Freedom: Marilyn, Lincoln, a convertible, and the open road.
America has long had a love affair with the automobile. Cars are the ultimate expression of form, function, fashion—and speed.
But most of all the car represents freedom.
Try and remember when you were a teenager yearning for your driver’s license so you could hop into daddy’s car and go, go, go. It didn’t matter where, you just wanted to burn rubber and escape into the far horizon.
The brilliant, exhilirating and touching American Grafitti, 1973, is the ultimate expression of American car culture. Almost every single scene takes place in a car.
Los Angeles was the first America city built to accomodate the automobile. And the movie stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, most born dirt-poor, expressed delight in their sudden prosperity and fame by purchasing and posing with their dream machines.
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle with his 1919 Pierce Arrow.
Clark Gable and his 1932 Packard.
Joan Crawford and her 1932 Cadillac Fleetwood.
Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry AKA Stepin Fetchit and his Cadillac Phaeton.
Tyrone Power and his Duesenberg.
Jean Harlow with her Cadillac.
H/T Bill Brandt
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
7 Comments
Those stars are all appropriately dressed for their cars. One gets the feeling the mechanics that worked on such exquisite machines had to have clean and freshly pressed uniforms before they could open the hood.
Today the stars pose in cut-offs and sandals in front of their Chevy Volts.
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Was the Dusie that big or was Tyrone Power that small? He looks like a midget next to that automobile!!!
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Sage:
Tyrone Power was 5′ 10″ so we can safely conclude that the Duesenberg is one big hunk of steel.
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Bill:
Of all the cars, it’s the Deusenberg that makes my brain crackle. Thanks again for sending me the photos.
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You’re quite welcome Robert!
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Robert – Sage – during the heyday of Bill Harrah’s car collection, you would walk into his warehouse and see 20 Duesenbergs all lined up near the entrance.
This is as close to what I am talking about:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paddyspig/5941185672/
Over 40 years later I still see than magnificent powder blue Duesenberg dual cowl phaeton.
Harrah’s museum was really a giant warehouse in Sparks, a suburb east of Reno. It was closed to the public – it was his private toy store with 1200 cars in the collection – with orders to his restorers and mechanics that he be able to take any car and drive it.
There was so much demand to see these cars that he opened it to the public.
This is of course before the Holiday Inn bought Harrah’s casinos yearts ago – they sold 2/3′s of his collection at auction.
As an aside, Harrah had 2 of the 6 Bugatti Royales made – a car that in 1933 was I think $50,000 (the Duesenberg was around $20K) -
http://www.bugatti.com/en/tradition/bugatti-models/t41-royale.html
Jay Leno has a Duesenberg and I am told on occasion drives it to work in Burbank – on the freeway.
Is that cool or what?
My favorite Bill Harrah story:
He was entertaining Dr Ferdinand Porsche one day – Porsche (the son, who really built Porsche – the father died in I think 1951) – Harrah was showing Porsche around the warehouse and the 1200 cars.
He had cars such as a GT40 Ford (the famous LeMans winner, Bugattis, Mercedes, Rolls, you name it…..but no Porsches.
And the end of the tour Harrah apologized to Porsche for having no cars of his namesake.
Whereupon Porsche reportedly laughed, saying “That’s all right. My cars were meant to be driven!”
Well, I am rambling again but you touched on one of my passions Robert!
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That Duesenberg still looks beautiful! And the engineering – if I remember correctly it was a straight 8 – (Model J engine) 8 cylinders in one long block in a line – double overhead cam – 4 valves per cylinder – technology that is considered “state of the art” today (but no I8 engines) The model SJ had a supercharger – a pump that would push more air into the engine giving it much more power.
Again normal technology today.
All 80 years ago. The phrase “It’s a Duesie“, meaning something of exceptional quality – came into the American lexicon.
Every Duesenberg finished chassis was taken to Indianapolis to test at 100 mph – the customer would then commission a body maker to put the finishing touches on.
Jean Harlow – to die at age 26 – the country must have viewed her as a queen to have that kind of wealth and fame.
If I remember correctly American Graffiti was made for $700,000 and the studio didn’t know what to do with it.
It is considered by AFI to be one of the top 100 movies.
Harrison Ford, wearing the cowboy hat, was working as a carpenter at the time – George Lucas wanted him to cut his hair for the role and Ford, thinking that acting for him was not going to last, compromised with the director on the hat.
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