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

The el Morocco custom could only have happened for 1956 and 1957. Maybe as few as three dozen stock Chevy Bel Airs were modified by hand by Allender Company out of a hole-in-the-wall Detroit shop to mimic a smaller version of the current Caddy Brougham (not the el Dorado, as some believe). Whatever else may be said, the el Morocco was very well executed, in terms of bodywork. As usual, the price tag killed a decent idea, as the el Morocco required so much time to convert that it cost far more than a standard Chevy -- though, yes, still cheaper than the Caddy it imitated. Today, a well-kept example can bring six figures in a well-advertised auction. (Recommended reading: "1957 Chevy El Morocco, the Poor Man's Cadillac," by Elliott Feldman, is a first-hand remembrance of Mr. Feldman's uncle's '57 el Morocco. For a great read, search Associated Content on the web!)

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</CENTER><CENTER>Sincere thanks is expressed to Publications International</CENTER><CENTER>and "HowStuffWorks" for this demonstrative photo</CENTER><CENTER>of one of Allender's '57 el Moroccos.</CENTER>

 

Though they were panned by some as Packardbakers, I do have a sympathetic eye for the brave but pathetic last-ditch efforts to keep the marque alive. Though they weren't quite Packards, and they weren't quite Studes either, SOME of the bodies actually looked quite snappy! But, I think, to appreciate them, one has to put Studebaker and Packard both out of his/her mind and just LOOK at the cars objectively through fresh eyes.

 

O/T but I needed to post this as a volunteer for the Crawford.

Kay Crawford fought for her late husband's museum

By Grant Segall

February 01, 2010, 4:48PM



Even when too frail to speak, Kay Crawford flew to Cleveland in October and typed out her hopes of saving the legacy of her late husband, Frederick, a leading industrialist and philanthropist.
She died Saturday at 94 at her home in Westwood, Mass.
"The auto collection was near and dear to Fred," Kay Crawford typed during an interview in October, while protesting plans by the Western Reserve Historical Society to sell 23 vehicles from its Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. "Fred wanted to share his collection with everyone."
Despite efforts by Crawford and more than 100 protestors on the streets of University Circle, the society held the sale. It had sold other vehicles over the years.
Dave Ford, a museum volunteer and a friend of Crawford's from Moreland Hills, said she was quiet, cerebral, curious and informed.
Joseph T. Gorman, retired TRW chairman, remembers when she was Fred Crawford's secretary before marrying him.
"She was a lovely lady, hard-working, highly professional," said Gorman. After the marriage, "She took good care of Fred. He adored her."
She was born Kathleen Marie Saxon, the oldest of two girls, in New York. She went to secretarial school and joined Fred Crawford's corporation, TRW, in Alaska. She later moved to the Lyndhurst headquarters. The widower married her in 1978.
"Fred and Kay Crawford had one of the great love affairs of our time," said Lanie Hadden, a friend for more than 40 years.
The childless couple lived in a condominium in Bratenahl and a waterfront estate in Cotuit, Mass. They traveled frequently around the world.
Kay also went on long research trips with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. She helped fund the group and many others.
Frederick's leading collections of cars, planes and other vehicles went to the Crawford Museum, part of the Western Reserve Historical Society in University Circle. After his death in 1994 at 103, Kay continued to donate heavily to the society and to serve as honorary chair of fund-raising events.
Until the last year or two, she remained fit and worked out a couple of times a week with a personal trainer.

Waterman Funeral Home is handling her arrangements. She will be buried privately beside her husband at Lake View Cemetery.

 

We brought this T Bird Jr. back from Wisconsin a couple years ago for a friends private museum.

More info here;

http://www.jrcentral.com/thunderbird.html

 

1947 Studebaker Champion Woody Wagon Concept

In 1947, Studebaker was seriously considering introducing this wagon into its brand new Champion lineup. It was even publicized in several magazines, but at the last minute the project was canceled.

A prototype was actually built and rescued from the Studebaker Proving Grounds Graveyard. It has been restored and has been displayed at the National Studebaker Museum in South Bend Indiana.

 

1934 Studebaker Dictator Woodie

 

Any light duty truck chassis could be a candidate for a woodie wagon body.

Studebaker's M series trucks, sharply styled by noted designer Raymond
Lowey, look great in any setting, but especially as shown here wearing a Hercules-Campbell body.

