Pierce limousine and Packard LeBaron prewar cars in postwar era

[STEVE POLLARD]

Great pictures Walt !  Regarding the second picture, the NY tag has "60" stamped on it, so safe bet this was taken in 1960..... did New York State issue new plates every year ?

 

Keep the photos coming !

 

Steve

[Walt G]

Hey Steve

I just googled NY State plates and some years post war they started to issue small metal tags to fit the bottom of the plate with the next year on it , then went to the self adhesive stickers to update them

Don Clairmonte reproduced car mascots early on to help in restorations. Only met him once or twice but he was a great guy.

Walt

Edited November 28, 2019 by Walt G
typo error (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

L-Head Mercer raceabout... I can see the radiator of the 1910 Pope Hartford in the corner of the picture so it must have been taken at the same time, October, 1949.

 

 

[58L-Y8]

On 11/28/2019 at 10:39 AM, Walt G said:

. BUT I have collected a lot of stuff starting in the early 1960s and it is doing no good just sitting in my cabinets in my archives and library for only me to see. It makes me feel good to share the period material and generate enough interest to get all of you to comment. A great reward from fellow enthusiasts (fellow squirrels?!!!) 

 

Walt

Your generosity to share these images is greatly appreciated, please keep more coming so we can all share in the experience of viewing them.  To me, the represent an era when the cars were bought, driven and enjoyed purely for the appreciation of their intrinsic qualities.   It had nothing to do with monetary value since there really wasn't anything significant for most.  It was the purest form of enthusiasm.   Something largely lost now.

[Walt G]

58L-Y8   Thank you for your comment.  It is indeed a pleasure for me to do so. It is still the " teacher in me " doing so. I taught art to 5 to 12 year olds 5 1/2 days a week for 35-40 years, 7 forty minute classes per day.

Many of the kids would ask me in all seriousness 'why are you teaching us art, the art you do is so great, your art(work) could be in a museum' I would look then straight in the eye ( often crouching down to do so because they were short and I was tall)  and tell them the great pleasure I get from doing art/creating makes me feel so good that I have to pass that on to you so you can feel the same way - even when there are times you aren't happy you can make or draw something and then will be happier because it came from you, your hand and if you show it to people it will make them happy and smile too. 

It is the "passing of the torch' from one person to the next from one generation to another. It is the same with history and period material , be it the car stuff I have or the local history where I am the village historian and have been appointed for more years then I can remember.  Some people take great pride and feel superior to everyone because they own or have something  someone else doesn't ; maybe that is good for them - but for me it is about the odd photo, or image or word that I can share  -  the same goes for the cars I own - if I drive down the street and someone sees the car and smiles or stares I wave hello - bound to get a smile and now someone has just had a fleeting moment of happiness in perhaps an otherwise lousy day.  It doesn't take much effort and lets us all cope with stuff we have to , but perhaps not want to.

As mentioned it is all about sharing the past, the history and in doing so preserving the cars and all who created them - this is what AACA is all about. This is why you are reading this now.

No more "sermons" but more images will be in their way 😁

[60FlatTop]

Here is a British used car lot:

 

and some grunt work (if the term applies) in 1953:

 

Walt's point of history, I have an envelope full. John Utz, the long time editor of The Flying Lady, RROC, gave me a few items before he passed away. I thought the envelope and contents were pretty special, as well as the letter from 1966.

 

To John from Bernie Weis, a significant Pierce-Arrow member. Neither John nor I tossed them out. That's the hobby, must have been 1992 or '93 when I got that. Some used car clippings in there, too.

Bernie

[JV Puleo]

Another on we don't see very often...the 30-98 Vauxhall.

 

[Walt G]

Thanks Bernie glad you saved these and can share. Bernie Weis was a great fellow. Never met him in person but we had a lot of correspondence back and forth , really nice guy.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Walt G
typo error (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

28 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

Another on we don't see very often...the 30-98 Vauxhall.

