Monday, June 07, 2004
Mag Wheels: 1933 Duesenberg in Collectible Automobile
Last, but not least, is a beast of a car shown in the August 2004 issue of Collectible Automobile
It's a '33 Duesenberg J roadster.
The Duesenberg J makes most other classic cars look like a Henry J, and the closest we'll ever get to experiencing one is smelling its exhaust as it motors by at the local concours d'elegance.
Still, the text is a nice compact retelling of a not-so-compact car.
They don't get much more high class than the Duesenberg J.
posted by Todd on 6/07/2004 05:34:45 PM
Mag Wheels: 1938 American Bantam in Collectible Automobile
The parade of orphans continues in Collectible Automobile with a quick photo-driven story about the post-Austin, American Bantams.
The first thing I thought about the red '38 pickup in the feature was, "Omigod! Where's the pickup part of the pickup?" Then I spotted it. It looks too small to even hold a wheelbarrow, but it was there.
The reason the company could even make a pickup model was pure economics. They could cheaply chop the back of a panel truck off and add a bed. Then they created the back panel from the chopped-off section of the roof.
Ingenious. The King Midget folks would have been envious.
Check out the article. This American Bantam pickup is only a few feet larger than a pedal car. Huge cute factor for such a tiny vehicle!
posted by Todd on 6/07/2004 05:28:42 PM
Friday, June 04, 2004
Mag Wheels: 1960-62 Plymouth Valiants in Collectible Automobile
I've always felt that the Big Three had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the compact car market in the early Sixties.
As Jeffrey Godshall tells it in his latest Collectible Automobile article, it ain't necessarily so.
I was surprised to learn that Plymouth released a 111-inch wheelbase car in 1949. The brand also considered selling its own American-designed, European-built car in the late Fifties. (Can you say "Metropolitan"?) But Chrysler decided to buy the Simca brand instead.
The Valiant article features a trunkload of information about the first generation of Valiants and about the chaotic state of Chrysler at that time. (Remember: American Motors was eating its lunch at that time with the Rambler.)
I loved the sidebar about the Valiant's brief foray in into NASCAR racing.
Of all the early Big Three compacts, nothing remotely resembled the Valiant. (The only caveat for me is that the Valiant front end also resembles the first generation of Studebaker Larks.)
Godshall is, I believe, a Senior Stylist for Chrysler, so he knows just about everyone who brought that car to market. Plus, he knows how to string subjects and verbs together, so the writing has momentum.
The article could have used some displays of vintage advertising or other visuals that placed the Valiant within the context of its time, but the NASCAR sidebar helped to mitigate that problem. As always, I felt the article could have contained more quotes and anecdotes from the people who lived the story. When you add those elements, the story always comes alive.
Valiant fans: add this one to your library.
posted by Todd on 6/04/2004 11:50:34 AM
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Mag Wheels: 1950-52 Nash Ramblers in Collectible Automobile
Collectible Automobile shines the high beams on orphans once again. Not only that, C.A. uses Torq-O to do it!
If you're a Nash fan, you should ramble over to the news stand and check out the magazine's August 2004 issue. It's crammed full of orphan car articles for all sorts of marque fans.
The article we're particularly proud of is 1950-52 Rambler: Nash's X-Car by Patrick Foster. These were the first Ramblers in a line of compact cars that would be produced by AMC through 1969.
The Rambler was incredibly important (translation: vital) to the survival of the most astute independent - Nash/AMC.
But the most interesting thing to me personally about this well-researched article is that Collectible Automobile published 5 images from The Torq-O Film Archive.
 
These 5 images are from some incredibly rare and early Nash TV commercials from 1950 promoting the brand spankin' new Rambler Landau.
 
As for the story of these Ramblers, Patrick Foster fills in a lot of cracks to a story that is known mostly in bits and pieces. Also, I commend foster for incorporating more quotes from the people who created the story. Such quotes from the likes of George Romney, Nash Technical Advisor L.H. Nagler, and various contemporary magazine writers fill in the picture in a more satisfying, authentic way. I urge Foster to allow even more narrative space to these people in the future.
As for the Torq-O images, we'd like to thank Acquisitions Editor Doug Mitchel for showing an interest in the media we had to offer.
And we offer huge platitudes of gratitude to Editor John Biel for taking a chance and publishing some images from non-traditional sources. John, we hope you continue to explore new resources and new ideas to keep your magazine fresh.
More about this issue of Collectible Automobile in a few days.
posted by Todd on 6/02/2004 06:21:34 PM
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