favorite cars of the golden era

[Tailor Tom]

Cars

A favorite period car would be tough for me, as I tend to gravitate towards late 50's and 60's Italian makes, but if I were a man of upper middle class in the 1940's I would have enjoyed a '40 La Salle Convertible. As I wouldn't have achieved Cadillac status. It has rather graceful lines to her.

But, if I could dream a bit, I would go for what is on Ebay right now. Clark Gable & Lombards 1937 Cadillac La Salle Speedster. A custom bodied Cadillac that just makes me swoon. The shape of the doors and the offset pulls are just way too sex and just the right amount of chrome venting. Kudos to the Gentleman who penned her, Frank Kurtis (who later created some other memorable cars). It is just so sweet.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Clar...iewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3cadb80e1c

 

[Boodles]

Far fetched, indeed.

As I recall, this thing was a sort of Rube Goldberg water injection which worked via a plate which fit between the carburetor and the intake manifold. I also recall that it tapped into the cooling system for it water source. I don't know that any reliable source bragged of improved fuel economy, but one person I knew from the old days did credit the gizmo with reducing combustion chamber carbon.

I had to look it up. Fifty-seven miles per gallon in 1924 sounds a bit far fetched to me.

-Dave

 

[John in Covina]

I think that water injection never really caught on because the tuning had to be set for it to run correctly. If you ran out of water then the tuning would be all off. Also the quality of water varies greatly across the US, if you had to buy distilled water to fill it regularly you might begin to dislike the system.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Anyone hear of the swan car?

The Collection

1910 | Brooke

25/30-HP SWAN CAR
Perhaps the most extraordinary car ever to take to the road, the 1910 Brooke Swan Car was the brainchild of Robert Nicholl “Scotty” Matthewson, a wealthy and eccentric resident of Calcutta, then the capital of British India. Determined to eclipse the extravagant automobiles of the local potentates, Matthewson - “a millionaire many times over” - travelled to England in 1909 to commission J.W. Brooke & Company of Lowestoft, Suffolk to build him a car in the shape of a swan. The car reputedly cost the fantastic sum of £10-15,000 - as much as six new Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts! Its body was hand-carved from wood and patched with plaster by a master craftsman to create the effect of feathers. Electric bulbs made the swan’s amber eyes glow eerily in the dark. The rear part of Scotty’s car was decorated with a carved pattern of lotus plants and fishes picked out in gold and silver leaf. It incorporated many curious gadgets calculated to annoy and exasperate other road users, like a multi-note Gabriel Horn - a sort of pipe organ driven from the exhaust - with a keyboard in the rear of the car to enable Scotty to play chords and bugle calls. An outlet in the swan’s beak sprayed scalding water in a wide arc to clear a passage through the City’s crowded streets. A dump valve inside the car dropped splats of whitewash onto the road from the Swan’s rear end “just to make it more lifelike”. Rediscovered many years later in its poor but original condition and its cloth-of-gold upholstery eaten by rats, the Swan Car has undergone a complete rebuild since it came into the ownership of the Louwman Collection in 1991. Once again, all of Scotty Matthewson’s practical jokes - the multi-note Gabriel Horn, the hot-water squirt, the whitewash dropper - are in working order! Following its restoration, in 1993 the Swan Car was awarded the Montagu Prize at Pebble Beach, America’s top Concours d’Elegance.

 

[Mr Vim]

It is perhaps not a golden era car, but I have always enjoyed a 1960 Lincoln Continental. There is something about that boat that drives me wild.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Yep, I love the '61 Continental. If Lincoln's next generation Town Car had "suicide" rear doors and a 4-door convertible version, I think it'd be a way to bring some excitement back to that brand.

 

[David Conwill]

It is perhaps not a golden era car, but I have always enjoyed a 1960 Lincoln Continental. There is something about that boat that drives me wild.

Yep, I love the '61 Continental. If Lincoln's next generation Town Car had "suicide" rear doors and a 4-door convertible version, I think it'd be a way to bring some excitement back to that brand.

You fellows are talking about two radically different cars. The 1960 Lincoln was the same as the one that debuted in 1958, with sculptured sides and canted quad headlamps. It’s very late-1950s.

The ‘61 was the “cool” restrained Lincoln that everyone associates with JFK.

Both definitely have their merits. I just had occasion to inspect a ‘59 ragtop up close, and it gave me a real appreciation for the ‘58-‘60 lineup that I never had before. While it’s huge (my Falcon might fit in its trunk), it just oozes quality that I am not used to seeing in automobiles.

-Dave

 

[Tomasso]

Anyone hear of the swan car?

Is that the right photo, H?


Check out this close-up. Click to enlarge.

 

[Mr. 'H']

^^^ That's the swan car... begs the question: what is the car I posted then?

I heard that swan neck spouts out steam when the car is in motion.

 

[vitanola]

I think that water injection never really caught on because the tuning had to be set for it to run correctly. If you ran out of water then the tuning would be all off. Also the quality of water varies greatly across the US, if you had to buy distilled water to fill it regularly you might begin to dislike the system.

Well, water injection is useful. In fact it was used o some of the WWII fighters. The problem with most water injection systems offered to the American motorist was that they depended upon engine vacuum to pull the
atomized water into the intake manifold, so that the maximum injection took place when the throttle was closed, rather than when the engine was calling for power.