 

I'm guessing this is the Ed Roy car, it did a lot of early SCCA racing. Bob

[John_Mereness]

16 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

I'm guessing this is the Ed Roy car, it did a lot of early SCCA racing. Bob

Friends have a Vauxhall Hurlingham Boattail Roadster - fabulous car.   When I was a little kid this car was two shades of light green. 

Edited November 30, 2019 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Another Bugatti. I think this is on the street outside Inskip's in NY c. 1951.

 

[60FlatTop]

Another of the goodies that John Utz entrusted to me, John McFarlane the other John of "The Johns" and one of the six founding members of the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club. As I remember this picture was taken about 1958 when John drove his car to work at Kodak one day about 1958. That's a Kodak building in the background.

 

 

[alsancle]

17 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

Another of the goodies that John Utz entrusted to me, John McFarlane the other John of "The Johns" and one of the six founding members of the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club. As I remember this picture was taken about 1958 when John drove his car to work at Kodak one day about 1958. That's a Kodak building in the background.

 

 

nice. Is that hingeless?  I think I can see the hinges but I’m on my phone.

[m-mman]

On 11/28/2019 at 8:59 AM, STEVE POLLARD said:

Regarding the second picture, the NY tag has "60" stamped on it, so safe bet this was taken in 1960.....

For what it is worth, the sedan next to the Franklin is a 1962 Ford Galaxie . . . 

[STEVE POLLARD]

 

 

8 minutes ago, m-mman said:

For what it is worth, the sedan next to the Franklin is a 1962 Ford Galaxie . . . 

Good eyes ! I would have not guess...looks like a '59 Impala behind the Franklin.

 

Steve

[m-mman]

2 minutes ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Good eyes ! I would have not guess...looks like a '59 Impala behind the Franklin.

It is and behind the 1962 is a '57 Ford.   This prewar stuff is new to me, but I have been doing postwar for eons. 

[m-mman]

 

Two years after our American service man who owned and sold his Horch  he was serving in England (1957-8). He reportedly bought a ‘beautiful’ 1929 Rolls Royce from a classic car dealer. He only had the Rolls for three months when the dealer turned up a 1931 Daimler Double Six Corsica drop head Coupe. In one version of the tale the serviceman dragged it from a shed,  in another the dealer had already done so but the car was consistently described as being in poor condition. He drove it for a while but the cramped sports type interior was not large enough for two adults and his four children so after 10 months he traded it for a right-hand drive 1936 Auburn. Upon returning to the United States, he brought back a 1933 Rolls Royce Van Den Plas that had but 16,000 miles on it.

 

Recognize the Daimler?  In 2006 it took Best of Show at Pebble Beach.

[twin6]

On 11/23/2019 at 9:48 AM, JV Puleo said:

1910 Pope Hartford - picture taken in 1910. Although its a black & white photo, the car is a deep maroon color and was completely unrestored. I only know this because I've seen it - it belonged to a gentleman in RI back in the 70s and it was at the first antique car show I attended (with Arthur Mellor in the Packard Waterhouse shown earlier).

 

 

This is Clarence Huggins' Pope, photo dates to 1949 (Clarence with duster and goggles).  Same car with NH plate "11 H" appears in the background of the photo of the L Head Mercer that was posted.  Bill Johnson of Rhode Island had a similar car, easily distinguished by the piano hinge on the windshield.  I only learned this while working on a Pope Hartford roster the past few weeks.

[alsancle]

From my super secret private stash just for Walt.   Taken in 1957 at Bridgehampton.   Somebody who knows more than me can identify the car for us.

[1937hd45]

^^^^ SIMPLEX Speed Car that Henry Austin Clark build from one that was converted into a tow truck. Bob 

[Walt G]

Bob, that Simplex tow truck Austin found in a car junk yard in Hicksville, NY here on long island. the yard was located just north and one block west of the long island rail road station there. So why do I remember all this stuff that I found out in conversations over lunch with Austin over 40 years ago.