trimacar Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 We have a new store in town, "Ollie's", a discount store with lots of odd stuff. they sell books cheap, and went in and found the Clive Cussler book on his Classic cars for $4.99! A big pile of them.... I bought one for me and a few for gifts....nice coffee table book....they're twenty bucks delivered at Amazon, if you have an Ollie's go check!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 While I enjoy Cussler's books (a Dirk Pitt book lasts about a cross-country flight), I figured that the inclusion of his cars in his novels was a smart way to claim them as a tax deduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 I vaguely recall reading a Dirk Pitt book in junior high school and at the end, Pitt has just received his freshly restored Cord L29 town car and is forced to drive it in a car chase which ultimately ends up going down a ski slope of some kind. Then he returned it as a smoldering heap to the restoration shop to be re-restored. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share Posted May 27, 2019 17 minutes ago, joe_padavano said: While I enjoy Cussler's books (a Dirk Pitt book lasts about a cross-country flight), I figured that the inclusion of his cars in his novels was a smart way to claim them as a tax deduction. I've always thought that, too! If I remember, in the books Dirk has a hanger full of cars, with a small apartment overlooking the collection. Living the dream! When I visited the collection, I talked to a docent who turned out to be the restorer. He said at the time they were restoring a Packard Darrin, and we discussed how poor the workmanship was on body assembly..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 (edited) 18 minutes ago, trimacar said: He said at the time they were restoring a Packard Darrin, and we discussed how poor the workmanship was on body assembly..... I would not say bad workmanship, but as to the ones I worked on (a 39 and a 41) as a complete unit each was certainly better than any particular part/point under a magnifying glass matched to some "I would not have done it that way, nor should anyone else have either" - I think that goes for all cars of the period though. Edited May 27, 2019 by John_Mereness (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moskowitz Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 Clive will be exhibiting one of his cars at the Elegance at Hershey on June 9th this year. He loves his cars and the hobby in general and came to the fall meet this year and had a blast. Also bought a car and other things as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Albright Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 Clive owns the 1929 Duesenberg Judkins limo I built and restored from scratch and showed at Amelia Island in 2008. I also bought his book at the Ollie’s here in Ocala,Florida. Thanks George Albright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share Posted May 27, 2019 5 hours ago, John_Mereness said: I would not say bad workmanship, but as to the ones I worked on (a 39 and a 41) as a complete unit each was certainly better than any particular part/point under a magnifying glass matched to some "I would not have done it that way, nor should anyone else have either" - I think that goes for all cars of the period though. What I'm referring to (and the fellow commiserated with) is the crude way a Darrin body is put together. Ugly welds, odd bracing pieces, nothing matches side to side, that kind of thing. I saw it because I was trimming the late Bill Pettit's Darrin, and fitting panels was a challenge. I'll also say that, from a trimmer's standpoint, it's the most difficult top to install (although I've heard an Auburn speedster will give it a run for the money). No front header bow, the top is attached at the front with two metal pieces that clip into the top front of the windshield frame. Custom fitting a top, there's nothing to attach to for a "test fit", and I bet I lightly glued and unglued those two metal pieces a dozen times to make thing fit correctly... All that said, a beautiful Packard for sure.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, trimacar said: What I'm referring to (and the fellow commiserated with) is the crude way a Darrin body is put together. Ugly welds, odd bracing pieces, nothing matches side to side, that kind of thing. I saw it because I was trimming the late Bill Pettit's Darrin, and fitting panels was a challenge. I've never seen the inside of a Hollywood car, but I can tell you from lots of experience crawling around the back of a Connersville built 40, it was not a precision operation. To make room for the top to fit in the well, somebody took a heavy hammer and dented the inner wheel well. Edited May 28, 2019 by alsancle (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLynskey Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 (edited) There is an Ollie's near me and we stop in frequently to see what is new. They usually have several collector car books at very good prices. Don Edited May 28, 2019 by DLynskey (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13CADDY Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Trim-a-car---great book to recommend--got one this morning--still reading--you should get a gold star or a atta-boy for this=thanks Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K8096 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 The problem is there's about 4 or 5 cars in that collection that started off life as 5-7 passenger sedans that someone cut the front roofs off to make them into towncars and then painted them wacky colors. They're all pictured in the book. The blue Stutz is really wrong. That car stared off as a factory bodied club sedan and someone really butchered it. Sad. It started off like this. And now looks like this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Lots of comments withheld.................... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 Ah, c'mon, Ed, you can talk about Clive's "fantasy" cars! I coulda been a successful author, I know all the words, just couldn't quite seem to get them in the correct order..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 It appears that the aforementioned L29 Cord town car might have been "restored" by the same guy who did the blue Stutz... Look at all that front seat legroom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 To my knowledge there are 4 real L29 towncars. Don't know anything about the above car but it does seem to be at Pebble. The 3 Murphy bodied ones are very attractive and the one that sold in Florida a few years ago brought insane money (like 1.something). