Updates: Abandoned Cit, Tremulis’s flying saucer, H&N’s signage, Fiat factory in P’kpsee, Lloyd engine

Sometimes we find out more about one of our posts after the fact, or somebody leaves a comment on an ancient post with some good info worth highlighting. We’ve had a bit of that lately, so let’s wrap it all up in one big post.

* First off, regarding Tom Longfellow’s photo of an abandoned Citroën, which inspired an Abandoned Autos column in Hemmings News, which inspired a reader’s letter claiming shenanigans: Jonathan Oauknine of Le Perreux, France, wrote in

This abandoned Traction reminds me of the French comics “Le Petit Spirou” (little Spirou.) It’s about a little kid, Spirou. He regularly goes to a field with his girlfriend, Suzette. There’s an abandoned Traction there and he pretends he’s driving it.

Spirou was created in 1938. During the 50s and 60s, it was drawn by Franquin who was very keen on details, including cars. If you’re interested in European cars, bikes and trucks, you should check out a Spirou from that era.

Thanks, Jonathan.

* Next, streamliner from the Tucker Bulletin Board filled us in on the entire connection between Alex Tremulis and the flying saucer hood ornament. It looks like Tremulis (through Fortune Manufacturing) was able to sell about 4,000 of the hood ornaments in 1950-1951 – 146,000 short of his goal.

* When Ben Hart showed us some vintage photos of his family’s dealership at 713 Grand Avenue in Spencer, Iowa, we didn’t include any modern-day photos of the dealership or photos of the restored neon signs out front. Thankfully, Ben sent us some with his sons Mike and Jack showing us the neons.

* Finally, inspired by the photos that Mike Eldred sent us of the disintegrating Lloyd in a New Hampshire barn, James Kimball sent us some photos of his NOS two-cylinder Lloyd engine.

I knew nothing about them when I picked this up (also in NH). I just looked this up again, and the one in your pics had a different motor (19 HP 4 stroke). Mine is the LS400 13HP 2 Stroke. It has a Bosch starter on it that I think was also on some Saabs. This motor was originally designed for the LS400 car. I was told these were used in two snow mobiles- Yukon king 1967-69 and the Herters 1968-72.

Thanks, James!

* Okay, one more. In with the photos that Ron Wharton sent of the can-shaped cars were a few build photos that I didn’t include in last week’s post. If you were wondering exactly how he built ‘em, here ya go.

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Banacek AMX crossing the auction block

It’s a little-known fact that George Barris tried to capitalize on the two-seater AMX’s like-no-other-car look by offering mildly customized versions of the AMC sports car. That effort apparently went nowhere, but Barris did enjoy quite a bit more publicity with another AMX customization, what AMCers now refer to as the Banacek AMX or the AMX-400.

Built for one episode of the early 1970s TV detective show Banacek, in which the title character investigates the disappearance of Project Phoenix, a prototype automobile, Barris not only chopped the roof of the 390-powered 1969 AMX by four and a half inches, but also lengthened the schnoz 15 inches and added a louvered grille and matching rear strakes.

We mention all this because the Banacek AMX will head to Mecum’s St. Charles, Illinois, auction early next month, crossing the block on October 3. No pre-auction estimate is listed.

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Reader mail, indecent proposal edition

RE: Abandoned Autos, Hemmings Motor News, September 2009. 1939 Citroën 11B Normale, photo by Tom Longfellow.

My question & comment!

A great picture of a classic car, with a useless story that has nothing at all to do with old cars.

I figure the writer of the story is a relative of the magazines [sic] owner or a bed mate employee [sic] but why waste space with story [sic].

Use picture and car info period!

W****** O*****

Lubboch [sic], TX

(Name withheld to protect the solecistic.)

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Penultimate 2009 cruise-in – Hemi Mini, campaign bumper stickers and much more

Once or twice a year, we get a big blowout of a cruise night, when the cars start spilling out of our parking lot, onto Main Street and into the parking lot across the street. Last night was one of those nights, with an estimated 400 cars attending, and many of them cars we’ve never seen before, like the ‘79 AMX I wrote about last night. One more cruise night left this season, on August 20. Don’t miss it!

