1925
Brunn (USA) Phaeton ??? for NY salon.
Derham (USA): [The text
of this entry is copied from an Internet website devoted entirely
to Derham coachwork] As far back as the mid-1920s, Derham built a
Transformable Town Car (landaulet) for a Cadillac chassis that looked normal when viewed
from the outside. While most landaulets rear roofs were rarely lowered, the wheelchair
bound owner of this one used it all the time. His chauffeur would lower the top, then use
a hoist installed overhead to lift his employer over the side of the body and into the
Cadillac’s rear compartment. The driver would then raise the roof and be on his way.
Derham installed a removable rear seat that could be quickly fastened to the hoist,
speeding up the entire loading and unloading process. How the chauffeur got his employer
out of the car once they reached their destination remains unanswered. Later bodies were
typically modeled after a side-servicing funeral car. Built using a pair of center-opening
passenger doors fastened at a removable B-pillar or center post, the passenger’s
front seat was tipped forward, allowing a wheelchair plenty of room to maneuver into the
rear compartment, which was also modified with a flat floor.
[ no image ]
Daytona Wright (USA) Special sedan
( image)
Roberts-LeBaron (USA) Special sport phaeton with special
radiator, hood and fenders, 1925 NY salon;
This car is a modified version of the NY Salon car,
built on the 1926 Cadillac Series 314 chassis
Schutte, Charles, Body Co. (Lancaster, PA, USA) It is not known
whether this Pennsylvania company built, many bodies on the Cadillac chassis; in 1925-26
they did build a Special 6-passenger touring car on 150" wheel base, for Al
Woods (see also "1926", below).
[Unknown, USA] Cadillac chief engineer Earnest Seaholm rides in
this unidentified V63 open tourer
[Unknown, USA] Ambulance on 1925 Cadillac chassis.
[ Image: courtesy "Philippe", a
French enthusiast and member of ACCF ]
[Unknown, USA] Tow truck /wrecker on 1925 Cadillac chassis.
[ These images: courtesy
of "Philippe", a French enthusiast and member of the ACCF ]
1926
Brunn (USA) Special convertible coupe for
NY salon; OC p.66, CC&CC, 9/1982, p.27; McC, p.106 [Photo,
Cadillac stand at 22nd NY show, 1926 , Hotel Commodore, Grand Ballroom?] also shown on
Brunn stand were a berline landaulet for six passengers and a landau sedan for four
passengers [see below].
Brunn (USA) Special
convertible coupe, very similar to the above car but with doors hinged forward, at the
"A" pillar instead of the "suicide" door design of the previous car; McC,
p.106.
Brunn (USA) 4-passenger landau sedan, with folding roof portion
over rear seat passengers); McC, p.106
Brunn (USA)
6-passenger berline landaulet? There was an ad in Antique Automobile the magazine
of the AACA dated Sep.-Oct, 1976, listing for sale a 1926 Cadillac touring sedan with body
by Brunn, serial #101539, described as having lots of aluminum and port-hole quarter
windows. I wonder if it was this car and if it has survived?
Fleetwood (USA) clay mock-up of 7-passenger sedan
Fleetwood (USA) special custom sedan for five
passengers. This is the precursor of a later Fleetwood style of which the
designation code ended with digits "55". Termed a "stationary
Cabriolet", this appellation merely indicated that the car had a leather covered roof
and, although it sported landau bars, these were merely decorative, i.e. the roof portion
over the rear seat passengers was stationary; it did not fold back like a landau
top.
Fleetwood (USA) special custom roadster
Fleetwood (USA) special custom town landaulet; this
a design would evolve over the next few years into a regular Fleetwood town car and town
landaulet offering (styling codes ending with digits "12" and "12-C"
respectively); this was a 5-passenger car with enclosed rear quarters; McC,
p.107
Judkins (USA) 7-passenger berline, McC p.105
Judkins (USA) Sedan cabriolet
Roberts-LeBaron (USA) Same car as 1925 NY salon car [above] but
modified for Mr. Harold Russel Rider; CC&CC, 9/1982, p.27; also McC,
p.106
Roberts-LeBaron Phaeton on 1926 Cadillac Series 314
chassis
Schutte, Charles, Body Co. (Lancaster, PA, USA) This car was
advertised in a 1926 publication as having been built for a Mrs.George L. Cronkite of
Memphis, TN. Note the Rolls-Royce type grille surround, the oval quarter windows and
the (presumably false) landau bars. The car more closely resembles a McFarlan than a
Cadillac
[Unknown, USA] - possibly Brewster or Willoughby -
Formal town brougham; McC, p.108
[Unknown, USA] Custom 2-passenger coupe; poor photo in McC,
p.106
[Unknown, USA] Custom pick-up, advertised for sale on the
Internet in 2007.
[Unknown, USA] Custom boat-tail speedster, seen advertised for
sale at Christie's auction, CA, 18.8.1996 - no picture.
Van den Plas (Belgium) Town car-landaulet, built for Col. van
Strydonck of the famed "Régiment des Guides"; McC, p.108, and ZTV
collection, 1994.
