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!

One of my Favorites... 1955 Chevy Bel Air

Now for one of my favorites, a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. After doing a little research I found that this car had a lot of admirers and was referred to as, " A Milestone in Automotive Car History."

The first time I ever found that I really liked this car was at a little car show that my family and I just happened to stop at. I was very green in my knowledge of classic cars and cars in general but almost every time I pointed out a car to my dad during my time at that show and asked what it was he said, "That's a Chevrolet Bel Air." This was the start of making this one of my favorites. Granted there are many years that the Bel Air has been around but after looking at the different styles I think that the 1955 model is the one I like the most.

 

The clip of information that I got on this car from LeMay - America's Car Museum web page is that this year was a explosive year for the styling department at Chevrolet. The dramatic design was created by Harley Earle. Which for me was, being very new to cars, the first thing the caught my attention and the thing I still like the most about it.

Compared to its previous models the 1955 version had a better frame and body, brakes, more suspension for the back to give it a smoother ride and it had more than 50 additional features that a person could get including a electric shaver for the car!

I have always seemed to be partial to the styling of Chevrolet cars and trucks, especially during the 1950s and this is one reason why. 

I hope this post has been enlightening and enjoyable.
'Til next time have a great day!

Exciting Renovations!

It was very exciting today when I went to volunteer at the Museum, the new carpet had been put into the gymnasium and I got to see the new caterer's prep kitchen and the new restrooms! It was all so exciting I wanted to share. Here are some of the photographs that I took, but the Museum will be having a open house within the next couple of months so I strongly encourage you to stop on by if you are in the Tacoma area and take a look at it.

Here's the gymnasium with the new carpet and a few cars, there was a meeting to be held in there later on in the day.

A few of the great cars that were left in the room, along with the great new carpet.

Setting up for the meeting that was happening later on in the day.

I certainly wouldn't mind having that car at my next event!

The new caterer's prep kitchen.

Isn't it nice?

Very nice sinks.

This is the entry way between the caterer's kitchen, the restrooms and the orphan room,  the name of one of our car rooms.

New bathroom.

Sparkling red counter tops and lovely red lights.

So that's what I have to report. It's great seeing everything coming together for the Museum. I hope you enjoyed this post and who knows maybe I'll see you at the open house in the next couple of months. Tell them Amber sent you.
'Til next time have an amazing day!

More Pictures of Groundbreaking

Pictures of LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM are up on their flickr page and I just thought it would be nice to pass the information along:
LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM Groundbreaking pictures
They have some very nice pictures of the actual ceremony.

Also here are some more pictures that I took of the cars from the event:

There were so many pictures to share with you all that I liked from the event I thought that it deserved two postings to cover it all.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you are in the area of downtown Tacoma or happen to pass by where the Tacoma Dome is make sure to glance over, when it is safe to do so of course, and see the new Museum's progress!

'Til next time have a great day everyone,