favorite cars of the golden era

[Flivver]

Does anyone here have any info on this car? I stumbled onto it on Google images and the link says 1940 Ford.

The text of original link, so you can see what I mean:

DETROIT-MUSCLE-1940-FORD-SE.jpg

It's a heavily customized '40 Ford. Looks like a recent project, given the modern wheels.

I normally don't like customs, but this one was done with a bit of taste and class...although not much of the original '40 Ford remains.

 

[BruceTracy]

What sparked my fascination with "Golden Era" cars:

Bruce Wayne's Cord from Batman: The Animated Series

 

[bobalooba]

I like aston martin db5's but I may be prejudiced due to my love of james bond
I also love the early mustangs.

 

[Trebuchet64_Fal]

For me it would have to be the Buick ,
Hardtop of course, White walls Nail head V8 and spotlights .

 

[Fletch]

Two New Favorites for 1935

Chevrolet Standard, 74hp Six...

...and the new Master Deluxe, 80hp Six.

The streamline shape, with the new all-steel Turret Top, was not an immediate success. One reason was that all the doors were rear hinged. But it caught on soon enough. All 1936 Chevys had this body, with front hinge doors.

These handsome Chevys are affordable today, with stock sedans in the $15,000-20,000 range, and have the reputation of being easy to fix and find parts for.

 

[Flivver]

My grandfather had a black 1935 Chevy Master Deluxe Town Sedan like the one in the ad above. He bought it new at Mathews Motors in Fitchburg, MA. My Dad used to deliver milk in it before he went to school in the morning.

I believe they traded in a 1933 Chevy Coupe.

Years ago my grandfather gave me all the paperwork for every car he owned. I still have it all...somewhere.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

1939 Chrysler. Might buy one that I know about. The one I'm looking at has a tan body and maroon fenders.

 

[Sapphire]

Hello,

this is my first posting here so I hope I do everything right...if not, please bear with me

I am a fan of the aerodynamic streamline cars of the 1930s. An all-time favourite is the Tatra T87 - the back side of a beautifully restored 1939 model, hiding its air-cooled V8 engine, is shown here:

There is also an excellent website about modern travel on the T87:
http://www.openthinkinc.com/tatra/

Another wonderful streamline car is the Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow, some pictures here: http://www.airflowclub.com/

And - last not least - the French Peugeot 402... I nearly owned one of those, but when I had made up my mind it was sold.

Ah well, the garage would be anyway too small for all those wonderful cars that I would like to have...

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Mr. 'H']

Tom,

Jay Leno has a mint Airflow, and he loves it:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=188089

 

[Sapphire]

Tom,

Jay Leno has a mint Airflow, and he loves it:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=188089

I can fully understand Jay... and just see that he also owns a Tatra T87 standing next to the Airflow!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I believe the best looking cars ever made were built in the 1930's. They also had some nice colors and some of the cars looked good to me in two tone paint jobs which I never thought later cars did.

The Tatra is an interesting car, but I wonder about it's handling with the weight of a large engine behind the rear axle. I expect that it had swing axles too which is far from an ideal method of rear suspension.

The video of Jay Leno's Airflow is a reminder that at one time the rear seat of automobiles could seat adults in comfort. That is seldom the case with modern cars I think. I believe the later Airflows with a less radical grille were still not too popular in their day. Someone else probably knows more about this then I do.

The Puegeot is also a lovely work of art. I don't believe I have ever seen a photo of this model before. I love the Art Deco influences in the design.

Some of the French body builders, whose names I can't remember and probably could not spell if I did, made some really wonderful looking cars in the late 30's.

Thank you for posting the photos and the links.

One of my favourite cars from the 30's is the 1936/37 810/812 Cord. When I was a young teen, I had a friend just a few years older who had one as his daily driver. Back then I don't think many people collected cars. People wanted cars to drive because there had not been any cars made for the civilian market during the War years.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

It's a heavily customized '40 Ford. Looks like a recent project, given the modern wheels.

I normally don't like customs, but this one was done with a bit of taste and class...although not much of the original '40 Ford remains.

It looks like the chrome headlight surrounds might be original - LOL - and that is hard to tell from the photo. I agree that it is not bad for a custom although I don't care much for led sleds like I did when I was young and they were new.

I think the biggest ascetic error that folks make when building new hot rods is in not using period correct wheels. I think the cast wheels and big wide tires look silly on a reproduction hot rod.

Of course, the worst thing they can do is use original parts. There are enough reproduction parts, including even steel body parts, that the original parts should be saved for the folks restoring cars to their original state - that's what I think.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

You're welcome.

I should have added that the '51 Ford is also customized. It looks like the roof has been lowered and has a custom grill treatment.

