Jalopnik: 1920s

70 Years Of Cars In Los Angeles: The UCLA Library Digital Collection

Murilee Martin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Because the 5,000 LA Times and LA Daily News photographs in UCLA's Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990 collection were all shot in Southern California- where the car has been king for 75 years- a bit of searching will unearth a lot of seriously cool car photos such as this 1980 shot. Make the jump to see a gallery with 50 of our favorites, then follow the link to the whole collection and kiss the rest of your day goodbye!

[UCLA Library Digital Collection, via BoingBoing, via Save Vs Death]

PCH, Hopelessly French Edition: 1925 Renault Type 45 or 1951 Citroen Traction-Avant?

Murilee Martin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:20:00 EDT

We had a bit of an upset in Monday's Choose Your Eternity 3-way Superpower Showdown poll, with the French car coming in last! Yes, the '63 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint won handily, with a 55-24-22 split. That means the Italian car industry can feel the pride that comes from building the coolest- yet most nightmarish- cars very large sums of squandered money can buy! Just to show that we haven't forgotten the special place held by France in the Project Car Hell Pantheon, however, we're going to do an all-French matchup today. Thanks- and a Project Car Hell Tipster T-shirt- go to Hotrodelectric for these tips!

Just where do we draw the line between a project car and a parts car? Always a tough call, but we've found an even tougher question: when does a single part become a car? Because of the near-impossibility of reading the huge, CAPS LOCKED, red-and-blue font used by the seller of this 1925 Renault Type 45, it took me a while to realize that this auction is for just the hood of a Renault 45. This seller deserves the Most Unreadable eBay Listing Ever Award, and there's some tough competition for that prize (those of you who wish to wimp out and attempt to extract information from the description can go here). Once you've got the hood- I mean, the bonnet- you're pretty much home free; as the seller states: "AS THE BONNET IS MOST SALIENT AND DIFFICULT PART TO REPRODUCE OF THE TYPE 45, IT IS AN EXCELLENT STARTING POINT FOR A GROUND UP RECREATION." You see? It's a restoration project, not a hopeless parts chase that will take you from Hanoi to Abidjan. The reserve on this auction hasn't been met, but we can assume it's fairly high, since "ACTUAL VALUE OF THIS ITEM IS $20-40K USD." Don't worry about that stuff, however, because having a finished Model 45 will be worth all the pain.

That Renault would be quite a car, all right, but maybe you're more of a Citroën driver at heart. Admit it, you've been lusting for a Traction-Avant for years now, but perhaps the difficulty of finding one in North America has forced you to give up on your dream. Hey, you'll be doing front-drive French burnouts before you know it, once you buy this 1951 Citroën Traction-Avant (go here if the ad disappears). The seller wants four grand for it, which is quite a deal when you consider you get a "heavily customized" project. First thing is the engine, which came from a Renault 5. Le Car power in a Traction-Avant! Naturally, you'll need to ditch that Malaise boat anchor and install the Maserati V6 out of a Citroën SM- hey, if they can put a man on the moon! The seller says "currently not running, needs clutch, body work, paint, interior etc," and that "etc" part covers a lot of scary ground when you're talking about a massively modified 57-year-old French car. As we say so often here (thanks to Kevin Hoover), what could go wrong?

Heading To The Ski Slopes? You Need A Tracked Alfa Romeo!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:30:00 EDT

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, plenty of folks who would never consider touching tire to dirt feel that they need four-wheel-drive in order to get to the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe. You know, so you don't have to get out and put on tire chains to placate those mean ol' CHP officers near Donner Pass. But the real skiers know that tracks are the way to get your car to its destination, and what better combo than an 83-year-old Italian car with Citröen tracks? Thanks to OneWheelDrive for the tip! [Classic Driver]

PCH, Packard Eight Swap Edition: 1937 Pontiac Sedan or 1929 Ford Truck

Murilee Martin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Well, whaddya know- an American Hell Project beat a French one in our most recent Choose Your Eternity poll, with the Malaise Corvette Limo winning by a small- yet significant- margin over the V8-ready Peugeot 404. Unprecedented! We need to honor this tremendous underdog victory by going with an all-American matchup, with a 71-year-old car taking on a 79-year-old truck. Not only that, to honor the amazing Packard Straight Eight we saw in today's Engine of the Day post, each of these projects must be viewed as the potential recipient of a supercharged Packard inline eight engine. So forget those small-block Chevy engines that come with 'em, because the Chevy is just too easy.

