1907 Tourist Model K

Hi everyone,
Today's car is a real beauty and a relatively new addition to the LeMay Family Collection at Marymount.
Its a 1907 Tourist Model K.

They were built in Los Angeles, CA from 1902 through 1910 by the Auto Vehicle Company. In 1907 under 500 of the Model K's were built.

It features a "two man Bow-legged top" but I am not exactly sure what that means.
Have to look into it.

Here are a few more pictures of this real beauty!

The model K car was the last two cylinder to have the name of Tourist. The car's engine had 20 horsepower and was located under the middle of the driver's seat.

Unfortunately the Auto Vehicle Company was sold to the California Automobile Company which in just five short years would itself shut down.

However, it left behind some beautiful cars including the Model K.

If you happen to know where I could get more information about the this Tourist Model K or any other years of the Model K I would love to hear about it, since I could not locate a great deal on this classic car.

However,  A special note of thanks to the LeMay Family Collection at Marymount for their wealth of information and access to take pictures of  their beautiful vehicles.

'Til next time have a wonderful day everyone!

1899 Baldwin Steamer

This cool looking old time car is an 1899 Baldwin Steamer, as of 2010 the oldest car in the LeMay Family Collection.

 Here's a few interesting tidbits that makes me so happy that our technology has improved since 1899.

First of all the Baldwin Steamer took about twenty minutes to get started and its boiler needed to be refilled every twenty miles.

And the second and most important reason why I'm happy for all the safety features of today's cars is that the Baldwin steamer's boiler over time did have the potential of exploding. And guess where the boiler was located???

That's right, it was directly under the driver's seat, talk about sitting in the hot seat. Okay, bad joke but while this cool classic old car does stand in time as being a stepping stone to where we are today and it is a cute little automobile - I'm certainly glad for today's technology.

I hope you found this little blog interesting - Thanks to LeMay Family Collection Foundation for the information about this wonderful old classic car.


'Til next time have an amazing day everyone,

Dragon's lair

As promised here is a few more pictures of the Drakko's lair. Please enjoy!

Have a wonderful day,

1959 Ford Skyliner - A Convertible Hardtop?

This week's car is the 1959 Ford Skyliner. A car with a convertible hardtop.

Here is a commercial from the time period about this car, although the 1957 model featured in the commercial is slightly different than the 1959 model.

Isn't that a cool concept for a car? Unfortunately the car was more expensive than their soft top cousins and this was something that the public didn't care for.

The engineering for this car was amazing though. The car (the 1959 model) had three switches to activate the trunk to open. Once the trunk was open all the way another motor engaged to lift the hood out of the trunk and then a third engine caused it to settle into place. Another servo was then used to flipped the remaining "flipper" part of the hood. ( I looked up the word servo because I had no idea what it meant and the definition according to Word Web is a control system that generates more power from a small mechanical motion).

For putting it back into the trunk the car had two more motors to control it! That is a lot of motors for one car. No wonder it weighed over 2 tons!!!

Here is another commercial about the 1957 version of the car.

And here are a few more pictures that I took of this beautiful car.

In 1959 around 12,000 skyliners were sold. The sticker price for them brand new was $3,346.

The 1959 did have some slightly different styling than that of the previous years. 

One difference was that it featured a eggcrate grille.

It also had a larger window and anodized trim ( which means that the metal that has been given a oxide coat). 

While the Ford Skyliner might be big and bulky and was not a popular item at the time, it sure is a cool car and I like it. On that note here is one more advertisement from 1957 with Lucy and Ricky.

'Til next time have an amazing day everyone!

References: Thanks to Joe Reasoner that wrote the article that I read about this car from LeMay Marymount and thanks to The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide that wrote the article that from The How Stuff Works article  for the information.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! A Green Custom Dragon Dragster

So in honor of St. Patrick's Day here's a special custom car for you...

 a 2007 custom Dragster "Drakko".  It has a Chrysler 440 cid wedge engine in it along with a 250 horse power NOS system. Another example of modern car art. It breathes smoke and fire out of its mouth and the eyes light up red. Good thing I went into his lair when he was "asleep." 