The Tucker appears to be it its original 1948 configuration.

The Ford also has frenched headlights, the hood ornament removed, undoubtedly the same with the trunk, something added to the front bumper for the license plate, and if it had it any chrome on the side, it was removed. It may have been the low priced model without side trim. I can't identify the source of the trim on the side that is red.

It looks like the door handles were removed. I did that on my 49 Chevy and we used starter solenoids from junk yards to unlatch the doors and the trunk release.

I am not sure about the hubcaps. Olds hubcaps were popular, but these look more like after market flippers.

Does it look like the hood has been reshaped or maybe that is just a strange reflection in the shiny paint.

All of the things I mentioned come under your mention of customized. I just added some detail as it reminds me of my youth. I hope you don't mind.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[Sapphire]

The video of Jay Leno's Airflow is a reminder that at one time the rear seat of automobiles could seat adults in comfort. That is seldom the case with modern cars I think. I believe the later Airflows with a less radical grille were still not too popular in their day. Someone else probably knows more about this then I do.

It is a huge car though - especially when you watch Jay's tatra video where he compares them side by side, the Tatra looks really flat compared to the Airflow. Nevertheless a magnificient car. Have never seen one here in Europe eve though I am sure that some must exist over here.

The Puegeot is also a lovely work of art. I don't believe I have ever seen a photo of this model before. I love the Art Deco influences in the design.

Indeed... some more details of this 402 here:

The mascot, which doubles as handle to remove the chrome grille to access the head lamps

The engine - I believe it is a 2 litre 4 cylinder block, not to compare with the streight 8 in the Airflow

Inside the 402 is relatively simple, with no wood or bakelite (yes, I admit being spoiled by British cars with all that wood...). Nevertheless a great view

When speaking of the 402 I should of course not forget to mention the "Eclipse" - a convertible with a steel roof, seen here during restoration

The predecessor of the 402 was the 401.. as far as I know, its Eclipse version was the first convertible with a steel roof. This car is from the Peugeot museum and was also used in the TV spots for the current Peugeot 307CC. Simply stunning...

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Big Man]

Help with dating a photo ...

I posted this old photo in the "Vintage Family Photos" thread, but thought maybe this would be a better place to try to get my question answered.

Judging from the cars in the photo, when do you think this old photo was taken? I guess I'm looking for something like "what's the newest model car you see". My guess is sometime between 1928 and 1932, but I'm certainly no old car expert.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I'm with BruceTracy...I've always had an affinity for Batman's animated Batmobile...

Here's my '40's "car"... my 1943 GPW back in 2006, when I got it (now presently under restoration)...

Speaking of old cars, anyone here know what kind of car that was used in the movie "Miller's Crossing", in the scene where Tommy was supposed to whack Bernie in the woods? Tic-Toc was driving it....I don't have a screencap, but I can get one....I think it's on the cover of the DVD....
Rob

 

[Flivver]

I posted this old photo in the "Vintage Family Photos" thread, but thought maybe this would be a better place to try to get my question answered.

Judging from the cars in the photo, when do you think this old photo was taken? I guess I'm looking for something like "what's the newest model car you see". My guess is sometime between 1928 and 1932, but I'm certainly no old car expert.

Any thoughts?

The newest car I see is the 1929 Chevrolet Coupe driving down the street in the lower left hand corner of the photo.

There are some parked Model As of 1928-29 vintage with everything else I can see being older.

Hope that helps.

 

[Big Man]

The newest car I see is the 1929 Chevrolet Coupe driving down the street in the lower left hand corner of the photo.

There are some parked Model As of 1928-29 vintage with everything else I can see being older.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much. While I wouldn't have known about the cars, there was a big event in Marion in 1929 that may have been the reason the picture was taken.

There was a textile strike in the fall of 19'29 which ended with the shooting of eight or ten strikers by the Sheriff. This event has become known as "the Marion Massacre". The trial was held in late '29, and the reporters covering the trial stayed at the hotel pictured in the lower left. Sinclair Lewis was one of the reporters who covered the trial.

Of course all this is off topic for this forum, but is interesting (at least I think). Any way, thank you for your input on dating this old photo.

 

[Warbaby]

Sapphire - that looks like an early 50s Riley in your avatar photo - one of my all-time favorite cars.

I had one once, a long time ago - just one of many cars I regret selling. This is the only photo I have of it:

 

[Sapphire]

Sapphire - that looks like an early 50s Riley in your avatar photo - one of my all-time favorite cars.

Well spotted... it is a 1947 Riley RMA 1 1/2 litre. Got some more photos in this thread: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=39717

Yours seemed to be a RMB 2 1/2 litre? At least the bonnet looks longer on the photo.

Cheers,
Tom