Gentleman,
I have found it noted in several instances that Alex orked for the Bantam comapnt as a designer.
Does anyone know the time frame at which he was employed there?
Any copies of his styling work regarding the Bantam design?
Were any of his renderings and designs adopted to the Bantam before they closed their doors?
John
Tucker '48 Automobile Bulletin Board
The Official Message Board of the Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc.
Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
Moderators: Tuckerfan1053, TuckerCar, Phantomrig
15 posts • Page 1 of 1
Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by john » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:04 am
- john
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:22 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by Tuckeroo » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:10 pm
Here's a 1940 Tremulis Bantam rendering and an article:
http://wmspear.com/Bantam/tremulis.html
I've also heard a 1971 interview of Tremulis presumably done my member of the Bantam club in which he described his work in detail, but it is not an audio I have access to and I don't recall enough of it to quote it here, but it's out there somewhere.
http://wmspear.com/Bantam/tremulis.html
I've also heard a 1971 interview of Tremulis presumably done my member of the Bantam club in which he described his work in detail, but it is not an audio I have access to and I don't recall enough of it to quote it here, but it's out there somewhere.
- Tuckeroo
- TACA Member
- Posts: 191
- Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:57 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by streamliner » Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:08 pm
So, in 1939 I came out to California. I was hired by Eleanor Powell, the famous tap dancer, to build custom cars for her and to help out Sid Luft. Sid Luft had been her public relations man and she wanted to get him started in the customizing business. He had tried several other things, but now was concentrating on customizing Cadillacs. The first one he built was a very nice custom Cadillac, but instead of selling it he started running around with the car. Pretty soon it got used, so when Eleanor Powell came to Chicago she hired me to go to California to put Sid’s business on a business basis. So I came to California.
One of the Tremulis-modified Cadillacs for Eleanor Powell
We had a small little shop across the street from the Luau Restaurant in Beverly Hills called Custom Motors. One day I was having lunch at the bar in the Luau when all of a sudden I saw a little American Bantam Roadster pull up outside. There was a man in a polo uniform and two little polo sticks were sticking up out of his small little car. The chap comes in and sits down next to me. I looked at him and said, “Pretty ridiculous, big boy like you driving around in a kiddie car like that”. Of course he gave me a real funny look. He ordered a drink and then he said to me, “Do you know anything about those people across the street, Custom Motors?’ I said, “Yeah, I know them.” He said, “I’m looking for a guy by the name of Alex Tremulis, do you know him?” I said, “I know him pretty well”. He wanted to know when Custom Motors opened up, and I told him they were probably out to lunch. He said, “I’m anxious to talk to Alex Tremulis.” So I told him to finish his sandwich and then I would take him over to meet this Alex. So we walked across the street and into the shop. I had all my drawings on the wall… some real wild stuff too. He gets impatient and says, “When do I meet Alex Tremulis?” I tell him,” You’ve already met him”. We laugh and then he introduces himself. “I’m Roy Evans, President of American Bantam,” he said.
His problem was that he had this little Roadster and he wanted me to build him some glass curtains. We had no plexiglass in those days. “Isingiass?” I asked. “Well, I want my car to be comfortable; it is awfully cold driving around in these roadsters.” He said. So I told him, “Look, why don’t you let me build you a real roadster, a convertible.” “No, no, no, we can’t afford it!” So I said, look, give me a day and I’ll show you what I can do in a way of a convertible. Putting isinglass curtains on this car isn’t going to make an automobile out of it. You need a car that is a real true convertible.” He repeated, “We can’t afford it.” “I’ll show you a cheap way to do it.” I told him. I want a couple of your old coupe bodies and I’ll cut the roof off. I’ll keep the doors, I’ll make a new windshield, a new rear deck lid, and I’ll need your doors. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a roadster with windows that will roll up?’ He replied, “Yes, but it will be impossible.”