 

Studebaker Pedal Car by Midwest Industries

July 13th, 2009<!-- by vintagevending --> · 1 Comment

All Images are the Property of and Copyrighted to Vintage Vending Inc.​

The Modern Tool & Die Company was started in 1932 by three men: Theo Moll, Emil Jochum and Erwin Gerhard. A new division was added in 1953 called Midwest Industries. They made their first pressed steel pedal car in 1956 and rapidly built a reputation for high-quality craftsmanship. The pedal car they produced was the Studebaker Jet Hawk sedan. It was based on the actual 1956 Studebaker Hawk car series (there was a Golden Hawk, Flight Hawk, Sky Hawk, Powerhawk and a Silver Hawk).
There were only three car styles made based on the single chassis stamping of the Studebaker pedal car. The sedan style was called the Jet Hawk and originally came with tail fins and a large hood ornament. The Sportster and Strato-Jet were produced from the same body with modifications to the paint and graphics.
Slight modifications to the body were made over the next few years including adding a platform to the rear to adapt the car to a hook-and-ladder fire engine model. Another change was to make the grille more flat and minor adjustments were made to the hood to create a new appearance.
Because of the short production period of these cars, and the fact that they were never mass-produced, they are not that easy to find examples of. This is a Studebaker Strato-Jet that we restored. The colors are not original, but rather, this is a custom paint job with airbrushed flames and grille.

Dimensions: 37&#8221;L
Produced: 1956 to 1962
Manufactured by:
Midwest Industries
Willard, Ohio

 

1937 Studebaker Woodie

 

A Woody station wagon made by the Garton Toy Co., older restoration. This car resembles a 1937 Ford

 

HJ, I don't find it OT at all -- very car related.
Nice write-up! It is apparent from the details
here that Kay Saxon Crawford and her husband
were both exceptional human beings who will be
long remembered for having made the world a
better place, by their deeds and presence.
Rest in peace.

 

These pictures were taken at Hershey 2008. I have no idea what the first one is. The second one is just a cool pedal car, probably hand made. The third looks to be another pedal car of larger proportions replicating a Duesenberg.

And now I've found another picture of the pedal car in picture one taken at Hershey 2007 in primer.

 

Since we mentioned Fred and Kay Crawford please check out this episode of Car Crazy.

http://www.carcrazycentral.com/Video.aspx?VideoID=203

I worked on the 1969 McLaren he speaks of and I accompanied it to Amelia Island Concours.

 

The first one is a Ihle circa late 1930s and is very pricey. THis one is for sale for 38k.

 

SunRoof, HJ & AJ, these are WAAAAY keen. But sweet as they are, I cannot fathom the VALUES!!!

 

Henry Ford had his first car, dubbed the "Quadricycle,"
up and running June 4, 1896, a few weeks after Charles
Brady King first drove his own gas-powered car on the
streets of Detroit. Henry's famous Model T was 12 years
in the future, folks!

The Ford Quadricycle ran on four 28-inch bicycle wheels,
had two forward speeds, no reverse gear, and the "brakes"
consisted of Henry's foot on the left front wheel. The multi-
speed transmission helped Ford go much faster than King's
model could do, reportedly about 20 mph to King's 5 or 6
mph!

Ford sold his first car and built two more experimental
Quadricycles, 1899 and 1901. He bought the original back,
and it sits under glass in the Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI.
Though the Quadricycle Henry built at his Detroit Bagley
Avenue home is unique, at least two near-perfect replicas
have been built over the years.



Sincere appreciation is expressed to
Wikipedia, the Free Online Encyclopedia
and the Wikimedia Commons Project
for this photo of the Ford Quadricycle.

 

Any resemblences?

 

There's an awful lot of popular MYTH that the mention of Henry Ford's name invokes. But I wish the lay public could just realize that -- hard working and dedicated as Ford was -- he DID NOT achieve success overnight! From 1895 until he really hit with the T in 1908, he and his staff used up an awful of of alphabet letters, working TOWARD the long-sought common-people's car, affordable to the masses (in a time when the average American only earned a few hundred dollars a year).

I also find it disconcerting that folks buy, unquestioning, some outright falsehoods that have been so oft-repeated as to take on the air of facts. One example is that Ford perfected the assembly line, but Ransom Olds first employed the assembly line in automaking.

I'm not a Ford basher, by any means. Over the years, there have been plenty of proponents and opponents on the subject. And people on both sides get some things right. Myself, I think Henry deserves some credit for recognizing the mind-numbing boredom of assemly line work (causing terrific turn-our at Ford), and he established a $5 hourly wage to compensate men for the grueling labor, while improving employee retention. $5 an hours before WWI? Unheard of.

