| Cars
and Literature of the 1970s |
First
Impressions |
Electric
Vehicles |
 Thirty
years seems like a long time to those youthful 30 and
40 year olds who admire the cars of the 1980s and 90s.
Those of us who are 60+ think of the cars of the 1950s
and 60s in the same way. |
 Pontiac
was exceptionally good at providing renderings for brochures
that were specifically aimed at potential customers. Notice
that the cars all appear lower, longer and wider than
they actually were. |
 The
high cost of gasoline and its' scarcity gave the other
sources of power an advantage that they quickly lost.
Now, here we are again with those advantages and an additional
reason save the environment. |
 |
| Goodbye
Viper |
Land
Rover |
Collectibles
vs. Recession |
 Many
of us worry that Chrysler Corporation could disappear
all together. Becoming owned by Nissan or a Chinese company
would not be much of a relief. Maybe Tata will buy it
and add it to Jaguar and Rover... |
 My
introduction to Land Rover was in England in the 1970s
where wealthy farmers used them as gentleman's transportation.
One such farmer kept a Rolls-Royce in his garage along
with the Land Rover... |
 It
happens every time we have a recession. The stock market
and housing prices go down. As people get out of those
markets they need to put their money into something safe.
Yes, old car literature is a good option... |
|
| See
a Classic Car Show, Take a Nostalgia Trip |
Times
Are Changing... |
Lamborghini's |
 "People
always smile at my car and tell me their own Gremlin stories,"
says Mr. Nagle of Sylvania, Ohio. "One woman proudly
told me she was conceived in the back seat of a Gremlin." |
 Over
the last 48 years your needs have changed and we will
change with you. Soon you will see website improvements
at McLellan's Automotive History that will provide you
with an even more pleasurable buying experience, plus
more inventory. |
 When
I discovered sports cars in the early 1950s I immersed
myself in learning about the best the world had to offer.
"Road & Track", "Motor Trend",
Fawcett and Trend Books guided me to Ferrari, Maserati,
Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin. |
|
| From
Boxy to Fins |
One
Historian Mourns the Passing of the Black and White Glossy |
Collectible
Tractors |
 Memories
from the late 1940s and early 1950s produce images of
aunts, uncles and grandparents driving bland, conservative
Dodges, Plymouths and DeSotos. They all looked alike to
a youngster like me.
|
 Horror
of horrors, the black and white glossies have disappeared
from automaker press kits. Why? Because it costs an automaker
far less to reproduce a digital CD ROM with hundreds of
pictures, all on one disc. |
 An
auctioneer barks out numbers in rapid-fire rhythm. In
a standing-room-only crowd, proxy bidders hunch over their
mobile phones and cover their ears. Auction-house assistants
fan out and move close to bidders who seem most intent
on winning. |
|
| How
I Met John Conlon |
Review:
Two Press booklets on the Rolls Phantom Drophead coupe |
Thanks
Dad! |
 When
the time came to purchase the family's first automobile,
John really did his research. He wrote to every company
that even thought about manufacturing an automobile before
he chose his new Hudson. |
 When
RR and Bentley split, Volkswagen bought Bentley, and BMW
bought the RR nameplate. Naturally, BMW takes a more modern
view of marketing reflected even in their brochures and
press kits. |
 I
owe my passion for classic cars and collecting literature
to my father, who would take me along on his literature
collecting jaunts, grabbing one or two copies of anything
he could get his hands on. |
|
| My
Story |
Rolls-Royce
and Bentley |
Collecting
for Fun and Relaxation |
 My
first inkling of interest in car literature occurred in
1957. My Dad ran a 1933 Chevy at the local dirt oval and
he received some minor sponsorship from the Chevrolet
/ Oldsmobile / Cadillac dealer in town. |
 Rolls-Royce
/ Bentley — "The Best Car in the World"...
Collectors hold tight to their Rolls-Royce / Bentley literature.
