May 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

When artists get ahold of pop fashion... all sorts of strange things occur... like this Panhard

The vehicles Honda broke into automotive manufacturing with

Stats showed that deaf drivers were in a LOT LESS accidents

Louis Chevrolet lost his sense of humor, and the Vanderbilt Cup Race, when he spun out into the woods

A Motorama line up, GM's traveling road show of concept cars

Honest Charley ads for the catalog, 1963, 1963 1/2, 1968

Honest Charley's Speed shop... 1948 to 1990 Chattanooga Tennessee

For more than fifty years, Honest Charley and the distinctive trademark have been synonymous with quality styling accessories and superior customer service.

Founded in 1948 by Honest Charley Card in the foothills of the Great Smokey mountains in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Honest Charley's unique combination of automotive, performance and custom accessories and world wide distribution of the notably humorous Honest Charley catalogs served to establish Honest Charley Speed Shop as one of the most recognized names in the Automotive Aftermarket.

Honest Charley was one of the first advertisers featured in Hot Rod Magazine. The company was one of the first speed shops with coast to coast distrubution, and one of the first computerized automotive businesses.

Honest hisself was a fixture at both Daytona and at Indy for many years. Company expansion included Honest Charley retail stores and and distribution centers throughout Tennessee, Georgia and Florida supplying jobbers and dealers throughout the southeast.

In 1980 Honest Charley's Speed Distributors Warehouse was named SEMA's Warehouse Distributor of the Year.Honest hisself was the second inductee into the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Hall of Fame. He was a lifetime member of USAC with member number 121 and an early member of the Indy 500 Old-timers Club.

In 1990, after more than forty years of industry innovation and dedicated service, Honest Charley discontinued operations at 108 Honest Street. However, the significance of Honest's legacy of always placing the customer first and his example of embracing all enthusiasts as family and friends continued to influence both the industry and all who knew him.

In 1998 the Honest Charley name and trademarks were acquired by the Coker Tire Company

http://www.honestcharley.com/

A Corvette built for Bill Mitchell (GM VP of styling staff)

It's my guess that if this turned up at auction it would fetch a million, or no one would want the ugly thing.

A couple cool old ads

A Dean Moon dragster, and vintage Moon ads

1934 Buick 91 ( right hand drive ) (one of 2 in the UK)... unrestored barn find!

Bought new (rhd) by a guy called Blenkinsop in 34 and stored in a barn in 1960 when he couldn't get tyres for it! Sold at auction 4 years ago to me! All original interior, paint, chrome (or lack of) etc. Overhauled mechanics and new tyres.

There where 7 Buicks imported new to Britain in 1934, of which 2 are 91's. The other car survives in Scotland http://www.oceanwheels.co.uk/new_site/index.php/Wedding-Luxury-on-your-Wedding-Day.html

He has the original engine but is running it with a Rover V8 at the moment. There is also a 33 or 34 Buick Hearse in a scrapyard somewhere in the UK.

I have the original spare wheel covers but unfortunately they don't fit over the 750x16 tyres I have, think I need 650x16's for the spares.

Thanks Rob!