2011 ~ car and motor

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Raymond Jones 1947 Studebaker Convertible

2:30 AM No comments

Raymond Jones Studebaker 1950. Although signs, posts and pennants reflecting off the car's exotic bulges and curves create funhouse mirror effects, it almost looks like filets of Jag XK120 over the South Bend sheet metal along the sides, with curious fin humps suggesting retractable landing gear or training wheels. Kustomrama has the lowdown on Jones' postwar customs as well as his later adventures with cruise missiles and Bugattis. Read all about it.

c.1930 ACF Bus Eight Mile Road & Livernois Detroit

1:55 AM No comments

Salisbury Motor Scooter Dealer Tempe Arizona

1:38 AM No comments

Postwar Salisbury Motor Scooter Dealership @ Tempe Garage, Tempe, Arizona, with Baker's Body Shop scooter alongside '39 Chrysler in background and Salisbury poster in shop window.

Flathead Ford V8 Skeleton RFD Hot Rod

1:11 AM No comments

Don't Blow My Cover

2:48 AM No comments

Flintstonian 1960 Chevy w/ Florida plates & extras.

1920-1 Kissel Gold Bug

12:32 AM No comments

1920-1 Kissel Gold Bug Model 6-45 (thanks to R. Hausmann for the ID), jump seat drawers removed for possible rifle stowage, on the hunt for jack rabbits or some such in the Southern California desert.

Sports Car Racing in Finland c.1954

2:08 AM No comments

c.1953 Ferrari 212 by Giovanni Michelotti for Vignale.

c.1953 Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta by Pininfarina.

c.1953 Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta by Pininfarina w/ Vignale 212 up ahead.

1953 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider by Pininfarina.

1951-3 Jaguar C-Type.

1953 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider by Pininfarina at speed.

Country Picnic

3:59 AM No comments

A perfect summer afternoon, with at least one Model T among the touring cars resting up for the journey home.

Pole's Beer Mexican Chili Hot Dogs Coca-Cola in Bottles

3:42 AM No comments

1950 Chevy convertible sporting Miami rental plates (thanks, anonymous) on another sunny day in postwar Florida.

Haulin' Ford Pinto Girl

3:40 AM No comments

Circa 1905 Straight Dash Oldsmobile @ 26

3:31 AM No comments

1940 Seagrave Fire Engine vs. Bottle Truck

3:14 AM No comments

Circa 1940 Seagrave fire truck of the Santa Ana Fire Department south of Los Angeles, with top of fire hydrant where the bumper pushed it.

Ghost On The Highway

11:05 PM No comments

c.1948 Chevrolet.

Mystery Hot Iron Custom Phaeton w/ Desoto Airflow

11:05 PM No comments

Beautiful customized something or other somewhere in California w/ 1934 Desoto Airflow behind. Wayne Graefen has kindly identified the jewelry attached to the grille mesh as a National Automobile Club badge. Print dated Sept. 17, 1936.

1957 Spartan Imperial Mansion Motorhome Conversion

4:56 AM No comments

J. Paul Getty bought Spartan Aircraft of Tulsa, Oklahoma from fellow oil tycoon William G. Skelly in 1935. Their greatest hit was Skelly's pet project for well-heeled gentleman pilots like himself, the Spartan Executive, 34 of which were built between 1936 and 1940 for the likes of Howard Hughes and King Ghazi of Iraq. This Duesenberg of the air was powered by a 450hp 9-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radial that gave it a top speed of 257mph, fast enough to secure fifth place in the 1939 Bendix Cup for pilot Arlene Davis. After WWII Spartan built high quality travel trailers and mobile homes, but these Cadillacs of trailerdom came with prices to match, and the abundance of cheaper alternatives as the fifties progressed eventually put Spartan out of business. The startling glazed end-wall, curved floor plan Crescendos and Carousels introduced in 1959 took them out in singular style.

Spartan Executive photo from Young Eagles.org.

Rockabilly Buick Girl

3:30 AM No comments

Pony tail, saddle shoes, car coat, half moon headlight shields, Maybelline on the radio. She must be somebody's baby.

Early Kodacolor

3:59 AM No comments

The first multi-layer color negative print film, Kodacolor hit the market in 1942, its technological voodoo involving three color-sensitive emulsions layered with filters, masks and couplers. All processing and printing was done by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York, until a 1954 anti-trust suit made chemicals and know-how available to all. Refinement continued long after official release to the public. Not until 1955 was a solution found for the unstable magenta dye chemistry that turned Kodacolor prints a familiar yellow over time, ironically tilting the intended full color realism toward the painterly and quaint.