This beautiful 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 XL hardtop is pictured in front of the Mill at the annual Stuhr Museum car show in Grand Island, Nebraska. Check out the gorgeous white leather interior and bucket seats:
The tail lights in ’64 were the size of dinner plates and featured the sunburst design:
When you think of Ford in 1964, you likely think of the introduction of the Mustang, but Ford’s emphasis in 1964 was on power. Ford advertised it as “total performance”:
Clockwise from the top: Thunderbird, Fairlane, Galaxie, Falcon
Engine options for the Galaxie included five different V-8s, ranging from the 195-hp 289 to a 425-hp Thunderbird 427 V-8. Excellent choices for a fabulous Ford line-up!
The iconic greyhound pictured above is adorning a 1929 Lincoln. Of all the hood ornaments and radiator caps ever produced, the greyhound might be the one most reproduced. It is definitely “buyer beware” when it comes to the greyhound as even sellers frequently don’t know what they have. I picked up this greyhound radiator cap years ago:
The underside of the cap is marked “THE MURPHY CAP MFG BY RUPERT DIECASTING CORP KC MO.”
Rupert Diecasting was located in Kansas City until moving to Kentucky in the 1960s. I have been told that this cap was only produced in 1933, which makes it pretty rare. I haven’t been able to verify that, but it makes sense as I recently found a copyright infringement lawsuit that was filed against Rupert by Franklin Diecasting in 1933 regarding Franklin’s copyrighted “Greyhound Combination Ornament and Radiator Cap”. If you have any additional information on the Murphy Cap, I would love to hear from you. Contact me at americancarhistorian@gmail.com.
Like the 1968 Mustang featured in the Steve McQueen flick “Bullitt”, my very first car was a ’68 Mustang. Unfortunately, it was a coupe, not a fastback, and sadly had a straight-6, not a 390. It was also full of Bondo, but I loved it and do wish I had it back!
Old, aftermarket hub caps keep finding me lately, and some of them are just hilarious. Inexpensive replacement caps were sold by companies like Western Auto and J.C. Whitney, but the logos had to be altered enough to avoid pesky trademark infringement laws. Some of them are pretty good facsimiles thereof, like this Cadillac replacement cap. It is heavy duty and looks like the Caddy emblem, but has lines instead of ducks:
This one has stars instead of ducks.
Frankly, they both look better than the modern Cadillac version that has been sanitized of its history and personality. For Chevy replacements, a dash was commonly used in place of the bowtie:
This one is for a 1954 Chevy, and it is a pretty good copy, too. You have to look hard to see that it is a dash and all one piece (the real ones have a separate center insert).
The really entertaining versions are the ones with altered spelling. I have seen dog dishes that say “Dodoe” instead of Dodge, for instance. The Chrysler replacement cap pictured below says something like “Clrrfrlir, although the “i” is mysteriously undotted.
This is one of the famous “Bool” caps made for a Model A Ford:
I have heard that they also made a “Fool” version. I’m not sure who would want to drive around with those on their car (but I know of a few people who should).
This wonderful Ford advertisement was published in time for Christmas of 1936, and the Ford flathead V8, which first appeared in 1932, was also a “grand gift” for the law enforcement family. Never before had so much horsepower been so affordable. By 1934, the Ford flathead had 85 hp, and this 1934 ad claimed Ford had the only V8 under $2500. (Note that it was way under with prices starting at only $515.)
Stories about bad guys doing horrible things like robbing banks and gunning down police officers were splashed all over the front pages of newspapers, so, as one Ford rep explained, “We are answering the challenges of gangsters by giving police these speedy, powerful cars.” In 1934, New York City added 85 shiny new Fords to its fleet. The cars were lined up fender to fender outside the Ford factory at Edgewater, NJ, and they almost completely spanned the 1500-foot-long car assembly building:
San Francisco received their new fleet of Fords in 1936:
These early successes earned a solid reputation and a loyal following that made Ford the police car of choice for decades until being knocked off its pedestal (temporarily) by Mopar in 1969.
And who could possibly disagree with the sentiment expressed by that 1936 advertisement? A Ford V8 WOULD make a grand Christmas gift!
What is it about old car dealerships that tug at your heartstrings? When we are road-tripping, I look for these glimpses into the past on the main street of every town we pass through. It is always a pleasant surprise to find such a structure that has been preserved and given new life, and one superb example of such a property is the former Gottberg Auto Company dealership (now Dusters Restaurant & Gottberg Brew Pub) in Columbus, Nebraska.
This structure, built in 1920, features the front ends of four automobiles, made of stone, at three upper corners. Each stone car has a “G” on the grille:
This dealership was built by a man of vision named Max Gottberg. Gottberg had been a farmer since 1881, but a discussion with a local attorney in 1905 changed his career path. Gottberg had purchased his first automobile, a Ford Model A 2-cylinder, a couple of years earlier at the St. Louis World’s Fair. The attorney owned the same type of car, but it had broken down and the attorney had hired a “mechanic” to fix it. The alleged mechanic had fled after strewing pieces and parts of the automobile across the yard, leaving both the attorney and his poor car in a bind. Gottberg, who was in town on jury duty, agreed to attempt to re-assemble the parts. He had the car “running like a top” within a day and a half and soon decided to open his own repair shop.
By 1907, Gottberg was ready to open a Ford dealership in Columbus. The first of any kind established in that city, it was also one of the earlier Ford agencies in the United States. The first few years of business were lean, however. Gottberg once recalled, “The first year I sold 22 cars, and, after all was said and done, I had lost $64.” Livery work helped to keep the doors open until America fell in love with the automobile, and soon Gottberg’s business was thriving.
