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

The Vulcan Automobile & The Vulcan Car Company

Vulcan
The Vulcan Car Company
Painesville, Ohio
1913

The Vulcan Mfg. Co.
Painesville, Ohio
1913-1914

The Vulcan was advertised as "The World's Greatest Light Car"! Built in Painesville, Ohio by The Vulcan Car Company this American Automobile was only produced in 1913 and 1914. Only a two passenger Speedster and a five passenger Touring Car were made by this early automobile manufacturer.

In 1913 a Vulcan Touring Car was priced at $850.00 and the Roadster or Speedster was priced at $750.00. Priced went up in 1914, as additional accessories were added. The Vulcan Speedster and Touring Car were both priced at $850.00 without starter or generator in 1914. With a Westinghouse generator, ignition and lighting systems these cars sold for $912.00. Completely equipped with other accessories these 1914 Vulcan automobiles cost $975.00.

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1914 Vulcan Touring Car - Vulcan Car Company

</center> The engines is a Vulcan long stroke four cylinder L-head that develops 33 horsepower. Transmission is a selective sliding gear with three speeds forward and reverse. Shaft drive torsion type and a Salisbury rear axle. 32 x 3 1/2 inch wheels and tires. Wheel base 120 inches.


<center>
1913 Vulcan Speedster - Vulcan Mfg Co.

</center> The engine used on this Vulcan Speedster was a smaller four cylinder that was rated at 27 horsepower. Wheel base is shorter at 105 inches. 32 x 3 1/2 inch wheels and tires. Three speed sliding gear transmission and a 5 pinion bevel gear differential.

Selling points in the above advertisement - "built strong and durable, pleasing and graceful lines, simple in design and construction, easy to operate and ster, will turn in 15 feet radius, comfortable to ride it, a smooth running motor, silent in its action, powerful and speedy, economical on gas, oil and tires etc".

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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Vulcan Manufacturing Company radiator emblem

 

The Studemino....
A guy in Floriday was selling the fibreglass kits for the 78-87 el Caminos to do the Studemino for 5 Grand. I almost bought one. Ernie's is on a differnent level.

 

Cunningham seems to mentioned several times on page 19

 

You have the Muntz Jet listed, but that is incorrect. They were never built in Indiana. They were first built in Glendale, California from 1950-early 1951. Then they were built in Evansville, Illinois from 1951-1953

 

You are absolutely correct. Just goes to show again that every thing you read on the net or else where is not necessarily correct. Thanks for the correction.

 

You had the correct city, only it was in the wrong state. Close, but no cigar!

 

Here's some GREAT history on Cunningham with GREAT pictures

http://www.obs-us.com/people/karen/cunningham/chapter4.htm#30

http://www.s363.com/cunningham/morris.html

 

I just sent this info by email to the Director of the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio stating the museum needs to find one of these. Here is his reply:

RE: We need to find one of these - Painesville, Ohio

I know where one is in the area and it is possibly for sale.
Allan

 

This is a great shot with Ralph De Palma at the wheel.

 

Hope you do. Can't be many of these left.

 

I live not more than 5 miles from the square in Painesville, Oh


http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Men...&2s=OH&2y=US&2l=41.7244&2g=-81.245796&2v=CITY

 

1929 LaSalle Woodie.

All I find is the picture.

No info.

 

This very unusual 8-door 'woodie' station wagon was constructed by special order on a 1940 LaSalle commercial chassis. The chassis was delivered to Meteor Motor Car Company on February 6, 1940. Meteor, located in Piqua, Ohio, was one of the largest funeral car and flower car coachbuilders of the era. The firm was acquired in 1954 by Wayne Works of Richmond, Indiana and merged with Miller in 1956 to become Miller-Meteor.

This is the largest wood-bodied passenger vehicle known to have been built on a non-truck chassis and is the only 8-door woodie wagon known to exist. 1940 was the last year for the LaSalle, which had been introduced by GM as a companion car to Cadillac in 1927. The 1940 LaSalles were powered by a 322 cubic-inch V8 producing 130 horsepower.

This wagon originally served at Meadow Brook Hall and was used to take staff to town on their days off and to drive guests around the estate. It was donated in 1950 to the Pontiac Boys Club and eventually was obtained by the present owner, who resides in California.

A full restoration of this 8-door woodie was just completed. Fittingly, its showing at the 2007 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance is its inaugural appearance as a fully renovated show vehicle.

