Obligatory Vintage "Cats-driving-a-car" Picture

Obligatory "Cats-driving-a-car" picture. I finally broke down under the pressure of the internet and posted this 1940's shot of felines in a Ford...

One-Offs #3: The LaFrance Maltese Cross Hood Mascot

In this continuing feature series on the strange and rare, we'll take a look at a super-cool hood ornament, one that  would make any hot-blooded hot-rodder drool with desire. No, it's not a bust of Marilyn Monroe perched above your grille, but definitely the next best thing...

The LaFrance Maltese Cross Mascot.

In the 1960's, the Maltese Cross was a very prominent symbol in the custom rod world. Besides being the traditional symbol of firefighters, it also evoked Deutschland for these builders in a rebellious way; it was sort of the Confederate flag of the "Rheinlander Rodders".

 Much of it's popularity had to do with the German heritage of some top-notch hot rod designers and parts companies, like Big Daddy Ed Roth , Schneider Cams and others.

1964 Car Craft Magazine, January.

Vintage Big Daddy Ed Roth ad

From Speed Age magazine, January 1959

The hood ornament is a super-rarity. I haven't seen another pop up for sale, and I'm kinda regretting selling mine. They were solid cast, heavy, with enamel red fill. It was about 6 inches long, and had just enough curve in the base to hang triumphantly in front of your rig, splitting the air with the proud fire-fighting emblem leading the way.

Plus, if you really wanted to go all out, you stuck this matching dash in your cockpit, a vintage LaFrance Firetruck gauge panel...

Big Daddy would have been proud!

Hot Rod Kid Artist From The 1950's

As someone who has had thousands of vintage car magazines pass through his hands, one of the neat unexpected surprises while thumbing through them is discovering what was not originally part of the magazine.

 I find index cards with notes, receipts, clippings, and once in awhile, I find some kid's dream hot rod, drawn back in the day, inspired by the magazine in front of him. 

Here's a couple...

I like the way this guy thinks. Classic 1932 Ford style, with a Duvall windshield. Or maybe it's a 27, since he seems to have an affinity for the early grille. The mismatched flipper caps on the coupe back wheels versus the front steelies is a bold touch!

Then there's this solo effort...

Again, this guy digs his custom-look windshields. This is a chopped down stock-look, maybe hinting that this is a "coupester", or top-removed, coupe-turned-roadster. He seems to have love for the double-pot carb set-up, also. The square inset is something I've puzzled over, and I still don't know what the color-cues refer to. Chances are it was his "real" homework that he should have been paying attention to.

 I look on these as mini-time capsules, missives from a distant day when a high-schooler was sitting in the back of biology class, his notebook hidden by an upturned text book, scratching away on the cheap paper at his real dream; not to memorize the stupid elements table, but to be out on the back-country road, outside of town where the local cops don't patrol, listening to the quick blub-blub-blub of his flattie-powered Model A coupester as the late afternoon gives way to cricket chirps and the soft cooling breeze of the early Summer evening...

Junkyard Dog Sunday #1

Junkyard Dog Sunday #2: 1932 Austin Swallow Cover Art

Junkyard Dog Sunday #3: 1929 MOTOR Magazine Cover Art

Motor magazine, October, 1929

One-Offs #2: The Harley Davidson Skulls Police Special Speedometer Face

This is a fun one. I know that here have to be more out there, but I've still just seen this one.

It's a 1970's era Trick Custom face for the Harley Davidson Motorcycle. 

It has the Police Special text, Harley-Davidson, and awesome "I don't give a f*%& about my speed" skulls instead of MPH numbers. This fits on a Stewart Warner speedometer, and I would run this evil face on my Harley as is, scratches and all.

This particular guy sold on Ebay for just under $200, as I recall. I wanted it bad, since it's compatible with the Stewart Warner set-up, but not 200 dollars bad.

