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Great Classic Sedans


CBoz

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That may be the same car then.   Cambridge is less than an hour east of Columbus.   If John M. pops in again he may know for sure.    Finelli had his car listed in the 1970 CCCA directory, so he owned it over 25 years.   He was very old and in declining health at the time o the auction too.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by K8096 (see edit history)
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Yes,  the 1930 Franklin 147 Speedster Sedan (jury is till out on whether a Dietrich body by Dietrich production or made by say "Walker" under license - hard to say as there are zero pictures of any being produced) was owned by Len  Finelli.   Len may have lived in Cambridge, but when I saw car it was in Columbus proper (right in the thick of things) - he had a little museum and was sort of a "I have this, but I will not show it to anyone" kind of guy.   Museum was on the same street as fellow who we knew with a 1930 LaSalle and .....  When in Len Finelli's auction this particular car is probably one of the finer of survivor Franklins to show up at any point in time (and has been carefully upgraded since auctioned). 

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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Thanks John.  Yes, he wouldn't let anyone see his cars.  The house and "museum" were on Oakland Park Blvd not far from I 71.    My dad knew Len from when he was at OSU back in the early 60's.  When I was at OSU in the mid 90's I called him and he remembered my dad, but he didn't want me to come over and see anything.   Another time I called him to see if he was around and he said "he had a flight to catch."   I gave up after that.  As I remember, a lot of the cars sold for a lot less than the auction estimates of what he thought they were worth.   

Edited by K8096 (see edit history)
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  • 1 year later...
On 1/18/2018 at 12:24 PM, John_Mereness said:

Mr. Mareness I too got  a personal tour of Len Finellis museum by him and you are spot in describing his collection as "I have this, but I will not show it to anyone". To put it mildly his car collection was jaw dropping. It consisted of about 50-80 classics including a 1932 caddy once owned by Clark Gable, a Packard he restored owned by Al Capone and a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Hibbard and Darrin Imperial Cabriolet 127XJ. I met Len through my Mom who was personal friends with Len for many many years. She lived with him for many years at the Oakland Park home in front of his museum. The house was literally an antique store and I still have a few memento's he gave me on my first visit their. Len was a great guy and it was a sad day when he passed.  

 

Edited by Lathree
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  • 4 months later...
9 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Always a worthy topic, this '32 Packard Deluxe Eight 904 sport sedan by Waterhouse is currently advertised in Hemmings.  The proportions speak for themselves.  Waterhouse didn't last long but what wonderful designs they created.

 

Waterhouse was like Dietrich.  They never made a bad looking body.  

 

The gentleman that owns that car was at Pebble this year with that super cool unrestored P1 towncar.

Edited by alsancle (see edit history)
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