On the neg side, once Ford had plenty of financial clout from Model T success, he cut the cars' price so low that hundreds of car "companies" couldn't compete and went under -- leaving Ford with about half of U.S. auto sales by WWI. I guess that wasn't a crime, but it surely seems cold, in MY opinion.

 

Resemblance? Without a doubt! (And, I like the Darrin Dip! LOL)

 

1934 Ford Model 40 Special Speedster, built especially for Edsel Ford by Eugene "Bob" Gregoire. After Edsel's untimely death from cancer at 49, the car changed hands several times, once for barely $600. Pretty recently, however, it was sold by RM Auctions for over one and three-quarter million dollars.





These sharp photos are THANKS to Jalopnik, whose Associate Editor
Ben Wojdyla of Detroit has an interesting item online entitled "1934 Ford
Model 40 Speedster Sells for $1.76 Million." (Original material is
licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial
sharing with attribution.)

 

One of the most famous concept cars was the 1951 Buick LeSabre. Designed by Harley J. Earls studio with styling cues from jet fighter planes and used by him for years as an everyday driver, the LeSabre offered a preview of the aircraft styling that followed in the 50s. The 51 LeSabre contained such technological features as a dual gasoline and alcohol fuel system and a moisture sensor which would raise the convertible top if it began raining when the owner was away from the car.

More pictures here;

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=998&i=4#menu

 

The Topper Car

The fancy finned-back car driven by the Kerbys was custom built by the Bohman & Schwartz Co. using a 1936 Buick Roadmaster chassis. Originally the producers had in mind to use a coffin-nosed Cord, but it wasn't large enough. In the custom-made Buick there were special compartments for camera equipment, etc. The Buick resembles a Cord, but the supercharger pipes on the side were just decorations (a Cord comes with an actual supercharger). After filming the Buick was bought by the Gilmore Oil Co. and was used for promotional purposes for many years. It was updated in 1954 with a Chrysler Imperial chassis and drive train.

More pictures here

http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=BC06&CarID=r516&Currency=

Another thread on the Hamb asks if the Topper Car might of influenced the Lesabre Concept Car.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104643&highlight=topper

 

I parked next to it in the Ritz Carlton parking garage at Amelia Island when it was still owned by Bill Warner. That is when I went to the 2005 Concours with the McLaren representing the Carwford Auto-Aviation Museum. The McLaren was actually parked next to '34 Model 40 Special Speeedster in the garage and when we took it to the display field I parked my Durango in the spot. Of course I did not take any pix. I was too involved with the McLaren.

 

GEBR: IHLE (“the brothers with the name IHLE”) - there were two brothers (very respected) in a village BRUCHSAL previously and they had a company – very successful – production for racing cars, later also for BMW. The symbol of BMW (“double kidney”) was a creation from these brothers. Later the production of the racing cars was sold to BMW and the company of the brothers IHLE specialised in scooters for fairs. Today the company doesn’t exist any more and the brothers are dead. But there is still a sister in the village. She belongs to the company FRITZ HAAS – today a producer for scooters.

 

Envisioned by Charles Chayne, head of GM Engineering at the time, the Buick XP 300 was conceived as an experiment in styling and engineering. The lightweight aluminum body and skirted rear wheel openings make the XP 300 appear as if it is floating. Coupled with a high horsepower engine, Charles Chayne himself tested the XP 300’s performance by reaching more than 140 miles per hour during an engineering test run.

The overall futuristic design of Buick’s XP-300 is emphasized in this view of the new experimental car. The hood and front fenders are a single welded unit, while the hood opens in reverse alligator fashion by hydraulic control. The headlights and parking lights are mounted in open grille work which permits cooling. The louvres along the side serve both the engine and the passenger compartment, and can be opened and closed by the instrument panel controls. When the doors close, hydraulically operated steel bars slide into place to make the doors a solid, structural part of the body and chassis.

More pics here;

http://www.carstyling.ru/en/cars.1951_Buick_XP-300.html

and here;

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z1849/Buick-XP-300-Concept.aspx

 

Jim, there is a difference between asking price and value . I like them a lot and would love to have one for the kids to bomb around the driveway in but it would be cheaper to buy a new full size car.