So I came up with a drawing. The next day he came in. He boldly told me he did not believe I could do as I promised because “you stylists are all a bunch of liars.” He went onto tell me that he had had a count so and so from Austria do some work for him, but his work never turned out like his drawings. 1 assured him that I was working with a scaled drawing and the car couldn’t help but end up looking like the drawing. I guaranteed him that his car would look like the scale drawing. I told him I would put a custom interior in it, and promised to paint it the same color as Eleanor Powell’s Cadillac. I think I quoted him $550.00 for the complete job. So he said, “Alright, when do you want to start?’
That afternoon a Bantam Coupe arrived. I got the shop guys in to work. Told them to get a torch and cut the entire roof off.
Hollywood Styling Proposal
The next day Roy Evans came in and said, “I’ve changed my mind. You should have waited. You didn’t even have a contract, how do you know you are even going to get paid for this. Now you’ve wrecked a coupe.” I really got mad at him so I told the two shop men “Alright, weld the damn top back on.” He said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. I want to think this thing over. I’m going on vacation; I’ll be back in Buffalo. You finish the car and drive it back there,” and he left.
Tremulis on the cross-country trek with the first Hollywood
Then the dealers heard about the new Bantam Roadster and started to place orders for it. So then Roy Evans didn’t wait for me to drive it to Buffalo. He flew back to see it, and liked what he saw. So he said I should go down to the factory and build a four passenger convertible model also. This was American Bantam at Butler, Pennsylvania.
So I drove the new Roadster across the country. It had the new three main bearing engine in it which was a new experimental item over the old two main bearing engine. We got the horsepower up from 16 to 24 then to 25. Roy said to give the new engine hell. This was not the overhead engine, it was the little flathead. I drove it across the country and got there in three days. I really did what Roy asked me to do… I gave it hell. In fact I rolled it over in Amarillo, Texas.
I drove from Los Angeles through some terrible rain storms. I was doing over sixty when I fell asleep and rolled the thing over twice. I turned over in a cow pasture out in the country. Finally a car stopped, and it took just two of us to roll the thing over. It started up perfect; this is an advantage in a light car, you don’t crush a darn thing. The car was drivable. All it really needed was a new top that had been scuffed, and the fenders on both sides had been crinkled a little bit. I think I had sixteen dollars damage when I got to Chicago and got the fenders banged out. So, having rolled over in one of the lightest cars in the world as well as a big Duesenberg - you have no idea of the awesome fury of crushing metal in a big car as compared to the little Bantam.As I recall I averaged 42 miles to the gallon in that car, and that was with the throttle open all the way. My total bill - for gasoline from Los Angeles to Chicago - was seven dollars and seventy-five cents.
When I finally arrived at the American Bantam factory in Butler, Pennsylvania I discovered that they had no styling section. I set my drawing board up in the first aid room. It was kinda amusing, I remember that when someone got hurt, they would bring him in and the doctor would say “Alex, excuse me…” I’d leave, and they would have to move my drawing board over to make room for the patient.
Bantam Convertible Proposal #2
In cramped quarters with no styling section at all, we committed ourselves to building an outstanding four passenger convertible. When the car was finished we really wanted to do something different to show it off to the 250 dealers who were coming up to the factory to get a look at our new models. There wasn’t much we could do because we had no
showroom, all we had was a dilapidated factory. There was a chap that worked for American Bantam by the name of Clay Ballenger. He used to be a race car mechanic. He taught us how to drive those little Bantams. When we drove through with those cars we could handle the loading ramp. Someone would announce the new line of American Bantam cars, and then Clay Ballenger would drive the first car out of the factory and off the loading ramp. I was to follow in the new four passenger convertible and someone else would follow me in the Roadster.
All we had were the three cars. We were going to be real dramatic. While the people gathered and waited out on the lawn… I imagine they were wondering what we were going to do... this crummy factory with the door open to the loading platform? With the mufflers removed from the cars they really made a lot of noise. We wanted a lot of noise because we wanted the people outside to think we really had a lot of cars. Then all of a sudden we burst out of the open factory door, down the platform, and bang! right on to the lawn.. This had shock value. When Clay Ballenger came out and landed people just went crazy. Then came car number two and then number three. The crowd swarmed around those three cars. They literally sprinkled holy water on them. Oh how they raved about those cars!
