Crosley Rides Again!

 One of the reasons I started this blog was to give me something to do when I couldn't be working on the cars in my garage.  We'd recently moved into this house with its tiny, overstuffed garage, and money was tight enough that I couldn't embark on any of the big stuff my cars needed.  And they all needed big stuff.

So, I started a blog so I'd have a place to put all the mental Crosleying that was taking the place of actual Crosleying.  It's been very therapeutic!

Three or so years later, things have kinda reversed.  Now I spend way more time working on the blog than I do working on the cars, but that's mainly because I really enjoy blogging and also because it's a lot easier to write about restoring and driving a Crosley than it is to actually do it. 

That said, it's time to get back in the garage.  My work schedule is somewhat back to normal, my finances are, if not regal, at least regular, and I've managed to bump a wall on the garage out to accommodate some real work space. 

First order of business was to get the '49 vert running again.  It's been sitting for a few years now, battery dead, covered with dust.  I found FOUR wasp nests inside, telling me I'd really ignored it way too long.



I soaked the cylinders with penetrating oil, drained the old gas, got some new gas, gave everything a quick cleaning and bought a brand new 6 volt ($100 now - WTF?).  With a little bit of coaxing and a lot of starting fluid it fired up.  Unfortunately it doesn't want to stay running unless the choke is way out, so I need to figure out what's going on there.

Filthy, rough, and shabby...but, it ran!  more to come....

Jalopnik Names Ten Slowest Sports Cars of All Time

One guess what took first place.

They list it as a two cylinder, but at least they don't say it came with a sheet metal engine.  Could someone get all of their facts straight just ONCE in one of these lists?

Full results here.

Update: Another Zero Candy Crosley

Following up on my earlier post about the Zero Candy Crosley, indefatigable Crosley researcher Jolly MacLean sent over this ancient photocopy of a newsclipping showing the Zero Candy car... only this car is a Hotshot, not a Super Sports.  That means there were at least two Crosley VCs dedicated to promoting this brand of candy bar.

Hard to tell much else because the image is so degraded.  This car appears to have a few less googaws tacked on, although it does look like the rubber cockpit trim has been replaced with diamond tuck upholstery.

Jolly also says that 'Hollywood' was the name of the candy brand, but that the company was actually based in Centralia, Illinois... and if Jolly says it, I believe it.

Thanks Jolly!

Ebay Watch: Clean Original 1946 Crosley Sedan

I love cars like this '46 sedan that just popped up on Ebay: original, unmolested, clearly beloved.  It's amazing when any 1940s car survives in this kind of condition, but when the car in question was built cheap, sold cheap and designed to be run to death, survivors like this are almost never found.

Ebay Watch: 1951 Crosley Station Wagon

I've been watching this car (listed as  'Crowley'?!) not sell via Craigslist for just about a year now - I don't know whether the owner finally managed to move it or if he's consigned it with this seller.  We'll see if Ebay improves its options.

I think it was listed for about $9-10,000 when I first saw the ads, and then slowly dropped into more reasonable - but still what I would call 'optimistic' - territory at $7000.  It was nice enough that I actually made a trip to Monterey to check it out when I went to Laguna Seca last summer.

Cruikshank the Crosley

"Cruikshank the Crosley" by Andrew McWhiney is probably the single best article about Crosley ownership ever written.  Originally published by Road and Track in their July 1952 issue, "Cruikshank" perfectly captured the absurdity, novelty and charm of Powell Crosley's pint-sized econobox; McWhiney's experiences still rang true when I read them nearly 50 years later.  Ironically, the article was published just about the time Crosley halted production.

Below are some high res scans of the whole original story, along with some other nuggets from the same issue...