1954 Bristol Bus

I have always admired and really liked double decker buses. Maybe its because I have never been on one or it could be the fact that it is a "British" thing. Whatever the reason I have always seemed to have a fascination with them.

This is one of LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM'S Bristol Buses at the Fife location.

An interesting note about that British Bristol Bus is that before the redesign in the 1920s the double decker bus was not a popular option of transportation in England. This was because it the buses  were low clearance buses that did not have enough head room and their seating was four in a row for the upper deck. The buses couldn't be any taller because of the low bridges in the area so the Lodekka model was invented to take care of these problems. The Lodekka model lowered the gear shaft so that it would provide more head room.

Another funny thing that I found out about these buses that I never knew before was that these buses were not all red and white. The buses that were red and white were actually owned by the red and white motor services.
I hope you have enjoy this entry about the Bristol Bus.
'Til Next Time have a great day everyone!

1929 Chrysler Imperial Roadster

Another rare jewel of a car at the Lemay Museum.

 

A 1929 Chrysler Imperial L - 80 Roadster. It was actually made by a separate division of Chrysler by Locke & Sons.

This was a custom car and according to the person I talked to at LeMay very few were made, less than 300!

The third door on this vehicle for the rumble see was rare for this time. So much that the term "three door" is often included in the title of this car now a days.

While I couldn't find a lot of information on this car, thanks to the Imperial Club and to Joe Reasoner at LeMay - America's Car Museum I did learn a little.   I found some cool advertisements from the day on the Imperial's website, which I have linked to here:  Custom L- 80 Roadster ad,  "Ultra Fashionable" Ad for Roadster,  also here is a couple of pictures of the roadsters comparing the early and late production of the 1929 models.

While researching this car I have struck on a new vein of curiosity for myself dealing with classic cars, not just in the individual cars but in how they worked also. So hopefully next week I will be going over an anatomy lesson of what classic cars usually have versus more modern day cars. We'll see how it goes and if I can get some answers. Watch out fellow volunteers at LeMay, I'm going to start carrying a memo pad full of questions and I'll be wanting some answers when I come! : )
'Till next time have a excellent day everyone!

Hail to the Chief... 1984 Cadillac Limousine Presidential Prototype

I went into the gymnasium at the Museum today and to my pleasant surprise look what I found sitting there!

Cool huh? This is a 1984 Presidential Prototype Cadillac Limousine. While it never did have a president in it, at least we can't say for sure, the limousines designed from this prototype were the vehicles that were made from this design include: Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton. It was built by GM motors in 1984 to evaluate the design and layout of the one that they sent to the White House that year.

This limousine featured three cell phones, writing desks, and  a hands free intercom that allowed the passengers to communicate not only with the chauffeur but also with the people outside.

Some of the other amenities that the limo had was a tv, a specially designed am/ fm radio, cd player and video cassette player. 

I hope you have enjoyed this post about the 1984 Cadillac Presidential Prototype Limousine. If you are in the Pierce County area you should really check it out for yourself. It is quite a cool vehicle.

'Til next time have a amazing day!

1983 Duesenberg II SJ LA Grande, A Real Treasure

This is a 1983 Duesenberg II SJ LA Grande. Before I started doing research on this automobile I thought it was a nice car and that it was cool because it was a Duesenberg, a car that had been featured in the movie, "Annie." However after I finished reading about its history on LeMay Car Museum's website I have come to a new appreciation for this beautiful machine.

So what is so special about a 1983 Duesenberg II SJ LA Grande? Let's start with the fact that it is actually a reproduction of a earlier model of a 1930 Duesenberg  J Dual Cowl Phaeton. I have to be honest that the first time I read this statement I started to wonder if the article was faulty. I said to myself but it's a SJ LA Grande not a J Dual Cowl Phaeton! However, it is indeed correct and I learned something new this week. A cowl is a little piece of the metal body frame that follows the ridge of the car's body up by the windshield and the reason why this particular replica is also a dual cowl is because it has that metal strip for the front and the back seat. It is there to redirect air flow off of the driver and passengers.

The car was made by the Elite Heritage Company and only 42 of this particular model were made. It was built by hand and all of the components were custom-made to match that of the original Duesenberg. Yet, it also had some new features that made for nice modern conveniences, such as, power brakes, power windows, power seats, power brakes and air conditioning!