LaSalle woody wagons are very unusual and only a very few were believed to be built. This unique vehicle consisting of 8 passenger doors was constructed by the Meteor Motor Company of Piqua, Ohio on a commercial chassis of 159-inches stretched out to 189.5-inches. Powered by a 332 cubic-inch flathead V8 this car is believed to have been ordered by Mrs. Matilda Dodge for use at her home: Meadow Brook Hall in Auburn Hills, Michigan

More Pics Here;

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/chassisNum.aspx?carID=10874&iDNumID=2549

 

This 1929 LaSalle Series 328 with a one-off body by Cantrell of Long Island, was built for the owner of the Cadillac-LaSalle Agency in Newark, NJ. Powered by a 90-degree V-8 L-head engine, it has a synchro-mesh transmission and inboard mechanical brakes, new features for LaSalle that year.

Photo & caption: Concours East​

 

This very rare 1934 Packard woodie station wagon was shown at the 1999 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance by William J. Chorkey of Farmington Hills. Body was built by Bridgeport Body Works and the vehicle is the only woodie of that model known to exist.

Photo & caption by By Richard A. Wright
Courtesy Detroit News Joyrides​

 

Once there was a small manufacturer of small cars in a small city in Alabama. 18 cars were made, three still exist. Ron Barnett's two-owner 1949 Keller station wagon prototype is one of a kind.

Photo courtesy Ron Barnett​

 

A pair of custom built Cadillacs built by Maurice Schwartz. The top photo depicts the a four door limousine built for for shoe magnate Harry Karl as a present for his wife, movie star Marie McDonald. The lower photo is cowboy star Gene Autry's six door limousine, similar to 1946 six door woodie built earlier for a movie studio.

Photos and information courtesy The (new) Cadillac Database©​

 

The Campbell 'Convoyer' body on a 1952 Dodge 'F' dually chassis with a 152" wheelbase was built by Mid-State Body Co. Inc. of Waterloo, New York. This is likely to be the largest woodie to have ever been produced as a standard production model. It could accommodate 14-18 passengers and driver and was expressly designed for air-ports, clubs, plants, supply bases, etc. The installed body sold for $1,936.50.

Photo: Old Woodies collection​

 

I Hi Jacked this from the Auto racing 1894-1944 thread.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380814&page=38

I have posted a few things on there as well.

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Heres some pics of the Maroonish-Brown Mercer that was at Hershey this year. Have pics of the yellow one, somewhere...
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Here is the Yellow Mercer. I don`t know the particulars on this one-Hershey 2006.

Looks real to me...












Prest-o-lite bottle.




Somebody did install a set of Motorcraft plugs,though...



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Whoa! Great stuff!!! I want to take home the unrestored '13 Mercer! And the one-off Keller woodie (like ALL these woodies you guys have shown here) fabulous just to stare at!!!

Is everybody already aware of the background on the Keller? Did I already post that story (Geo. Keller)? Good guy, tragic ending.

 

HJ, I vote with SunRoof: Can't be many Vulcans at all still around! I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with this light little car. SOUNDS as though these automakers had a pretty good product to compete with the likes of Ford -- though still not quite at a low enough price, ya think? Did you run across ANYTHING like approx. production figures?

 

No.

 

Oops, sorry SunRoof, just realized it was you who posted first about the Vulcan.

I like Glen, da Bird Guy, but I can't warm up to da "Studemino." Yike. Now THAT is out there!!! Still, I always celebrate those who take things to the extreme -- just for the fun of it! Coolest customs I thnk I have EVER seen were the California-built- "Chevez" and "Chezoom," both based on the '57 Chevy AND actually carrying the best style features to an extreme. A feast for the eyes of any custom-car dude!

 

SunRoof, where do I start? I should probably say first: I'm a Studebaker nut and always wanted one of these, possibly to do some mild customizing, too. But I wound up with a Hawk, which, with it's 4-B 289 & B/W 4sp & "Twin-Track" rear, was probably more fun.

Secondly, it's both surprising and impressive that Studebaker plotted well during the war to come out with the radical bodies they did afterward. This especially considering some of the pert, clean-lined cars immediate prewar. I say surprising and impressive because they really gambled on Lowey's sense. Lowey made NO bones about his approach to design, as anyone who's read a bit about him knows. He always told his people to push a concept to the limit of taste, sometimes beyond. And this model is a good example of that.

