Category: 1935

1935 Duesenberg Sets Bring A Trailer Record With $1.34M Winning Bid – Christopher Smith @Motor1.com

1935 Duesenberg Sets Bring A Trailer Record With $1.34M Winning Bid – Christopher Smith @Motor1.com

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It was a real doozy for the online auction company.

For a brief period in automotive history, the pinnacle of high-performance luxury motoring was a company in Indiana called Duesenberg. Founded in 1913, its cars became so coveted among the world’s elite that it’s credited with establishing the phrase it’s a doozy into modern language. When one comes up for sale it usually brings over $1 million, just as this 1935 Model JN Convertible did on June 25 through online auction company Bring A Trailer.

Yes, the same online auction company that regularly features cars selling for less than $100,000 (and some that even bring under $10,000) sold this Duesenberg for $1.34 million. Bring A Trailer certainly has come a long way from its beginnings in 2014, but this isn’t the only high-dollar machine to cross their virtual auction block. The previous Bring A Trailer record was held by a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, which sold for a curious $1,234,567 in June 2019. BaT bidders certainly aren’t without a sense of humor.

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Pick of the Day: 1935 Ford woody wagon sans reference to surfboards – Bob Golfen @ClassicCars.com

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Woody wagons have become emblematic of beach culture, often depicted with surfboards on their roofs even when located in Kansas, but there is certainly so much more to the affection for and collection of vintage woodies than “surf’s up.”

Matter of fact, most woody hobbyists (or “woodie,” as an alternate spelling) must get mighty sick of all the surfer references from bystanders.  I know I would.

Case in point: The Pick of the Day is this lovely 1935 Ford woody 4-door wagon advertised on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Hailey, Idaho, that never has been nor is expected to ever be connected with surfing

Wood-bodied wagons were classy conveyances back in their day, most often purchased at a premium price by the landed gentry or used as passenger vehicles by premium hotels and resorts.  Wood was no longer a crucial component in the construction of automobiles by the 1920s (not including commercial vehicles), but wood remained popular for charm and aesthetics.

Henry Ford was so certain about the future of wood bodies that in 1920, he purchased 400,000 acres of Michigan forest as a steady source of lumber for Ford vehicles.  In that way, Ford was able to build its own wood bodies in house rather than using outside specialists to supply them, as did most of Ford’s competitors.

This example of a classic Ford woody looks to be in superb condition and with all the right ingredients

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1935 DeSoto Airflow – @Hemmings

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Gotta love the Airflows

Seller’s Description: 1 of 6,269 SG-Series Sedans Produced for 1935
Complete Frame Off Restoration Finished in 2011
Formerly of the Binder DeSoto Collection
Finished in Yellow over Brown Interior
242 CI / 100 hp L-Head Six Cylinder Engine
3-Speed Synchromesh Manual Transmission
Lockheed Hydraulic Drum Brakes
Rear Fender Skirts
Color Matched Disc Wheels
Whitewall Tires

More info from Wikipedia

The DeSoto Airflow was an automobile built by DeSoto during model years 1934, 1935 and 1936. DeSoto received the then-revolutionary Airflow model due to its price structure relationship to larger and more expensive Chrysler brand cars.[1] The 1934 Airflow models are noted for their unique styling. They generate interest for their engineering innovations.[2] It has a 115.5 in (2,934 mm) wheelbase.[3]

The Desoto Airflow was a result of Chrysler Corporation policy of badge engineering, being mostly similar to the Chrysler Airflow.

Airflow streamlining

This aerodynamic, radically designed car debuted to much fanfare alongside its more luxurious stablemate, the Chrysler Airflow. From the front bumper back, the Airflow’s design represented the first major attempt to smooth away the wind catching objects and channels found on cars of the era. Headlights were moved from their traditional pods forward of the radiator, and housed in flush mountings on either side of the broad waterfall-styled grille, which lacked the traditional upright radiator throat and decorative cap ornament. In place of the flat windshield that most cars had (and which caught the brunt of on coming winds as cars moved through the atmosphere), the Airflow split the windshield into two panes of glass, each angled to better redirect the air around them. Front and rear fenders received smoother, more form fitting curves. In the rear, Airflows encased the rear wheels through the use of fender skirts.1934 DeSoto Airflow coupe

In addition to the benefits of its smoother exterior design, which translated into a quieter passenger compartment than on previous DeSoto models, the car featured wider front seats and deeper back seats with more leg room.[1] Passengers sat on seats which were a good distance from either axle. They reminded one of a Victorian era davenport (sofa).[4]

Because of the car’s unibody construction, passengers rode within the frame of the car, not on top of the frame as they did with most other American makes. It also boasted a stiffer body and better weight distribution through the engine placement over the front wheels, in contrast to the common practice of placing the center of the engine’s gravity just behind the front wheels. The automotive press gave the cars positive reviews for their handling and acceleration.

