If you could only have one “dream” car.......

[JACK M]

I like that Biscane Steve.

I hate to bore with this story but years ago I was working on a guys boat in his boathouse.

I had been  walking up the path and had noticed a 66 Impala four door getting kind of over grown.

One day to my surprise I saw that it had big block flags, 427 no less.

It was a 66 427 Impala four door hardtop with (get this) a three speed stick on the column.

Turns out his grand son turned it way to tight one night and it developed a knock.

I bought the car (drove it home about ten miles) and went thru the engine which was like new inside except that a wrist pin had drifted and was rubbing on the cylinder.

Bored it and put new pistons in it. Had it painted.  Drove it three or four times, just in time to have it stolen.

Man that thing had the longest second gear of any car I have ever driven. No wonder the grand kid was having fun.

 

[STEVE POLLARD]

8 minutes ago, JACK M said:

I like that Biscane Steve.

I like the "sleeper" looks..... a member of the National Impala Association restored one of these  beast years ago... purchased parts from him and told him if he was ever going to sell, to let me know... I got tired of waiting, so I got my '69 SS427 that I'm restoring now.... guess what, it's for sale now....lol     oh well, it's a beauty !

 

Steve

[alsancle]

42 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

Your post kind of implies that the 1932 Peerless V16 prototype doesn't exist. It does and it's here in the Crawford Museum in Cleveland:

 

 

Or was there one I'm not familiar with? You know Peerless better than anyone--is/was there another V16?

 

Jeff would know more but I think there were two chassis and only one of them got a body which is the Murphy you posted.

[alsancle]

I think we need a thread for "obtainable dream car if things broke my way".   The car I posted is probably an eight figure car that will never leave the private collection it resides in.  

[caddyshack]

1914 Stutz Bearcat really perks my interest. My grandfather had one in the 1920's, but the photo did not do it justice. Beautiful lines just like the Mercer.

[Vila]

I have to agree with you Jeff.

 

Since the first time a saw a picture of one the 1906 to 1910 American Underslungs have always been my favorite.

[Ed Luddy]

Probably this would do!

 

[Ed Luddy]

Or this

[Ed Luddy]

My favorite Corvette

 

[Gunsmoke]

I'm astonished this one is still available, have considered this the finest thing on 4 wheels since I first saw one nearly 60 years ago. While this example sold for circa $50M last year (about 3 zeros too much for me) it's not the high price tag that attracts me, it is the sheer brute strength of it's look, the red paint, and that prancing horse underneath. If I had to choose pre-war, a Bugatti Type 35 or 37, a Mercedes SSKL or an Alfa 2.8L  would do just fine. As someone said, so much candy to choose from. BTW, shoulda said it's a 1962 Ferrari GTO, but I would take any of the Ferrari GTO's of that period 1958-1964!

Edited December 9, 2019 by Gunsmoke (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

 

 

1934-1939

 

 

 

 

or streamlined;

[jeff_a]

On 12/8/2019 at 11:30 AM, Matt Harwood said:

 

Your post kind of implies that the 1932 Peerless V16 prototype doesn't exist. It does and it's here in the Crawford Museum in Cleveland:

 

 

Or was there one I'm not familiar with? You know Peerless better than anyone--is/was there another V16?

Sorry Matt, the post was edited about 10 times and at first it may have seemed ambivalent as to which one I was referring to. By now less so. I did say probably wound up being made into bomber wings. I know about the one in Cleveland, and saw it up close one Monday. What I was trying to say was that a foursome of multi-cylinder Peerlesses were constructed, titled, and driven across the country from The Forest City to Pasadena. The one I thought would make a nice dream car would be one of the 3 probably-non-existent other ones. What's that term...."the general consensus"....would be that the other 3 cars weren't done and when the project was cancelled were gotten rid of & just the 1 brought back to Cleveland(XD #3). Were they taken to a scrapyard and melted down, did they go to a junkyard and sit there with derelict cars for years, did they get sold to someone to drive around? I don't know. It's tantalizing to think they could have survived.* Realistically, they probably don't exist any more. If it had been 1943, they would have been shredded about an hour after they got to a scrapyard. Frank Hershey said a second Sedan was nearly done when the order came in to end the V-12/V-16 project.

Here's a LNF about the one in Cleveland. Are you familiar with TRW, who made steering components for years? They had a magazine ad in the 70s saying they made parts for all the great classics, including the black Peerless V-16, and it was given to a Mr. & Mrs. Scott Montgomery for a wedding present. It is pictured at a big wedding and the copy says they took it to Saratoga Springs for their honeymoon. Little known fact to most, I guess.

