Saturday, February 28, 2004
Mag Wheels: Simplex Crane in Cars & Parts
There's a nice article on a rare Brass Era survivor in the latest issue of Cars & Parts: a 1915 Simplex Crane roadster. These custom-bodied beauties always merit their own stories.
Does anyone know if there's a national club for the Simplex brand?
posted by Todd on 2/28/2004 12:32:03 AM
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Car Club Pubs: Hudson Italia in White Triangle News
I've been meaning to write about the extensive articles on the both the history of the Hudson Italia and one man's quest for these incredibly rare cars.
First let me gush. I love the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club's publication The White Triangle News. The information they publish is always fun, accessible, and covers a broad spectrum of Hudon topics. And most importantly, its editorial staff takes a professional approach to editing the words and designing/laying out its pages. (I wish other car clubs did as well as WTN does.)
That said, I think the stories in the Jan/Feb 2004 issue about the Hudson Italia are great. Ed Soures' quest to own one of the 26 Italias built is an epic story of passion and patience. Then Associate Editor Laurie Schulte keeps the momentum going with an excellent 5-page spread on the history of the Italia. If you agree, take a minute to give a shout out to her by sending her an email. (Click on her name.)
Keep up the great work, WTN!
posted by Todd on 2/22/2004 04:56:57 PM
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Automobilia: Badges in Car Collector
The article in April 2004's Car Collector that prompted Dennis Adler's musings on automobilia is all about badges.
"We Don't Need No Stinking Badges...Collecting Pocket-Sized Automobilia" by Carl Bomstead sounds a tad defensive at first glance. But I know how Carl feels. The magazine ad/promo car/porcelain sign crowd often looks at me incredulously when I tell them I collect audio-visual material related to orphan cars. (That means radio commercials, industrial movies, TV commercials, etc.) Some badges might be hard to find, but almost all of the collectibles in my field are hard to find.
The article is very well written with detailed descriptions of the spectrum of badges that ranges from Brass Era automobile clubs through obscure car company badges on up to chauffeurs' license badges.
Carl nails the cloisonne to the grill when he states, "The number of automotive related badges goes on and on so if you still 'don't want no stink'n badges,' then you are missing one of the most interesting and varied areas of automotive related collecting. But then, that's just fine as it leaves more for the rest of us!"
Yup.
posted by Todd on 2/15/2004 06:23:21 PM
Soapbox: Dennis Adler of Car Collector is right!
I just finished reading Editor-in-Chief Dennis Adler's latest editorial in the March 2004 edition of Car Collector. The name of his editorial is "What's Really Collectible? Thoughts on Throwing Stuff Away", and Dennis expresses a thought that I've had for several years now.
Basically, he says that it's not wise to throw anything away in the car collector hobby, because there are so many different types of collectibles under the name "automobilia." He ends by saying, "In a strange sort of way, you don't have to have a collector car to be a car collector."
Amen.
I think that many magazine articles on a particular make and model could benefit from also throwing some automobilia items into the design and layout of those articles. Such items add so much color to the story of a car. Also, automobilia helps to define the time and place in which those cars existed in their day. And they fire up the imaginations of collectors who savor the thought of owning a rare piece of automobilia without necessarily feeling obligated to own the car.
Dennis, if you're ready to talk about some other forms of automobilia someday, just drop me an email. There are so many more besides vintage magazine ads, promo cars, and even badges.
posted by Todd on 2/15/2004 06:04:53 PM
Mag Wheels: Hupmobile in Collectible Automobile
One thing's for sure: Collectible Automobile is not afraid to cover our favorite cars. (God bless 'em for consistently recognizing that the auto world is bigger than the Big Three.)
The April 2004 issue has a great photo feature on James Godo's 1934 Hupmobile K-321. One thing that makes it special is that it was the first car design attributed to Raymond Loewy. Another interesting fact is that the car was originally an Australian export that was reimported into the States and converted to lefthand drive.
Great content, vivid photos, fun facts. If you agree, send an email to the editor: John Biel.
posted by Todd on 2/15/2004 10:04:51 AM
Mag Wheels: Packard Clippers in Collectible Automobile
This month Collectible Automobile (Where's their web site?) pours on the bright work for their 20th anniversary issue. They ditched the white cover and piled on the chrome to celebrate 2 decades in the classic car appreciation biz.
One feature article certainly befits the shiny cover treatment: "1953-56 Packard Clipper: The One Twenty of the Fifties?" by Richard Langworth.
We've loved Langworth since Kaiser-Frazer: The Last Onslaught on Detroit. His writing is entertaining (a quality often missing from much dry-as-the-desert auto history reportage), because he often gets out of the way of his own story and allows the people who lived it to tell it for him.
A Langworth article is worth the price of admission, and it's one great reason to check out this month's Collectible Automobile.
posted by Todd on 2/15/2004 09:29:01 AM
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Thank you, Randy Tate!
Every once in awhile, someone comes along who helps you, himself, and many others around him in a way that he never anticipated.
For me, that guy is Randy Tate.
In December of 2002, Torq-O won the ebay bidding for a rare print of the 1969 AMC product introduction film called The New World of American Motors.
We here at Torq-O are always willing to share the content of our archives if it will benefit orphan car fans and if it is financially possible for us to do so.
Randy made it possible. Originally, he was one of the losing bidders for this film, but he turned that loss around into a win by gathering a group of investors who pooled their money together to allow us to professionally transfer the film to videotape.
(Such film-to-tape transfer work is often expensive, because Torq-O uses top-grade, professional facilities to color-correct and copy these used-and-abused films to broadcast quality Betacam SP videotape. Our competitors don't. A Torq-O film product is the best you can buy, because we use the best resources available to produce them.)
Randy and his fellow AMC fans made our latest product, The Late Sixties World of American Motors possible, and we want to give a big shout out to him.
If you're a fan of AMC's "Second Comeback" in the Late Sixties, you'll love this product (available on DVD and VHS). It features Texas Takeover with land speed record holder Craig Breedlove smashing records with the then-new 1968 AMX. Then, the real swingin' begins with The New World of American Motors, which includes segments about all of AMC's "turned-on" cars for '69. Finally, we wrap it up with an impossibly rare 1969 MPT AMX model kit commercial. One look at the DVD, and you'll know why Randy put in all the time and effort to make it available.
If you're interested in this DVD, send an email to Randy Tate. He has a few copies in stock that he'd be happy to sell you.
Thanks again, Randy, for helping us to make these rare AMC films available to AMC fans everywhere!
posted by Todd on 2/12/2004 08:01:35 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Car Show: Graystake, IL
Bob Grutza has asked me to tell you about an orphan show in Illinois this coming May. The AACA, North Shore Chapter, will be having its 38th Annual Swap Meet and Car Show.
The theme this year is (drumroll, please) ORPHAN CARS! (The crowd goes predictably wild.)
Here are the particulars:
Date: Sunday, May 2, 2004
Location: Lake County Fairgrounds
City/State: Graystake, IL
Admission: $5 donation requested. (All show cars 25 years and older with 1 driver and passenger are free. Sorry, AMC Eagle owners.)
Got questions? Ask the oracle himself, Bob Grutza.
posted by Todd on 2/04/2004 06:11:45 PM
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