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Congress isn’t totally against collector cars. Maybe.

Yeah, I’ve been busting on Congress hard lately for their various attempts to pass a cash for clunkers program, and I will continue to do so either until it’s defeated or I expire. But a few representatives and senators do seem to understand and appreciate what the owners of classic and collector cars go through.

First, Senator John Tester, a Democratic Senator from Montana, who last month introduced Senate Resolution 97, which would declare June 1, 2009, as Collector Car Appreciation Day. The resolution would recognize “that the collection and restoration of historic and classic cars is an important part of preserving the technological achievements and cultural heritage of the United States” as well as the fact that automotive restoration “provides well-paying, high-skilled jobs for people in all 50 States.” Unfortunately, the resolution will likely die in committee before the proposed date of the event.

Next, while it doesn’t seem as though H.R.2057, the Motor Vehicle Owners Right to Repair Act of 2009, should be something collector car enthusiasts should care about, the fate of future collectibles hinges on legislation like this (just as it does with cash for clunkers legislation). It’s something observers already point out - if the computers and sensors and other sophisticated systems that power new cars conks out, and nobody has the equipment or training to repair those systems, then how will they become collectible? How will somebody restore a Corvette ZR1 25 years from now if they don’t have access to the car’s trouble code chart? As Bob Barr and Ralph Nader (I know, I know) wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed piece earlier this week,

While similar legislation has been introduced in previous Congresses but not voted on, it takes on additional urgency in these tough economic times, especially with the closing of many auto dealerships.

This aptly named bill would allow independent repair shops to compete for the business now guaranteed only to dealer-controlled establishments. This is important because car manufacturers now severely limit the number of repair shops that are allowed to have the tools, diagnostic codes and updated repair information essential to being able to repair late-model cars.

It’s easy to say that this won’t affect the ‘67 Corvette in your garage, and so what. And you’d be right. But your son and his son will likely collect significantly different and newer vehicles, vehicles that this legislation would help keep on the road.

Of course, it hasn’t passed yet. Introduced last month, H.R.2057 currently sits in committee. Let’s hope it progresses further.

As for cash for clunkers, the most recent news is that the compromise legislation hammered out a couple weeks ago has now been attached to the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R.2454). Bad news that it’s yet another step toward realization, but at least it’s not on the proposed fast track that some legislators wanted. CNN predicts that the bill will leave committee by the end of the week and head for a vote in either late June or early July. There also comes word that Dianne Feinstein, who doesn’t like the current c4c legislation because it’s not green enough, has proposed her own, more stringent cash for clunkers legislation.

Meanwhile, cash for clunkers continues to attract widespread opposition. The L.A. Times and the New York Times both recently criticized the plan, the United Recyclers Group and the Engine Repower Council joined the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association in issuing statements opposing the legislation, and Mike Bumbeck at Clunkbucket has taken a stance against it:

The throwaways of automotive culture have sparked motoring trends that over time have become part of our cultural fabric and created giant economic engines of their own. Back in the ’40s and ’50s it was kids tearing the fenders off ’30s Fords and hopping up the engines to make gow jobs, or what we now know as hot rods. Affordable Toyota Corollas and talented drivers begat drifting in Japan. The trend has sparked global enthusiasm for precision driving and older rear-drive cars. American drag racers shoehorning high horsepower supercharged engines into all manner of Fiat Topolinos and Willys coupes created the legendary Gassers. Even from the wheezy Volkswagen Beetle sprang industry built up around aftermarket performance and style.
Clunkers and the other castaways of the automotive world are what keeps vintage motoring interesting.

Nobody can tell what direction vintage motoring will take in the future. But I can guarantee you that whatever direction it takes will be severely disrupted and curtailed by a federal cash for clunkers program.

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