Just back from a trip to Baja and California where I stopped at the Petersen
and Nethercutt Automotive Museums so this is a "trip report" for the List.
Also want to thank the guy on the List who recommended the Nethercutt several
weeks ago.
At Petersen, the best was the Land Speed exhibit that included Vesco's
Turbinator, Arfon's Green Monster, the Pierson Coupe, the 300 MPH flathead
Flatfire, and some others. The body was off the Flatfire so you could see all
the chassie and engine details----that is one special jewel-like Ford flathead
with the intake/exhaust ports reversed so the headers are on top of the block
like the old Lasalle and Cadillac flathead V8s. The Land Speed display is only
temporary (until mid March?), so go see it if possible. The 1950s speed shop
set with a lot of parts and a roadster under construction brought back
memories. Didn't spend much time looking at what the Alabama Turk calls
"parking lot cars" that were on display.
The Nethercutt Museum in San Sylmar has two buildings housing about 130 cars
from a 1886 Benz to recent classics---most are the rarest "supercars" of the
1920-1930s, Packards, Pierce-Arrows, Rolls, Lincolns, Mercedes, Maybach, etc,
including a 1937 Cad V16 Aero-Dynamic Coupe, a 1935 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic
Coupe (supercharged straight 8, DOHC, with 4 valves per cylinder). The
centerpiece was the "Twenty Grand" 1933 Model SJ Duesenberg Torpedo
Sedan---got a docent to open the hood so I could take a look, it has a
vertical shaft on the side of the engine that drives a suprisingly small
diameter centrifugal blower mounted horizontally so the carb, blower, and
intake ports are close-coupled. Twenty Grand in 1933 is maybe $800,000 in
todays dollars--definitely super car stuff.
A motorhead could get lost for days just admiring the genius, machining, and
constuction details on the cars in this collection, all the cars are kept
"ready to drive" and once a year they drive a selection of them on a picnic
outing. If you're short on time, pass up the Petersen Museum and go to the
Nethercutt with your camera. They also sell a great book about the collection
and its well worth the $30.
Since found out that only 42 Bugatti Atlantic coupes were made in the 1930s
and only two(?) still exist--they had aluminum or magnesium bodies riveted
together, very low, incredible car. If I had a time machine, I'd beam myself
back to old Ettore Bugatti's shop just to watch those guys work.
Lance
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