I had a youthful infatuation with classic cars. The long hood of a straight 8 engine, the huge head lamps, the chrome bumpers and sweeping clamshell fenders were to my eye, artistry. I couldn’t afford a Duesenberg or Marmon. I did manage a 1932 Cadillac Roadster followed by the '32 Auburn Victoria Brougham, shown here from honeymoon photos (1956).
It wasn’t practical transportation. Those head lamps threw only30 ft of light, it would go about 10 miles between overheating or vapor locking and 70MPH was easy but braking was a challenge. However, on the old Yosemite Tioga Pass road it was a thing of beauty. I was later chided for taking more pictures of the car than my new wife.
What cars have you owned that were more art than transportation?
I’m not into cars, but my gf is. Her dad had a Galaxy 500 that he drove once a year to a car show. Since his death 5 years ago my gf and her brother care for the car and take it to the show. It is in the garage 360 days a year.
Here it is last weekend at the show at Cedar Creek Park in Belle Vernon.
She also likes VW Bug Rat Rods. She bid on one at a car auction. Luckily, she didn’t win. The car wasn’t street legal and I am not into cars enough to do the work to make it street legal.
ETA: She had pitstop jumpsuits made for her and her brother. I think it is cute. Here she is at the show:
I’d consider it as an “art object” because it never drove the entire time he owned it. (The engine was disassembled.) But it had that special smell of old British sports cars. An odd thing was the entire trunk was filled with a custom gas tank. According to a log that accompanied the car, it was raced at Daytona. He later sold it to someone who had worked building the cars in England.
And then there was the time he ALMOST bought a Fiat “Otto Vu” Supersonic, but the seller refused to honor the deposit he had put down. Back in the 1970’s it was probably a few hundred dollars. Looking at the Wikipedia entry…YIKES!
