A Flying Cadillac: Car Collection, #1

OUTDONE BY A SIX

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When I was in my late teens, one of the ways I earned money was buying and selling used cars.  Between the ages of 16 and 21 I went through hundreds of cars, most everything built from the late forties to the sixties.  I was also on the lookout for the right cars to keep forever.

My usual way of shopping, go to the Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial dealer (A.Volpato Inc., my favorite)and nearly every other lot in town.  At the time none of them kept a used car more then five years old.  All the rest ended up in the south 40, the end of the lot.  Usually there were 4 or 5 cars I'd buy, ranging in price from $15 to $50, most less than ten years old.  One week I remember in particular, because I intended to keep one of the cars.  The five cars that week were, a 1957 DeSoto Fireflite 2 door hardtop, full power and factory A/C, badly in need of a detail, but only $15.  A white '57 Imperial Crown 2 door Southampton, likewise dirty, was also $15.  A 1955 Packard 400 hardtop, red and white, nice condition, for $35, also a '57 Buick Century 4 door Riviera for $17, and one to keep, a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk with 21,000 miles, perfect condition, but higher priced-$125.  I bought all five, detailed them and sold all but the Hawk.  I did end up not keeping the Hawk, but that was a typical car buying week.  I also bought from nearly every car dealer in town at one time or another.

One week I walked on the lot and among the other cars, a faded, dirty, but straight 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook convertible.  Blackwalls, hazed chrome, white top several shades into tan from dirt, but no dings, nice interior and started on the first crank.  I felt sorry for the little car, it needed help.  It was $19, and after many years, I know I bought several cars that day, but only remember the Plymouth.  I usually went for V8's, and most often fins, but I liked the Plymouth.  A couple of days later I detailed it.  The faded orange-brown paint turned deep lustrous red, the convertible top sparkling white.  I had a good set of wide whitewalls put on, and did a simple tune up.  At the same time I had three 1957 Lincoln Premiere's, a coral pink convertible, a turquoise 2 door hardtop, and a black 2 door hardtop, also a '59 white Dodge Super D-500 Coronet 2 door hardtop with every accessory, and a 1957 Cadillac Series 62 convertible in pale pink.  When I went cruising (still a teen remember) I usually used one of the flashier cars.  One night the Dodge wouldn't start, it was blocking everything else in the driveway, except the '52 Plymouth.  It was a beautiful summer evening and I wanted to cruise in a convertible.  It was also later than I usually started cruising, so I thought, Why not, it's a cute car anyway.

The cruise then was up and down the Esplanade, Main Street and Broadway, which were all kind of the same streets with name changes.  The Esplanade is still a very nice drive, with timed stoplights (as they were in the 60's, you could make the lights at 28, 56, 84 or 112 mph, each increment more frightening) with lots of trees and shrubs for scenery.  I cruised around awhile, no one really noticed the little Plymouth much, although one college guy in a '51 Studebaker Starlite coupe yelled Nice car!  The usual turn around point was A&W drive-in,  if you went past that, East Ave. was a turn around.  After East Ave. there were less streetlights, and more open country with very little traffic.

I pulled up to the light at East Ave.  A nice black 1950 Ford convertible, also top down pulled alongside.  I didn't really know the guy, I knew his nickname from school.  They called him Jeep because his initials were J.P., he had two other guys with him.  The Ford sounded cool with dual glass packs (my Plymouth had one).  Someone yelled You want to race  and  all laughed hysterically.  We were aimed the direction of the quiet part of the Esplanade, five miles of wide, straight road.  The light changed, the Ford pulled ahead of the Plymouth, but after a car length didn't get any further.  At around sixty I put the Plymouth in overdrive, now even with the Ford.  Ever so slowly, the Plymouth inched ahead of the Ford, then started widening the distance to several car lengths.  Jeep flashed his lights, which meant I give up, both doing over 90 mph, which I had no idea the little Plymouth was capable of.  Before then I had very little respect for six cylinders of any kind, especially old flatheads.  That little red Plymouth was like the Little Engine That Could and did.  I do believe it was the slowest drag race I ever participated in, but still more than I thought the Plymouth capable of, until then.

