Home//Old Cars Weekly/March 1, 2024/In This Issue
Old Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024YOU can help museumsFortunately, the largest old car and truck hobby museums are here to stay, thanks to years of effort by many enthusiasts who donated their time and money toward establishing those museums, and who continue to do so in order to keep them operating. However, many midsize and small museums are not in the same position and seem to come and go. It’s an unfortunate fact in every hobby, not just old car- and truck-related museums. It takes a lot of organization and people to keep any museum flourishing — curators to keep displays interesting and people returning, fundraising staff to bring in additional money, marketing personnel to introduce the museum to the public, and that’s just for starters. Add in the mechanics and detailers required for a car or truck…3 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Weathered Wheels“On a rural homestead in northern Minnesota sits this 1951 Ford F1 pickup truck,” reports Steve Isola, our “Weathered Wheels” super-spotter. “Although well-worn, it runs and drives great, according to the owner, who happens to not be of driving age yet! This young fellow inherited the truck from his grandfather. Originating from Upper Michigan, the truck will need a lot in terms of sheet metal work, but it’s a driver as-is. And it is a factory flathead V-8. Most parts are readily available to restore these old Fords. In the meantime, the owner is getting a lot of time behind the wheel just driving it around the property. And he knows how to ‘turn a wrench,’ too! It’s encouraging and good to see that the next generation of old car…1 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024MAN CAVE orMuseum?How much is enough? For Randy Gotschall and his passion for collecting vintage petroliana and automobilia, the answer is there’s always room for more. Walking through the southern Iowa building that houses Gotschall’s collection, it appears at first glance to be full with no room to spare for new acquisitions. But it’s a collection in flux, with the option to rearrange displays in order to open up space for additional items. A dozen years ago, Gotschall relocated his growing collection from his home to a nearby former LP gas sales and service building that had become available. After remodeling its interior, the two-room building was transformed into Gotschall’s man cave that resembles a museum. He even allotted space for his current car project, the restoration of a 1971 Pontiac Firebird…4 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Museum of American SpeedAvid auto enthusiasts who are into hot rodding or the street rod scene have probably heard of “Speedy” Bill of Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Nebr. However, they may not be aware that located on the same campus as Speedway Motors is the Museum of American Speed, a world-class automotive museum that ranks as one of our nation’s best, reflected by its having been voted the number one museum in its class by USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards. The Museum of American Speed – the Smith Collection was founded in 1992 by “Speedy” Bill and Joyce Smith in a smaller building in West Lincoln before moving in 2001 to its current location on the Speedway Campus. The three-floor, 150,000-sq.-ft. museum presents a chronology of automotive racing engines and speed equipment development…2 min
Old Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Sound Your HornMistaken identity In the Nov. 15 issue, I believe the model of Buick in “Weathered Wheels” was misidentified. In 1948, the Buick “Super” or “Roadmaster” series was identified in script above the chrome strip on the front right fender. I believe the pictured car is a 1947 as it lacks the identifying script. Robert E. Duncan, Charleston, S.C. Packard Club holds rights I read with interest the news item in the Feb. 1 issue of Old Cars under “The Scoop” on pages 14 and 16 (“Company plans to build modern Packard”). The paragraph which states: “Andrews owns the legal rights to the Packard brands, patents and trademarks” is blatantly false. The Packard Club, aka Packard Automobile Classics (PAC), is the legal registered owner of the trademarks for the Packard Coat…2 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Talkin’ Tim Allen, GTOs and Corvettes ...“Aiming for the perfect car...” is one of the thoughts expressed by entertainer, film star and car guy Tim Allen in Randy Pribyl’s recent articles (with photos by club president Vic Schreck) appearing in the first 2024 edition of The Legend (Tom Szymczyk, editor; GTO Association of America, PO BOX 213, Timnath, CO 80547; www.gtoaa.org). Allen was 10 when he became enthralled with the GTO mystique, thanks to a 1964 article in Car and Driver. The powerful GTO could run rings around Allen’s first car, a 1961 VW, which he assembled from pieces. Once the GTO mystique entered his life, he was hooked. Allen races “all the time” with Jay Leno (even using Model T Fords), says his mother thinks he has too many cars, and he is still on…1 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Independents