Winter 2012 Tin Block Times is in the Mail!

All the cool kids (members of the West Coast Region of the Crosley Auto Club) are getting their new issue of the Tin Block Times in the mail.   Are you one of them?....

Gold Country Crosley Meet: Sutter Creek, Sept 8-9, 2012

I posted this over at the West Coast Crosley Club page, but thought I should make a note here too... the West Coast Region of the Crosley Auto Club will be holding our annual regional meet in the Sierra Gold Country this year on September 8-9.

Hers Since 1947

The Washington Times recently posted an article about Sandra Alger, who has had her 1941 Crosley convertible since 1947, when her Uncle Arvel gave it to her at the age of 6.  Sadly, no photos, but it does mention that she once took the car the Crosley Auto Club national meet in Wauseon.  Full story here.

Ebay Watch: Picture Perfect Project - 1948 Wagon

There aren't a lot of half-finished projects I get too excited about. There's usually a good reason that someone quit in the middle, and even if not, there's just too much head-scratching when you're surveying box after box of greasy, rusty parts.  It's bad enough when I'm the one who took it apart - it's another thing entirely when it was someone else.

Two Wheel Driver Challenge: 60 Miles?

My pal Jon Von couldn't resist showing a bit of pride for his adopted home (France) after I posted the photo of a Crosley pickup being driven on two wheels yesterday. He sent along a note about French daredevil Jean Sunny who drove a Simca 95 kilometers (roughly 60 miles) from Versailles to Chartres! Being France, they didn't even bother to close the road!

Two Wheel Drive

Found this great shot of a Crosley pickup-driving auto daredevil on Flickr. Sadly there's no info other than the 1947 date, and I wonder about the accuracy of that date that given that this isn't a roundside. Could be a cut down wagon, I suppose.

Be warned! Flickr user coconv has thousands of other auto pictures posted on his site - you could lose a whole day in there if you're not careful...

1954 Pebble Beach Race Footage - in COLOR!

Oh what a tease!  The Old Motor blog posted a link to five minutes of beautiful color film of the 1954 Pebble Beach race - probably the best racing footage I've ever seen from that era.  You may remember that I wrote a little bit about the this race when I discovered that Crosley/Hmod racing legend Harry Eyerly can be seen in The Fast and the Furious, a Hollywood movie filmed in part at the race.  And Eyerly's 'Porsche Duster' wasn't the only Crosley-powered car on hand: two Crosley/Siatas and several Crosley specials were also entered.  I believe that one of those specials, #122, driven by Doc Young, was powered by a twin cam Crosley engine that Young had built in his home workshop!  I had high hopes of spotting multiple Crosleys, but alas, I didn't spot a single bit of Cincinnati iron in this footage, although there are a couple of unidentifiable small cars that possibly might have had Lloyd Taylor's baby under the bonnet.  Good stuff none the less.

Original Photograph

I missed out on this vintage 8X10 of a Crosley auto wreck on Ebay yesterday.  My $20.50 bid just wasn't enough.  If you bought this picture I'd sure love to get a high res scan WITHOUT 'Original Photograph' stuck on top...  let me know!

Little Red Car: Gene Voigt's Crosley Special

Ohio's Gene Voigt was like many aspiring sports car owners of the 1950s: he didn't have a lot of money, he didn't have a lot of racing experience, but he had a dream and determination.

A Look at the Almquist

Almquist was one of the very first names I came across when I got the idea of looking for a Crosley powered sportscar. Back then (1997) fiberglass bodied Crosleys weren't particularly more expensive than a Hotshot or Super Sports, unless it was one of the few with major race history, of course.  They were just considered old 'kit' cars, back then, so there wasn't a huge following... even if they were harder to find than a stock Crosley.

American Pickers' Late '48 wagon

Guess what the American Pickers dudes found in Minnesota?  Believe it or not, that's the original paint!

Thanks to Doug Cottis for the Tip!

Midwest Drag Race Footage 1958-60

Spotted 2 (maybe 3) Crosley-bodied drag cars in this flick posted on my fave Hotrod site, the HAMB.  Great fun 8mm footage from the Jurassic era of straight line motorsport.  First up (about one minute in) is an early Crosley sedan body sitting inside a full size frame that's sporting some real pizza cutters. At about six and a half minutes is the monster above - sadly we don't see the run.  One of the very last cars in the film is a highly modified white coupe that looks to me like a VERY chopped Crosley sedan... like mailslot windshield chopped.  I'm not 100% sure it started out as a Crosley, but it sure looks like it. I also don't know what else it could be...  Whole show is about 10 minutes - well worth it if you're fond of mid fifties middle America - check it out!

Hotshot or Golf Cart?

HAMB user '46steel' posted this great pic of his father's HotShot in a thread about Dad's old cars... looks like it's doing duty as a golf cart here.  Lots of great detail - you can really see how the top was constructed and the close-up really underscores how tiny these are.  Great shot!

Ebay Watch: Pick Your Pickup

Not one but TWO Crosley pickups are up for auction on Ebay right now, ending an hour apart from each other!  You've got your choice of a nice runner (albeit featuring some unorthodox resto choices) or a 'some assembly required' car...