Cars from the SoCal 2 Museum Meet - Pictures!

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I've got quite a few pictures here from the SVX World Network: 2 Museums Meet on April 17,18 2010. Paul Dexler gave us a royal tour of both The Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar, CA and The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. His insider access as a docent at the renowned Petersen Museum acquired for us a tour of the basement vault, where visitors are not allowed, lead by the director of the museum, Dick Messer. With the addition of two, previously unknown, JDM SVXs brought by member, "needforspeed" this made for a once in a lifetime event for fans of the SVX.

The Nethercutt Collection is a private collection of pre-war autos, furniture, and mechanical instruments.



Their automotive showroom.

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In their lobby, a 1931 Bugatti Type 51/Coupe

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Accompanied by a 1937 Talbot Lago, T-150-C-SS Sport Coupe. Quite possibly the finest car I've ever seen.

















The man displaying the car to us summoned me over when were beginning to disperse. He asked me to hold the hood up while he folded down the support arm. I've never been so terrified by so little a responsibility as preventing gravity from destroying this priceless car. I had the shakes afterward.

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This Hispano Suiza was tucked into the corner of their well lit atrium.





This Display Chassis for the 1921 Owen-Magnetic Model 60 shows the inner workings of a hybrid gas/electric car. The gas motor is a generator making power for an electric motor that drives the wheels. This design is similar to modern powertrains in Locomotives and the upcoming Chevy Volt.





The Christie Front Drive Fire Truck,

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This 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II/Town Car was owned by actress Constance Bennett, and was featured in numerous films when new.







This one is a 1923 Moon Model 6-58/Sport Touring


This hood ornament adorned the Diana Roadster, also built by Moon Motors as "a car for women drivers."



Just off the east side of the giant gallery is a smaller alcove occupied by a few fine cars that didn't quite fit in the context outside.

This Corvette powered hot rod just wouldn't play nicely with all the fragile antiques in the main collection.



The 1967 Ferrari 365 California Spyder is one of only 14 built by Pininfarina and a stunningly modern car by today's standards.





This MG has the look of his peers in the main collection,



And lastly this 1933 American Austin Coupe is the smallest car ever produced in America with a wheelbase of just 75"

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Back in the main gallery is this 1933 Pierce-Arrow Model 1242/7 Passenger Touring, sporting a 462 cubic inch V12.







The wall is covered in display cases showing various odd parts, hood ornaments, and other car related memorabilia.





This crystal eagle head was instantly familiar to me. More on that later...



This 1948 Tucker Sedan is original and un-restored

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Winnebago? No 1937 Pierce-Arrow 1702, Enclosed Drive Limousine towing a Pierce-Arrow coachbuilt Travelodge Trailer



These two were an interesting juxtaposition; a petite 1926 Bugatti Type 23, Brescia/Cabriolet next to the massive 1911 Oldsmobile Limited, Series 27/Limousine. The Bugatti was covered from the hood back in leather, while the Olds was lavishly decorated like a Manhattan penthouse.







Another little detail that captured me while browsing the rows.



This huge car was so intricately detailed that it would take ages to explore fully. Even the retractable soft-top had beveled glass windows.





The 1916 Simplex Crane, Model 5/Touring had stylized side-view mirrors featuring beveled edges as well.





A 1922 REO Model T6/Touring, 7 Passenger was a massive car with this tiny detail on the rear quarter.

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I don't remember what car this cobra hood ornament came from but I'm pretty sure it predates even ol' Carrol Shelby.



The 1913 Mercedes 37/95/Double Phaeton-Torpedo was the most powerful car in the world when built, sporting a 95 horsepower 9.6L 4 cylinder and a top speed of 100MPH.







I don't recall details on this Bentley but it's profile is timeless



This car horn got my attention, but like most I hear in the city I didn't notice what car it came from



The 1907 Westinghouse 40/Demi-Limousine was built by the French branch of the American electrical company.



At this point we went to lunch and when we returned we were across the street in an even larger facility jammed full of unique antiquities and even more amazing cars.

A parting glance at the Nethercutt Museum's main automotive gallery.