Now, I know any time one criticizes a certain model, he WILL draw fire from fans of that model. But it's still the land of more-or-less free speech. So I just calls 'em as I seez 'em. LOL

I will add, I have never believed this model was an entirely original concept. I do believe it (and the shoebox Fords) were influenced by Tremulis' Tucker 48. Had the Tucker worked out, MIGHT that Stude center-grille have featured a directional third headlight ???

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HJ, RE Post #1557, cut it out, will ya? Yer talkin' my leg off!!! LOL

 

No problem on the Vulcan. I was surprised one even existed. Didn't see any production figures either.

I didn't care much for the "Studemino" either.

I never cared much for "Chevez" Or "Chezoom" either. Guess I just like mild customs better.

I've owned a '57 Chev Bel Air Hardtop since 1982 that I wore out driving it all over the country. Started to rebuild it as a mild custom (vintage early '60s and now it's on hold for various reasons. EEk! I just figured out it's been off the road for over 15 years. Life happens well your making other plans. Can't ever sell it. Wife and I did too much dating in it. Too much sentimental value!

 

I read a very interesting article last evening in the same Dec 1982 Special Interest Autos as the Mercer article about Virgil Exner who was very involved (secretly) in the original design of the Starlight Coupe

 

Virgil Exner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<!-- start content --> <table class="infobox biography vcard" style="width: 22em; text-align: left; font-size: 88%; line-height: 1.5em;" cellspacing="5"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" class="fn" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold;">Virgil Max Exner, Sr.</th> </tr> <tr class=""> <th style="text-align: left;">Born</th> <td class="" style="">September 24, 1909(1909-09-24)
Ann Arbor, MI</td> </tr> <tr class=""> <th style="text-align: left;">Died</th> <td class="" style="">December 22, 1973
Royal Oak, MI</td> </tr> <tr class=""> <th style="text-align: left;">Occupation</th> <td class="role" style="">Designer
Chrysler Vice President of Design

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Virgil Max "Ex" Exner, Sr. was an automobile designer for numerous American companies, notably Chrysler and Studebaker. He is known for his "Forward Look" design on the 1955 through 1961 Chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.

Early life

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Exner was adopted by George W. and Iva Exner as a baby. Virgil showed a strong interest in art and automobiles. He studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana but, in 1928, dropped out after two years due to lack of funds. He then took a job as a helper at an art studio specializing in advertising. In 1931 he married Mildred Marie Eshleman, who also worked for the studio and, on April 17, 1933, they had their first child, Virgil Exner Jr. By that time Exner Sr. had been promoted to drawing advertisements for Studebaker trucks. They had a second son in 1940, Brian, who died of injuries after falling from a window.

Design work

General Motors

His first work in design was for General Motors, where he was hired by GM styling czar Harley Earl. Before age 30, he was in charge of Pontiac styling.

Loewy and Associates

In 1938 he joined Raymond Loewy's industrial design firm Loewy and Associates, where he worked on World War II military vehicles and cars, notably Studebaker's 1939-40 models, and advance plans for their revolutionary post-war cars.<sup id="cite_ref-bourker_1-0" class="reference"></sup> "But working on Studebaker designs&#8230; Exner struggled to get the attention of his boss, who had to sign off on every facet of the designs. Exner was encouraged by Roy Cole, Studebaker&#8217;s engineering vice president, to work on his own at home on backup designs in case the company&#8217;s touchy relationship with Loewy blew up".

Studebaker Corporation

In 1944, he was fired by Loewy and was hired directly by Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana. There he was involved in the design of some of the first cars to be produced after World War II (Studebaker's slogan during this period was "First by far with a post war car"). As acknowledged by Robert Bourke, Virgil was the final designer of the acclaimed 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupe, though Raymond Loewy received the public acknowledgment because his legendary name was a major advertising attraction. Exner is actually listed as sole inventor on the design patent. Rivalry and bad feeling between the two resulted in Exner having to leave Studebaker, whose engineering chief Roy Cole provided personal introductions for him to Ford and Chrysler.

Chrysler Corporation

n 1949, Exner started working in Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group, where he partnered with Cliff Voss and Maury Baldwin. There he also worked with Luigi "Gigi" Segre, of Italian car company Carrozzeria Ghia S.p.A. The men created a strong personal bond, which helped link the companies closely throughout the 1950s. The alliance produced the Chrysler Ghia designs, such as the 1952 Chrysler K-310, as well as the Chrysler d'Elegance and DeSoto Adventurer.