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwells Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I saw these at Ollie's some time ago and bought five copies. One for myself and four to give as gifts. Some guy named West in Dayton, Ohio, got one of them... The list price on this book was $50, so at $4.99 it's a heck of a deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, alsancle said: To my knowledge there are 4 real L29 towncars. Don't know anything about the above car but it does seem to be at Pebble. The 3 Murphy bodied ones are very attractive and the one that sold in Florida a few years ago brought insane money (like 1.something). I think it was 1.8 and maybe some change............... Edited May 29, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 On 5/27/2019 at 6:54 PM, trimacar said: What I'm referring to (and the fellow commiserated with) is the crude way a Darrin body is put together. Ugly welds, odd bracing pieces, nothing matches side to side, that kind of thing. I saw it because I was trimming the late Bill Pettit's Darrin, and fitting panels was a challenge. I'll also say that, from a trimmer's standpoint, it's the most difficult top to install (although I've heard an Auburn speedster will give it a run for the money). No front header bow, the top is attached at the front with two metal pieces that clip into the top front of the windshield frame. Custom fitting a top, there's nothing to attach to for a "test fit", and I bet I lightly glued and unglued those two metal pieces a dozen times to make thing fit correctly... All that said, a beautiful Packard for sure.... The 1939 LaSalle Bohman & Schwartz car had a top of similar construction (probably cost an easy extra 5K in Upholstery bill of car purely because the top was just oddly designed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 On 5/28/2019 at 8:30 PM, edinmass said: Lots of comments withheld.................... Brightly lit, creative bodies, and what have you in Pre-WWII does serve a purpose in hobby as while not for everyone certainly puts certain cars to the forefront and keep some dreams alive too - if everything were a black sedan I doubt there would be much to pre-WWII car collecting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepher Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Too bad there aren't any Ollie's in Calif. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 This Cussler book is also a bargain at Barnes & Noble for $12.98: https://www.amazon.com/Built-Thrill-Clive-Cussler/dp/0399184198 Craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagerodshop Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Clive is a Great man I was able to meet and visit with him two years ago in Scottsdale. I got the impression that he would write the car into his books and when the book sold use that money to buy the car in the book. Everyone has a different angle to finance their cars. Kirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 In my younger days I turned my nose up at the Clive Cussler novels, most of which concerned the adventures of Dirk Pitt. In a weak moment, I picked one up and, much to my surprise, enjoyed it thoroughly. The novels are not particularly thought-provoking, but they are a fun read. Since the first Dirk Pitt novel, I've read many more, including the spinoff series involving different yet similar protagonists. I think the early Dirk Pitt series with its descriptions of Pitt's exotic cars is what planted the seed of interest in old pre-war (WWII) cars. Cussler is also the real deal and has conducted several expeditions to locate and study (sometimes involving the raising of the wreck) early shipwrecks. As mentioned by trimacar in his above post, Dirk Pitt's hangar full of vintage cars and aircraft is the dream of many of us ... it certainly is mine. Try a Cussler novel, especially the earlier Dirk Pitt series. You might like it. Cheers, Grog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwells Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 I offered to pick up a copy of the Cussler book at my local Ollie's for zephyr if he'd cover the cost of the book and shipping and he accepted. Since they had a stack of them, I grabbed two more (which makes a total of eight of these books I have purchased now). If there anyone else who'd like the same deal I offered zephyr, let me know via PM. Don't yet know what the shipping cost will be, but I'm going to ship them the cheapest way. Still, the cost of shipping is likely to exceed the $4.99 plus tax cost of the book itself but it shouldn't be too much more. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwells Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 BTW, I agree with Grog. Cussler's books are not great fiction by any means. They're highly formulaic, but I find the characters are well-defined and memorable. And the plots have a lot of twists and turns. Great dialogue, too. I read very little fiction, but find all of Cussler's books to be great escapist fiction and very enjoyable. They meet the very definition of summer reads, although they're just as fun in any season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 I enjoy the Pitt series as light reading, as mentioned, and agree it's surely not great fiction. They're similar to the old Doc Savage series, fun reads if you ever get a chance to get one. There must be 80 or more Doc Savage books, at one time I had an almost complete set, loaned them to a friend, poof they were gone... I once read of a "novelist" who had a series of plot/character "wheels" with pointers, like you'd have on a board game. He'd spin the pointers to give himself guidance on how the story should unfold, and then would write quickly, churning out books. The Pitt and Savage novels remind me of that, with each getting into impossible situations and then magically (deus ex machina) being saved..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 21, 2019 Share Posted June 21, 2019 Anyone interested in 10 or so Motor Boys and Motor Girls books from the 1920's ? Make offer. Great youth adventures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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