Here is the write up via www.significantcars.com:
Ihle Brothers in Bruchsal Germany produced some amazing vintage micro cars which were used at fairs in autodromes. The Brothers Rudolf and Fritz Ihle started their company in 1930 in Bruchsal and soon realized that in 1933 the body of the BMW Dixis were out of style, mostly because it was based on the shape of a 1922 Austin seven. So they introduced a more sporty shaped body the Ihle 600, which could be mounted on any Dixi frame. Customers could change there old body for these modern shaped cars on their old frames. These models were only available in Signal Red. In 1934 Ihle started a production line for these models. Soon Ihle offered bodies: the Ihle 600 and Ihle 800 for chassis from other manufacturers like Hansa, Opel, DKW, and of course the Ford Eifel. The Sporty arrow shaped rear was only available for the BMW/Dixi. Later the Legend started that Ihle introduced the typical Kidney Style radiator, now the image for BMW. The Ihle Dixis were produced in Bruchsal until 1941. There was a parallel production of mini cars for amusement rides, special tractors and passenger trailers. In the beginning of the 30s Ihle had a staff of 50 workers and expanded this to up to 150 workers until the war. During the War Ihle produced precision weapons and portable water pumps.

After the war, Ihle sold the dixi production to BMW and expanded their business producing rides for amusement parks and carnival fairs. They also started using the new material Fiber glas.


The Ihle Car was widely used at Amusement Parks across the country, this one was used in Idora Park near Youngstown, OH. These cute little cars evoke fond memories for many people. This fun item is owned by a leading collector whose Cars win awards at the best shows in the country, and was fully restored to the same show standards as the rest of his high dollar cars. This is probably one of the finest Ihle cars in existence. Everything is correct and it was professionally rebuilt and restored by some of the leading Auto Restoration Shops-The chrome was done at D&D. The perfect thing to complement your car collection presentation, this will look great next to your Classic Era cars, and is sure to bea hit with the younger visitors.

 

Seldom seen picture of Harley Earls Y Job with the top up

 

<CENTER></CENTER><CENTER><CENTER></CENTER></CENTER><CENTER></CENTER><CENTER></CENTER>
IHLE Schottenring Car

This microcar was built in Germany as a "Schottenring" car.
Originally there was a steel bumper around the car and they rode on a wooden track (RING) in an Amusement Park.​

Two versions of this car were built, the only difference being the front nose section which was interchangeable to create different "models" with minimum effort.​

The car was built by Frank and Thomas IHLE, brothers who worked out of Bruchsal Germany.​

Prior to building Amusement park rides like this one and the "Wild Mouse", they had manufactured racing cars including a racing version of the BMW Dixie and are generally credited with creating the signature "double kidney" grille for BMW.​

They sold their production of racing cars to BMW and started GEBR: IHLE
("the brothers with the name IHLE") to produce cars for amusement parks and fairs.​

IHLE is commonly misspelled as "JHLE" due to the script lettering.​

Is it a Microcar?
Although not originally designed for Road Use, this miniature car has more power and is built sturdier than many Microcars that were offered to the public for daily use. Proper road use of this vehicle was probably prevented by the method of starting which required it to be push started by an employee of the Amusement Park.​

Manufacturer: GEBR IHLE, Bruchsal Germany​

<TABLE border=1 width=620 height=368><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>Model: Schottenring</TD><TD align=left>Motor: Hirth 2-stroke</TD><TD align=left>Body : Steel</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Years Built: 1954</TD><TD align=left>No. Cylinders: 1</TD><TD align=left>Chassis: Steel Tube</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>No. Produced: n/a</TD><TD align=left>Displacement: 125 cc </TD><TD align=left>Suspension Front: none</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>No. Surviving: n/a</TD><TD align=left>Horsepower: 7</TD><TD align=left>Suspension Rear: none</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Length: 93"</TD><TD align=left>Gearbox: n/a</TD><TD align=left>Steering: Rack & Pinion</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Width: 43"</TD><TD align=left>Starter: Push</TD><TD align=left>Brakes: Cable rear only</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Weight: 600lbs</TD><TD align=left>Electrics: 12v</TD><TD align=left>4 Wheels: 4.00 x 8"</TD></TR><TR><TD align=left>Interior: Bench</TD><TD align=left>Ignition: magneto</TD><TD align=left>Top Speed: 40 km/h </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Ron Heitman's Rocket Car was a car on an rocketship ride at Euclid Beach Park on Lake Erie shore in Cleveland, Ohio

 

SunRoof, you just cleared something up for me.
THIS LOOKS GOOD, TOO! I had assumed, wrongly,
that Harley's Y-Job had NO TOP!!!