Dosmo

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In the 1950s, my parents bought a home across the street from my maternal grandparents. My mother’s twin brothers, both of whom remained life-long bachelors, lived in their parents’ house until one of them sold it in 2005. Those two uncles were old car enthusiasts. I was indoctrinated into the culture by them. I don’t the exact year when my Uncle Joe found out about an old LaSalle for sale in another part of town, but I’m pretty sure it was in the very early 1960s. I recall hearing him giving Uncle Jack the details. It was a 1933 LaSalle, and it had belonged to a Prohibition-era gangster named Basil Banghart. It was in terrible shape, rusty & deteriorating, but it was loaded with good parts. The car was sitting on property that was being taken by the city for an urban renewal project, and the guy needed to get rid of it before vacating the property. Uncle Joe made a deal to purchase the car for parts, with the understanding that he would strip the car on-site, get the parts he wanted, and leave the car sitting there – the city could dispose of the remaining carcass. I remember this story because of the gangster’s last name – Banghart. I had never heard that name before, and, to this day, I believe that the only time I ever heard it was in relation to this particular person. So, I was stunned recently to discover a couple of newspaper articles about the gangster and this particular car while browsing some old newspaper archives. As a bonus, both articles included photos of the car – one when it was a year old, the other when it was 25 years old and in bad shape. This Banghart character had hired a local garage to add bullet-proof glass to the car, add some sort of bullet-proof protection to the body, and the rear window needed to roll down, in order to stick a machine gun through it to discourage any pursuers. Just about the time this work was completed, Banghart was arrested and convicted, and the garage owner was stuck with this highly modified car for some period of time. Uncle Joe owned a rental house next door to my parents’ house, although the garage on the property was used only by him for storage. This is where the engine, transmission and rear end differential for the LaSalle were stored for several years. He also retrieved the headlights, and one very distinctive-looking tail light. He probably got some other smaller items, but whatever he got was stored in this garage next door to where I grew up. He spent a fair amount of time in this old garage, and whenever possible, I was up there with him. I remember the engine and tranny sitting on an old dirt floor, and I was scared of it, because he told me not to get too close, because it could shift and fall over on me. I don’t recall whatever became of that stuff, but it was gone by the mid 1970s. The discovery of the newspaper articles filled in some of the holes in this story that I remember from a long time ago. Attached are some pretty grainy-looking pictures. The first photo shows the car in 1934 - the second one is from 1958, and that is probably about the way it looked when Uncle Joe saw it a few years later.

I watched the make-your-own-mask video Ben P. posted - thought that was a pretty good idea. Then, I got a pair of my own underwear to give it a try. Unfortunately, I'm a pretty good-sized round-bodied type of guy. When I put my head through the leg of my shorts, it fell down around my neck because it's WAY too big. It will probably work okay if your body configuration is normal in size. If you're not, you're probably out of luck. The good thing is, my wife got a huge kick out of it.

Bump

I'm clueless here

It is painted, or at least, I think it is.

I believe these cars were in production for several years prior to 1948 - I believe this one to be somewhat earlier than 1948, thus it would have the curved bumper for starting crank access.

Indeed, Mom was pretty "with it" for the times she lived in. Very particular about how she dressed, how she presented herself. Here she is with an earlier Ford. Sometime after this photo, she added a continental kit to the convertible. It may have been one of the "Coronado" type kits.

My folks handed down to me Mom's 1959 Ford Custom 300 two door sedan - this was my first car after getting my driver's license. Here is a photo from about 1964 after it rolled into something after she parked it at her workplace. I see so many of these like the one in Keiser's pic - they have ornaments atop the front fenders and little wings on the rear quarters. Mom's car had neither of these. It was a total stripper with the 223 I-6 and 3 speed manual tranny. No radio, no armrests, and one sun visor for the driver only. That car may have had the worst vacuum wipers I ever saw.

I am told that this sign is original, not refurbished, not a reproduction. A stack of these were found, somewhere, each individually wrapped in some sort of brown paper. It isn't flawless - there is one small area of chipped paint. I want it for wall art, not gonna sell it, so maybe it doesn't matter whether or not it's original or not, but, I'd like some opinions as to its authenticity. I've done some internet surfing, trying to find if reproductions are available - I've had no luck so far. There was an original one like this on Ebay a week or so ago, but it's now gone.

My intention in referencing the Ford/Edsel vehicles in the thread title was my attempt to illustrate that they were, in my opinion, the only cars in the photos that might be of relevant collector interest. I guess there could be some collector interest in the two Chevrolets, as well as the Jaguar. However, they didn't really stand out to me in the midst of all these particular Ford products. My bad.

Saw these today for the first time in the 29 years I've lived in this area - not that far from home

Yes, I was tuned into the event when that happened. Sincerely hope the man survives what certainly looked to be an extremely nasty crash.

Bump

I like the great majority of what I've seen on the forum since I created my profile in 2006. I'm not totally against seeing some discussion of modification for safety reasons, and I might not get turned off too badly with some sort of customization, as long as it's not too radical. So much of what kinds of posts many might be willing to accept could depend on the perceived attitude of the poster. Anything that seems pushy or in-your-face is probably not gonna fly. And regarding attitude, the same might be said of some forum users in how they reply to some of these questionable posts.

The photos suggest that your car was a 2 door sedan, whereas the OP’s car is a 4 door. Two door sedans are much more in demand than four doors.

I know this is off the wall, but I'd like to find a badge, nameplate or whatever you call it that is similar to the one on this 1940 Fitzjohn Bus. I'd like for it to be in decent shape to use as garage wall art.

Boy, the wider C-pillar and smaller rear window on this car give it such a different look from the 210 and Bel Air 2-dr sedan. I really like it. I can't say for sure I've ever seen one of these in the flesh, so to speak. What a great looking Chevy!.

I've been seeing this for a couple of months - finally made time to stop today for pics - man, is it roachy....

This stuff is in East Tennessee - the owner is most hospitable, one of the more congenial people one could ever hope to meet. He does sell a few items occasionally, though he seems to hang on to the highly restored examples. I know that the two-tone green ‘52 Rambler hardtop is for sale. He started several of the cars so that we could hear them run.

I had a ball checking out this gentleman's collection yesterday......

I’m sure Keiser has correctly ID’d this car, but when I look at it, my first thought is a 1941 Studebaker Commander. Something about the trim on the side of the hood.... edit - not Studebaker at all, Parking light location wrong. Keiser had it right to begin with - I stand corrected.

Maybe Mercury Grand Marquis from the mid 1970s

Wow - that is a great photo. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you, and thank you.