1952 MUNTZ

Taking pictures of old cars gets a bit repetitive:  Lots of Chevy and Ford iron with the occasional Nash or Olds to spice things up.  But during my visit to Grants Pass last month, I was taken aback by a very modern, truly lovely sports car.  It was topless (only removable hardtops were made) and defied my sleuthing skills to figure out what it was without reading the sandwich board.

1951 Muntz

I had found a car I have never heard of; the Muntz.  Only about 400 were made and 39 or so are believed to exist today.  My luck to capture a few shots and your luck to have found them here.  Tell me what you know or think about this beauty. 

 

Here’s what the collectors say:  “Earl “Madman” Muntz was a former big scale used car dealer who turned to manufacturing TV sets in the post-World War II bonanza years. But he had seen a custom 1941 Buick Frank Kurtis had built; he wanted to buy it in 1949. Instead he ended up buying Kurtis’ fledgling sports car, the KURTIS 500, lock, stock, and barrel. Kurits, who was literally up to his neck in race-car building (his cars won Indy six consecutive times from 1950 through 1956), and he was worried about competition from the Jaguar XK120, which was cheaper, had dual overhead cams and the European mystique. Muntz moved the production to Evansville, Indiana, streched the car out about a foot, enlarged the passenger compartment for four passengers, and installed Lincoln or Cadillac V8 engines. Production ceased in the mid-50’s and Muntz reportedly said he lost money on every car sold.”

RESTORED CARS FOR SALE NOW

SHERIFF JOHN IN GOLD BEACH, OREGON IS SELLING HIS STABLE OF MAGNIFICENTLY RESTORED CARS. FOR INFORMATION: http://sheriffjohnsclassiccars.com/ForSale.htm USE THE TELEPHONE IF YOU ARE IN THE MARKET FOR ANY OF HIS BEAUTIES. HE DOES NOT USE EMAIL.

I VISITED THIS WEEK AND CAN TELL YOU THEY ARE IMPECCABLE, IN RUNNING ORDER AND LISCENED. THEY ARE GOING FAST. HE EVEN HAS BARBARA STREISAND’S VERY OWN LINCOLN FROM THE MOVIE THE WAY WE WERE.

BEST OF LUCK TO SHERIFF JOHN.

ROSEBURG GRAFFITI EVENT–HOTRODS AND MORE

Roseburg Graffiti - 2008

The Old car Gods were shining on Southern Oregon this month; two car events, one in Roseburg and one in Grants Pass made for some interesting pictures, new friends and great gawking.

My web site, www.oldcarsneverdie.com is down and I can’t update it with pictures and such so I will use the blog. Do check the web site in a week or so since I will include better and more pictures. For now, here’s a bit on the Roseburg Graffiti event.

Cruisin'

I found out about the event at 4:30 on Friday. By five, I was on the road, camera packed with toothbrush and pillow stashed in the trunk.  Three hours later,  I found a room at the Travel Lodge right on one of the main drags. The accommodations were comfortable and the place was jammed with car enthusiasts. We watched the unintentional parade from the Motel driveway, some people having the foresight to bring canvas chairs.

Graffiti Day Cruise

Muscle cars made noise and the hot rods quivered with envy. I saw few restorations, but many people were in for the night. I discovered most of the restorations were trailered to Roseburg while the hotrods and muscle cars drove no matter how distant their home base. One of the few remaining drive-ins was reputed to have a throng of ’50s cars.

The Show and Shine was the highlight for me. To get to know the owners, to take a few pictures using the tripod (monopod), to admire and get up close and personal is my idea of time well spent. But, it was a very hot day in Roseburg. Fortunately, I found shade and a perch with Ray Johnson.

Ray’s ‘51 Chevy is a White masterpiece. He did all the metal work himself. I asked him if he was a metalsmith, he replied, “I am now.” Notice the dropped cab on this truck. He lowered the door.

So many great examples of backyard workmanship, sometimes unidentified. These Chevy trucks may also be a 50-51 but are customized so I am unsure…the bed is lowered on one. No mistaking that grill, however.

Ray Johnsons ‘51 Chevy

Inside Rays ‘51 Chevy

For more on Ray’s Chevy, check back at www.oldcarsneverdie.com

 

And another

'51 Chevy?? You tell me.

