More Vintage Stewart Warner Dashboard Gauge Sets From 1955

Car Craft magazine, February, 1955

Vintage NARDI Danese "TORINO" Speedometer

NARDI was an Italian company known for a few custom sports cars in the middle of the last Century, and probably even more famed for their steering wheels, which graced the cockpits of countless Porsches and Cobras of the late-fifties and sixties.

But they also made a handful of ancillary accessories, like horn buttons, gearshift knobs, and the very rare gauge.

This is a super-rare example of one such gauge, a NARDI Danese Torino -branded speedometer. Although a top-end of 200km an hour seems fine today, in say, 1950's Europe, 125mph was no joke, especially in a Fiat 500 which was a common recipient of these add-ons. 

In any case, these were like hens teeth, so enjoy the cool graphics of a 200-numeral speedo!

1926 PANHARD advertisement

Vintage 1920's Auto Racing Games For Kids

Even in the 20's and 30's, kids games jumped on the newest technology, which at that time was the burgeoning race car craze. Here are a few of these games, with the original neat cover art and inner pieces...

1932 SPEED Magazine RARE

Here's a glimpse at one of the rarest car racing magazines you'll ever find, the March 1932 issue of "Speed Magazine, World's Leading Auto Racing Publication". In it are articles on West Coast racers, the Sir Malcolm Campbell Bluebird, feature on a Miller Special and cool vintage photos...

1920's New Hampshire Racing Poster DePaolo Duray Shattuck

1974 Mopar LAMP NASCAR Winston-Cup Racing Catalog Junior Johnson

1971 Dodge & Plymouths and Michigan Racing

Michigan International Speedway 1971 Motor State 400 Program

The "NEW" 1952 Volkswagen Beetle

The history of the VW Beetle is a wild one. first imagined in 1938, it has truly filled the niche of the car for the people, selling millions of iterations of that unique first design.

1952 ws a milestone transition. Key changes were soon to be made, like dropping the split rear window for an oval, and moving soon into a new dashboard layout. 

And the revolutionary approach of the VW was even noted stateside, like in this vintage article from the era, published by Auto Sport Review magazine in their April issue that year.

Bridgett Bardot on a Race Car. You're Welcome.

1940 Willys in 1961

From the May, 1961 issue of Cars magazine

1942 Willys in 1964

From the June, 1964 issue of Popular Hot Rodding...

The Green Hornet Cars of the Golden Age; 1930's to 1950's

The Green Hornet was an old-time radio staple, with thrilling adventurers every week with the secret persona of Brett Reid and his loyal chauffeur and partner Kato. They were always aided by their faithful "steed", the Black Beauty, which was the name of their high-powered, supercharged automobile.

 The first serials immortalized the car as a modified 1937 Lincoln Zepyhr...

A very badass car! But that was in the movies. When the poster and comics artists conjured this creation, it started to morph into their particular era's version of "cool", like this drawing from an early poster...

Here's another serial poster, with a tweaked Black Beauty...

And the comic world had a heyday with designs. The look changed from comic to comic, year to year. Here's an example from 1942.

...and 1946...

Seems to the Black Beauty's patented move!

Even the Big Little Books knock-off's put the car on the spine.

Honestly, I'd be happy with the resurrection of any of these models for a Green Hornet reboot. But I'd be even happier with a 1937 Lincoln "Black Beauty" in my garage!

!960's CUSTOMS ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINES; A Shining Moment of Cool

For a span in 1958 to 1963, there was a mostly-forgotten run of a custom and rod magazine issues, called Customs Illustrated. They had some of the neatest looks and designs of the nascent "new car" restyle trend that was big for quite awhile later, influencing the Alexander Brothers, the Starbirds and Acostas. These highlighted flamboyant and wild (for the time) builds, but the magazine ceased after a few years span. Here are some of the cool covers and interior pages of these awesome issues!