird car factoid, but I finally had to sign up. On page 141 of this thread there was a reference to the SuperSonic, which was what I was surfing for. But the whole page was filled with other little nuggets of coolness. So I scrolled. Came across this post:

The pic he had was for this car:



Now, I have NOT gone through all 151 subsequent pages, but when I google the info on the car, H.A.M.B. doesn't come up on the first three pages, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and announce that SUNROOFCORD's waitng is over!

(OK, I'm new here, but would it be OK to suggest a drum-roll here?)

A Frenchman by the name of Paul Arzens built this in 1938. It now resides in the Mulhouse museum (somewhere over ... there... far away.) It is refered to as La Balene, which means either that it's named after a commune in Northern France (wherever the heck that is) or it's called, "The Whale".
Somebody name of korschkov has some pics he/she/it has taken and put up on flicker. Pics right here!

That's where i found a name. and here is more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Arzens

Of course, Wiki also has the page in french, which would be more authentic, but Google Translate always makes those sound funny.
Anyway, Hi, y'all! Enjoy the pics.

 

La Baleine: the whale.

 

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/10/18/only-surviving-wilson-pilcher-headed-to-auction/

Only surviving Wilson-Pilcher headed to auction

 

Hi Bruce;

Thanks for the update and the information on the mystery car.

Jim

 

Not sure if anyone has posted a phoograph of the extinct make of
GENERAL manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio around 1903 ... I've
attached a photograph which, I think, shows the 1903 GENERAL
runabout and tonneau ...The caption on the photo did not identify
the make of the cars ...

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>General
The General Automobile Co.
Cleveland, Ohio
1903 A Danish immigrant by the name of Rasmus Hansen started the Hansen Automobile Co. in 1902 and then reorganized this company into the General Automobile Co. Rasmus Hansen produced an American Automobile called the Hansen in 1902.
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When he reorganized the Hansen Automobile Co. into the General Automobile Co. he produced the same small runabout but called it the General. Hansen reorganized his original company to increase production and obtain additional investors.
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1903 General Runabout </CENTER>
In 1903 he upgraded his 6 horsepower single cylinder Hansen to a 8 horsepower General and expanded his line to a 12 horsepower twin cylinder. Hansen wanted to expand production beyond one car per day but was unable to secure enough capital. His company went bankrupt in the summer of 1903. Studebaker purchased all the unfinished General's and spare parts from Hansen in 1903. Studebaker then was going to produced the gas powered "Studebaker Model A" for the production year of 1903-1904. However, nothing ever transpired with 25 unfinished General automobiles and it appears that the Hansen factory was never used by Studebaker.

 

Good info, but not to lose sight of the thread title question:

The Hansen and the General.

Any survivors anyone knows of?

 

The Nelson was an automobile built in Detroit, Michigan by the E.A. Nelson Motor Car Company. It was made from 1917-21. The Nelson was designed by Emil A. Nelson, who formerly worked for Oldsmobile, Packard, and Hupmobile. It was designed along European lines and was equipped with a 2.4 liter four-cylinder aero-type engine with overhead cams. The vehicle was built as roadsters and a handful of closed models. The bulk of the company's production was with touring cars. Approximately 350 vehicles were built through the end of 1920, but vehicles were continued to be sold through 1921.

 

Survivors?

 

1930 Bugatti Type 44

While Bugatti still exixts, It is believed that this is the only two door, four-passenger phaeton known to exist.

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z17557/Bugatti-Type-44.aspx

 

Wow, here's a period pic of a real CASE automobile from Wisconsin. Not a pic seen on this thread before, I had to include it in this collection after RefriedConfusion posted it over on the "Vintage Shots From Days Gone By" nostalgia thread. Looks to be about a 1912 model? Note guesses around 1910. ANY CASE EXPERTS OUT THERE?

 

This was posted on Facebook today;

The AACA museum has a 1935 White limo. A prominent woman had a 1918 White automobile of some sort. When the car finally wore out in the early 30's she went to the White company and asked for a car. She was informed that they no longer built cars, only trucks (and the famous buses that you see in the Grand Canyon vintage pictures)

They turned her away. She left, bought the company, and then they built her the limo she requested.

I was photographing the AACA museum in Hershey for Automobile Quarterly when one of the docents let me drive a few laps in the White limo. Neat piece of history.

If you are ever in the Hershey area, the AACA museum is really worth the visit.

http://www.aacamuseum.org/




—

 

A couple more pics of the White Limo courtesy of Kit Fosters Carport

 

Here's one I don't know if it was mentioned or not yet... it is a Schacht. According to the radiator, they were built in Cincy, OH. It was at the Five Points Threshers Reunion in Perrysburg, OH this past summer.

JK

 

The Chevrolet El Morocco are among the rarest Chevrolet&#8216;s ever built, with only ten created in 1956 and 16 in 1957.

They were built in three different body styles, two and four door hardtops, and convertibles with some created from aluminum and others from steel.

It was the first time an outside contractor had designed and built a customized Chevrolet model which was later sold as a new car with a full factory warranty.

It is believed that only ten hardtop sedans were created, two hardtop coupes, and two convertibles bringing the total to sixteen. (THIS NUMBER IS CONTROVERSIAL TO THE FIRST PARAGRAPH)

The first cars were created in 1956 on Chevrolet platforms and designed to resemble the 1955 and 1956 Cadillac Eldorado. The name &#8216;El Morocco&#8216; was from a popular Manhattan night club and had similarities to the name &#8216;El Dorado&#8217;.

The 1956 El Moroco&#8217;s featured body panels made of fiberglass. A host of trim parts and designed were borrowed from Willys, Dodge and Kaiser-Frazer to complete the package. The result was well received and given a base price of around $3250.

