Mystery Hot Iron Custom Phaeton w/ Desoto Airflow

Beautiful customized something or other somewhere in California w/ 1934 Desoto Airflow behind. Wayne Graefen has kindly identified the jewelry attached to the grille mesh as a National Automobile Club badge. Print dated Sept. 17, 1936.

Ghost On The Highway

c.1948 Chevrolet.

1957 Spartan Imperial Mansion Motorhome Conversion

J. Paul Getty bought Spartan Aircraft of Tulsa, Oklahoma from fellow oil tycoon William G. Skelly in 1935. Their greatest hit was Skelly's pet project for well-heeled gentleman pilots like himself, the Spartan Executive, 34 of which were built between 1936 and 1940 for the likes of Howard Hughes and King Ghazi of Iraq. This Duesenberg of the air was powered by a 450hp 9-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radial that gave it a top speed of 257mph, fast enough to secure fifth place in the 1939 Bendix Cup for pilot Arlene Davis. After WWII Spartan built high quality travel trailers and mobile homes, but these Cadillacs of trailerdom came with prices to match, and the abundance of cheaper alternatives as the fifties progressed eventually put Spartan out of business. The startling glazed end-wall, curved floor plan Crescendos and Carousels introduced in 1959 took them out in singular style.

Spartan Executive photo from Young Eagles.org.

Rockabilly Buick Girl

Pony tail, saddle shoes, car coat, half moon headlight shields, Maybelline on the radio. She must be somebody's baby.

Early Kodacolor

The first multi-layer color negative print film, Kodacolor hit the market in 1942, its technological voodoo involving three color-sensitive emulsions layered with filters, masks and couplers. All processing and printing was done by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York, until a 1954 anti-trust suit made chemicals and know-how available to all. Refinement continued long after official release to the public. Not until 1955 was a solution found for the unstable magenta dye chemistry that turned Kodacolor prints a familiar yellow over time, ironically tilting the intended full color realism toward the painterly and quaint.

French Copper 1947 Pontiac.

Harleys & Indians somewhere in Southern California.

Shenandoah Green 1950 Studebaker on the high plains w/ 1953 Montana plates.

Harvester Red 1947-9 International KB series truck w/ 1951 Montana plates.

Speedliner runabout w/ Johnson outboard motor

 Sahara Beige & Beach White 1952 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop.

1940 LaSalle.

Fog Green 1950 Chrysler w/ 1951 Oregon plates.

Fairchild C-82 Packet military cargo plane.

1949 Buick Super convertible.

WWII military surplus Dodge Power Wagon.

Luna Gray & Patio Cream 1952 Plymouth Belvedere.

1938 Buick coupe.

Circa 1952 Standard Vanguard w/ Ontario plates.

1946-7 Buick convertible.

1937 Ford convertible.

Early 1940s Flxible Clipper.

1948-9 Hudson convertible.

Mermaid Green 1947-8 Buick w/ California plates.

Falcon Gray 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline warming up on a very cold morning.