I was close friends with a fellow who designed and marketed the most successful of the water injection (actualy water/alcohol) systems back in the 1960's and 1970's. Norm Waag was an aeronautical engineer who had workd on water injection at the NACA during the War. His system used a little diaphragm pump operated from engine vacuum which injected water only when vacuum DROPPED, in exact proportion to the vacuum drop. This system worked extraordinarily well. It increased power, eliminated carbon build-up, and eliminated the need for Premium fuel in ordinary production HC engines.

The system had certain disadvantages, however which even Norm realised would prevent its widespread adoption. First, the engine had to be specially tuned for the use of water injection, and on an old engine with heavy carbon build-up this tuning had to be done three or four times as the carbon cleaned out, if one was to achieve maximum performance. Then, once the machine was set up for use with the "Power-Jector", the engine would not run without the use of the metered water-alcohol mixture, and we all know how folks generally neglect their cars. Some folks cannot keep the gas and oil topped off, let alone fill yet another tank. This system is really only suitable for use by a car enthusiast, who does much of his own work.

When Norm realised the impracticability of his system in daily service, he discontinued the marketing of it. IN the late 1970's, he sold they system to a promotor in Florida who marketed it hard, making any number of outlandish claims about it, and once and for all destroyed the reputation of the system.

I still have a couple of "Power-Jectors new in their boxes. Last summer I installed one on a friends 1965 Pontiac Catalina convertible, as my friend was tired of buying premium fuel, and had noted that the car would diesel on after the ignition was cut off. Now, 9,000 miles later it is time to do the final tuning. The carbon in the engine has been cleaned out and the machine is getting slightly improved mileage (about a 10% improvement) using regular. When we are done I expect that the overall improvement in gas mileage will be about 15%, as I am not going to tune the system for maximum performance, so that the engine will still run (albeit not well) if the injector tank is empty.

 

[vitanola]

Is that the right photo, H?


Check out this close-up. Click to enlarge.

Didn't Leo Slezak drive that machine?

"Entschuldigen Sie mich, mein Herr, Wann geht der nächste Schwan?"

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

You fellows are talking about two radically different cars. The 1960 Lincoln was the same as the one that debuted in 1958, with sculptured sides and canted quad headlamps. It’s very late-1950s.

I figured Mr. Vim meant the '61.

 

[David Conwill]

Wow, that is gorgeous. I think I spy a lot of 1930s American low-priced makes in this car. Some type of 1950s homebuilt, I'd say, but probably the best work on one I've ever seen outside of the Coachcraft-built "Yankee Doodle Roadster."

I like the original paint scheme considerably better than the "restored" paint scheme, personally. The newer paint makes it look a bit like an MG-TC kit car.

-Dave

Wow, apparently I was way off. This website indicates that this isn’t a homebuilt job, but rather the sole surviving 1932 Hupmobile speedster.

Can anyone confirm?

-Dave

 

[Ennie]

Hello, very nice forum here! I`m from Germany (sorry for my bad english) and 40 years old. I found The Fedora Lounge by seaching for informations about flight jackets. But here is much more interesting stuff!

Since I was 11 years old I wished to own a Morgan. 23 years later I could afford one. This is my 2003 Morgan 4/4 during holidays, towing a small T@b caravan:

Interior with a custom-made-dashboard (with a boy from the neighbourhood):

The Morgan 4/4 is the car with the longest production-run. (Since 1936). Thats a longer run than VW Beetle, Austin Mini or Citroen 2CV.

Morgans are build very traditional. The body subframe is still made of wood (ash):

Greetings Ennie

 

[Smithy]

Hello, very nice forum here! I`m from Germany (sorry for my bad english) and 40 years old. I found The Fedora Lounge by seaching for informations about flight jackets. But here is much more interesting stuff!

Since I was 11 years old I wished to own a Morgan. 23 years later I could afford one. This is my 2003 Morgan 4/4 during holidays, towing a small T@b caravan:

Interior with a custom-made-dashboard (with a boy from the neighbourhood):

The Morgan 4/4 is the car with the longest production-run. (Since 1936). Thats a longer run than VW Beetle, Austin Mini or Citroen 2CV.

Morgans are build very traditional. The body subframe is still made of wood (ash):

Greetings Ennie

One of my very favourite cars Ennie, and my wife's dream motor.

Thanks for posting, great photos of a simply fantastic automobile :eusa_clap

 

[Professor]

Hudson Hornet

Saw this on my drive through the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena yesterday...

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[John in Covina]

The fast back Hudson Hornet is neat, I saw it a couple of months back along the side streets by the Arroyo also! Aerodynamic!

 

[Mr Vim]

I was talking about the 61, that was my error.

And that Hudson is a thing of beauty. I mean just look at the car's emblem... how may cars today have that level of detail and intracacy? None.

I want a classic car.

 

[StraightEight]

I was talking about the 61, that was my error.

And that Hudson is a thing of beauty. I mean just look at the car's emblem... how may cars today have that level of detail and intracacy? None.

I want a classic car.

Now's the time! Stuff is going so cheap. Buyers are scarce.

 

[ether823]

Just a plain old Morris 8 for me.