Dear Mary,
Kenny mentioned to me that you thought some notes on cars that
we have owned would make for interesting reading, and I felt that
exploring the old memory banks would be a fun thing to do.
the following are some of my recollections, and I hope they are
the kind of things you had in mind. If not, holler back and let
me know if I should take a different approach. Also, if you would
like more or less specific information about any of the incidents
mentioned in these notes, let me know and I will do some editing.
My Mother had a friend that owned a 1949 Crosley. This friend decided to upgrade to a larger car, a Chevrolet, and sold this little Crosley to my Mother for $300. This was in 1952 and I was 15 years old.
My Mother gave this car to me as a gift to provide me with transportation, which I sorely needed in the big city of Los Angeles, California. I had gotten an early driver's licence because I needed it for transportation to and from work, and to and from school, and my Mother thought that this little car would be just right for me.
1949 Crosley
Earlier models of these little cars became famous during WWII due to their ability to get 50 mpg. They are very light weight, have tiny 44 cubic inch engines and small tires. Yet they can reach 70 mph and will cruise at 50 mph with ease. 1949 was the first uear for the cast iron engine, previous engines being welded copper and brass plate -- called the CoBra Engines.
The 1949 model was also the last year for mechanical brakes. It had cloth upholstery, embossed interior panels, a Crosley radio and antenna, and a horn.
The Crosley is one of the first micro-cars, but only because it was meant to be practical and for the frugal. Yet the list of Crosley owners includes presidents, generals and movie stars. Even Frank Lloyd Wright owned a Crosley.
I was a Junior in High School, and I went everywhere in this little Crosley -- to Football Games, dances, to work at night and of course to school.
My Father and Stepmother were living in Fresno CA at the time, where my Father was the General Foreman on a concrete construction crew on a very large construction project -- a housing development. I was boarding with a wonderful woman named Mrs. Smith in Culver City. Mrs. Smith's son was in the military, and he had left some nice material in the garage for black background shots -- his hobby was photography. I asked Mrs. Smith if I could use some of that material to upholster the seats in the Crosley, and she said Ok. So, my Crosley ended up with some pretty, black cloth seat covers. I spent a lot of my time cleaning and polishing the little Crosley, and was absolutely thrilled to actually have a car of my own, even if it was an itsy bitsy one.
Some very good friends of mine owned a liquor store in a very nice part of Beverly Hills, and I was a delivery boy for them and for a nearby Drug Store.
I would drive the Crosley home from school, eat dinner that Mrs. Smith had prepared for me, and drive the Crosley to work.
I did my homework in the back room of the Liquor Store between deliveries, and worked from 6 PM to Midnight. I drove the Crosley on some of the deliveries, but the Liquor Store owners had a 1949 Mercury that they let me use (Unbelievable! Me, driving a '49 Merc! I would have paid them to let me drive it!) to make their deliveries most of the time, and the Drug Store had a 1939 Chevy Coupe that they let me use for their deliveries. One of the Pharmacists had smoked a heavy Turkish pipe tobacco in this Chevy Coupe for about five years, and it absolutely Reeked! Argh! But, I tolerated it. I needed the job.
My High School Was Venice High, Myrna Loy's high school, and many of my friends and classmates from grammar school and junior high school also went there -- including a young lady named Susan Clothier. Susan rode with me a few times in the Crosley, and I think she was holding her breath the entire time, as were the two or three other friends in the car with us.
The mechanical brakes on this little Crosley were absolutely terrible, and I had to concentrate on stopping the thing every time I approached a red light, down shifting and standing on the brake pedal. Driving home from work one night on Overland Boulevard -- a steep grade -- in Culver City, the right rear brake drum shattered, and the car came to a rather abrupt stop because the wheel was bolted to that brake drum and was bouncing around in the wheel well. I was able to locate a new brake drum the following day, and had it up and running in no time at all. The bad brakes eventually resulted in me rear ending a fellow at a stop light, buckling the front end of the Crosley, but doing very little damage to the rear of the car I hit. When repaired, the Crosley looked very bulbous in the front end.
I liked the looks of my little Crosley, but was shocked one time when I came out of school classes for the day, and found my Crosley perched on top of two trash cans on the front steps of the high school auditorium. A cruel joke perpetrated by some of my "Good Friends"! My Pal -- Johnny McClean -- and I pushed the Crosley forward and the trash cans tipped over with the Crosley rolling off of them. It was a very, very light car. Too light.
To see what it would do, I opened it up on the Hollywood Freeway one day, hitting 70 miles an hour -- and shifting over a full lane every time I passed a large truck due to the lack of traction at speed. I slowed down, and never drove it that fast again.
I kept that little Crosley about a year, and then traded it for a Hot Rod.
My Pal Johnny knew a fellow that wanted to get rid of a '33 five window Ford coupe, and he was happy to get the Crosley in trade. He got the better end of the deal, as the Crosley was a much newer car, but I did have a lot of fun with that Hot Rod. It had a V8 flat head motor with a three speed manual transmission, channeled eleven inches, and it sat very close to the ground. It had no hood, but the engine had a Stromberg 97 Carburetor, a red block, and was shiny and impressive, so I didn't mind not having the hood. Channeling was popular then for this type of Ford, dropping the body over the outside of the chassis -- as opposed to having the body sitting on top of the chassis. This lowered the car significantly, and in this case a full 11 inches.
More about the '33 Five Window Coupe Ford Hot Rod later.
Love and Hugs,
Grandpa Myers
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