Bantam Coupe Proposal
Rear-Engined Bantam Coupe Proposal (supercharged?)
Meanwhile, I was going to do another small little job for Roy Evans. It was to be a small super-charged speedster. We were just going to build a handful of them. I was busy working on this when I got a call from Eleanor Powell. Sid Loft had thought he could sell the last Cadillac I customized for her up in San Francisco. I had lowered the roof 3 1/2 inches. Sid had somebody in San Francisco that was willing to pay $6500 for the car. He had taken the car, no insurance, and eight miles out of San Francisco he went off the road at 100 miles an hour. He totaled the car which ended his automobile business.
I left American Bantam in 1940. I really wanted to design cars. Lincoln had just come out with its first Continental, so I figured Cadillac needed a car to cross swords with the Lincoln. So I designed a LaSalle Monte Carlo. I extended the hood seven inches. It had nice drop-down doors. It was a pretty car, only a little on the sporty side with its cut-down cowl. I took it to General Motors. They were pretty excited about it. They told me to go build the automobile; bring it back, if it looked good they were to give me three pages on their brochure. They also said they would be ready to order 100 immediately. I was all set to come to California to open up the shop again and build the first prototype car when I got nailed by the draft. This was June, 1941. This was when my automobile career came to a halt… for a while…
1974 Yearbook, Tremulis on Tremulis
One of the Tremulis-modified Cadillacs for Eleanor Powell
We had a small little shop across the street from the Luau Restaurant in Beverly Hills called Custom Motors. One day I was having lunch at the bar in the Luau when all of a sudden I saw a little American Bantam Roadster pull up outside. There was a man in a polo uniform and two little polo sticks were sticking up out of his small little car. The chap comes in and sits down next to me. I looked at him and said, “Pretty ridiculous, big boy like you driving around in a kiddie car like that”. Of course he gave me a real funny look. He ordered a drink and then he said to me, “Do you know anything about those people across the street, Custom Motors?’ I said, “Yeah, I know them.” He said, “I’m looking for a guy by the name of Alex Tremulis, do you know him?” I said, “I know him pretty well”. He wanted to know when Custom Motors opened up, and I told him they were probably out to lunch. He said, “I’m anxious to talk to Alex Tremulis.” So I told him to finish his sandwich and then I would take him over to meet this Alex. So we walked across the street and into the shop. I had all my drawings on the wall… some real wild stuff too. He gets impatient and says, “When do I meet Alex Tremulis?” I tell him,” You’ve already met him”. We laugh and then he introduces himself. “I’m Roy Evans, President of American Bantam,” he said.
His problem was that he had this little Roadster and he wanted me to build him some glass curtains. We had no plexiglass in those days. “Isingiass?” I asked. “Well, I want my car to be comfortable; it is awfully cold driving around in these roadsters.” He said. So I told him, “Look, why don’t you let me build you a real roadster, a convertible.” “No, no, no, we can’t afford it!” So I said, look, give me a day and I’ll show you what I can do in a way of a convertible. Putting isinglass curtains on this car isn’t going to make an automobile out of it. You need a car that is a real true convertible.” He repeated, “We can’t afford it.” “I’ll show you a cheap way to do it.” I told him. I want a couple of your old coupe bodies and I’ll cut the roof off. I’ll keep the doors, I’ll make a new windshield, a new rear deck lid, and I’ll need your doors. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a roadster with windows that will roll up?’ He replied, “Yes, but it will be impossible.”
So I came up with a drawing. The next day he came in. He boldly told me he did not believe I could do as I promised because “you stylists are all a bunch of liars.” He went onto tell me that he had had a count so and so from Austria do some work for him, but his work never turned out like his drawings. 1 assured him that I was working with a scaled drawing and the car couldn’t help but end up looking like the drawing. I guaranteed him that his car would look like the scale drawing. I told him I would put a custom interior in it, and promised to paint it the same color as Eleanor Powell’s Cadillac. I think I quoted him $550.00 for the complete job. So he said, “Alright, when do you want to start?’
That afternoon a Bantam Coupe arrived. I got the shop guys in to work. Told them to get a torch and cut the entire roof off.
