See the circular image on the left side of this photo of an old block building? It is the ghostly remains of a painting of an early automobile tire. Taking the entire wall into account, it looks like it once read, “Goodrich Tires,” followed by the slogan, “Best in the Long Run.”
Goodrich used this slogan for many years. The earliest appearance I could find in newspapers was 1910, and it was used at least as late as the 1950s. This neat old building with the faded slogan is located in Scandia, Kansas. A quick search of newspapers from that era suggests it may have been Preble’s Garage. This ad is from 1920:
It looks like Preble’s Garage also sold White Eagle Gas at one time. Just imagine this building with the White Eagle pump out front!
We attended the annual Old Trusty Antique & Collectors Show a couple of weekends ago and were surprised to see this rare Empire sitting among the classics. Unfortunately, there was no one hovering around it that I could question, so I have no idea where it originated from or how it came to be in Clay Center; I only know it was there and it was amazing.
The Empire Automobile Company was founded in 1909 by a small group of Indianapolis businessmen. Three of these men, Arthur Newby of the National Car Company, Carl Fisher of Prest-O-Lite, and James Allison who later became known for Allison Aircraft, were also involved in the building of a certain famous brick racetrack in that city. On a cold day in December of 1909, the last brick, a gold-plated one, was laid into place, and it was time to prove the new track was a fast one. Many records were broken that day by bigger and more powerful automobiles, but the 4-cylinder Empire did participate in the record setting:
With the founders wanting to focus on the racetrack endeavor, Empire was sold in 1911, went through a reorganization that moved some operations to Pennsylvania, added a 6-cylinder 25-hp Continental engine as an option, and was gone by the time the 1920s rolled around. The Empire at the Old Trusty show looks similar to the drawing featured in this advertisement which provides some detail about the “The Little Aristocrat.”
The upholstery looks original, doesn’t it? Where on earth has this car been?
This was the 41st year for Old Trusty, and it really is a gem of a show with so much to see in terms of antique cars, trucks, tractors, and equipment. Here are photos of a few more things that were part of the show, including a 1966 Plymouth Satellite, a couple of Ford trucks , a canary yellow Model A, a 1912 Excelsior motorcycle, and all manner of military vehicles and engines.
Just when you start to worry that all the good car parts have already found their way into the hands of collectors, you have a great morning at the flea market. This is what we walked away with Saturday:
The instrument cluster is from a 1948-1950 Ford truck, and the clock, in beautiful condition, is from a 1937 Lafayette.
The colorful items at the top of the photo are vintage bug deflectors, and the oval underneath them is an early beveled glass window with frame like the one being used as a rear window on this 1907 Regal:
1907 Regal “30” Touring
The Oldsmobile “ringed globe” emblem is also in fantastic condition, and the fog light is a high-quality “Lumidor,” mentioned in this 1949 advertisement:
My husband has banned me from dragging home any more hubcaps, but I still manage to sneak some past him. The set of four Chevy truck caps are full of dents and rust, but hey, some people like them that way, and I also found a decent Mopar red-line cap. The find I was most excited about was the Buick cap, found only on the 1934-1935 Series 40.
You don’t see caps for this stunningly beautiful automobile very often, so I was thrilled to spot it in a pile of parts. The junking season is in full swing in my neighborhood, and we will be hitting the road for the next three weekends to see what else we can find. These are the places and dates in case you want to try your luck:
This advertisement for the 1958 Chevrolet, made in conjunction with the Kansas City Auto Show, describes the 17 models available in ’58:
Note that the lineup includes Impala models as part of the Bel Air series:
This marked the first opportunity for a member of the car-buying public to purchase a Chevrolet Impala, but it was not the first time General Motors utilized that particular name. A “dream car” presented at GM’s 1956 Motorama car show was a futuristic five passenger sport sedan that was, believe it or not, called a Corvette Impala.
Like the production Corvette, the Corvette Impala had a fiberglass body. It was almost the same width as a Chevrolet sedan, but four and a half inches longer and six inches lower. The power plant was a 225-hp Super Turbo-Fire V8 with 9.25-to-1 compression ratio, high-lift cam shaft and a four-barrel carb. Being a GM product, it naturally had a Powerglide transmission.
In a departure from the typical more-is-more styling of the 1950s, little chrome was used. It did have a toothy, Corvette-like grille, however.
So, would you have been in the market for this Impala concept car, described as having “fleet, buoyant lines that accent motoring adventure with safety and luxury?” Or do your preferences in motoring adventure run more along these lines?
