Category: 1948

These prewar-to-postwar carryovers are elegant and relatively rare – Matt Litwin @Hemmings

These prewar-to-postwar carryovers are elegant and relatively rare – Matt Litwin @Hemmings

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When U.S. automobile production resumed after World War II, eager buyers scooped up warmed-over prewar models while advertising agencies cleverly avoided the phrase, “all new.”

Take Mercury, for instance. The division’s pitch for 1946 was “Step out with Mercury.” It was simple enough, and the mid-priced branch of Ford Motor Company promptly sold 86,603 cars. A year later, “More of everything you want” became the company’s slogan. Sure, the instrument panel dials had been updated, interior hardware was now finished in chrome (as was the grille surround), hub caps had been revised, and there was a new nameplate on the hood, but there was nothing “more” to Mercury. With little effort at the factory and the swipe of an artist’s brush, another 86,383 units were built during the model year.

By then, Mercury’s boardroom was aware that its vastly redesigned cars would be ready for production in late summer 1948. Thus, the ’48 Mercurys, like this Model 76 Club Convertible, entered showrooms with little fanfare.

The Club Convertible was now one of four body styles offered by Mercury, the others being a two-door Sedan Coupe, four-door Town Sedan, and a Station Wagon. In a calculated move, the exceptionally poor-selling two-door Coupe had been dropped in anticipation of the forthcoming redesign. Not unexpectedly, each retained the same grille design from the previous year, topped by running lamps flanking the pronounced hood. Front and rear fender trim was identical to that used a year prior, and a split windshield remained. The Club Convertible’s top was available in either “natural” or black-tinted fabric.

The 1948 line of Mercurys continued to utilize the division’s 239.4-cu.in. flathead V-8 engine, which had been upgraded a year prior with the use of lightweight, four-ring aluminum pistons, and carried a factory rating of 100 hp. Likewise, a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission was standard equipment. A full set of 12-inch hydraulic drum brakes managed stopping force, while passenger comfort was handled by “slow-acting springs” and shocks

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The plane-like 1948 TASCO was the first car equipped with a T-top roof – Ronan Glon @Autoblog

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One of the Chevrolet Corvette’s most popular features traces its roots to an obscure, airplane-like prototype built in 1948. Although the third-generation ‘Vette is widely credited as being the first production car equipped with a T-top roof, the system was inaugurated by Gordon Buehrig’s one-of-a-kind TASCO prototype and patented in 1951.

Born in 1904, Buehrig was an accomplished stylist and engineer whose resume included the Auburn 851 Speedster, the coffin-nosed Cord 810/812, and several variants of Duesenberg’s Model J. Shortly after World War II, he was commissioned by The American Sports Car Company (TASCO) to create — you’ll get no points for guessing this — an American sports car. He drew a two-seater with a long hood and a short deck, proportions associated with grand tourers, but he injected an unusually large dose of aerospace DNA into the design.

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Note from Editor

I actually saw this car a few years ago along with a lot of other Buehrig artefacts at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum in Auburn Indiana link here

 

 

Chevrolet Assembly Plant Grand Opening Van Nuys, California — The Old Motor

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In light of the recently announced closures of General Motors passenger car assembly plants at Lordstown, Ohio, and Hamtramck, Michigan we decided to take a look at two assembly plants GM has closed in the past. The new Chevrolet plant at Van Nuys, CA, located 22-miles northwest of Los Angeles and the GM plant in…

via Chevrolet Assembly Plant Grand Opening Van Nuys, California — The Old Motor

1948 TUCKER 48 – Bonhams The Tupelo Automobile Museum Auction 27 Apr 2019

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1948 Tucker 48
Design by Alex S. Tremulis

Chassis no. 1028
Engine no. 335-35
335ci SOHC 6-Cylinder Engine
Single Stromberg Downdraft Carburetor
166bhp at 3,200 RPM
4-Speed Manual Transmission with Bendix Vacuum-Electric Preselector
Front and Rear Independent Torsilastic Suspension
4-Wheel Drum Brakes

*One of the seven Tuckers to undergo endurance testing at the Indianapolis *Motor Speedway
*Mechanically prepared by Tucker expert Richard E. Jones
*Carefully maintained since complete restoration in the 1980s
*Featured in the company’s film Tucker the Man and the Car

Burly Wood – 1948 GMC Highlander – Mike McNessor @Hemmings

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Ask a Hemmings Editor – What constitutes a survivor? – Daniel Strohl @Hemmings

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Recently, Howard Shaw bought himself a 1948 Buick Roadmaster convertible that he discovered through Hemmings. Congrats, Howard! He plans to pick it up in the near future, so, just like many of us do when we’ve bought an old car, his thoughts are occupied with what he can do with it once he takes possession of it. Howard writes:

The car has never had any bodywork done, and is 100-percent original, including paint, carpets, and running gear. The top was replaced many years ago, and the engine and transmission were overhauled at some time as well. Tires are now radials and are wide whitewalls of vintage wide whites.

My question, after having the top and tires replaced with new, and the engine and transmission rebuilt to factory specs, would you consider the car to be a survivor? I expect to show this car as an original survivor, am I right or wrong?”

Read the interesting response here

AACA Museum, Inc. to present “Tucker – How it All Began” – Kurt Ernst @Hemmings

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Seventy years after the closure of his namesake automobile company, and 63 years after his death in December 1956, Preston Tucker remains a compelling figure in the history of the American automobile. The Cammack Tucker Gallery of the AACA Museum, Inc., in Hershey, Pennsylvania, houses one of the world’s finest collections of Tucker automobiles and memorabilia, and on Saturday, January 26, the museum will present Tucker–How it All Began with marque experts Mark Lieberman and John Tucker Jr., grandson of Preston Tucker.

Read Kurt’s article here

 

Postwar Lincoln Sedans – Milton Stern @Hemmings

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Postwar Lincoln Sedans from Hemmings Classic Car

I LIKE TO POST CARS FOR SALE ON Facebook to gauge my motorhead friends’ reactions. If a post just gets a lot of likes and maybe a few “It’s gorgeous,” “My grandfather had one,” or “I would love to have this” comments, the car probably isn’t an underdog. However, if the post elicits a heated discussion on high asking price, place in the market, styling, etc., folks, we have ourselves an underdog.

Read the rest of the article here