 

THE CREW’S CARS FROM ‘50 CHEVY TO SHRIKE 3 WHEELER

The “Crew” started as the “Three M’s” in Junior High School, 1950’s Garden Grove California; a time and place now only written about by baby-boomers or seen in very bad nostalgia movies. Massaro, Metzker and Mladnich who committed to straight A’s and friendship spent most of their free time together. In high school, Rancho Alamitos,  the group expanded to 7 members and was renamed by the Chem teacher as, “The Crew.” 

Rancho 1960

The boys sat together on the lawn at lunch, occasionally honoring new girl friends with an invitation to join them under the shade tree they appropriated as their own, but mostly the Crew just riffed off each other’s puns and inside jokes. Their laughter blanketed the side lawn of Rancho  and their mischief became the stuff of legends.

One spring day those arriving to school early were perplexed by all the “For Sale” signs scattered on the various front lawns. And through the morning the Admin staff fielded strange phone inquiries about the mansion with 105 rooms, fifteen bathrooms, basketball courts and 20 tennis courts. Seems the crew had placed a Real Estate advertisement (billed to the school) in the local paper and put the school up for sale.

Mischief aside, the Crew studied together, competed for grades and sometimes, fished together. Once I was invited to join Massaro and Metzker on an early morning fishing expedition. Turns out I was the only one who caught anything but Massaro was chivalrous and cleaned it, fried it up in a hot buttered pan he brought for the occasion and we all shared it. Strangely, at a recent reunion, neither Massaro nor Metzker remembered the outing. Massaro’s first car was our ride: A 1950 Chevy Convertible, yellow and very clean.

  

Over the years, the boys became men, went their separate ways and mostly lost contact until three years ago when Davie Norton, decided a reunion was in order. Since I had written an article memorizlizing the Crew for our School Newspaper, I was invited to join them in a Southern California beach front condo to revisit the past.

I jumped at the chance and was rewarded by the understanding that each of the Crew members had become older versions of themselves. One of the competitive topics was who had the highest mileage car. Midrange was 250,000 miles and the winner, whom I believe was Davie Norton (Nort), was over 350,000.

But Nort was a real car fanatic. He used his curiosity, creativity and perversity to create a three wheeled energy efficient vehicle; the Shrike.

Shrike 3 Wheeler

And later, with a new, more efficient engine: 

David Norton

Performance:
Lateral G: 1.0 at low speeds (40 mph), Braking G: 1.0, 0-60: 6.4 sec, 1/4 mile: 14.6 sec @ 97.6 mph, Top Speed: I have no idea (something over 120 mph. It’s still accelerating at over .2 G at 80 mph). Fuel consumption: 30 (kick-gas) to 40 (very relaxing) mpg.

These days, Massaro Drives a Hybrid and today, as I await a visit from his soon-to-be-advocacy lawyer daughter, I keep an outlook for her in her Blue Honda Hybrid which she truly loves.

Check back here periodically for more about the Crew and their Automotive history…a reflection of America’s own fascination with cars, I am sure.

HAUNTED BY 1949 HUDSON COMMODORE

I suppose the romance of a rusting automotive relic is partly about what it could have been.  I dream that some of the pictures on my blog will capture the imagination of a well monied automobile junkie who will surrender some coin to salvage and rejuvenate these beauties.   This 1949 Hudson Commodore haunts me because its story is unknown.  It seems just to be waiting.

I believe, as Jay Leno does, that not all old cars should be completely restored; only rejuvenated so they drive but only enough that the patina of old age and use remains.  And isn’t that what this Hudson says?  There are so many good parts to this car still intact.

But it does take a special kind of person, very patient and in love with the history of this fine beast to consider retrieving it from the metal heap.  I wonder what it takes to motivate someone to consider salvaging such a beauty?  Tell me on a comment?

But imagine, if you will, what it could be: 

And imagine, if you will, in what good company you’d find yourself: 

HUDSON 1949 COMMODORE FOUR DOOR

Restored Hudsons are a rare sight.  This 1949 Commodore Sedan sits on the edge of a lot, home to a small trucking company.  For company, if one pokes around, you can see a rusted 1932 Ford truck sitting on the flat bed of a 1941 Ford truck. 

Not much is known about the car though I suspect the lot owner knows more than he is saying.  Sadly, he has no interest in this car and just ignores it.  I plan to visit again soon to see if I can cojole some info from him. 

The distinctive design of the car was unique even in then when Detroit was experimenting will all manner of metal.  Today, these beauties are mostly rusted away just as the Hudson company did those many years ago.  Ford and Chevy drove Hudson out of business and into a merger with the ill fated Nash Motors which became American Motors and lost its American appeal.     