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The ground level of the "Collection" building belies the extravagant salons and terraces of this large facility.



This 1932 American Austin Roadster shares the same diminutive platform as it's sedan brother in the museum building, but the drop top makes it all the more appealing.





The 1913 Case firetruck was very dignified for such a utilitarian vehicle.





This 1940 Cadillac Series 90, 5 Passenger Sport Coupe represents the last custom V16 Cadillac built.

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In the mezzanine level of the collection is an assortment of desks displaying awards and trophies acquired by the cars.

My Grandfather was a craftsman of marquetry, inlaying veneers making patterns and pictures with wood. This is by far the finest example of this vanishing art that I've ever seen.









This one consists of a simple pattern repeated over the entire surface with the utmost precision.





The spiral-and-a-half staircase named the "stairway to dreams" leads you from the mezzanine to the music room above.

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This 16th century chandelier is the oldest piece in the collection and sits above an ornate dining table in an alcove off the main music room.





Two mirrors are strategically place opposite each other in the dining hall for the effect of infinite chandeliers.



The table is one solid piece, with no leaves, all inlaid with ornate marquetry.

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European Orchestrions line the walls of the music room. These mechanical devices play music automatically using perforated paper rolls to record the musical notes and vacuum systems and motors to play the instruments. They were popular in Europe prior to the advent of the phonograph and thus the jukebox.

This 4 string banjo had claws to pick the strings and metal tabs to fret them on the neck. It is 110 years old and still plays.





This quintet of violins had the most amazing mechanism to play them. Dozens of little fingers fret the strings while a bow spins around them in a ring. For guitar players, they had a "wammy bar" on the bridge to create vibrato.



The cabinets housing the musical machines were dressed for display in bars and social halls.





This Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand Piano features 97 keys for extra range and resonance in the base range. The additional keys makes this the largest piano ever built and is over 9 feet in length. It is wired to replay performances played live on it, and performed for us while we walked around it and admired its sound.

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The centerpiece of the music room is the world's third largest Whurlitzer organ. It is outfitted for silent movie accompaniment complete with sound effects from vintage sirens to "thunder" made by shooting compressed air at a large tin sheet. Along with the Bosendorfer piano this organ is hooked into a giant database containing every live performance done there. They were able to recreate for us the exact performances done at an earlier date. Out of respect I would never be able to walk around a room to listen to its acoustics and put my head under the lid of a piano while a musician was at the controls. This was a very interesting disconnect from a live performance, and it was treated like it was the instrument's performance more than that of the recorded musician.

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The parting gift of the Nethercutt Collection is the Grand Salon featuring the jewels of their automotive collection. I could spend a whole day admiring the details of these spectacular artifacts, but alas we almost missed our chance to tour it. Once again, Paul Dexler comes through, and we are allowed a few minutes to explore the room.



The 1938 Mercedez-Benz Model 540K, Cabriolet A. One of only 95 built that year and absolutely impeccable today.







The 1932 Maybach Zeppelin DS8/Convertible Cabriolet has it's company's logo placed on every detailed element of the coachwork.







Lastly the 1933 Duesenberg SJ(Supercharged), Arlington Torpedo Sedan. This car is a masterpiece, however my pics of it were not. This is the only one that worked out, but ooh... it worked out.



And with that we left the Nethercutt Collection, but there was still so much more to come. The Petersen Museum's up next.

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As I mentioned in the first post, we were privileged to have a tour of the Pertersen Museum's vault begin the second day of our meet, led by none other than the director of the Museum; Dick Messer. This area, deep in the bowels of the former department store, is off limits to visitors normally, however Paul Dexler used his good standing as a docent to get us this VIP tour. I cannot thank Paul enough for allowing us this opportunity to view the entire collection coupled with commentary by the man entrusted to preserve them.

As you can see, this is clearly not an area designed for aesthetics.



The first thing to catch my eye was this pristine Mercedes 300SL Gullwing





You could easily trip over this Ferrari F50 if you weren't careful. It measures 44.1" at it's tallest dimension.







For the purpose of comparison I've included the F40 that was a little bit further along on the tour.