Impact on automobile design

When Exner joined Chrysler, the car's body was fashioned by engineers instead of designers &#8212; leading to what many thought were old-fashioned, boxy designs on Chryslers of the 1940s and early 50s. Exner fought to change this structuring, and got control over the design process, including the clay prototypes and the die models used to create production tooling. Here he created the Dodge Firearrow concept, constructed by Ghia.

Inspired by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, GM's Harley Earl incorporated small "fins" on the rear fenders of the 1948 Cadillac models. Exner saw the design detail (also being experimented with by some Italian manufacturers) and made it his own by enlarging the fins and making them a more prominent feature. Exner believed in the aerodynamic benefits of the fins and even used wind tunnel testing at the University of Michigan &#8211; but he also liked their visual effects on the car. They were showcased on the first cars designed under his full supervision for sale: the 1955 Chrysler 300 series, and the Imperial. The hardtop versions of 1957 Chrysler corpoartion cars also featured compound curved glass, the first to be used in a production car.

These fin designs also premiered his "Forward Look." In the late 1940s, Chrysler had been behind the times in terms of styling with what were considered tall, boxy cars. Exner lowered the roofline and made the cars sleeker, smoother and more aggressive. With a long hood and short deck, the wedgelike designs of the 300 series and revised 1957 models suddenly brought Chrysler to the forefront of design, with Ford and General Motors quickly working to catch up. Advertising campaigns for the 1957 model year sang that "Suddenly, it's 1960!" In June of that year Exner and his team were awarded the Industrial Designers' Institute's Gold Medal Award.

In 1956, during the design of the 1961 models, Exner had a heart attack. He resumed work in 1957, working on the designs for the 1962 cars. On July 25, 1957 Exner was elected the first Vice President of Styling at Chrysler. Unfortunately, a rumor that GM was reducing the size of their cars caused the President of Chrysler to order Exner to do the same to his 1962 design &#8212; a change Exner disagreed with, thinking it would make his cars "ugly." This change, coupled with build quality problems, reduced the cars' appeal and caused a significant drop in sales. It turned out that the rumor was false and consumers disliked the smaller Plymouth and Dodge cars introduced for 1962, the styling of which was bizarre compared to more sedate Ford and GM products. Needing a scapegoat, Chrysler brass fired Exner. He was allowed to retain a position as a consultant so he could retire with pension at age 55. He was replaced by Elwood Engel, who had been lured from Ford. Engel was highly regarded for his design of the classic 1961 Lincoln Continental.

Fins soon lost popularity. By the late 1950s, Cadillac and Chrysler had escalated the size of fins till some thought they were stylistically questionable and they became a symbol of American excess in the early '60s. The 1961 models are considered the last of the "Forward Look" designs; Exner later referred to the finless 1962 full-size Chrysler and Imperial models as "plucked chickens".

Retirement

Exner continued consulting for many car companies from his office in Birmingham, Michigan. He also teamed up with his son, Virgil Exner Jr., designing watercraft for Buehler Corporation. In 1963, he designed a series of "Revival Cars" with production plans. His revival of Duesenberg failed, but he was instrumental in the revival of Stutz in the 1970s.
He died on December 22, 1973 at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

List of Exner-designed vehicles

• Studebaker Champion
• Studebaker Starlight
• Chrysler 300 letter series
• Chrysler 300 non-letter series
• Chrysler New Yorker
• Chrysler Imperial 1955-1961
• Chrysler Diablo Concept with Ghia
• Plymouth Savoy
• Plymouth Belvedere
• Plymouth Fury
• Plymouth Suburban
• Plymouth Valiant
• Dodge Coronet
• Dodge Firearrow Concept
• Desoto 1961
• Desoto Adventurer

There's a very good book on Virgil Exner available

 

The walls of the offices at Raymond Loewy Associates would
have been lined with awards for trend-setting and iconic American designs -- from the design of the Coca Cola bottle and the Lucky Strike logotype to the new-age rail Streamliners and several series of Studebaker automobiles. A fertile training ground for other giants
of commercial and industrial design, Loewy ever encouraged his artists to push the edge of the envelope, before the expression
was even thought of!

Loewy, of course, did not design the rail Streamliner below from
the ground up! His firm's contribution was the sleek, wind-cheating
lines and Loewy's own suggestion that seamless welds be substituted for the old-style riveted-plate construction so
familiar to all earlier designs. What a difference a fresh eye can
make!


Sincere appreciation is expressed to ObviousMag.org for this wonderful
shot of Raymond Loewy with one of his firm's designs, in this case for the
Pennsylvania Railroad.

 

See Post #22, Page 2 and Post #103 Page 6