Scarcity makes for higher prices, so purchasing collections
has been difficult. |
 I
have re-kindled my childhood interest in automotive literature
and books... As a boy I was always fascinated by the brochures
and showroom sample books showing exterior and interior
trim, as well as the engineering features. |
|
| Your
Literature |
The
Family Station Wagon |
Packing
for Shipping |
 Whether
you collect flathead Ford literature, concept car brochures,
or are a restorer who hunts down dealer albums to use
in creating authentic restorations or anything in between
to something very strange, you have an audience here at
the "Automotive Chronicles" that wants to hear
about it. Don't be shy. |
 For
all of you who grew up with station wagons as a kid, or
as parents, or as someone who used them as work horses,
we present the second most popular body style of the 1940s
through the 1970s — the station wagon. Enjoy the
literature... |
 All
collectors know the condition of literature is important
and, if it lasted this long in good condition, it must
stay in good condition. The literature needs to arrive
in your hands in the same condition it is sent. |
|
| Dodge
Trucks |
Press
Kit Review |
Collecting
'Down Under' |
 As
a child I imagined myself becoming an archeologist and
joining a caravan of Dodge trucks across the desert. Fifteen
years later I found myself crossing the desert in Libya
as a geologist exploring for oil in a Dodge Power Wagon. |
 Frankfurt,
Tokyo, Los Angeles and now Detroit. Big auto shows around
the world show off their production and concept cars to
media and the public in hopes that the publicity will
increase their sales. |
 I
have collected automotive literature for most of my life
with the large amount of my collection being brochures,
and I enjoy a wide variety of makes and topics. My passion
is for literature from the 1960s and 1970s... |
|
| Owner's
Manuals |
MG
in America |
"Buy
Me a Ferrari" |
 Finding
the right brochures and books is the easy part of collecting
compared to finding all the miscellaneous literature such
as magazines with road tests, dealer albums for paint
and upholstery samples and memorabilia. |
 While
the British enjoyed MGs prior to World War II, and sports
cars were common throughout England and Europe, the newly
discovered MG was a novelty in the United States when
introduced just after the war. Even as popularity of the
MG grew, so grew the dissimilarity between American cars. |
 In
the early 1950s there were two places you might see a
Ferrari other than on a race track — Hollywood and
New York City... The actress sang "Buy Me a Ferrari",
to the man she was with in a movie from the 1950s... |
|
| International
Opportunities |
Ask
the Man Who Owns One |
Dealer
Stamps |
 With
the decline of the U. S. Dollar, the rest of the world
benefits from what can best be described as bargain prices
from McLellan's Automotive History (MAH). And, with newly
purchased collections, the MAH inventory is growing, giving
collectors more selection than ever. |
 Everyone
knows the name Packard — older readers identify with
their favorite 1930s classic, while younger readers will
envision a 1950s model. Packard was an outstanding automobile
from its beginning in 1899 and just continued to get better. |
 Does
that dealer stamp on the brochure cover bother you? How
about a well placed and attractive dealer stamp on a rare
brochure? The dealer stamp confirms the originality of
the literature. And some dealers are important enough
to give the brochure a "bloodline". Here are
a few examples of neatly applied dealership stamps... |
|
| Chevrolet
Literature |
Kaiser-Frazer |
Enhance
Your Collection |
 From
my mother's used 1952 Chevrolet to my used 1965 Corvair,
purchased when I got out of the Army, my path has been
laden with Chevys. All during those Chevrolet years I
pretty much took those cars for granted... |
 Without
WWII hero and shipmaker, Henry J. Kaiser, American troops
would have had nothing to fight with. At the end of the
war, Kaiser recognized the need to quickly convert the
military industrial back to private industry.
|
 Whether
you are interested in just one specific car, one make
of car, or have varied interests, programs and annual
reports contain numerous photographs of automobiles and
other vehicles that were being shown at show... |
|
| Commercial
Vehicles |
Triumph |
Coachbuilder's
Literature |
 Most
recently trucks and buses, and their literature, have
caught my attention. We have just added 1000+ truck &
bus brochures to our collection. You might want to take
a break from your current interest to browse through what
I find to be fascinating... |
 Triumph
was introduced to America as an affordable British sports
car. It was more than inexpensive fun around town. It
delivered the dream of becoming a race car driver. You
simply joined the Sports Car Club of America and raced
on one of the many abandoned World War II airbase in the
United States...
|
 Defining
a coachbuilder was simple prior to WW II. Luxurious bodies
were built on expensive chassis for wealthy customers.
