Tuesday, December 31, 2019

LARZ ANDERSON MUSEUM, STEAM POWERED CHEVELLE, THE SEAWORTHY BUDMOBILE AND DID GILLIGAN STILL HAVE A VALID DRIVERS LICENSE?

Thanks to all that follow the blog as we enter the 7th year with over 450 posts! 

Most never heard of it and another one CARHUNTER never got posted yet about the
Larz Anderson Museum and I am adding a link if you would like to read up on him
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larz_Anderson
He was an American diplomat that traveled the world and very often would acquire very unique automobiles amongst other exotic trinkets and bring them back to his palatial estate in Brookline Massachusetts.   
This is not the estate, but actually only the carriage house of his Weld Estate named for his wife; Isabel Weld Perkins who passed away in 1948 willing the entire 64 Acre estate to the town of Brookline and is a public park now! He was extremely wealthy to say the least!    

It has been named the Transportation Museum, built in 1888 do the math over 130 years ago I am pretty sure there were no cars in there yet!
Check out the link to the Museum
There were 30 cars originally in the collection and 14 of those still are here! Anderson was collecting at a time when the 1st Horseless Carriages arrived and The Anderson Collection of cars is displayed on the lower level. The main floor rotates cars on loan with different themes and this is what I caught the day I was there. 





Shooting Brakes as they are called were used by the wealthy for hunting excursions  




The more you look you find more than automobiles



One of the caretakers must have his own collection 





















I know some of you are falling off seeing all the Brit cars, but be assured the displays vary on that first level 


Keep in mind it was just a stable/carriage house with a lower level repair shop added as the horses moved on! This is where Anderson's collection sits. 
This is considered the oldest car collection in the USA

Now we start getting into the real core of the collection like this shop full of Packards



Now you can see some of Larz Andersons personal cars 




This is the real heart of the museum collection 

Again a 1905 Electric car!! 




A Renault Torpedo hides in the library research room  



Winton was the car that coaxed Mr. Packard to build his own car




This was a sports car I am guessing?













Yes let me speed this along it is a toilet in the chauffer driven passenger area, enough said?




They have Lawn events usually featuring one particular make or just open car shows all season!
A VW event
A Miata gathering!
One of the best Museums that you never heard of and they are user friendly! 


Who did not have a JC Whitney catalogue with worn out pages if you were a car guy? 
Warshawsky? Yes Israel Warshawsky a Lithuanian immigrant who opened a scrap metal yard in Chicago back in 1915. Israel came up with idea to strip the parts from junk cars and sell the parts. As the business grew with used automotive parts it was the son Roy that started the mail order company catalogue.  
Roy changed the name to JC Whitney as a less ethnic reference. 
There was always a new JC Whitney catalogue showing up at my house!!
I am so sorry I started to throw them out!
I remember many younger know it all's laughing at the catalogue, but they have no knowledge of it's original roots, the last years it was more of mainstream replacement name brand parts catalogue.
Although online now because the new owners have stopped printing the catalogue, even in the 80's and early 90's there were just things you could not find anyplace else, remember there was no ebay, no internet! 

One thing most people did not know was this is where you got your custom and hot rod parts and I found 2 old catalogues on ebay, with a recent move I have not found them yet so I pulled some of these images  



Where did you get a Brody Knob from?
Ok a spinner! 

Fender Skirts? Look at the prices!

I am so jealous I was not a hot rod or custom guy during this time with this catalogue in hand!
Then again I might not be here now, 90+ years old?


You always wondered where this stuff came from or not, LOL!

Where is that time machine when you need it?
I am about to begin an installation of a modern 8 3/4 rear end in my 1939 Plymouth, research showed a few years later a 3.55:1 gear was available which my calculations say give the car a better top speed with lower engine RPM.
Impossible to find and ring and pinion set for that old rear, if you do 3.9 or 4.1 are the only choices.
If I could only go back and grab one of these 3 1/2 as they put it Hi-Speed carrier assemblies!!
Look at the price! At least I know my math is correct!
The catalogue listed used fenders, engines, transmissions sometimes rebuilt, hi-po modified flathead engine parts. The prices were crazy low! They even had used tires!
Don't laugh next time someone mentions a JC Whitney catalogue, hey I graduated from the Auto World Model Car Catalogue!   


This ratty looking Chevelle is a car GM sent out to be crushed, but it survived! 
Is that a dual snorkel air cleaner?

It is a steam powered experimental car!
This Pontiac also was steam powered and the project codes are on the front license plates 


A gentleman named Kimmel owns the Chevelle along with a fleet of steam powered machines 
Even a Victress Fiberglass kit car with a steam power plant 
In 1970 a bunch of college students set out to convince Detroit there was a better way and this Steam Powered Javelin by the University Of California San Diego 
Worchester Polytechnic cobbled up this 70 Chevelle with a steam powerplant masquerading as a Plymouth Superbird!  
A man named Pritchard started with a Steam Falcon
This 1974 Dutcher almost made it to production 
Pritchard ended here!
Even a Vega got a shot at Steam!
This is one of my favorites as I have seen the car in person designed by Robert Paxton McCulloch was to get steam power but that and the cars production never happened.
You might recognize The Paxton name for Superchargers and McCulloch for Chain Saws! 
He also purchased London Bridge numbered the pieces and shipped it to his created city of Havasu Arizona where it sits all re-assembled! 
If steam can launch a fighter plane into the air it probably could move a car down the road?
Oh well another lost alternate power source! 


This month both the Concept Car and the Kustom Car were not what you are used to seeing in CARHUNTER! 
I am still not sure of the Boat-Car theme tie in is for Budweiser, but Thar She Blow's! It's The Budmobile! There were several with this one built on a Pierce Arrow  
Boating and firing a cannon while downing Beer!?






ALL ABOARD!
It survives!!!
Look around the postcard and see what you find?

Now this makes sense; a beer can car! 

This is the hands down best Beer promo vehicle and I have seen it is person, a show piece for Canada's Labatt's! Customized 1947 White Streamliner Truck 

A CARHUNTER bonus custom?
I am going to skip all the obvious questions about how they were still on the island etc...
Yes the castaways of Gilligan's Island  had the ability to build pedal powered car complete with a star fish hood ornament! Oh yeah; Ginger or Maryann?
Always Maryann #1! LOL! 

Hold on here did Gilligan have a valid drivers license? 
Got a couple things off my mind for the new year!! 

This was a real craigslist ad, I promise no lie as I saw it! REALLY!

"Great candidate for restore or just that weekend "low rider" you pack 8 buddies in and go drop panties down at the nursing home!"