Hollywood Styling Proposal
The next day Roy Evans came in and said, “I’ve changed my mind. You should have waited. You didn’t even have a contract, how do you know you are even going to get paid for this. Now you’ve wrecked a coupe.” I really got mad at him so I told the two shop men “Alright, weld the damn top back on.” He said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. I want to think this thing over. I’m going on vacation; I’ll be back in Buffalo. You finish the car and drive it back there,” and he left.
Tremulis on the cross-country trek with the first Hollywood
Then the dealers heard about the new Bantam Roadster and started to place orders for it. So then Roy Evans didn’t wait for me to drive it to Buffalo. He flew back to see it, and liked what he saw. So he said I should go down to the factory and build a four passenger convertible model also. This was American Bantam at Butler, Pennsylvania.
So I drove the new Roadster across the country. It had the new three main bearing engine in it which was a new experimental item over the old two main bearing engine. We got the horsepower up from 16 to 24 then to 25. Roy said to give the new engine hell. This was not the overhead engine, it was the little flathead. I drove it across the country and got there in three days. I really did what Roy asked me to do… I gave it hell. In fact I rolled it over in Amarillo, Texas.
I drove from Los Angeles through some terrible rain storms. I was doing over sixty when I fell asleep and rolled the thing over twice. I turned over in a cow pasture out in the country. Finally a car stopped, and it took just two of us to roll the thing over. It started up perfect; this is an advantage in a light car, you don’t crush a darn thing. The car was drivable. All it really needed was a new top that had been scuffed, and the fenders on both sides had been crinkled a little bit. I think I had sixteen dollars damage when I got to Chicago and got the fenders banged out. So, having rolled over in one of the lightest cars in the world as well as a big Duesenberg - you have no idea of the awesome fury of crushing metal in a big car as compared to the little Bantam.As I recall I averaged 42 miles to the gallon in that car, and that was with the throttle open all the way. My total bill - for gasoline from Los Angeles to Chicago - was seven dollars and seventy-five cents.
When I finally arrived at the American Bantam factory in Butler, Pennsylvania I discovered that they had no styling section. I set my drawing board up in the first aid room. It was kinda amusing, I remember that when someone got hurt, they would bring him in and the doctor would say “Alex, excuse me…” I’d leave, and they would have to move my drawing board over to make room for the patient.
Bantam Convertible Proposal #2
In cramped quarters with no styling section at all, we committed ourselves to building an outstanding four passenger convertible. When the car was finished we really wanted to do something different to show it off to the 250 dealers who were coming up to the factory to get a look at our new models. There wasn’t much we could do because we had no
showroom, all we had was a dilapidated factory. There was a chap that worked for American Bantam by the name of Clay Ballenger. He used to be a race car mechanic. He taught us how to drive those little Bantams. When we drove through with those cars we could handle the loading ramp. Someone would announce the new line of American Bantam cars, and then Clay Ballenger would drive the first car out of the factory and off the loading ramp. I was to follow in the new four passenger convertible and someone else would follow me in the Roadster.
All we had were the three cars. We were going to be real dramatic. While the people gathered and waited out on the lawn… I imagine they were wondering what we were going to do... this crummy factory with the door open to the loading platform? With the mufflers removed from the cars they really made a lot of noise. We wanted a lot of noise because we wanted the people outside to think we really had a lot of cars. Then all of a sudden we burst out of the open factory door, down the platform, and bang! right on to the lawn.. This had shock value. When Clay Ballenger came out and landed people just went crazy. Then came car number two and then number three. The crowd swarmed around those three cars. They literally sprinkled holy water on them. Oh how they raved about those cars!
Bantam Coupe Proposal
Rear-Engined Bantam Coupe Proposal (supercharged?)
Meanwhile, I was going to do another small little job for Roy Evans. It was to be a small super-charged speedster. We were just going to build a handful of them. I was busy working on this when I got a call from Eleanor Powell. Sid Loft had thought he could sell the last Cadillac I customized for her up in San Francisco. I had lowered the roof 3 1/2 inches. Sid had somebody in San Francisco that was willing to pay $6500 for the car. He had taken the car, no insurance, and eight miles out of San Francisco he went off the road at 100 miles an hour. He totaled the car which ended his automobile business.