Regarding the lost sedan I picked, if someone had walled it in at the old Walter M. Murphy shops in Pasadena and it was unearthed tomorrow, it'd probably be mistaken for a Caddy, since _{they're a dime a dozen} and everybody knows _{there's only one Peerless V-16} , so the car would probably show up on Autotrader or Craigslist as a "GM V-16". To my knowledge, there are few-to-none places on a Peerless V-16 car that identify it as a Peerless......though Cadillac & Marmon V-16s weren't known to have 46-pound aluminum frame rail assemblies. What it would be worth I don't know. The one you showed in your photo from the Crawford Museum has never really been on the market, and would also have a question mark by it on dollar value. About ten years ago, I read something on a website of one of the largest auto museums in Japan, and the Japanese writer said they would be interested in having the Peerless V-16. They felt that if it ever were for sale, it would be worth 2 1/4 million.

 

 

*In coachbuilt.com it says Bohman & Schwartz bought some of the Murphy shop equipment "and arranged to take over some unfinished Murphy contracts to their new headquarters, which was located in the back of Prosser's Garage at the intersection of DeLacey and Green Streets in Pasadena, California."

Copyright 2003-2015 Coachbuilt.com, Inc. All rights reserved                                                                           Note: one customer's unfinished car was Gary Cooper's Duesenberg

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[packard12man]

I don't even care if it runs - just put it in my garage so I can stare at it.  

'34 Packard Dietrich - 1 off

[capngrog]

4 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

If you want it, I know where it is and it is probably available for a price...

 

Okay, I'll bite.  Is it one of the replicas?  Where and how much?  Although I'm sure I can't afford it, it doesn't hurt to ask the price ... does it?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Mark Wetherbee]

I have always loved three cars and it’s nearly impossible to say just one... but if I only get one, it would be a 27 LaSalle Roadster.

[stretch cab]

I'm a person of simple tastes.  Give me a 1931 Model A 2 Door Phaeton and I would die with a grin on my face!

[rwchatham]

This one ! 

[capngrog]

The title of this thread is:

 

If you could only have one “dream” car.......

 

It wasn't stipulated that it would have to be the only one car I  ever owned.  How about if I acquired one "dream" car, sold it, and then bought another "dream" car?  Well, having that kind of expertise and money would be a "dream" for me, so never mind ...   I'll just continue to dream about "the one".

Cheers,

Grog

[1937hd45]

^^^^ How many floor mats do you need to sell to get that GTO? Bob 

Edited December 9, 2019 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[DAVES89]

21 hours ago, padgett said:

If I can only have one car, I already have it - '88 Sunroof Reatta.

 

1989 Sunroof Reatta [with the higher horsepower 1988 engine, which I have installed].

[WQ59B]

Really like some of the circa WWII American concept cars, like this port-festooned Buick :

 

Or whatever this un-built concept design was (GM) :

Edited December 9, 2019 by WQ59B (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

I have no conflicting desires in this area but the chance of ever getting this are nil. 1914 Silver Ghost with a London to Edinburgh tourer body...

 

[nickelroadster]

I am with Mercer 09.  I guess we will have to fight for it unless there are two available.

[Ed Luddy]

At one time I could have afforded to buy one of these, but now just another dream car!

 

[John S.]

1934/35  Brewster Town car

[1912Staver]

3 hours ago, Gunsmoke said:

I'm astonished this one is still available, have considered this the finest thing on 4 wheels since I first saw one nearly 60 years ago. While this example sold for circa $50M last year (about 3 zeros too much for me) it's not the high price tag that attracts me, it is the sheer brute strength of it's look, the red paint, and that prancing horse underneath. If I had to choose pre-war, a Bugatti Type 35 or 37, a Mercedes SSKL or an Alfa 2.8L  would do just fine. As someone said, so much candy to choose from. 

 

About 10 years ago on the ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland one of my co- workers came down to the engine room and suggested I take a peak at " a couple of old Ferrari's " up on the car deck. I went up expecting some Dino's or 330's . When I saw them you could have knocked me over with a feather, a late 1950's Testa Rosa and an early 1960's GTO. Turns out the owners were on their way to a charity ride for donation to benefit the Vancouver Children's Hospital.

I had no previous idea cars like that lived on Vancouver island. In fact the GTO had only just been purchased in the U.K a month or so previous. No fancy enclosed trailer or professional transport, just jump in, fire them up and drive in regular traffic to the event and back.

Some people really do live the dream, 

 

Greg in Canada

 

 

 

[TerryB]

29 minutes ago, Ed Luddy said:

At one time I could have afforded to buy one of these, but now just another dream car!

