Doble in The Neighborhood

[Shootey]

As I was passing by the steam car forum category I thought of my Doble experience. I grew up in Pleasant Hill, California which is a suburb of Oakland/Berkeley. There was a gentleman who had a Doble near my home which was driven regularly.  My awareness of old cars in the 1960’s was Model A’s and my dad’s 1932 Chevrolet Sport Coupe so the Doble was extraordinary. The story of this Doble was that it’s owner had had a career with Doble at their factory and had retained the Doble presumably from its manufacture until the 1960’s. Only later as I became interested (as a spectator only) in Bugattis, Duesenbergs, etc. did I come to learn about how fine Dobles were. It is fun to reminisce about the Doble in the neighborhood. 

[Shootey]

Doble was manufactured in Emeryville CA next to Oakland and Berkeley. 

[edinmass]

What was the total production? Couldn’t have been very high……did they make it into triple digits?

[Grimy]

On 5/16/2023 at 9:12 AM, Shootey said:

As I was passing by the steam car forum category I thought of my Doble experience. I grew up in Pleasant Hill, California which is a suburb of Oakland/Berkeley. There was a gentleman who had a Doble near my home which was driven regularly.  My awareness of old cars in the 1960’s was Model A’s and my dad’s 1932 Chevrolet Sport Coupe so the Doble was extraordinary. The story of this Doble was that it’s owner had had a career with Doble at their factory and had retained the Doble presumably from its manufacture until the 1960’s. Only later as I became interested (as a spectator only) in Bugattis, Duesenbergs, etc. did I come to learn about how fine Dobles were. It is fun to reminisce about the Doble in the neighborhood. 

That was Barney Becker, who left with an (improved) Doble chassis when the factory closed.  He equipped it with, as I recall, a 1929 LaSalle Fleetwood roadster body.  In the 1963-66 time frame while going to college, I worked swing shifts at a Wilshire gas station on Broadway between 49th and 51st streets, which was the pre-freeway only access to the Caldecott Tunnel leading to Orinda-Moraga-Lafayette-Walnut Creek-Pleasant Hill-Concord.  Barney occasionally stopped by the station at 8-9 PM to top off his water and would talk for a few minutes.  He told of being challenged to race by Corvettes, which he agreed to on the condition that they start the race at 55 mph.  Of course he won all these contests, as the Corvette guys had no idea the car was steam powered or what that meant in terms of instant torque.

 

I believe that car in now in SoCal.

[Shootey]

19 minutes ago, Grimy said:

That was Barney Becker, who left with an (improved) Doble chassis when the factory closed.  He equipped it with, as I recall, a 1929 LaSalle Fleetwood roadster body.  In the 1963-66 time frame while going to college, I worked swing shifts at a Wilshire gas station on Broadway between 49th and 51st streets, which was the pre-freeway only access to the Caldecott Tunnel leading to Orinda-Moraga-Lafayette-Walnut Creek-Pleasant Hill-Concord.  Barney occasionally stopped by the station at 8-9 PM to top off his water and would talk for a few minutes.  He told of being challenged to race by Corvettes, which he agreed to on the condition that they start the race at 55 mph.  Of course he won all these contests, as the Corvette guys had no idea the car was steam powered or what that meant in terms of instant torque.

 

I believe that car in now in SoCal.

Nice work Grimy. As I’m sure you know the Caldecott was then called the Broadway Tunnel since Broadway led right into and out of the tunnel. 

 

[Grimy]

21 minutes ago, Shootey said:

Nice work Grimy. As I’m sure you know the Caldecott was then called the Broadway Tunnel since Broadway led right into and out of the tunnel. 

 

It went by both names from the beginning, or so I was told by my parents.  I never had any idea who Mr. Caldecott was 🙂 -- from Wikipedia today: "Named after Thomas E. Caldecott, former mayor of Berkeley, it opened in 1937 as a two-bore tunnel. The third bore opened in 1964 and the fourth bore in 2013. Currently, the two oldest bores carry eastbound traffic and the two newest bores carry westbound traffic."

 

It opened in 1937 and initially had no AM radio antenna strung through the (then) two bores.  On Sunday afternoons, westbound cars would pull over on the side of the road to find out "who dun it" in the last five minutes of the half-hour crime/mystery radio shows that were steady radio fare on Sunday afternoons.  Later, the US Navy, then with a large Bay Area presence, strung AM antennas as a public service.

[edinmass]

 

I have Thomas E Caldecott's 1933 Pierce Arrow Club Brougham in my garage right now. He kept it on the road till the 50's............salon model with all the goodies. 

 

I drove through that tunnel when visiting a member here last August while attending Pebble........didn't have any clue. Funny how small the world is. 

 

The sale price in mid 1950's? 25 bucks for a rust free running car that needed paint and tires.

Edited May 22, 2023 by edinmass (see edit history)

[alsancle]

I believe the car you saw was Doble F-30.    The F series was Besler's attempt at keeping Doble going after Abner and the E series proved to not be a viable product.

 

[Shootey]

More from Wikipedia. You gonna believe your parents or Wikipedia?  I vote for your parents. There was an older upper tunnel higher up on the hill. I think, but haven’t confirmed, that remnants of the Oakland portal can still be seen. 
 

 "Low Level Tunnel to be Renamed for Caldecott". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. 17 August 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 5 April 2019. The Broadway low level tunnel will be renamed tomorrow in honor of the man who fought for its construction - the late Thomas E. Caldecott. ... As chairman of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Joint High District 13, Caldecott championed the project which became the longest highway tunnel in the state. It was completed in 1937.

[Grimy]

20 minutes ago, Shootey said:

More from Wikipedia. You gonna believe your parents or Wikipedia?  I vote for your parents. There was an older upper tunnel higher up on the hill. I think, but haven’t confirmed, that remnants of the Oakland portal can still be seen. 
 

 "Low Level Tunnel to be Renamed for Caldecott". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. 17 August 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 5 April 2019. The Broadway low level tunnel will be renamed tomorrow in honor of the man who fought for its construction - the late Thomas E. Caldecott. ... As chairman of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Joint High District 13, Caldecott championed the project which became the longest highway tunnel in the state. It was completed in 1937.

Yes, the closed-off VERY primitive tunnel entrance remains, at least on the Oakland side.  A few years ago the HCCA Regional Group toured past it after our participation in the Piedmont July 4 parade.

 

I'm not old enough to have been through that first tunnel, but AM old enough to remember when Walnut Creek had only ONE traffic light when we went to visit my grandmother in what was then a semi-rural area, now covered with high rises.  🙂