Coachraft Cars.....CLASSIC status???

[Guest Pierpontbeach]

Should the cars built by Coachcraft be considered for CLASSIC status?

Coachcraft Ltd. of Hollywood California had a very stellar list of names

attached to it. With customers like Preston Foster, Henry Ford II, Bill

Holden, Liberace, Hunington Hartford III & Mickey Cohen the gangster

all commisioning work over a twentysix year period.

Rudy Stoessel, one of the principals in the company started out working

with Pierce Arrow Motor Cars, and was later involved with Howard (Dutch)

Darrin & his work on Packard -Darrins. Darrin was responsible for bringing

together Stoessel, Paul Erdos , who formed most of the metal at Coach-

craft & Burt Chalmers, to form Coachcraft Ltd.

Some of the design work was handled by Phill Wright of Pierce Arrow

design fame, Strother MacMinn & Peter Stengel.

Also reference the following website for more information: Coachcraft Ltd., Coach Craft, Coachcraft Limited, Station Wagon Harbor, Burt Chalmers, Rudy Stoessel, Paul Erdos, Hollywood - Coachbuilt.com

Several of the restored cars have been entered into prestigious Concours events around the country like at Pebble Beach, Amelia Island, etc. over the last several years.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

[alsancle]

Here is a cut and paste of my reply from the AACA thread: My personal opinion is that if a custom body was built by a professional entity on a then new pre-1948 chassis and that body was of a very high quality and expensive then I would be o.k. with it. I imagine that if each owner petitioned for inclusion of their car then they would probably be accepted. This is how it would work with a Darrin bodied ford chassis. Actually reviewing the pictures a little more thoroughly makes me think that 1/2 of them would stand a chance of being accepted.

[Dynaflash8]

In my earlier days, circa 1952-57 when I was first reading Robert Gottlieb's Classic Comments in MOTOR TREND, these would have been called "Customized Cars" and they were all the rage. The fact that these were built by a recognized custom builder company might make a difference now days, but I'm sure Bob Gottlieb, were he living, would not agree that they are any more Classic today then they were then.

That said, a lot has changed since his day, even in Classic Cars. I'm just commenting, not stirring the pot.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Dynaflash8 (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

I would vote yes for the one on the top right.

[Dave Mitchell]

I think that at least two Coachcraft cars already have classic status - perhaps the silver car in the photos above, which I think was owned in the Seattle area, and a 41 Cadillac in New England.

[Guest palosfv3]

The world of the postwar custom has gained recognition at "Pebble Beach " with the addition of the "Dean Batchelor Award " For the best traditional Rod or Custom. While many here are very focused on what they find applicable, there is significant place for these builders in the history books. In a recent conversation with Gary Emory( Neil Emory of Valley Customs son) He told a story about the early days at his Dad's shop. It seems Dean Batchelor, Ralph Poole and another noteable automotive photographer were always around the all the top custom shops in the LA area , shooting pictures for the "Little Books" the magazines that over time evolved into many that comprise todays Peterson Publishing Co. Gary also mentions that on several occasions they had to intercept an errant photographer or two , who were taking spy pictures of what the custom guys were building at the time. It is rumored that these guys were working for some of the Big 3 and were using their designs as inspiration for what would go down as the "Golden Age of the American Automobile". Its particularly interesting that the custom shops were doing fiarly well from 1946 to about 1957 but for the most part completely vanished from the scene by the early 60's. Many in the custom field attribute this decline to the ability of the Big 3 to basically sell a factory custom car to the consumer during this automotive heyday. Its an interesting story that seems to be buried in the nooks and cranies of automotive history. Hopefully the likes of Spence Murray, Pat Ganahl, TRJ and others that are still around from the time may be able to document these events for all of us .

[Dynaflash8]

palosfv3 I see you have a 1948 Buick Special sedanette (with skirts I hope). The 1942-49 Special sedanette is one of my favorite designs and I've had a couple, but probably never will have one again, as I'm overloaded already and the cars I've got are the cars I don't want to sell. Not too many people know that Buick continued to build that car as a 1949 model until the new style came out around June 1949.