What's interesting, and aggravating as well, is that this was previously on Etsy (seriously). I don't know how much it sold for there, but the guy who bought it turned it pretty quick. Here's the Etsy photo...

As you can tell, it has the same wear pattern and scratches as the Ebay one. The seller said he pulled it off his 1976 Shovelhead. 

I've said it about other rarities, and I'll say it again about this one: it would be cool to see this guy re-popped and available again; I'd be first in line.

The Sleek 1949 - 1950 Nash "Uniscope" Gauge Pod Rocks My Dream Custom Interior

For a company that gave us the "upside-down bathtub" design in automotive engineering, and went out with a whimper before the 1960's, the Nash Automobile Company gave us some interesting quirks, and even a couple of creations of long-lasting impact.

One of the neatest was this short-lived experiment in gauge display design. Instead of an array of instruments splayed across the dash, Nash decided to bundle them together, wrap them in a flattened-oval pod, and stick the whole contraption on the steering column.

1950 Nash Uniscope Gauge Cluster

And so the "Uniscope" was born. 

Rarely do gauge panels or clusters get the big and detailed advertising treatment, but this one deserved it. There was this ad for women who, what with this being 1949, obviously needed tempering of their advanced technology fears...

And special instructions for everybody else as well, for the 1949, and then the 1950 versions...

They were made by Stewart Warner (of course), and originally set up on the 6 volt current. Probably the most confusing aspect of the sets is that they are similar, but still markedly different. They are usually (and haphazardly) identified interchangeably, so lets clear those differences up.

First off, the face color for the 1949 set is black.

The pod surrounding it is an olive-green. Also notice the number graphics; the 1949 model used double numbers.

The 1950 Nash set came with a light gold face.

The surround was black, and the mini gauges were darker in color, like a dark olive. They used single digits for MPH markers.

Now here's something I did for one of my sets. That 1949 black face is so striking, I went with it and re-painted the housing an inky black. Talk about sharp!

Beyond that, the pods themselves were a different shape. The 1949 was longer than the 1950 housing.

1949 Nash Pod

1950 Nash Pod

 They both sat on a "cradle", a long steel perch, and they both had similar wire loom openings underneath.

 And here's the real stickler, for those who have the idea of using this in a custom; that bracket that the pod rests in is very seldom sold with the pod. There's a gauge set on Ebay right now for $750 (ridiculous price, imo) that DOESN'T include the mounting bracket. Added to this obstacle is that the two years are not interchangeable, so you better have the right one.

 It's curious as to why you don't see the brackets more often. They weren't molded to the steering column, they were attached with two screws and fairly simple to remove.

 I've also seen jerry-rigged holders, like this...

 I'm not sure if that was a home-made dash mount, or some J.C. Whitney accessory. Somebody obviously wanted it perched on their dash pretty bad, and rigged it up.

But that shouldn't stop you from using what was definitely one of the sleekest dash set-ups to come down the pike. It was planted in various hot rods and show cars in the late-1950's and early-1960's, like this beauty from 1961 with chromed (!) dual pods...

From the 1961 Custom Cars Annual magazine

And this shot from the X-2000 Vortex Show Car ...

From "20 Top Customs", Hot Rod Technical Library, 1961
 
Here's the Charles Martz custom from 1952, with the cleanest dash possible...

Of all the things that Nash will be remembered for, this better be on the damned list. It was a bold and innovative endeavor, and it was one thing that put it in that pantheon of successful and creative car design risks. 

Sure, to some Philistines it looked like a flattened egg, but to me, looking at that inner-lit round cluster, I was transported away, imagining that I was peering into the casing of a B-17 fuel wing-tank, straddling my pilot's yoke as I cruised through the purple dark night on the highway....

If you ever one across one, grab it! They're like the Tiffany Eggs of car gauges; they only made so many, and it won't be long until the last one is gone for good. 

Hopefully into my cockpit.

1937 Mercedes Racer Art

1937 Popular Mechanics Cover Art