I left American Bantam in 1940. I really wanted to design cars. Lincoln had just come out with its first Continental, so I figured Cadillac needed a car to cross swords with the Lincoln. So I designed a LaSalle Monte Carlo. I extended the hood seven inches. It had nice drop-down doors. It was a pretty car, only a little on the sporty side with its cut-down cowl. I took it to General Motors. They were pretty excited about it. They told me to go build the automobile; bring it back, if it looked good they were to give me three pages on their brochure. They also said they would be ready to order 100 immediately. I was all set to come to California to open up the shop again and build the first prototype car when I got nailed by the draft. This was June, 1941. This was when my automobile career came to a halt… for a while…
1974 Yearbook, Tremulis on Tremulis
Last edited by streamliner on Wed Feb 24, 2010 1:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
- streamliner
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:34 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by john » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:57 pm
Streamliner,
Thanks for helping me out.
I never had any idea that Alex drew up so many little Bantams.
I think his designs most definetly complimented the car and would have helped the company.
John
Thanks for helping me out.
I never had any idea that Alex drew up so many little Bantams.
I think his designs most definetly complimented the car and would have helped the company.
John
- john
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:22 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by Tuckerfan1053 » Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:32 pm
The "Count So and So" Tremulis mentions was Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky who would later go on to design the Carioca for Tucker.
-
Tuckerfan1053 - Moderator
- Posts: 622
- Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:00 am
- Location: Gallatin, TN
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by streamliner » Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:13 pm
John (if you're still out there) and anyone else,
Alex obviously was familiar with your car as was George Domer. You may want to check with Mr. Domer, as well, although he would be 94 years young right now, but he seems to know of Ben Harris' car.
Anyway, here's some correspondence between the two from 1973. The reference to the Bantam Racer is no doubt the Harris FWD Speciale. I'm looking for the photo Domer supplied to Alex...
Alex obviously was familiar with your car as was George Domer. You may want to check with Mr. Domer, as well, although he would be 94 years young right now, but he seems to know of Ben Harris' car.
Anyway, here's some correspondence between the two from 1973. The reference to the Bantam Racer is no doubt the Harris FWD Speciale. I'm looking for the photo Domer supplied to Alex...
- streamliner
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:34 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by Tucker Fan 48 » Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:42 am
I told him. I want a couple of your old coupe bodies and I’ll cut the roof off. I’ll keep the doors, I’ll make a new windshield, a new rear deck lid, and I’ll need your doors. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a roadster with windows that will roll up?’ He replied, “Yes, but it will be impossible.”
Seems like we've heard this Tremulis/Convertible/Cut the Roof Off/Monte Carlo story before somewhere
- convertible 2.jpg (161.67 KiB) Viewed 3057 times
- 70 tucker monte.JPG (39.99 KiB) Viewed 3052 times
-
Tucker Fan 48 - Tucker Fan
- Posts: 608
- Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:34 pm
- Location: Maui
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by john » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:40 am
Streamliner,
We fully believe that Alex witnessed part of the building of Bens creation.
Great letter, do appreciate your help for the Harris Story.
Iam posting a few things on Ben at the ""Alex Tremulis Thunderbolt auction area of this same topic area.
You might enjoy what you read.
Have you ever read the incomplete story of Ben and his car at Autopuzzles.com?
Iam always checking in, want to keep abreast to see what happens on the "conv".
John
We fully believe that Alex witnessed part of the building of Bens creation.
Great letter, do appreciate your help for the Harris Story.
Iam posting a few things on Ben at the ""Alex Tremulis Thunderbolt auction area of this same topic area.
You might enjoy what you read.
Have you ever read the incomplete story of Ben and his car at Autopuzzles.com?
Iam always checking in, want to keep abreast to see what happens on the "conv".
John
- john
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:22 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by SuperFleye » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:19 am
Thanks for all the info on Custom Motors! I did not know about this, and was thrilled to find out about Alex's connection to the custom/coachwork industry. I have not been able to find much more info on Custom Motors then the info you posted here. Do you have additional info and photos on Custom Motors and the cars they built?