Today we're going with a somewhat different format, because today's tipster (and Project Car Hell Tipster T-shirt winner), UDMan found both cars sitting on trailers in upstate New York and photographed them himself:

I took these pictures at a Fabrication Shop called Tom's Hot Rod & Fab Shop, in East Syracuse, NY. (315) 701-4441. They were sitting on a trailer in front of the shop, and they were at a show a couple of weeks ago. I took a look at them, and there is still a lot of work to do on them, but are actually rebuildable (well, I couldn't do it, but a lot of guys on here could).

But before we look at the vehicles, let's consider the engine you'll be using for the project. Wait, did we say engine? Actually, what you get here is a block, head, oil pan, and some other early-50s Packard 327ci flathead inline eight parts, with the crankshaft and rods conspicuously absent. You'll make plenty of connections in the Packard world while you're tracking down the missing engine bits, which will be a big help when it comes time to try to get a supercharger working on it. Hey, this is Hell!

30s GM car with small-block Chevy, sitting on a trailer? Hey, that means it's all set up for a powerful blown flathead (though that GM 10-bolt might be iffy), and maybe there's room under the hood for an engine a good foot longer than the original six! You'll find a way to make it all work, somehow! Here's what UDMan has to say about this one:

Then there's the 1937 Pontiac Sedan, with a 91 Caprice Police Package LT4, with AOD, New IFS Suspension, New Steering Column, New Power Rack, Wire harness from the Caprice, Original Lights, New Glass Included, Power Seats (Front and Rear!), Billet Dash (though I didn't take a look inside), Miscellaneous parts with the car, Shift Kit, and Rosewood Steering Wheel! Minimal Rust, needs lots of finishing. Has Title, and only $12,990 OBO.

Whoa, that price is a little steep, but you'll recoup at least a few hundred by selling that LT4 and associated surplus drivetrain goodies.

We like the Pontiac quite a bit, but the idea of a good old patriotic Ford truck with a howling blown Packard Straight Eight is pretty tough to resist. Here's what UDMan saw:

It's a 1929 Ford PU, with a new chassis, a Mustang II Front End with Rack & Pinion Steering, Front Disc Brakes, Ford Rear End, 350CI Chevrolet, Turbohydramatic, all rust has been expelled, patch panels come with the truck. Carb will be included. It needs finishing.... $10,500 OBO.

Hey, the rust has been "expelled," it's got a Mustang II front end already in place (note what appear to be Capri wheels), and a shiny-new rear suspension. What it probably doesn't have is room for an inline eight-cylinder engine, since this truck came from the factory with a four-cylinder only, so you'll need to get creative about the swap. Hole in the firewall and the rear of the engine right next to your knee? You'll find a way!

Fast, Flashy and Powerful, Built To Serve Modern Youth!

Murilee Martin — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST

A friend of mine picked up an Alameda High School Class of 1928 yearbook at a local antique store, and she ran across this ad for the Durant Six-Sixty in the back pages. Clearly, marketing aimed at bling-conscious college-bound youth is not a new game for car marketers. Hey, it's the "most popular low-priced six in western colleges," so you figure all the cool kids are rollin' in Durants, right? Make the jump to see the entire ad in all its glory...

Since this is Alameda, I bet '28 Durants were still seen parked on the streets well into the 60s. Best car ever made, sonny!

Six Wheels And An Airplane Engine: 1923 Hispano-Suiza H6A

Murilee Martin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:45:00 EDT

Your high-rolling players these days drive their Excaliburs and Blackhawks and whatnot, snorting pharm-grade off the firm young bellies of Eastern European strippers in a private room in the Club Spirochete and all...

...yet they never realize that their so-called decadence is but a mere piss-weak imitation of the excesses upon which their 1920s predecessors blew all their cash. Take, for example, this custom-built Hispano-Suiza H6, now residing in the Forney Museum in Denver. Commissioned for the King of Greece (who was deposed before he could take delivery, in true Decadent High Roller fashion), the car ended up in the hands of Hollywood giant D. W. Griffith. Imagine what casting-couch madness no doubt took place in that enormous passenger cabin! [Forney Museum]