5219

I have a late 1940's Delco table radio on the shelf behind me as I write this. My grandfather's house, which was built in 1941, had oil fired hot water heat with a boiler that said "General Motors" on the front of it. I don't know how common they were or how long GM was in that business. In the 1930's, GM marketed a line of DC battery powered radios and appliances for rural areas that did not have electricity. I think that they used the Delco name. I have always wondered if GM made much money in these ventures. Since they don't seem to have lasted very long, I guess not. In Alfred Sloan's book, he says that Frigidaire was a company that made central refrigeration units for large apartment buildings. The building would be plumbed for refrigeration lines, and each apartment would have its own refrigerator box with the cold piped in from one central unit. Durant bought the company. When electrical refrigerators caught on, Frigidaire went into that business.

In the pantheon of bad ideas, Miss Belvedere has to rank near the top. What a waste!

I owned one exactly like that! 1959 Electra 225 Riviera Sedan in Silver Birch. Gray broadcloth interior. I bought it in 1968 when I was a senior in High School. The family that had bought it new was insulted that the Buick dealer offered them $25.00 in trade-in on a new car. I paid them the princely sum of $125.00. It had a new Delco battery and four new whitewall tires from J.C. Penney. I often wish I still had it!

Not to be argumentative, but the 1950 Buick Special had a two piece windshield and did not have the vent windows in the rear doors. It also had a generally leaner looking body than this car. This is not a Buick Special.

This is an unusual body style. Most 1950 Roadmaster and Super sedans were the Riviera sedan body. This one was the less popular body style that was shared with the Olds 98 and the Series 61 Cadillac. I am not sure, but I think it was called a tourback sedan. In a lifetime of seeing early fifties cars, I don't think I have ever seen one of these.

That is a 1952.

I owned a 1966 Impala Supersport that had the OEM wire wheel covers. The car had modern radial tires on it. The wheels had so much flex that at low speeds you could hear the wheel covers going crunch, crunch, crunch as the wheels turned. They never came off, but they would "walk" around the wheel. The hole for the valve stem would move in relation to the stem. Before every drive, I used to tighten up those wheel covers with a rubber mallet. Somebody told me that the cure was to put duct tape between the wheel and the teeth on the wheel cover. I never tried it, but it does make sense.

I had a 1950 Chevrolet years ago. It was a very likable car. If pictures are to be trusted, this one looks like it has quite a bit going for it.

I never knew Nashes of this era used an OHV engine. I always assumed that they were flatheads. When did they switch to OHV?

I bought one car one time sight unseen. I had bought a ticket to fly out to look at the car, but there was a heavy snow and flights were canceled. I bought the car anyway. I will never, ever, do that again. You shouldn't either.

That is an obscure car! Where did your mother live?

The Car Talk brothers used to say, "The French don't copy anybody, and nobody copies the French." This car proves it.

Take a look at the GM Heritage website. They would have all of the specs for a 1969 Cadillac.

Somebody looked at this poor Cadillac and thought "This old girl is just crying out for an alternator, an electronic ignition, and a dual master cylinder!" Seriously, what gets into people?

I expect to be there with my 1940 LaSalle. With very few skipped years, I have been going since the seventies. The flea market has dwindled down to almost nothing, but the cars are still great and the people are very nice.

Dayton Parts Company in Florida. I have used them twice and was very pleased both times.

Most people today use hydraulic jack oil or motorcycle fork oil.

Not a Coupe DeVille. This is a Series 62 Coupe, which was the base model. Coupe DeVilles have fancier trim as well as power windows and seats. 55er is right about the left rear quarter panel. Something ugly has happened there and it was poorly repaired. Also, the bottom of the left front fender looks like it was repaired once and is now unrepairing itself. Pittsburgh area is well within the salt belt. Be very afraid.

As a LaSalle owner, I always thought it odd that we were excluded while post 1933 Cadillacs which were just as mass produced were let in. That said, I don't have any plans to join the CCCA any time soon. They are far above my station in life.

Many years ago, there was an article in the Cadillac LaSalle Club Self Starter that was an interview with Mr. Vanderbilt's chauffeur. Mr. Vanderbilt asked him what kind of car he should buy. The chauffeur recommended a Cadillac V-16 because that was what the White House was using. Mr. Vanderbilt specked out the car. When it was ready, he told the chauffeur to pick it up and to put a hundred or so miles on it before he brought it home. The chauffeur said that when he picked up the car, he was handed an envelope with a $100 bill in it. He didn't feel right about taking it, so he showed it to Mr. Vanderbilt. Mr. Vanderbilt thanked him for telling him about it and told him to keep it. The family used the car into the early fifties. It can still be seen at the Vanderbilt Hyde Park estate. I once found a 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics with an ad for the Cadillac V-16. I doubt that many of those lofty customers were PM subscribers. I suspect that the ad was placed in PM to reach the chauffeurs, who would recommend it to the boss. On the other end of the market, my grandfather bought a brand new Whippet in 1930. This was a competitor to Ford or Chevrolet. My grandfather said that the salesman came to his house every night for a week to drive him and my grandmother around.

The jacks that came with GM cars of that time were all terrible. If they were designing them to damage the vehicles and injure customers, they couldn't have done a better job. I have the original jack for my 1940 LaSalle. I keep it in my basement, far away from the car, so I will never even be tempted to try to use it. The LaSalle carries a heavy duty scissors jack that I kept from a 1970 Cadillac hearse that I once owned. Find yourself a good scissors jack that will lift your car up high enough to change a tire and carry it with you.

My former wife had an elderly uncle who was born around 1905. He was a car guy in the early 1920's. He used to tell stories about buying a couple of wrecked or abandoned Model T's and remaking them into one good one. This was probably a common practice at the time. I remember wondering how many Model T enthusiasts in the sixties and seventies were trying to figure out cars that Uncle Gus or somebody like him had put together from piles of junk parts fifty years before. The point is that there is no way for any of us to know the truth about any of these cars. A lot of this stuff was done so long ago that it now looks original. If these old guys were still around, they would probably have a good laugh at our expense.

Another Edelbrock carburetor! I hope at least he kept the original.

About 15 years ago, I had a very nice 1966 Impala Super Sport convertible destroyed in a flash flood. Hagerty paid the agreed value without any hassle, gave me right of first refusal when the car was auctioned, and did not raise my rates or refuse to renew my policy afterwards. Couldn't have asked for a better conclusion. I have been a practicing lawyer and a judge for thirty years. Insurance companies are all good until it is time to pay out money. Then, the ranks of the good ones thin out noticeably. As an aside, I can think of a at least four or five reasons why I would not want my antique cars on the same policy as my driver cars or my house.

One word springs to mind- Heartbreaker!