Chevrolet Leader News 1935 Vol. 1, Part 1 – US Auto Industry @YouTube

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Promotional newsreels featuring a variety of Chevrolet-centric stories, including: the building of Norris Dam in Tennessee; an automobile racing an ice boat across a lake in Mt. Clemens, Michigan; gasoline economy tests on Detroit streets; women showing off their hairstyles in an automobile moving along New York City streets; the Soap Box Derby at Dayton, Ohio; and a miniature dog riding in the glove compartment of an automobile in San Francisco.

Lost and Found: Did Ford offer a coupe with beds in 1935? – David Conwill @HemmingsClassicCar

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Did Ford offer a coupe with beds in 1935?

Reader Joey Crosslin wrote in with the above photo. He said “I recently found a photo of my father’s first car. He passed away a while back. It appears to look like a ’35 Ford coupe with a rumble seat but not exactly sure. Can you can identify what model it was? A couple people told me there was a model that folded down so someone could sleep in it.”

Well, to start with, we are certain this is indeed a 1935 Ford. Specifically it’s a Model 48 (as were all U.S.-built ’35 Fords) five-window standard coupe. Five-window coupes have two windows on each side, whereas three-window coupes have only one large window on each side. We know this isn’t a De Luxe because the windshield frame and grille are painted rather than being bright metal. The rumble seat was an extra-cost option, though we can’t really tell from the photo if there was one installed on this car.

1937 Nash brochure featuring the “distinctive Nash bed-arrangement” which was to become a hallmark of Nash and AMC memories and the butt of too many drive-in movie jokes.

Did Ford offer a coupe with beds in 1935?

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Related – Vintage matched pair: 1935 Ford Tudor with camping trailer

Memories restored alongside ‘35 Ford – Cole Wagner @MerritHerald

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When is a truck more than just a vehicle?

Merritt’s Sherry Brabant might have the answer — in the form of a 1935 Ford truck which has served her family faithfully for more than half a century

The turquoise-coloured one-and-a-half-ton Ford may not move at today’s highway speeds, but it was just right for making sawdust deliveries in Kimberley back in the early ‘50s, explained Brabant, whose father co-owned the business.

Read the story here

 

American Pickers: Mike Delivers a Million Dollar Speedster Part to Doug Pray of ACD

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Interesting to see that American Pickers are getting involved in the efforts of Doug Pray to keep both his Father’s and the ACD legacy alive.

BROKEN ARROW — Doug Pray has a fixed date in mind that he is working hard toward.

The vehicle will not be a replica, but a manufactured vehicle using 1935 Auburn parts. It will be the first of a series of Auburn G3s to be manufactured in his small Broken Arrow manufacturing plant with a price tag of $750,000.

“The problem with a 1935 new car with 1935 parts is they drive like a 1935 car,” said Pray, 64. “What we are doing is upgrading the engine from 150 horsepower to 250 horsepower with a new supercharger, aluminum billet, pistons and rods along with improved brakes and steering.”

The price tag was derived from how much his firm charges per hour for restoring the Auburns and Cords of clients — $70 to $80 an hour for a usual restoration. Pray currently has four frames to build up into his Auburn Speedster G3 (G3 stands for third generation).

The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival is one of the largest car shows in the U.S. for the past 60 years. Pray believes it is the ideal format for unveiling his new vehicle.

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Watch this Chevrolet Knee’s in Action – The Old Motor

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Good article from The Old Motor on the 1930’s Chevrolet “Knee Action” suspension

Today’s lead image dated to November 6, 1934, by the source, shows either a 1934 or ’35 Chevrolet “Knee-Action” promotional car equipped with it parked in front of the St. Louis Monument located in Forest Park at St. Louis, Missouri.

This form of independent front suspension was developed by Andre DuBonnet, and Chevrolet’s version of it pictured (below) was offered on some 1934-’38 models. It was a very advanced system, although in use it required a considerable amount of maintenance and repair. Overall it was not a success, due to the automaker rushing its version of the system to market without enough development and testing. This in turn led to many of the cars equipped with it being converted to the standard Chevrolet I-beam axle with semi-elliptic springs as used on other models.

Read the rest of the article here

Pair of Ford’s Village Industries mills come up for sale – Daniel Strohl @Hemmings

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Neither looks like they’d have much to do with automotive manufacturing or even the so-called arsenal of democracy, but a pair of buildings along the Middle River Rouge west of Detroit once played a role in both and may soon become part of a broad redevelopment project now that the county that owns them has put them up for sale.

Wayne County’s decision to sell off the former Ford Village Industries factories that it owns comes as part of a larger plan to create a greenway of parks and trails along the Middle Rouge, according to a recent article in the Detroit Free Press. However, instead of restoring the factories that once ran on hydroelectric power generated by damming up sections of the Middle Rouge, county officials are hoping local businesses will revive the plants.

Read the rest of the article here