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Thank You
For Visiting |
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Texas Bob's World |
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THIS IS
QUITE A LENGTHY TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE |
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PACK A
LUNCH AND COME ON ALONG. |
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AUTO NOSTALGIA

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PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COPY AND USE ANY PORTION OF
THIS MATERIAL |
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1912 Ford Hershey's
Delivery Wagon
The Car That Delivers the Goods!
Stronger Than An Army Mule and Cheaper Than a Team
of Horses
Henry Ford was reluctant to get into the truck business. After an
unsuccessful effort in 1905, he waited until 1912 to try again. This
time he spent two years testing the product through Bell Telephone
and the Wanamaker Department Store. The results were excellent and
Ford put the Delivery Car on the market in 1912. Almost 2,000 were
sold at $700. It featured a wood body, two swing out back doors, and
the same 22 horsepower 4-cylinder engine used by Ford cars.
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If It Had Wings It Would Fly!
1936 Chrysler Airflow
So Tough—Chrysler Test Drivers Pushed It Over A
Cliff—
Then Got In And Drove Away!
More than just a car, it was a pioneering adventure into the
automobile of the future. The first truly streamlined car in
automotive history. Loaded with an array of features never before
seen on any other car. It wasn’t until 60 years later, with the
advent of the Mercedes SLK, the Jaguar S-Class and the Chrysler PT
Cruiser—that ‘Airflow’ styling was finally acclaimed “One of the 5
most significant automotive breakthroughs of the 20th century!”
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1936 FORD DELUXE CABRIOLET
It Dazzled America
It dazzled America and left European car buffs absolutely
breathless. With its airplane V-grille nose and its monster V-8
engine, the 1936 Ford Cabriolet out-ran, out performed and outlasted
every car that dared to challenge it. To this very day car
aficionados toast the 1936 Ford Cabriolet as the most beautiful Ford
ever built. This fabulous Ford reigned as
"King Of The Road". |
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1936 Pontiac Deluxe Coupe
Silver Streak Styling Sets the Standard
General Motors created the Pontiac in 1926 as a less-expensive
partner in its Oakland Division. The Pontiac quickly eclipsed its
partner and by 1932, Oakland was gone, replaced by the Pontiac Motor
Company. In the midst of the Great Depression in 1935, stylist Frank
Q. Hershey developed the “Silver Streak”, chrome-bands extending
from the grille to the end of the hood. This combined with its
solid-steel Turret Top Body by Fisher, helped make the 1936 Pontiac
live up to its “Most Beautiful Thing on Wheels” ad slogan.
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1937 Studebaker® Coupe
Express
The Master Wagon Makers First Pick Up
Over A Century's Experience Building Cargo Haulers
When the Studebaker family immigrated to the United States from
Germany in the late 18th century, they brought with them their wagon
making skills. By the late 1830’s, the Studebaker name stood for
quality and craftsmanship in the wagon making trade in Gettysburg,
PA. Although the Studebaker Motor Company and made some heavy duty
trucks previously, 1937 marked their debut in the pick up arena.
With design suggestions from famous styling consultant Raymond Loewy,
the Coupe Express was a hybrid, melding the best features of a car
and a truck. Studebaker accomplished this by using their
best-selling Dictator passenger car, including features such as
vented side windows and whitewall tires, and added a heavy duty pick
up bed to the back.
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The
Quality Car in the Low Priced Field
1937 Ford® Deluxe Cabriolet
25 Millionth Ford Sold in 1937
After 34 years in the automotive business, the Ford Motor
Company was proud to announce that, in 1937, they had sold
their 25 millionth Ford. This was to be Ford’s last year as #1
in automotive sales until after WWII, selling just under 1
million units. The 1937 line of Fords was completely
redesigned to give it a smoother, more contemporary look. Gone
were extruding horns, headlights, and spare tires. Ford
designers then added a new V-shaped grille, teardrop
headlights, longer fender skirts and a rear-hinged “alligator”
hood. Ford still remained a factor in racing, winning the
important Monte Carlo Rally. The Deluxe Cabriolet was one of
its sportier models, successfully producing over 10,000 at a
cost of $719.
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Detroit’s First Dream Car
1938 Buick Y-Job Convertible
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1938 Cadillac V-16 Presidential
Limousine
First in Luxury, First in Prestige
They certainly lost money on every one they built. In 1938, despite
a new better performing engine and gorgeous body by Fleetwood, only
315 were produced. Yet it was the V-16 engine that pushed Packard
aside, making Cadillac America’s #1 Luxury Car. The V-16 engine was
almost extinct in 1938, victim of Cadillac’s own improvements in
their V-8 engine. By 1940 only a handful were ordered and the V-16
was discontinued.