Jeep and I became friends, he bought a '57 Dodge D-500 a few weeks later, but would never race me again with anything he had.  I sold the little red Plymouth convertible to a local collector who took good care of it, eventually lost track of it.  Then one day a customer at my detail shop who normally drove Imperials made an appointment for a "52 Plymouth convertible.  I didn't keep track of the serial numbers and the license had been changed, but it sure looked like my old convertible-with fresh interior.  I like to think it's the same car.  He's taking fine care of it.

From that day on I had a healthy respect for six's, especially the Chrysler Corp flatheads.  A friends 70's Volare with a slant six was clocked at 120 mph once by the friendly California Highway Patrol,  It was an amazing car too.  The '52 Plymouth provided a teenager a night to remember.

1957 Hudson Hornet Hollywood Hardtop

(aka, the Rolling Jukebox)

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In the late 60's, I bought and sold cars all the time, looking for my ideal cars.  Sometimes one would come along to surprise you.  The year was 1966, after school I drove down to one of my favorite places, a Chrysler, Imperial and Plymouth dealership, they didn't want cars more than five years old, or strange cars on their lot. 

I went to the section where undesirables were.  One, a 1957 Hudson Hornet Hollywood Custom 2 door hardtop, hot pink below the side trim, black middle section, white roof, with pink/black/and white interior.  I liked the '57 Hudson.  One of our neighbors, a long time Hudson buyer, had a 4 door '57 Hornet (he traded it for a 1960 Edsel wagon).  From his car I could tell I was looking at a slightly different animal.  Someone altered the pink and black on the rear of the car so it was like a '56 with two-tone instead of the '57 solid mid section paint going down to the rear bumper.  Inside, a big difference, with Nash dashboard instead of the Hudson dash.  It didn't have a continental kit spare on the back of it, a plus to me, only 29,000 miles and still had wide whitewalls, it looked new.  I asked the price.  They said because of exceptional condition it was higher than many on their lot, $175.  I bought it along with several other cars that day.  Engine was the 327 cubic inch AMC engine, a GM Hydramatic behind, with positraction, also what felt like heavy duty suspension, later I found it was indeed (considered export suspension).

Inside, power windows, power seat, as well as power brakes, steering, and factory air conditioning, in perfect condition.  The engine provided more speed than I thought  would be available.  Reading old road tests, it was faster than those results. 

I eventually met the man who bought it new, a Hudson dealership mechanic (the Hudson dealer was still in business repairing Hudson’s and Nash’s), he'd breathed on the engine, souping it up.  0-60 at just over 8 seconds, was quick at the time.  The original owner liked the look of the Nash dash better and installed it as well as the alteration to the paint below the trunk.

The first thing I discovered about the Hudson, among friends I showed it to, they universally hated it.  Everyone said it looked like a Rolling Jukebox, that became its nickname, I happened to like jukeboxes, fell for the Hudson.  I'm always fascinated with the desperate make do fixes the small independents were doing.  The 1957 Packard built from the Studebaker (and quite well, I thought), The Hudson and Nash using the old Nash body with new fins and life thrown into them.  The Hudson was as solid as a bank vault, without any creaks or rattles, it also cornered well, stopped well and just topped 125 miles per hour.

One thing for sure, you couldn't have a low profile driving the Hudson.  Some people actually asked if it was from Russia.  Apparently they'd seen pictures of Packard looking Russian limos.  A few people liked it, most considered it the ugliest thing they'd ever seen. 

I liked the unique way manufactures did things on their cars.  On the Hudson (and Nash) you pulled toward you on the shift lever to start the car, the air conditioning in the dash long before anyone else put it there, and the Nash reclining seats made a bed for camping or roadside naps.  The tacked on rear fins were very obvious on some cars but blended well on mine with black paint in that section.  The chrome fins on the front fenders reminded me of my Dad's 1956 De Soto Fireflite, with twice as many.

A school friend had moved to Florida, I made numerous trips across the country.  Once in the '57 Hudson, I made the trip in a little less than 40 hours going back.  I could stay awake that long as a teenager.  I saw several police cars across the country, slowing down quickly when I did, every cop turned the other way when he saw the Hudson, like they didn't want to give a ticket and be seen with it.  On the return trip I stopped several times for sleep, with the reclining seats making the stops comfortable.  Even at 70 miles per hour the Hudson got 20 miles per gallon.  Too bad they didn't make more of them. 