DayHudson Goes Big with Small Good ideas don’t die, but they don’t always succeed, either, and that was a lesson Hudson learned in 1954 when its compact Jet faded away. Every car that didn’t make it has its defenders, its critics and its analysts with theories about what really went wrong. However, the simple truth about compacts is that, through most of the 20th Century, not many American drivers wanted them. Setting aside the truly small cyclecars whose brief moment in the sun was mostly at about the end of the Brass Era, few significant manufacturers even tried. American Austin, Bantam and Crosley are among the best-known examples from the period between the two World Wars, and while they might be charming, that wasn’t enough to save them. Only Crosley…7 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Just Before the WarAs with all other U.S. vehicle manufacturers, Packard automobile production for the 1942 model year was curtailed due to the war effort. Before all production ceased following the United States’ entry into World War II in December 1941, Packard managed to produce just 19,199 Eight models in six body styles: a business coupe, club sedan and touring sedan in the Special Eight series; a club sedan and touring sedan in the Custom Eight series; and a convertible coupe in the simply named Eight series. By Feb. 11, 1942, all automobile production took a back seat to war production as Packard and all other American automobile manufacturers joined the war effort by offering their knowledge, resources and industrialized mass production techniques to producing military vehicles and armaments. Twentieth Series Packard production—which…6 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024R.E. Olds Transportation MuseumThe R.E. Olds Transportation Museum’s understated building houses a treasure trove of Oldsmobile history and leaves old car enthusiasts in awe of the relics housed within its walls and glad to have spent the time there. The museum’s displays span from the days of Ransom Eli Olds’ early efforts to develop a practical horseless carriage to the end of the Oldsmobile marque. The museum has its roots going back to the late 1970s, when discussions began about founding a museum in Lansing, Mich. Those present fully appreciated the significance of what R.E. Olds and Oldsmobile had done for their city, and they believed the history was worth telling and preserving. “A lot would have been lost to the dust bin of history since the loss of Oldsmobile [in 2004],” says…7 min
Old Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024The ScoopMullin Museum closing; Gooding to begin selling collection OXNARD, Calif. — The Mullin Automotive Museum, known for its spectacular collection of fabulous French automobiles from the Art Deco era, is closing its doors for good, and the Mullin family plans to begin auctioning off the collection. According to a press release, the closing date for the museum is Feb. 10. The museum had been the result of years of collecting from businessman and philanthropist Peter Mullin, who opened the 50,000-sq.-ft. shrine in 2010 with his wife, Merle, to show off their amazing fleet of vintage Bugattis, Delahayes, Hispano-Suizas, grand prix race cars and other noteworthy machines. Peter Mullin died Sept. 20, 2023, after a lengthy illness. He and Merle are well known for their charity work over the years and…4 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 2024Vintage ad of the weekAt first, you might assume the highlighted ad is a promotion for the comedy movie “The Solid Gold Cadillac.” But since that flick debuted in 1956, it’s probably a coincidence that the featured ad appears to show a 1954 Series 62 convertible painted a rare gold hue, perhaps depicting that year’s Copper Metallic. How rare? Cadillac authority and Old Cars Editor Angelo Van Bogart reports he’s only seen Copper Metallic applied to the roof of a few 1954 Caddies, but never the lower body. On the road, the Cadillac’s “masterful” 230-hp V-8 engine, its “incredibly smooth” Hydra-Matic Drive and its “advanced” power steering delivered the most powerful and responsive performance in Cadillac’s history. The featured Series 62 convertible also wears optional wire wheels, which were standard on the Eldorado. During…1 minOld Cars Weekly|March 1, 20243 Generations of Good TasteMany of America’s great car collections owe their origin to a single individual’s enthusiasm and sheer drive to save the best for posterity. Now imagine the dividends that accrue in cases where such people entered the hobby when it was in its infancy and found themselves blessed with progeny who shared their interest. Connecticut denizen Peter Dragone was one such success story who started buying, selling, restoring and collecting antique cars back in the 1940s, after which time his sons, Manny and George, became hobby stalwarts themselves in the early 1970s. Manny and George eventually made a business of their inherited passion by opening a vintage auto showroom in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1978. It was certainly a great time for the brothers to benefit from the friendship and guidance of…7 min