In 1929, Gottberg established an airfield north of Columbus. An aviation enthusiast, he had purchased an American Eagle biplane. At that time, Ford was manufacturing a $50,000 tri-motor and encouraged Ford dealers to take an interest in aviation with a view toward the production of smaller aircraft.
Gottberg driving up the steps of the local YMCA to showcase the Ford’s power in 1911.
Gottberg Auto Company celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1932 and was one of the oldest Ford dealerships in the country at that time. It remained in business until Gottberg’s death in 1944.
It makes my heart happy that this uniquely beautiful building has not only been preserved, but is also being honored. Dusters Restaurant (named for the garments worn while driving the earliest automobiles) & Gottberg Brew Pub is a restaurant, banquet facility and micro-brewery featuring lagers, ales, root beer and cream soda. When my family and I stopped there for lunch not long ago , the food was great and the root beer was fantastic. If you are anywhere near Columbus, be sure to take the time to appreciate the building as well as the brews.
Sources:
Advertisment. Gottberg Auto Company. The Columbus Telegram, 30 June 1916, p.
“Auto Repair Shop Opened in 1907.” The Columbus Telegram, 23 May 1956, p. 6.
Dischner, Francis M. “Pioneer Auto Dealer Recalls Early Experiences.” The Columbus Telegram, 6 March 1931, p. 3.
Krepel, Terry. “Discover Columbus History Looking Up.” The Columbus Telegram, 20 December 1987, p. 1.
“Max Gottberg Among Oldest Ford Dealers.” The Columbus Telegram, 31 August 1936, p. 4.
“Second Airfield To Be Established North of Columbus.” The Columbus Telegram, 1 July 1929, 8.
“To Observe 25th Anniversary of Gottberg Agency.” The Columbus Daily Telegram, 22 April 1932, p. 8.
This is how one Nebraska State Trooper rolls . . . . in an iconic 1993 Fox Body Mustang:
Photo credit: My State Trooper brother-in-law
This Mustang SSP (Special Service Package) has a 5.0-liter 302ci V8 and just has to be a blast to drive. (It was featured on “The Drive” in May, where the author referenced Nebraska’s “famously flat highways”. For the record, Nebraska is not flat, and you only think that if you never get far from I-80 which was constructed in the Platte River Valley because the Valley is flat. That’s how road construction works.)
Anyway, Ford built the Mustang SSP cars from 1982 to 1993. In 1982, the California Highway Patrol bought 400 of them and nine other states followed suit the next year. One 1983 story touted the early version’s cornering capability as well as its speed (over 120 mph) and rapid acceleration (zero to 50 in 6.3 seconds). It was a welcome change for CHP officers as reported by the Oakdale Leader: “The CHP officer no longer has to be embarrassed struggling to hit 85 mph in the unimposing Dodge St. Regis, which was forced on the CHP by tough environmental laws.”
Ford advertised the Mustangs as “This Ford chases Porsches for a living,” a slogan reminiscent of this one from 1956, “It takes a Ford to catch a Ford”:
The Ford became the police car of choice in the 1930s because of cars like the 1932 flathead Ford and a specially built 1939 Ford with a Mercury motor capable of speeds up to 100mph. Ford’s overwhelming popularity with law enforcement continued until the late 1960s.
1956 (Angola, Indiana)1952 (Brookville, Pennsylvania)1959 (Church Point, Louisiana)
As law enforcement agencies across the country struggle with recruiting, they may want to consider allowing more officers to drive classic patrol cars. Applicants would likely be lining up (especially if they added the 1969 Dodge Monaco with the 440 Magnum back into the line-up)!
Sources:
“Fast Acceleration Spurring Sales of Mustang Special Service Cars.” The Hartford Courant, 11 May 1983, p. F2.
Ford. Advertisement. The Angola Herald, 4 April 1956, p. 4.
Ford. Advertisement. The Sandusky Register, 20 March 1956, page 1.
Peters, Eric. “Lots of Police Car Lore Offered in ‘Encyclopedia'”. The Courier News [Somerville], 23 August 2000, p. 6.
Photo. The Church Point News, 1 September 1959, p. 1.
Raymond-Barth, Mary. “CHP Adds Muscle to Enforcement, Instead of Being Left in the Dust.” Oakdale Leader, 27 April 1983, p. 1.
“Special Police Auto Arrives: Capable of Speeds of 100 MPH.” The Transcript Bulletin [Tooele], 12 December 1939, p.1.
“Something New.” The Brookville American, 1 May 1952, p. 1.
“The ’83 Ford Mustang Police Car.” The Courier Post [Cherry Hill], 24 May 1983, p. 140.
That’s right, Nebraska, still not recovered from massive flooding, was treated to a blizzard this week. This Ford Model A snowmobile would be very handy for traversing the snow-covered roads, and it was actually called a snowmobile by inventor Virgil White. White was a New Hampshire Ford dealer, and he patented this special attachment for Ford cars and trucks in 1917.
The front wheels were replaced with runners that were 5 feet long and 18 inches wide. The rear axle was extended and wheels were added to hold the caterpillar tread. The kit sold for around $175 and was very popular, particularly with rural mail carriers and doctors.
Sources:
Constable, George N. “Snowmobile Ideas Began Drifting Around
in 1913.” News Journal [Mansfield], 21 January 1986, p. 1-B.
“Ford Turns Out the Snowmobile.” The Calgary Daily Herald, 7 March 1925, p. 20.
“Snowmobiles for Automobiles is New Idea; Scheme Tested.” The Windsor Star, 10 January 1925, p. 3.
The Snowmobile. Advertisement.
The Burlington Free Press, 6 October
1923.