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
'Til next time have a totally amazing day.
Amber

Micro Cars at LeMay Marymount

Here are a few pictures that I took at Marymount a couple of weeks ago in Car Club Corner. Its the micro cars! So adorable and there were a couple I have never seen before. I've been a fan of micro cars since I stumbled upon this website:  http://microcarmuseum.com/

Please enjoy the pictures!

??? - I'm not sure what this is but it was cute.

1971 O.T.A.S.

1970 Subaru 360 Pick-up

A 1960 Fiat 600 Multipla

A 1958 Messerschmitt - It tops out of 65 mph but it gets 85 mpg. I wouldn't mind having one of those with gas prices the way they are right now.

A Berkeley Sports - year unknown.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
'Til next time have an amazing day!

1952 Willys Jeep

Hey Everyone,

I have always been a fan of Jeeps and have wanted one since I was little. I think one aspect of jeeps that have always appealed to me is there spunk and ability to take one all kinds of different terrain. So this week I am learning about the 1952 Willys Jeep.

This one at LeMay Marymount, along with its trailer, has been restored to look exactly like the Jeeps and trailers that were used in the Korean War. So here are a few tidbits of information that I learned about this vehicle.

So, I always  thought that a Jeep was a Jeep. So when I saw that this was a Willys Jeep, I shrugged and thought okay why Willys? Is that a type of Jeep? Well come to find out Willys stands for Willys-Overland, the  automobile manufacturer responsible for the Jeep.

The Willys Jeep has a very interesting history and had a special place in the Korean War. Because of the various road conditions the Jeep was highly relied upon and became popular means of transportation for enlisted men, officers and military police.  The Jeep was used for all kinds of missions. Some of them even had communication devices to help direct air strikes and observation planes.

What I thought was really cool about this jeep was that it has a snorkel so that the engine can run underwater. 

 What a beautiful piece of history. Well that is all I have for now. I hope you enjoyed this post about the Willys Jeep.

This is me taking my birthday picture in front of the Willys Jeep.

'Til next time have an amazing day everyone,





p.s. Here is where I received my information about the Jeep from:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1945-1952-jeep.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1945-1952-jeep4.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/history-of-jeep.htm

Happy Valentine's Day!

Know that I deeply appreciate all of you who follow my blog. Happy Valentine's day and Have an amazing week!

LeMay Marymount Event Center and Car Club Corner: Metropolitans

Hello to you out there in cyber world. It has been way too long and I deeply apologize for not writing. It has been a couple of hectic months adjusting to my job. However, I am back and that is what matters.

Some new stuff on the volunteering front. I knew that there was going to be a time when LeMay - America's Car Museum was going to have the new beautiful museum built and I always wondered afterwards what would happen to the beloved Marymount Academy, where the collection is currently.

 I fell in love with Marymount the first time I visited it and it was partially the reason why I chose to intern at the Museum. I love the fact that each room had a story and that it had such history to it. ( Marymount was a military boys academy back in the day and it was run by nuns). Anyway, since the projected time for the new Museum's building to be finished in fall of this year, the Museum and Marymount have become separate entities with a mutual friendship to prepare for the big transition. So now there is LeMay - America's Car Museum and then the Marymount Event Center which houses part of the LeMay Family's collection of automobiles.

The Marymount Event Center also has a new webpage and Facebook page which you should definitely check out.

What I think is cool also is that LeMay Marymount has started to give tours of the chapel and military academy rooms ( classrooms, dormitories, etc.) on a bi-monthly basis. I am hoping that I will be free one of the upcoming Saturdays that they hold it, since I have only been able to see the grounds and chapel.

I look forward to writing more about what I learn in the following months.

Here are a few pictures that I took of the Metropolitans that are currently in Car Club Corner at Marymount. Please enjoy.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have an amazing day everyone!