Two Produced for President Roosevelt
Only two 1938 V-16 Presidential Limousines were ever produced, both
for FDR’s use as parade cars. Few Americans who were alive during
this time will ever forget seeing live, if they were lucky, or in
newsreels, pictures of the President smiling and waving from the
backseat of these ’38 Cadillac’s, as he took a brief break from
steering America through the Great Depression. |
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1939 Chevrolet® Deluxe
Coupe
The “Cadillac” Anyone Could Afford
#1 Selling Car In America
In 1939 General Motors’ advertising department had plenty to crow
about as the 1930’s came to a close. Their 1939 ad campaign for
Chevrolet was built around the slogan “the Cadillac anyone could
afford”. America bought Chevys 577,278 to be exact, making Chevrolet
the best selling car in America, beating Ford by 90,000 cars. The GM
designers had done their job also. With streamlined headlights,
chrome grill and trim and its always-economical price, the 1939
Chevrolet Deluxe Coupe had a lot to offer.
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The First Successful Streamlined American Car
1939 Lincoln Zephyr Convertible Coupe
The Car That Saved Lincoln
The Depression had crippled the U.S. luxury car market, relegating
Lincoln to a money-losing minor division of Ford, producing barely
40 cars per week. Cadillac and Packard were the first to react, both
coming out with less-expensive models in the LaSalle and the Packard
One Twenty. Briggs Manufacturing Company, who provided Ford with the
Lincoln bodies was as concerned as Ford. They assigned John Tjaarda
to produce a dream car in 1933 that could be used as the basis for a
lower end Lincoln. This car, with some modifications (Henry Ford
nixed the rear engine), became the Zephyr, named after the first
streamlined train, the Burlington Silver Streak Zephyr. The car was
an immediate hit producing about 20,000 cars per year in the late
1930’s. The public, which at the same time was rejecting the
streamlined Chrysler Airflow, loved the Zephyr’s look from the
hidden running board to the distinctive “waterfall” split grille.
But as with most Ford cars over the years, the real magic was under
the hood and in the price tag. The Zephyr was priced between $1500
and $2000 (this 1939 Convertible Coupe cost $1747) and was by far
the least expensive V-12 on the market. Fully Wired 267.3 Cubic Inch
V-12 Engine Provided 110 Horsepower
Gave Birth to the Continental
Edsel Ford, then president of the Lincoln division, was so enamored
with the ’39 Zephyr Convertible Coupe, that he had 2 of them made
especially for his sons. It was this model that provided the basis
for the first Continentals a few years later. |
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1940 Classic Ford® Woody Station Wagon
Years Ahead Of Their Time
Trailblazers Who Dared To Be Different These Are The Ford(s) That
Threw Away The Rule Book! Exciting new kinds of cars never seen on
the roadways before!
Pioneering Dream-Machines
That Are To Cars What The Moon-Landing Is To Space - Each A
History-Making "First" Styled directly from the Ford( Car Museum in
Dearborn, Mich. come these all-time collector's classic replicas -
each a style-setting "heartthrob" that completely revolutionized
America's taste in cars. Packed with KO power under the hood and a
body you could die for. |
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1941 Original World War II Jeep
It carried GI's and Generals
to ultimate victory in all three theaters Africa, Europe, Asia. It
was Ike's front-line "limo" and Patton's go-for-broke, command post
on wheels. Nothing could stop it. Not axle-high mud, not hood-high
snow, not drifting dessert sands, not soggy jungle swamps, not even
the sand-mired beaches of Normandy or the raging swollen streams of
Germany's Black Forest. Its 4-wheel drive and 1/4 -ton capacity
out-raced, out-flanked, out-maneuvered enemy troops in all 33 major
land battles of WWII.
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1946
Ford® Sportsman
Hand-Assembled From over 120 Parts!
The Returning Servicemen
Demanded Something New
During WWII, Bob Gregorie, Ford’s design chief, was
frustrated watching Willy’s Jeeps roll off the Ford assembly
line while production of civilian cars was curtailed. In 1946
the returning serviceman came marching home and the public was
bored with the pre-war models available. With time for only
one new model, Henry Ford II gave Gregorie approval to move
ahead on one of his dream cars, the Sportsman. With a price
tag that was the Ford’s highest up to then, just under $2000,
only 723 were sold but the Sportsman proved to be a great
showroom traffic builder. Today, only 20 of these certified
Milestone Cars still exist, worth over $70,000 in good
condition.
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1948 Tucker Torpedo
One Man's Dream Turns Into A Nightmare
The Futuristic | | | | |