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Vintage photos....Awesome!

4M views 13K replies 603 participants last post by  gprace 
#1 ·
Vintage pics? Anyone? The more I see the more I get into the photos.

Feed me.

I'll kick this snowball rolling....

 
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#1,756 · (Edited)
1931 Chevy Roadster




Same car.... prior to being rebuilt from this accident

"tow truck" is converted La Salle



This photo was taken in Shakespeare Ontario Canada in 1938. It shows an 8 year old LaSalle Coupe altered to be put into service as a tow truck for my Fathers garage business. As rare as these are today at the time big cars like this had little appeal to the average buyer. They were heavy to drive and expensive to maintain and fuel. Their great torque gave them more appeal as a work horse and many ended up doing duty on the farm or as make shift commercial vehicles like shown here. After serving in their latter capacity they had further appeal for scrap during the War drive for steel. The vehicle on the hook is a 1931 Chevrolet Roadster that was repaired and returned to the road. The military wheels were an option however few today use them as they lack the appearance that the standard spoke wheels gave.
 
#1,758 ·
love some of these stories




1932 Ford Tudor Coach Model B

My wife and I bought this nice old rust free 32 shortly after we were married. It was a true barn find and it was decent enough that we drove it home that spring evening in 1968 after we purchased it. The brake rods, pins, yokes etc needed replacing and adjusting. I made a new wiring harness and the steering box required repairs. A tuneup and serious engine and interior cleaning and it was ready to drive. The original owner whom I purchased it from had brush painted it and my wife and I scrapped it all off with razor blades. It was then resprayed in its original Brewster green with black fenders. Not a V8 it was a model B 4 cylinder and liked to be driven all day at 47 MPH. As newly weds we had a lot of fun cruising to the Great Lakes on weekends in this neat old car. It was sold eventually and we obtained enough money for it to make a down payment on our first home.
 
#1,759 ·


1937 Ford Club Cabriolet series 78

A nice 37 Ford Club Cabriolet series 78 with a rumble seat and optional seal beam update kits.
 
#1,761 ·
Little known fact.

This was one of the very first TopGear competitions. Will the Opel GT rust out before the bob sled reaches the end of it's run? Once again the car won and Stig's dad had to walk home.

 
#1,765 ·


captioned

My Great-Grandparents' Pub, London, circa 1914-15

My great-grandfather William (1860 - 1940) apparently ran two pubs in London - one in Plumstead, South London and the other somewhere near Shoreditch. Both are gone now which is a pity - the old family tale is that William sold up sometime in the '20s and both pubs were bombed in the War.

My great-grandfather is the chap third from the left, great-grandma is next to him (looking quite scary). The young woman in the girl-guides' style dress is my great aunt Anne and the young chap on the right is my grandfather (1905-1988).

Note the window ad for Dunville's Whisky ("VR" - presumably Victoria Regina!). Dunville's is no longer made but was distilled in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1870. "Martell Brandy" over the door is of course familiar to everyone.

I love the little 'erbert on the far left - I just wish I had an idea who he was!
 
#1,767 ·
'39 Merc


 
#1,772 ·
 
#1,779 ·
Top went to steel all right.

1934, The First One-Piece All-Steel Roof

Turret Top







Fisher Body developed the industry’s first one-piece all-steel roof, called the Turret Top, and introduced it on all GM cars built in the U.S., beginning with the 1935 model year Chevrolet lineup. Previously, car roofs had been built around a wooden frame covered with canvas, limiting both the vehicle’s structural integrity and its design potential. The second photo is a unique testimony to the turret top’s strength.


Course roll over standards would have to wait for awhile


Early automotive test rigs

This car was rigged with two pistols to measure driver reaction time in applying the brakes


 
#1,780 ·
Interior of Don Lee Cadllac Showroom

San Fran

 
#1,784 ·
For anyone who doesn't know, this is 1000 Van Ness. The building is still there, now it's a gym and a movie theater. And during Halloween, that exact room you see pictured turns into one of those Spirit Halloween superstores :laugh:

I worked at that theater for a couple months, hated the job (no customers, ever) but the building is awesome.
 
#1,783 ·
Some of these setups are rather Rube Goldbergesq... (if that is a word)

actually, let me restate that. Rube Goldberg contraptions accomplish simple results with complex means

This setup is simple... very simple

:p


 
#1,785 ·
Fun stuff about Harley Earl

J.W. Earl’s custom-built automobile and truck bodies were well-known for their sculpted appearance and could be seen in numerous film studio’s parking lots during the day and cruising Hollywood Blvd. at night.

J.W.’s son, Harley J. Earl (1893-1969), worked in the shop after school and wound up attending Stanford University to study engineering. 6’3” tall Harley was an outstanding athlete who excelled at pole vault, broad jump and shot-put as a member of Stanford’s track & field squad. Much to his father’s chagrin, Harley excelled on another type of track as well.

A favorite story of Earl’s friends is the time when Harley’s dad was calmly reading the newspaper with morning coffee. His shiny new Mercer was resting calmly in the driveway, giving no hint of what had happened to it the day before. Turning to the sports page, the senior Earl glanced at an item concerning a week-end stock car race. "Harley Earl, son of the owner of Earl Carriage Works, won the 100-mile race for stock cars here yesterday with a special new Mercer recently purchased by his father". Earl also had a penchant for “test-driving” newly-bodied cars through downtown Los Angeles to test the crowd’s reaction to his father’s latest handiwork.
 
#1,789 ·
I take it she's holding the inner tube.



This photo shows how flat tires were repaired and pumped up on the road with a Model T Ford. Demountable rims became an option on Model T Fords in 1919, but demountable rims weren't standard on open cars yet on this 1923-25 era Model T Ford Roadster. This was even a less desirable task in the dark or mud, as there weren't many paved roads yet, anywhere.
 
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