From 1978 to 2000 the company made five different styles of Duesenberg replicas. Each was done with careful detail to the original.

Another cool feature that I learned about this week was this Duesenberg II was built with a fire wall, I believe that is the correct term for it, but it is a piece of metal on the car, right above the cowl that was designed so in case the car engine caught on fire it would not come up past the passenger and driver compartment. Fascinating right?

Well I hope you have enjoyed this entry about the Duesenberg II.
'Til next time have a great day!

Open House For Marymount!

Last night was the big open house for LeMay Museum at Marymount to show off the facility spaces for  special events. There were tours of the facilities, food samplings from various caterers and booths featuring vendors for various special event needs. I volunteered at the vendor business card table which included giving out business cards from the various vendors present and receiving business cards from vendors that attended the event that were interested in doing business with the Museum.

I took lots of pictures and wanted to share them all but had to calm myself down. So, here are a few of the pictures from last night.

Since this is a car blog we will start off with a few pictures of the cars present at the event.

The motorcycle room was open for the event and boy was I excited! This is a custom 1964 XLCH Harley.

And here are a few pictures of the exhibits or setups for marriage ceremonies at the event.

The gymnasium ceremony exhibit.

A beautifully decorated stage in the gymnasium.

The absolutely gorgeous sanctuary

I think my jaw dropped when I walked into this room. It was my first time in the sanctuary.

Some of the glass windows.

A outdoor ceremony.

Beautiful grounds.

Now for a fun photo from the night....

The tiny black spot with red hair in LeMay's "American Dream" car is me. Although it didn't really translate into very well onto the web it was nice that the photographer was giving out free photos. Thank you Lobban Photography!

And a special shout out to my booth neighbors for the event:

This is Theresa Wolland from Brown's Flowers. She does amazing wedding flowers. Her portfolio was so beautiful!

This is John Karwoski from JFK photography. His portfolio books were amazing also. I really loved the emotion caught in the photos. Him and his wife are truly gifted.

It was a great night and it was so great to see the pay off of all the hard work that everyone has been doing to put this together with the carpeting, heating and building. It has really paid off and resulted in a truly beautiful  Museum. If you are interested in having a event at the Museum here is the page that you want to go to for more information. Tell them Amber sent you!

And now maybe a few more pictures from last night...

'Til next time have a amazing day!

Modern Car Art: Function and Fashion : "Red Stiletto"

"The Red Stiletto"

As I walked around the Museum on my first tour my eyes quickly caught this fun vehicle and I was hoping that the tour guide would comment on it. This cool two seat vehicle is a classic example of art cars. It was created by David Crow in Washington, who was inspired by his girlfriend who took note that the cars at most of the car shows that she went to with Crow were tailored towards men. It took almost four years to complete and is built on a 1976 Honda 350cc motorcycle engine. This is one of the unique vehicles that has made me smile around the Museum and all of my friends that I have showed this to have thought it to be really cool, so Mr. Crow you did indeed accomplish creating a vehicle that leaves both men and women admiring a great piece of art and machinery.

'Til Next Time Have a Excellent Day!

A Indoor Motorcycle Parade?

I had a great fourth of July this last Sunday, it was time for our church's annual "Freedom Northwest." The fourth of July has to be one of my absolute favorite holidays in the whole year and this is partially why.  There was amazing patriotic songs, a great word from our pastor about freedom in Jesus, fellowship with the picnic afterwords and of course the annual indoor motorcycle parade! Here's a short video to give an idea of what the day was like. 

I had a short video of the parade but unfortunately could not make it small enough in size to put up. However, I did take some pictures of the motorcycles that were there afterwords and I found a excellent video of the indoor parade on facebook which you can see if you have an account. It was a Harley parade but other bikes were more than welcome. Here's some pictures of some of the motorcycles that were present. Please enjoy!

I love the reflection of the US flag in this picture.

There were all kinds of motorcycles there, here are some of the "Non - Harley's".

Pretty huh?

 I highly encourage you if you are in the Federal Way or Everett area next year around the 4th of July to come and see this wonderful event for yourself. It's all about what's right in America and true freedom in Jesus.
Well that's all for now. 'Til next time have a totally amazing day!