Stars And Their Cars

[David Conwill]

Joan Crawford...1938 Lincoln model K

This is actually a '34 Ford with some kind of aftermarket wheel. The '38 Lincoln Model K is a far more streamlined car with pontoon fenders.

 

[Stearmen]

Here is the rarest Cobra in the world. It belongs to legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock, which he has owned since new. With the passing of Carroll Shelby this is now the oldest one owner Cobra in the world. What's even more amazing, he only bought it through a series of events. His then room mate Donald Byrd told him about a car that was beating Ferrari's, so he went down to the Ford dealer to take a look, he had no desire to buy one. When he got there, the salesman did not even look up at him. Herbie said, "I'm getting a little hot under the collar," he says. "And I said, 'I'd like to buy the Cobra.' He finally looks up. He says, 'Do you know how much that car costs?" He told the salesman, he would be back the next day with cash! He says, that guy did him a real favor, because he loves his car. He almost sold it for $10,000 in the 80s, but decided not to. His car is very rare, 260ci with a two barrel carb, the winged Shelby AC Cobra badge on the nose, and an AC badge on the trunk.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns' 1935 Stutz Bearcat. Unknown gas station attendant checks the oil.

Just kidding, that's Clark Gable and his 1935 Duesenberg.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Hal Roach and his stars in a Kissel Gold Bug sports car. Notice the rumble seat that slides out of the side of the car like a drawer, with footrest on the running board. What a place to sit at 80 miles an hour!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Australian actor Rod Taylor

That looks like a still from his 1970s TV series Bearcats.

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . .


Sonny and Cher’s his and hers Ford Mustangs

I remember there being an AMT model kit in 1/25 scale of these Mustangs, back when Sonny and Cher were THE pop duo, and a model-car magazine of the time doing a story on the kit and on them.

 

[Stearmen]

JFK and Jackie on their honeymoon.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I love the "Coffin Nosed" Cord, there were a lot of kit cars around a few years back, based on the Cord body shape

AMT had a model kit in 1/12 scale. That was big (though not as big as Monogram's 1/8 scale Jaguar E-Type 2 + 2!). (Wait, did you mean "kit cars" as in "You provide a chassis, we provide the body and other bits"?)

Seems to me I have a classic car magazine, the "Motor Trend Classic" from a few years ago, with pics of Clark Gable and his Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. I'll look and see.

ETA, 3/10: I do. This was the car he had from 1955 until his death just after the filming of The Misfits in 1960:

And as a treat, Gable, director John Huston, and a lady some of you will recognize:

 

[David Conwill]

I had that issue of Motor Trend Classic with the Clark Gable Gullwing. I was so mad when they discontinued that magazine and gave me Motor Trend instead.

 

[Fading Fast]

That is one impressive looking car. While not the point of that car at all (I get that), it looks hard as heck to get in and out of.

 

[vitanola]

Phonograph record star Billy Murray behind the wheel of his 1920 Buick sedan:

Mabel Normand was not at all partisan. Her Mercer:

which she replaced with a Stutz:

The "Lone Eagle's" Franklin 11B:

 

[vitanola]

Wyatt Earp photographed besides Tom Mix's third series Packard Opera Coupe:

 

[LizzieMaine]

"I'll stick to my horse!" -- Ed Wynn

 

[vitanola]

"I'll stick to my horse!" -- Ed Wynn

Horse?

The "Fire Chief" bought a Packard convertible coupe when he got his Texaco radio contract:

 

[vitanola]

Garry Cooper with his Duesenberg J. Wm. Powell on the running board.

Phonograph record star Ada Jones cranking her Flivver:

Anna Case, Metropolitan Opera Soprano, with her 1930 Packard convertible Coupe:

Enrico Caruso and entourage in his first machine, a 1909 Rambler:

International Opera star Nellie Melba's '09 Renault Tourer (same model as driven by her friend the composer Giaccomo Puccini):

The above Renault still exists. This 1911 Rolls-Royce Landaulet was another of Dame Nellie's many automobiles:

She also appreciated fine American iron, as her 1910 Pierce-Arrow (one of several) suggests:

 

[basbol13]

Steve McQueen with one of his beaters

 

[niv]

Clark Gable with his Packard

Al Jolson with his Mercedes

Marlene Dietrich with her Cadillac

Jean Harlow with her Cadillac

William Powell admires Gary Cooper's Duesy

For reasons I've never quite understood, my family's business in Corpus Christi, Texas, stored Clark Gable's Packard for the duration of the war. A mechanic drove it up and into the warehouse, where he began the tedious process of "making it ready for storage." Lanolin balm for the leather seats, moth balls spread over the wool carpet, Vaseline for the chrome, and he did something to the clutch plate to make it not freeze up involving a 2×4 he custom cut there. The mechanic drew up a list of everything he'd done to the Packard which he put in the glove box, made a copy to take with him, and left. About three months before the war ended in Europe, he came back, undid everything he'd done (including replacing the tires somehow (they were still rationed, remember), settled the bill, and drove it off. My Dad made a copy of the list (which I saw when I was little; I'd give much to know what happened to it), and remember the lst item on the list: "Don't lose this list!

 

[basbol13]

Charlton Heston and his 4 horse power Roman Special.

 

[basbol13]

Garry Cooper with his Duesenberg J. Wm. Powell on the running board.

View attachment 69467

Phonograph record star Ada Jones cranking her Flivver:

View attachment 69468

Anna Case, Metropolitan Opera Soprano, with her 1930 Packard convertible Coupe:

View attachment 69469

Enrico Caruso and entourage in his first machine, a 1909 Rambler:

View attachment 69470

International Opera star Nellie Melba's '09 Renault Tourer (same model as driven by her friend the composer Giaccomo Puccini):

View attachment 69471


The above Renault still exists. This 1911 Rolls-Royce Landaulet was another of Dame Nellie's many automobiles:

View attachment 69473


She also appreciated fine American iron, as her 1910 Pierce-Arrow (one of several) suggests:

View attachment 69474

Gary Coopers "2 of a Kind" SSJ in the background and Clark Gable's other "2 of a Kind" SSJ in the foreground

 

[vitanola]

Charlton Heston and his 4 horse power Roman Special.

A real actor playing the role. Novarro and Bushman manage to convey the story silently with far fewer superfluous histrionics than do Heston and Boyd.

The chariot race scene blows the '59 version out of the water, I think.