Hemmings Classic Car February 2022

“…GM and Ford were more mainstream, yet Chrysler cars seemed to be the choice of the savvy buyer.” When I was a young kid, in the early ’70s, our family cars came from the Chrysler Corporation and the same was true for most members of my extended family as well. I was already fascinated with cars, and I seemed to figure out pretty quickly that Dodges and Plymouths were produced by the same company that made the cars bearing the Chrysler nameplate. Our household relied on a Dodge Dart in my earliest days, and then a Plymouth Satellite. One of my grandfathers also had a Dart, as did one of my uncles; another uncle had a Plymouth Duster. I somehow got the sense that buying cars with that neat little…

THE AUBURN CORD DUESENBERG AUTOMOBILE Museum has announced the arrival of a 1934 Ford stolen by famous criminal John Dillinger during his escape from a county prison. It is believed to be the first time the getaway car has been made available for public viewing. On March 3, 1934, Dillinger stole the Ford from Crown Point, Indiana, sheriff Lillian Holley after breaking out of the Crown Point jail. The Ford would eventually be found abandoned in Chicago and it’s thought that Dillinger used the car for as many as two days in the Windy City after escaping. The getaway car is now on display along with a collection of Dillinger-related artifacts. Among them are a pair of Sheriff Holley’s handcuffs, a revolver owned by Holley, a Thompson submachine gun that was…

TWO UNUSUAL LINCOLNS WITH INTERESTING OWNERSHIP HISTORIES ARE NOW ON DISPLAY AT THE LINCOLN MOTOR CAR HERITAGE MUSEUM ON the Gilmore Car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, Michigan. A 1933 KB LeBaron convertible roadster, originally bought by actor and radio star W.C. Fields, will be on loan to the museum courtesy of David Gunther, who has owned the car for more than six decades. Fields owned the KB until his death in 1946. Joining Fields’ old car is a 1922 Lincoln Type 118 limousine, donated to the museum by Larry Smith of Bloomfield Hills. The limo was first purchased by Alfred E. Lucking, who was legal counsel for the Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford’s personal attorney from 1914-’23. He was lead counsel against the Chicago Tribune and the Dodge…

THE ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA HAS released the first half of its 2022 calendar. Each show welcomes car collectors and hobbyists from all over the country to take part in car displays, car corrals, flea markets, swap meets, tours, and more. The AACA shows are a great opportunity to find your dream car, or hard-to-find parts and memorabilia. Here are the events planned so far through June: February 10-12: PhiladelphiaPennsylvania February 24-28: MelbourneFloridaCape Canaveral Region March 10-12: LasVegasNevada March 20-26: MobileAlabamaDeep South Region April 7-9: CharlotteNorthCarolinaHornets’ Nest Region April 21-23: GuaynaboPuertoRicoPuerto Rico Region May 19-21: VirginiaBeachVirginiaTidewater Region May 22-25: JohnstownPennsylvaniaFlood City Region June 16-18: BeckleyWestVirginiaWest Virginia Whitewater Region For specific details about each event, visit the designated region’s website, found at aaca.org.…

THE LAST TIME WE ASKED ABOUT AN ODD CUSTOM VEHICLE WE CAME ACROSS ON THE TRUQUE BLOG, WE WERE DELIGHTED WITH THE FULL STORY of the backwards Type 2 (see Lost & Found, December 2021). So, let’s try it again with this, uh, Volkswagen? It has a Volkswagen emblem on the front, and if it originated from a Type 2 (as the size of the emblem suggests), then, (a) these photos date to the 1950s at the earliest and, (b) why would anyone go through the trouble of building a light and small van if the Type 2 already existed? But is this aVolkswagen-based vehicle? We see what could be Beetle fenders turned backward at the front corners, plus those unmistakable VW headlamps and possibly Beetle upper door frames. In…

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER WRITING ABOUT THE CHICAGO Transit Authority’s zombie buses (see Lost & Found, January 2022), we received a number of replies from people who had firsthand experience with them and who could confirm that they were indeed meant as mobile tool sheds for crews working on CTA equipment. Big Al writes: “I worked on and helped create some of these buses. We called them gang buses or work buses. They had both 120-volts AC and 600-volts DC. The buses were hooked up to the third rail for power and, most importantly, heat during the winters. AC power would come from the nearest Con Ed pole. They were originally utilized by lineman and iron workers but later on, almost every trade at the CTA would have one of these. They…