If you’d like to see restored Hudsons, check out http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/AmericanMotors/Hudson.html.  Some of the pictures are lovely and remind one of days gone by but oft remembered.

 

1932 Buick — Awaiting Restoration

                                           

Sadly, I cannot tell you these are before and after shots.  The 1932 Buick series 90 above is in the back lot of a Southern Oregon home-based car restoration shop.  Tom Carr has a team of restoration professionals who work from the home’s two garages.  The side yard is storage for a variety of hulks, all waiting for someone to invest in their restoration. 

The Buick in question is a rare classic and ready for restoration.  Chuck Bidwell’s custom-bodied 1932 90 Series Town Car dates from an era when elaborate coach-built Dusenbergs and Packards were the rides of choice for the discerning upscale automobile buyer. Commissioned by Charles S. Howard (who owned the celebrated racehorse, Sea Biscuit), the car was constructed on stretched Buick chassis by the Murphy Company, one of the foremost coachbuilders of the era.

 

AN OLD NASH NEEDS A NEW HOME

 

 

My newest passion is to locate old dead cars.  Fortunately, I am not alone.  So many are in salvage lots where they will soon be crushed for scrap; scrap metal and copper from the radiators being more valuable than parts.   Maybe Jim in Eugene Oregon would consider selling his Nash to someone who can afford to love it.

 

 

Last week I fell in real love with a rusted carcass of a true beauty.   With the help of John MacDonald, the car is identified as a 1935 Nash.  It saddens me beyond knowing that this once extraordinary creation will rust away and be lost forever.

 

Fortunately, a few restorations exist, though more and more old cars are being made into Street Rods and Rat-Rods instead because, again, they are more valuable than true restorations. 

 

See for yourself how lovely this unique automotive work of art can be.

 

1937 Olds - A Great Sofa

                                         

The ’37 Olds My 1937 Oldsmobile  was as big as it was black.  Most were.  When my then-husband and I took the car to  Lake Merritt Park  to wax it in the shade of a tree, all passers-by assumed it was a Cadillac.   Eventually, we just nodded and said, “Yes, it is.

 

The interior was nicer than most living rooms I have visited.  The upholstery was plush and the bench seat in the back more like a small bed.  All the control dials were large and easy to read and the floor shift was smooth and dependable.

 

1937 Oldsmobile Series F-37 four door trunk sedan has a 230 cid 6-cylinder engine producing 95 horsepower. A three-speed sliding gear floor shift transmission guided the Olds to quiet Sunday afternoon driving speeds. Weighing in at 3395 pounds this car had a 117″ wheebase and cost $945 at the factory in Lansing back in 1937.

 

During the time we owned this beauty, we also owned two British Leyland cars.  They were always in the shop; perhaps you have heard of their electrical nickname?   British Leyland, the Prince of Darkness.  Meanwhile, the olds was always ready to go.

 

The one repair we had in all the three years of ownership was a pinion gear (my old friend).  We couldn’t locate one so one was fabricated and installed; total bill, $90.

 

I loved my car and the attention it brought. Friends we chauffeured to dinner and such were in awe of the back seat comfort.  And I just loved to drive it.

 

Sadly, my then husband (clue about why he became a former husband) insisted if I wanted to purchase a new sofa for our new (very old) home, I’d have to sell my Olds.

The sofa cost $900 but was not nearly so much fun as the car.  But that is another story.

 

MY FIRST CAR COST $250

Too bad no one told me the difference between car polish and car wax. I polished my first car every week end until I noticed the primer was starting to show through.

I bought the car with my own money but was not allowed to drive it until I could replace the tires. Once that was done, I had the kind of freedom every teen-ager requires. Drive-in movies, cruising the beach and guaranteed transportation to school. Gas and burgers were 19 Cents! I was outraged when gas soared to $.21.

The car was easy to drive and I learned to double clutch, downshift. I also learned how to pay for a new pinion gear.

On the return leg from Long Beach State one afternoon I spotted a former high school classmate pushing his new red motor bike up H99. I pulled over and discovered he was out of gas. We put the motor bike in the back seat of the Plymouth and I drove him home. Now that’s a roomy back seat.

The car was dependable and easy to drive. I was really disappointed when the car was stolen. I hoped I would get it back in driving condition so I borrowed my older sister’s 1955 Ford. But that’s another story.