1927
Brunn (USA) Special town car or "Town Cabriolet"; this
elegant landaulet featured a folding roof portion over the rear seat passengers; McC,
p.115; three other special models were shown by Brunn at that year's NY motor show
[below].
This Brunn custom creation cost $4800 at the time
Brunn (USA) built for the NY show a special style,
#1810; this was a collapsible cabriolet for four passengers [we would call it a
phaeton, today]
Brunn (USA) built for the NY show another special
style, #1836; this was a sedan for four passengers.
Brunn (USA) built this cute coupe on the La Salle
chassis
Brunn (NY, USA) Special custom sedan-landaulet (style #1915?) for
4 or 6 passengers. for New York auto show. Pete Spalding, an Aussie enthusiast, says
this car was bought by his grandfather at the Chicago World's Fair. The image below
is from an old family movie. Pete is hoping to be able to provide additional photos
of this super-rare car. It is believed that the car may have survived and may still
reside in Australia. Pete wrote, in March 2010, to Peter Ratcliff, a CLC member and
friend from Melbourne who kindly relayed the message he thought might interest
users of the "Cadillac Database". He said: Hello. I am trying to track down a Cadillac owned by my Grandfather
from around 1935 to the 1950's. The car was bought to Australia by Sir Sidney Myer1 after it was purchased at the Chicago Worlds Fair. I have a
photo of the car that I can email. The main difference I can see is the car is a
7-seater with suicide doors front and rear. The original colour was yellow with black
guards and hood. It had fold down dickie seats [opera seats], carved ivory door
handles, etc. The car was last seen in 1990 in Melbourne. We were of the impression it was
sold to a neighbour in Red Cliffs and turned into a rabbit truck! [!!!] Any
help would be greatly appreciated. Please send me an email if you would like me to forward
the photo. Regards Pete Spalding. PS. My grandfather was Dr Harold Zimmer of Red
Cliffs, Mildura [Australia]. I recognized the car the minute I saw the photo.
It is a custom job with coachwork by Herman Brunn of NY, built for the 1927 NY auto show.
I had never seen a photo before; I have only an artist's drawing of it (below) from an
advertisement; this and another Brunn creation were used to advertise Egyptian
Lacquers in Automotive Industries on 3rd December 1927 [BTW, I would be grateful for a photocopy of the other page (p.4), from the same magazine].
_________________________________
1 Russian Jewish refugee, Simcha
Baevski, arrived in Australia in 1899 with only a few pennies to his name. Sidney
Myer, as he became known, took up peddling, hawking goods around the Victorian
countryside. From these inauspicious beginnings the enterprising Sidney engineered a
retail revolution and opened Melbourne's first department store, the Myer Emporium. He
moved quickly through the ranks of society, shocking the stuffy Melbourne establishment
with his marriage to Merlyn Baillieu, a debutante 22 years his junior, from one of city's
most powerful families. He died a millionaire and is remembered for his civic leadership
and philanthropy, a legacy his descendants continue to this day.
(Left) This artist's drawing is from an automobile ad
of the period; note that
it closely resembles a Brunn design on the 1924 Cadillac V-63 chassis
(Right) Here is a very similar Brunn design on the Stearns-Knight chassis;
this one has center-opening doors and sidemounted spare wheels;
[ The text that accompanied the RH image read: This exceptionally smart
Stearns-Knighht "Eight"
has a custom town car
(body?) built by Brunn. Wire wheels are a
feature of the design ]
The foregoing designer's drawings
may have resulted, the following year,
in this custom offering that is listed in the
next section
[ Photo (left): courtesy Pete Spalding, Australia ]
Buhne (Germany): 2-3 seater "Luxus cabriolet"
[luxury convertible]. Appeared in the German "Motor"
for September 1931 but was built on the 1927 La Salle chassis. Features include twin,
rear-mounted spares, large, rear-opening "suicide" doors each on three large
hinges, oversized landau bars, deep dip in rear body to house convertible top when folded,
low trunk, custom hood with numerous, rear-slanting louvers.
[ Images: Z. Taylor Vinson collection, courtesy
Hagley Library and Museum, DE ]
Cadillac (USA) Although Fleetwood was acquired by the Fisher Body
Corporation, for GM, in 1925, the company continued to manufacture custom and semi-custom
bodies like this one on the Cadillac chassis:
Nordberg (Sweden) Custom open touring car.
Unfortunately, I have found no photo(s) of the car. The image below
is a still I shot from a YouTube video (from a Swedish movie of the
time) that was brought to my attention on a Swedish web site). I
wonder if that car has survived?
Unknown (USA) Special armored car
attributed to Al Capone, featured in a YouTube
presentation by owner and inventor, Greg Zanis
http://www.dreamcar123.com/
[ photos ]
Weinsberg (probably Germany) In the German magazine "Motor
Klassik" for 8/86 [on p.33, is reported to be a special LaSalle with a body
by Weinsberg (year unknown, manufacturer probably German)
Willoughby (USA) Special town car; McC p.115.
Could these be one and the same car (from designer's
drawing to reality?)
[Unknown, USA ?] "Hot Rod" on 1927 La
Salle base
