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Your wife's uncle's car was a 1937 Packard 120-C convertible coupe, Body Style No. 1099, that was factory priced at $1,250. He had one of the best upper-medium priced cars of the pre-war years. Condolences to the family for his loss, though in grateful thanks for his brave, selfless sacrifice for our nation in that terrible war.

As long as we're stating our color preferences, I'd do the fenders in dark gray, the carpet in a cordovan, change to black wall tires. Eventually re-do the top in medium gray.

Ford got a lot of promotional value out of him for the Thunderbird as a valet.

I enjoyed his dead pan type of humor too, he was a great writer with a fine sense of comedy timing. RIP Buck.

Matt, If you do a CL search for the New England states it turns up all the time. Price continues to moderate. Here it is: https://worcester.craigslist.org/pts/d/auburn-1928-packard-wrecker-tow-truck/7048910562.html

Rare Nashes at that! Nash-Healey roadster, a '48 Ambassador convertible, one of 1000 made, a '53-'54 Rambler convertible landau, a '57 Rambler Rebel, one of the 1,500 made. even the '57 Ambassador Custom hardtop, one of 997 made. Interesting collection, what state is this located?

Hi Walt Thank you for relating your Grandfather's history, sounds as if he had an interesting life. Not only a successful man but also an honorable one who did the right thing even in the face of adversity. Shows fine character, a quality we should all strive to emulate.

Hi Walt Your grandfather must have been doing quite well to purchase a new Lincoln then. Please tell us more about him and his profession.

Wow! That's a magnificent period-style custom! Please tell us more about it.

Definitely looks customized, very long hooded, short decked roadster. The urge to customize cars began very early. Here's a better look.

1940 Mercury.

Those are identified in the Stutz text by Katzell as Series AA Black Hawk four passenger speedster by Robbins.

Thanks for the correct coachbuilder credit, Kellner did fine design work as well. Europeans got stylish convertible victorias seemingly far more than we did here. Were it not for Waterhouse, Rollston, Derham, Dietrich, Brunn, Fleetwood and LeBaron, none might have been built.

For comparison, each in turn, I doubt if they were the same car, Drauz must have bodied more than one Custom Imperial.

Not to be ghoulish, but if they knew that all things Steve McQueen owned or used would be worth so much, his life would have been in jeopardy! There is a lot of motivation there to do something terrible for some. Big bucks for an abused Mustang, have at it boys! As a contractor I worked for years ago, Carl Didas used to say "Money's only paper."

Include Winton in that list: their automotive operations gave way to the engine division that developed distillate and diesel engine as Electro Motive Company which GM acquired for its conquest of the railroad locomotive market with the diesel-electric locomotive that replaced steam.

Does this help? The European Concours d'Elegance were just that, shows for the most current, elegant luxury cars either as styled by the maker or frequently custom coach-built body on the latest chassis. The REO Royale was easily the equal of the finest current designs then and well beyond most.

Great images of rare cars, nothing better! Please post more of them everyone, enjoying these greatly. Here is the Franklin photo after software manipulation that shows some details a bit better.

1932 Essex Pacemaker

Thanks Walt, I thought that looked like polished metal of some type. Makes a bold statement, but then again, so does driving a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost in general. The Tucker image struck me as being of that time period shortly after the enterprise had collapsed and the remaining cars in private hands became a curiosity, an attraction car dealers would use to entice people to visit their lots to see "A Tucker '48 for real". It still amazes how fascinated people seem to be with them all these decades later, suppose its the romantic 'legend' surrounding them.

Was that body on the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 'locomotive' all polished aluminum? The hood looks unusually long as well, not a car for an introvert...

That was no ordinary boy's Ford Model A. it was Gordon Buehrig's car when he was designing Duesenbergs at Auburn. The story behind it is in his autobiography Rolling Sculpture.

Going out on the limp of the thin knowledge tree, the first one is a 1929 Graham-Paige 621 or 827 convertible Victoria-sedan by Griswold. I got the body-maker from your photo label. I would have guessed maybe Briggs or Murray. The second image is a Marmon 34 with body by ?. Willoughby supplied series-custom styles as did a variety of other coach- builders. See below for the correct identification of Graham-Paige model and body specifics.

I find it useful to think of engine design divided into the flathead, under-square, small bore/long stroke, high torque at low rpm, low compression/low octane era that transitioned in the 1945-'55 years to OHV, over-square, large bore/short stroke, high torque at high rpm, high compression/high octane era. Each was a result of the realities of fuel development, manufacturing and material capabilities, the intended and expected demands of a vehicle to suitably fulfill its intended job. Before higher speeds became a greater consideration, smoothness, durability, quiet operation from the force of torque doing the job were paramount. Appreciating an engine type for what it was designed to do in the context of its time is what AACA preservation is at its core. If you have a car from the pre-high compression era that can demonstrate its low rpm/high torque capabilities to younger people who have never experienced it, give them an opportunity to experience it directly. It might change some attitudes to understand these cars were and are quite capable without modifications.

"Rough, rough" said the little dog that used sandpaper to wipe...