Cadillac introduced their Eldorado Brougham, not in spite or in competition with the El Morocco, but Allender felt the need to create a new El Morocco to emulate the new Brougham.

Problems with the fiberglass body production for the 1956 cars led to the use of steel for the 1957 models. This required comprehensive metalwork changes, including removing and filling the 1957&#8242;s rocket hood spears with steel, and welding on the steel rear tail-fin extensions.

In modern times, only two from each of these body styles are known to exist, bringing this total to six. The primary reason for the low production numbers was the $800 conversion price which moved it too far out of reach for most consumers. It was too close to the base price for a Cadillac, plus it is believed that a profit was never made on the El Morocco.

http://caretro.com/1957-chevrolet-el-morocco/

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/a/allender/allender.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1956-1957-chevrolet-el-morocco.htm

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/tag/el-morocco/

 

I searched and didn't see -- LEACH-Biltwell / LEACH "Power-Plus" Six' mentioned. It/they were built in Los Angeles by Martin A. Leach in the 1920's. There were about 218 to 264 built.

I was at Petersen's Automobile Museum a couple of years ago and stopped near an old green/black car on the 1st floor. I looked at it but not closely enough.

Upstairs, there was a design studio set up that had an ad for a LEACH-Biltwell automobile on the counter. I was shocked to see an auto with my last name on it....

After I returned home, I did a search for the LEACH-Biltwell and dicovered
that the green car I was checking out WAS a 1922 Leach.

Gloria Swanson and Tom Mix each owned one of them.



On another Leach name-related Note:

If anyone has a LEACH MOTORS license plate or a set from Fresno, California, I'd like to have a set. I bought one on ebay a couple of years ago for my birthday and the guy never sent it. He sent my $ back after I told him it never arrived. I later found out he actually sold it to someone else who had bought his first frame from ebay. I had only seen the second auction in time to use the buy it now. The 1st auction had already ended a day or two earlier.

There are/were also a couple of other "Leach" named dealerships in Tenn and Australia I believe. They were not related to each other however.

thanks,
Mike L.

 

Mike, thanks for bringing up the Leachmake. Right, I don't think it's one we're ever explored very far. One wonders just what the SURVIVAL RATE for them really is! And check out the odd style lines on the Swanson Leach below.



Gloria Swanson, Leach automobile, posted originally on another thread by our own regular Gary (SWI).

 

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Courtesy Of Early American Automobiles;

There is some confusion between the California Automobile Corporation and the Leach-Bitwell Motor Car Company. In Beverly Rae Kimes book, Standard Catalogue of American Cars, 1805-1942, she states that the California model was made by the Leach company as a smaller car and production started in 1923.

In my research. I have found that these two companies were two different companies making cars at the same time in Los Angeles within blocks of each other. The California company was on North Almeda Street and was in their new factory building and the Leach company moved into the former Republic Motor Car Company's factory that was located on Santa Fe Avenue. They had an entirely different board of directors and owners.[/FONT]

http://earlyamericanautomobiles.com/americanautomobiles23.htm

More On the Leach;

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/l/leach/leach.htm

Here are Images of a 1921 Leach Chummy Roadster and a 1921 Leach Phaeton Courtesy of Walter Millers Auto Literature

 

1922 Leach Model 22A
[SIZE=+1]Touring Five Passenger[/SIZE]

​

 

1922 Leach Model 22A Five-Passenger Touring

http://petersen.org/explore/collect...autos-trucks/model-22a-five-passenger-touring

Martin Leach produced expensive, handsomely styled cars intended for California. The radiator badge featured the grizzly bear from the state seal and the &#8220;California&#8221; top directly addressed the local market. Touted as offering the comfort of a fully enclosed sedan as well as the open-air sportiness of a touring car, the top served neither function well. The failure of the top, combined with chronic engine problems and a very high price, doomed Leach&#8217;s efforts after some 500 cars were built. This is the only Leach known to survive.

 

Damn fine looking automobile if you ask me.

 

Okey-dokey, to be on topic, we need to address -- or at least speculate on extinction and/or survival rate. Seems at least one of the Leach companies has a survivor at the Peterson.

Here's a Leach that, I'll bet, has NO survivors: The LEACH steamer of 1899 to 1901. Heck, so far, I haven't found a pic or even where it was made.

ADD: Leach - Leach Motor Vehicle Co. Everett, MA 1899-1901
Advertised as "Intended Only For Good Roads."

Photo still needed.

 

The Leach steamer was an early motor carriage.
Interestingly, it's steering tiller was removable
when not in use. Maybe one of the EARLIEST anti-
theft devices!



1899 LEACH newspaper ad, thanks to the always
amazing Royal Feltner of EarlyAmericanCars.

 

"Coachbuilt" has a very informative article (with beau coup pix) on the larger, later Leach-related cars. They summarize them as:

Leach Motor Car Co., 1916-18;
Leach-Biltwell, 1917-24; and "associated with"
California Motors, 1923-24.

Apparently, the largest and most opulent/costly Leach cars came in 1922, sporting a wheelbase up to more than 130 inches and a Harry Miller-designed valve-in-head six with some 40 TAXABLE hp, a stroke over five inches and pricetags up $6,000 -- in 1922! That's nearly $83,000 in 2012 dollars, folks. What upscale cars could you buy TODAY for that?

 

Not a car but car related if way too OT please tell me I'll delete.
I found this on a french sell site and know how rare it is I wish I could buy that but I can't and I know that maybe it could interest some builder/restorer here: fender rolling machines

I guess metalmeet would more appropriate