One friend in school, John, gave me a hard time about the Hudson every chance he got.  Finally I got tired of it.  I told him, It's faster than your Chevy.  He had a '55 Bel Air 2 door hardtop with the stock 265 V8 with Powerglide.  John didn't believe he could possibly loose to the Hudson, on a quarter mile marked off near the airport in those days.  In the early morning hours we went with friends as witnesses, lined them up, sort of like the scene in Rebel Without a Cause except no cliff at the end, also Janet flagging for us, instead of Natalie Wood. 

She waved her scarf, the Hudson blasted from the line ahead of the Chevy.  Only got worse for John as we went, at the end of the quarter the Hudson was six to eight car lengths ahead of the Chevy.  Word got around, I ended up racing the Hudson a fair amount on that quarter mile, usually winning.  It lost to a fuel injected Corvette, by inches, and to a souped up GTO that took it by two car lengths.  John and my other friends developed a respect for the Hudson mechanically, they never liked the style.  After constant badgering for many months, I did something I'd never done before, gave in to peer pressure, selling the Hudson. 

I knew it was a mistake as I watched it drive away, it was too late.  I never let peer pressure affect me again, I would love to have another 1957 Hudson Hornet Hollywood, the same one if it still exists.  It was unique enough, if it's out there, someone should know about it.  A few years ago, I passed up a chance to get a 1956 Hudson 6 cylinder Wasp sedan for $600, with no description of condition.  I also didn't have anywhere to put it then.  I saw the car after it was sold, in near perfect condition.  I was sorry I hadn't taken the chance on it. 

The 1958 Rambler Ambassador was supposed to be the '58 Hudson before AMC’s decision to drop Nash and Hudson names), a logical extension of 1957 Hudson V-line styling, it certainly was mechanically, having the same engine as my Hudson.  I had a ‘58 for a short time, bought from the Rambler dealer here, a bright aqua body with white roof and matching two-tone interior, a four door hardtop style (without the post) in fabulous condition.  It had full power equipment with air conditioning (many cars here have A/C because of the 110+degree summer heat)  It drove well, but strangely, the extended wheelbase in front, the view going around corners almost like going sideways.  I had to get used to it every time I drove it.  It's 0 to 60 in the 10 second range, top speed after a few miles a little over 120 miles per hour.  Comfortable, it had reclining seats as the '57 Hudson did.  Most friends wouldn't have anything to do with a Rambler or AMC car.  They weren't able to enjoy the variety of automobiles around then.  I loved the differences that made the car companies.  The pushbuttons that AMC had were unlike Chryslers in several ways.  The Chrysler products didn't have a park position until the early sixties.  AMC had a park position, separate from the pushbuttons.  It's been enough years I can't remember the sequence, but it seemed the starter was on the neutral button, you turned the key on, pushed the starter button, released the park position, then the parking brake  put it in gear, then you could drive away. 

Always looked to me like Mercedes copied the small fins on the back of the Ramblers of that time.  And why not?  The Rambler was the size of the Mercedes and selling very well.  The local police used Ramblers and a couple of Ambassadors on their police fleets when new.  I remember as a kid standing on the sidewalk as an Ambassador patrol car screamed around a corner, tire sidewalls almost on the rims, car leaning precipitously, engine screaming, suddenly gathering itself to disappear down the road.  I also remembered the look of concentration on the face of the driver as he was cranking the wheel of the Ambassador.  Over the years I had a 1959 Ambassador sedan, a 1961 Ambassador with the strange European front end, also many other later AMC cars, but those are other stories. 

I need to find another '57 Hornet.

FIRST CAR, LOST CAR

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My first car, bought just after my 16th birthday, a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere convertible, gold with white side spear and convertible top, white and gold interior, a black dash and carpeting, with a white and black steering wheel.  Equipped with full power accessories, factory A/C, wing tip bumpers, and a nearly new set of wide whitewalls, the engine, replaced by the prior owner, a young man who had been an officer in the Air Force.  He installed a 1958 Fury 350 cu in Golden Commando, with TorqueFlite transmission, and beefed up the suspension.  Stationed overseas, the Plymouth was with him for around a year.  After the service he came to town to attend Chico State College, also was buying a new bronze colored '64 Plymouth Sports Fury convertible from Volpato's.  They only offered him $200 trade in on the '57.  I was driving by his home on Salem Street as he placed a For Sale sign in the '57.  I ask how much.  He said More than $200.  I asked, How about $300?  I had that saved from detailing neighbors cars.  He hesitated, then said Ok. 

There were a few immediate problems.  My father was dead set