Thunderbowl Comet Again

Subject of my very first post, this formidable machine was identified by Dan Strohl of Hemmings Daily as the Golden Eagle aka Thunderbowl Comet. Although the car's story varies from one teller to the next, it did at least portray a Muroc Dry Lake LSR contender in a 1936 Jimmy Stewart B-movie called 'Speed', turning up years later as opening act at the Carpenteria Thunderbowl, a quarter-mile dirt track near Santa Barbara, California. As Auto Puzzles editor Ray B. posted, "The Carpinteria Thunderbowl was operational between 1947 and 1956. Anton Krivanek reminisced about the circuit: I used to go there when I was about 14. The guy who owned it had a great big streamliner called the Thunderbowl Comet. It had the name painted on the side and it had a big fin on the back end with a stylized comet with a tail of sparks and stars painted on it. He'd trundle it around the track before the races to impress the rubes (me). In my memory it was so long it could hardly make it around the corners... Years later I saw it parked alongside Highway 14 out near Acton as a draw for a sad little western roadside attraction. I told Strother MacMinn about it and he drove out there and checked it out... He had seen it parked on the street in Hollyweird in the late '30s or '40s. It was on a stretched L29 Cord chassis and eventually was bought and dismantled for its Cord parts." I recently acquired the photo above, the script on the side plugging (indecipherable something like Egge) Speedway Carburetors of Glendale. Below is the photo previously posted, followed by movie frame captures from IMCDB. Check out the original shotgun/centerline fin aiming setup. Used car / rental lot snapshot was found at H.A.M.B. Jalopy Journal and the last four were pilfered from Auto Puzzles, where further information and photos can be found. I thought 'Our Famous Salad Bar' might refer Antelope Valley tourists to the Village Inn of Palmdale, California, mentioned in a Frank Zappa song, but another Auto Puzzles photo brings Noel, Missouri out from behind the cage post. Salad bar, honey! We really must give it a try the next time we're 1600 miles east of here!  The distinguished gentleman smiling from the cockpit is designer Alex Tremulis, another luminary who made the Acton pilgrimage to pay respects. According to Strohl, the beast still exists.

The Week In Pictures 2

Driver Babe Stapp & riding mechanic Johnny Apple in Pirrung Special Shaw-Offy w/ Chevy Suburban in background, 1936 Indianapolis 500.

1957 Fiat 600 Multipla with skis on the roof and freshly made bed, in lobby of 1951 Gibraltar Savings & Loan Headquarters at 9111 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The building's architect, William Pereira, was preparing for the jet-age redesign of Los Angeles International Airport when this was taken.

Circa '17 Chalmers Record Speedster.

1941 Mercury Coupe.

Circa '18 Studebaker.

V12 powered '36 Lincoln Model K, one of thirty $5000 Convertible Phaetons or fifteen $5500 Convertible Sedans coachbuilt that year by LeBaron. '37 California plates.

Exclusively for the American market, 1965 Sunbeam Lady Imp and Lord Imp in front of I.Magnin. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: A new car a man wouldn't want to drive but would be more than happy to give to his wife as the "ultimate present" is the new Lady Imp. Based on the popular Sunbeam Imp sport sedan, the Lady Imp comes complete with such totally feminine features as a hair dryer, mobile Princess phone and cosmetic perfume console. It is richly upholstered in a bright and striking floral pattern, and interior and exterior trim are equally feminine... Designed specifically for men, the Lord Imp has features such as ship-to-shore radio, marine compass, ship's bell, air horns and portable bar. It has nautical theme upholstery and the trim inside and out carries forth the boating motif. Both cars were exhibited by Rootes Motors of England at the New York International Auto Show. Price of either car is placed at about $3,700. Color details of Lord and Lady from the wonderful Imp Site, which reports that milord was found in Sacramento, California and repatriated by a Dumfriesshire UK Imp fanatic, her ladyship was spotted in a Dubai auto museum in 2009 by a Dutch enthusiast.

H/Stock '69 AMC Javelin sponsored by illegible Truro, NS dealership. At time of post, driver Dewayne Cleveland was Director At Large of ATVANS - the All Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia.

Circa '17 Saxon roadster cyclecar.

Oil man visits drilling site in his '56 Lincoln Continental Mk II.

Lotus Eleven. Wardan Hill 1963.

 

June 29, 1955. Apparently this Dual-Firebomb is actually the 1954 Dodge Firebomb show car built by Ghia for Chrysler. As Dual-Ghia owner Carl Kofron explains in a comment left @ Car Styling, The black car that Blackhawk has is the Firebomb and is the prototype for the Dual Ghia. That car is what Casaroll showed at the '55 Grosse Point Yacht Club as the up coming Dual Ghia. In the 1930s, Gene Casaroll's Auto Shippers firm revolutionized the delivery of new cars in America with a fleet of 100 open tractor-trailer transporters criss-crossing the country. He founded Dual Motors shortly thereafter, building twin-engine lowboy tank recovery vehicles during WWII. By the time series production of the former Firebomb began in 1956, discrete tail fins had been added. Sources say 117 of these were built between 1956 and 1958, but Mr. Kofron's is #131.

'33 Chevrolet w/ Orleans County Fair, Barton, Vermont billboard. Myself on the farm w/ my old Chevy, 1939.