New Tin Block Times Ready to Go!

Better late than never, nearly 200 copies of the new issue of the Tin Block Times, the West Coast Crosley Club newsletter, are ready to hit the mail!  Mike Stoner's kustom sedan leads the lineup on top, Raffi Minasian and his '53 Giaur at bottom.

Incredible: Putt Mossman's 1949 Crosley Thrill Show

Just noticed this INCREDIBLE photo of a Crosley Stunt Show: Jimmy Leach and His Death Duckers' Thrill Show of 1949 - 'The Show That's Alive With Death!'  Some lucky soul parted with $42 to win one of the coolest Crosley pictures I've ever come across.

A quick internet search turned up zero about Jimmy Leach and his Death Duckers, so I don't know how 'alive with death' the show was, but it seems to have been alive with Crosleys, including a pair of sedans, one of which is airborne over what looks like an uber-rare Crosley Sport Utility.  Seems like the Sport Ute should have had fabric doors, tho, so maybe this is just a cut-down wagon.  Whatever - this whole package is COOL.

The daring driver of the leaping sedan appears to have been Orren 'Putt' Mossman, a stunt driver best known for his motorcycle escapades.   By 1949 Mossman was a thrill show veteran, having been jumping, burning and wrecking two and four-wheeled vehicles for decades.  Despite a penchant for poor prep, and thus, severe injury, Mossman lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1994 at the age of 88.

Vintage Picture: Crosley Wagon and Toddlers

Sadly, no story with this one - just a great vintage photo of a Crosley wagon and two cute kids.  John McKnight found this on the HAMB and I thought it was too good not to share...

Crosley TQ Midget for sale in SoCal - $1200

Interesting ad for a Crosley 3/4 Midget Race Car for sale on the LA CL.  Pictures are so bad that the seller must have taken that "How Not to Sell Your Car" class - it looks like the car has been recently painted but who really knows.  Engine does have speed equipment and he claims it's been hotted up with a big cam.

Summer 2012 Tin Block Times

I teased you all with the back cover shot from the new issue of the TBT so I figured I had to post the front cover too.  Kudos to designer Dean Seavers for the killer job!

Lots of good stuff in this issue, including the tale of Doug Hayes' H and H Crosley dragster and Mike Grimes' amazing 'how-to' on converting a Homelite engine for use in your Crosley.  And then there's the classified ads... can't talk about the TBT without mentioning those.  Here's a taste of the 'For Sale' ads you non-members are missing!

Too Good to Be True? $30 Les Schwab Powdercoat

Last year, I had an epiphany:  The best way to finish my '51 Super Sports project is to start from the ground up.  And by that, I mean tires.  And wheels.  And then axles. And then the frame.  And etc, etc, etc...  I'll just restore pieces in order and keep bolting stuff back together until there's nothing left to bolt on.  Simple, right?

Now That's Funny

Picked up a copy of Addams and Evil, cartoonist Charles Addams' 1947 collection of cartoons from The New Yorker, this weekend and was happily surprised to find this gag involving a prewar Crosley on about the third page.  (The rest of the book is good too!)

Watkins Glen 1951: Seneca Cup in Color!

The Chicane posted a link to this great 10 minute movie showing the Seneca Cup Race at the 1951 Watkins Glen.  Most of the action centers on the duel between George Weaver in his Maserati and John Fitch in one of Briggs Cunningham's Ferraris, but there is plenty of other neat iron out there as well.  This originally came from Speed Vision, so you might want to fast forward past their intro... but don't go too far or you'll miss the only good* Crosley sighting: a nice shot of G. Vilardi's #4 Super Sport blasting by at about the two minute mark.
*Pretty sure I saw a black Hotshot in the background about a minute later, but the angle and distance makes it hard to tell for sure...

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.

Back on Track

Found this nice period shot of the Little Giant buried on a confusing Kodak picture-sharing site. Little Giant was a crowd-pleasing '51 Crosley B/Altered run by George Brazee from Watertown, Connecticut. The car took home plenty of trophies in its day and drag racing fans from the Northeast still remember it very well. Sadly the car hasn't been seen in decades and is presumed to be long gone.  I'm assuming the hood got swapped out for a '49 or '50 since it doesn't have the notch for the spinner.

I wish I knew more about the navigation of the site the photo is from - the Little Giant pic is in a KILLER slideshow of early and mid-sixties drag strip pics... but I can't figure out who took the pictures or posted them - hope they don't mind me using it here. If you have any fondness for early sixties hotrods be sure to set aside some time and check out the whole slideshow.

And a side note... wow, can't believe it's been almost three weeks since I made a post. I won't get into details, but life has been pretty hectic - some job changes and other stuff going on that's gotten me way off schedule. I think my life is sorta back on track so I think I can get back to my regular obsessive Crosleying....

Ebay Watch: Ultimate Clown Car?

Fresh off his Zero comments, Minnesota Crosley nut Fred Syrdal tipped me off to this Ebay listing for a 1951 Crosley sedan formerly owned by world-famous clown Emmett Kelly!

Zero and his Super Sports

This is the coolest Crosley postcard I've seen in a while: the Zero Candy Crosley.  Zero was the name of 'The Little Hollywood Candyman' who drove this customized Super Sports as his promo vehicle.  I wouldn't pay 25 bucks for it, but if you want to, it's for sale here on Ebay with a $24.99 Buy-it-Now.

That Was Quick

My wife already knows the routine:  I come down the stairs slowly, shaking my head, looking slightly pale.  I have a distant look in my eyes.  "Does it run?" she asks.

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?....

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.

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!

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!