Over the past 60 years we have seen two types of conversions
— replicas and custom bodies on mass-produced chassis
and cars with engine and/or body modifications. |
|
| The
Early Books |
Vintage
Bentleys |
The
Innovative Hudson |
 Prior
to 1960, twenty to thirty books constituted an impressive
automotive book collection. Naturally books that have
been written since then cover the makes and subjects that
readers are nostalgic for and pre-nostalgic (historical)
coverage has become less common. Look at these pre-1960
publications... |
 We
all have our favorite historical make. Having devoted
much time to so many prewar marques and owning several,
I have confirmed multiple times that Vintage Bentley is
my favorite. And my tribute is... |
 After
building airplanes and landing craft engines during World
War II, Hudson re-entered the auto market in 1946 with
essentially 1942 models. Then, in 1948, Hudson did what
it was best at — stepping out in front of the rest
of the industry with an innovative design. |
|
| Wolseley |
Buses/Engines/Fire
Trucks/Tractors/Trains... |
The
Schödel Collection |
 Few
Wolseley automobiles ever made it to America... After
years of acquiring Wolseley literature my curiosity got
the better of me when a literature collector, who had
spent many years in England in the 1950s through 1960s,
sold us his literature collection. |
 We
have recently acquired a large batch of literature that
goes under odd sections such as, 'Buses', 'Engines', 'Fire
Trucks', 'Tractors', 'Trains'... Vehicles you would not
have thought about for many years... |
 This
self-published book by Ulrich J. Schödel showcases
almost every piece of Aston Martin and Lagonda literature,
factory records, posters, manuals... This whole literature
collection (not the book) is for sale... |
|
| Jaguar
in the 1950s |
The
Beautiful Brute |
Sunbeam
& Sunbeam-Talbot |
 When
Jaguar entered the North American market after World War
II it had a good promotional program that sent their cars
to sports car hungry American. G.I.'s coming home from
Europe had discovered a new toy that was fast and fun
in the corners. |
 When
the Chrysler Letter Cars first appeared, the phrase "The
Beautiful Brute" suddenly emerged out of nowhere
-- but it fit. As the Paul Bunyan of cars, this Chrysler
created an image of big, powerful and fast, which set
it apart from sports cars and hot rods... |
 I
acquired a nice, used Sunbeam Alpine in 1968... there's
a story to it... The most memorable for sports car enthusiasts
was the Alpine that Carroll Shelby stuffed a V-8 in and
called it a Tiger. |
|
| Beyond
the Mustang II |
Taxi
Cabs, Police Cars & Emergency Vehicles |
U.S.
Postwar Econocars |
 From
the birth of the Mustang as a 1964 1/2 model, to its golden
age which ended with the high performance models in 1973,
Mustang was "The Pony Car"... Camaro, Firebird,
Barracuda and AMX were overnight rivals... |
 Nearly
any make of vehicle you can think of has been converted
at one time or another to a taxi, police or emergency
vehicle. Literature on these otherwise "plain Jane"
vehicles stands out... |
 WW
II set off a fuel shortage that produced the Austin Bantam
and Crosley. Once again the fear of expensive gasoline
has the auto industry second guessing our future with
several alternatives... |
|
| The
Dawn of the Auto |
Inquiring
Minds |
Exotic
Dropouts |
 Not
long ago we received a call from an over 100-year-old
Texas museum that had a room of literature... We have
acquired these impressively old catalogs in unbelievably
good condition... |
 How
to place a value on a collection... What you should be
collecting... Does the reduced price and wear and tear
imply that the item should be avoided... Ask us questions.
It is gratifying to be recognized for our 47 years of
experience. |
 Dream
cars turned into reality on a whim of the powerful...
Often driven by exotic designs and /or engineering, these
efforts frequently have limited longevity. A review of
exotic dropouts worth remembering and collecting. |
|
| Trucks
of the 1930s and 1940s |
Imperial
is Back |
Dune
Buggy/ATV Escapes |
 Most
automobile and literature collectors recognize trucks
as a small but growing part of the hobby. Truck literature
of the 1950s and 1960s is scarce, and prior to that extremely
rare. The trend to seek out the roots to the modern truck
is worth exploring. |
 |