 

That one was on my list too!  Now I can only afford it in 1:18 scale.

[zipdang]

1951 DeSoto Custom 4 door sedan for purely sentimental reasons.

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

It is fun to see the responses and dang! I’m fillin’ up my iPad with all those great pictures! I didn’t mean one had to have only one car, just was looking for one “dream car”. Many of us have the “disease of accumulation” and need more than one car provides. If I was fortunate enough to own an American Underslung I certainly would not drive it often. That is why I have the cars I have, I want to use them regularly.

[keiser31]

8 minutes ago, Jeff Perkins / Mn said:

It is fun to see the responses and dang! I’m fillin’ up my iPad with all those great pictures! I didn’t mean one had to have only one car, just was looking for one “dream car”. Many of us have the “disease of accumulation” and need more than one car provides. If I was fortunate enough to own an American Underslung I certainly would not drive it often. That is why I have the cars I have, I want to use them regularly.

Yes....I could have listed MANY that I have always wanted, but I posted my DREAM car. The Chrysler Turbine car has always been in my mind since my neighbor drove one. He was a Chrysler engineer and was in the development department in Highland Park, Michigan. He was a test driver for the Turbine car. I used to get up early each morning just to hear him start it up. I still have this kind of a rare book that his daughter gave me.

[4Hud]

 I could probably get by with this 1924 Marmon Speedster. Well engineered and gorgeous.

[CHuDWah]

So many cars, so little time (and money )!  If I had to choose just one dream car, I think it would be...

 

66 Mustang-Shelby GT350H (auto)

 

Close runners-up are...

 

1971 Cutlass Supreme SX (auto) convertible

 

or hardtop

 

or 68 Charger R/T (hemi/auto)

 

Yeah, I like black cars but dang, they're high maintenance! 

Edited December 9, 2019 by CHuDWah (see edit history)

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

Yes John, there is a difference between the cars I want and the one car I can only dream of........

This  1910 American Underslung Traveller was owned/restored by Walter Seeley. He restored four of these cars. The saga of his “journey” in restoring these cars was documented in the Antique Automobile in the 70’s. 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by Jeff Perkins / Mn (see edit history)

[ericmac]

4 hours ago, edinmass said:

If you like world class fabulous cars......a Individual Custom Dietrich Sport Phaeton is a decent choice........

 

I’m on the left......and it fits the 1932 requirement............

 

 

Great photo. Pebble Beach? Ihave had the privilege of driving several 33-34 Packard Twelves but never a Dietrich.  You are one lucky devil. I have found that the Packard Twelve is indeed a fabulous driver when properly sorted.  Adding a Dietrich body would just be icing on the cake.  Given the choice between a Packard Twelve and a Duesenberg J would be very difficult though. Someone else already came up with the Cooper car so I picked the Twelve for sake of discussion but it would be a hard choice in a real life scenario...especially if the J was an open, supercharged car.

[edinmass]

5 hours ago, ericmac said:

Great photo. Pebble Beach? Ihave had the privilege of driving several 33-34 Packard Twelves but never a Dietrich.  You are one lucky devil. I have found that the Packard Twelve is indeed a fabulous driver when properly sorted.  Adding a Dietrich body would just be icing on the cake.  Given the choice between a Packard Twelve and a Duesenberg J would be very difficult though. Someone else already came up with the Cooper car so I picked the Twelve for sake of discussion but it would be a hard choice in a real life scenario...especially if the J was an open, supercharged car.

When it comes to working on and driving great cars , I admit to being very lucky. As far as a Packard 12 Dietrich Custom, or a Duesenberg.......they are two different animals. Apples and oranges. That said, there is no choice........I’ll take the J.

[Dynaflash8]

1953 Buick Skylark

[edinmass]

I think the most interesting thing about this post is no one is after any of the crazy 20-80 million dollar stuff...............and many are happy with cars under 50k. Speaks volumes about the people we have here. 👍

[mercer09]

11 minutes ago, edinmass said:

and many are happy with cars under 50k. Speaks volumes about the people we have here. 👍

yeah volumes.................

 

most of us are broke...............................................lol!

[mercer09]

• Report post
•  

Posted 13 hours ago

I'm a person of simple tastes.  Give me a 1931 Model A 2 Door Phaeton and I would die with a grin on my face!

• 1

Steve_Mack_CT reacted to this

• nice running one on ebay last month- didnt sell and you can have it for 17k, which is an absolute steal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    I was considering it and just let it go. down in FL
• pm for contact if interested.

 

 

[mercer09]

 

I am with Mercer 09.  I guess we will have to fight for it unless there are two available.

 

I know someone local who has many- if only our check books were large enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!