As you can see I have compiled your info down on my site Kustomrama:
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Custom_Motors
I hope you don't mind that
As you can see I have compiled your info down on my site Kustomrama:
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Custom_Motors
I hope you don't mind that
Kustomrama - Traditional Rod & Kustom Wikipedia
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
- SuperFleye
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:29 am
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by streamliner » Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:47 am
I do have more photos, letters from Syd Luft, and Custom Motors stories in Alex Tremulis' own words! I'm compiling them into something a little more complete that should be fascinating to those who followed these coachbuilders from the '30's and '40's. For a kid all of 25 years old, by this time Alex had developed his talents from drawing boards to clay to shaping metals for most of his cars that he customized. Here's Alex with that same Cadillac as a work in progress (he went on to further customize this car) when it was painted in its original "Midnight White" as seen at the Trocadero Night Club in 1940...
Incidentally, Giorgio Armani now occupies the exact address on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, where Alex Tremulis, Eleanor Powell, Syd Luft and Custom Motors did their hot rodding.
Incidentally, Giorgio Armani now occupies the exact address on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, where Alex Tremulis, Eleanor Powell, Syd Luft and Custom Motors did their hot rodding.
- streamliner
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:34 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by SuperFleye » Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:02 am
Wow thanks for posting this!!
What are you compiling all the info into? A book?
What are you compiling all the info into? A book?
Kustomrama - Traditional Rod & Kustom Wikipedia
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
- SuperFleye
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:29 am
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by john » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:12 pm
Streamliner,
I noticed that the name George Barris is at the top of the site noted above.
If you have not heard or found this, George Barris created a early special Jaguar custom Roadster for Barry Goldwater.
In research & contacts with the family, Ben and Barry were lifelong friends.
The Harris story seems to have no bounds with important persons Ben associated with, right down to Presidents of the US.
If you don't have the picture for the site noted above, let me know, I will see if I can get it back.
John
I noticed that the name George Barris is at the top of the site noted above.
If you have not heard or found this, George Barris created a early special Jaguar custom Roadster for Barry Goldwater.
In research & contacts with the family, Ben and Barry were lifelong friends.
The Harris story seems to have no bounds with important persons Ben associated with, right down to Presidents of the US.
If you don't have the picture for the site noted above, let me know, I will see if I can get it back.
John
- john
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:22 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by SuperFleye » Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:01 am
Any news on the document you are compiling? Can't wait to read it
streamliner wrote:I do have more photos, letters from Syd Luft, and Custom Motors stories in Alex Tremulis' own words! I'm compiling them into something a little more complete that should be fascinating to those who followed these coachbuilders from the '30's and '40's. For a kid all of 25 years old, by this time Alex had developed his talents from drawing boards to clay to shaping metals for most of his cars that he customized. Here's Alex with that same Cadillac as a work in progress (he went on to further customize this car) when it was painted in its original "Midnight White" as seen at the Trocadero Night Club in 1940...
Incidentally, Giorgio Armani now occupies the exact address on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, where Alex Tremulis, Eleanor Powell, Syd Luft and Custom Motors did their hot rodding.
Kustomrama - Traditional Rod & Kustom Wikipedia
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
- SuperFleye
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:29 am
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by streamliner » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:51 pm
SuperFleye wrote:Any news on the document you are compiling? Can't wait to read it
I'm currently working to get appropriate images and copywrite clearances from many sources. Alex wrote many articles, speeches, letters and other documents describing much of his 50+ years at streamlining since his early 1930's work at Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg. He referenced many people and cars in his stories. So I'm collecting as many good photos as I can which illustrate the points he was making, but they need copywrite clearances.
By the way, those great LIFE archived images of the Tucker meetings and the cars appear to have been acquired by Getty Images. They are no longer available on-line. Getty has only a few of them available at low resolution and if you want to get higher resolution, it'll cost you. I looked at what a simple insertion in a club newsletter would be, and it came out to about $350 per photo.
I hope you guys downloaded as many as you could from the archive...Two new items of previously lost history:
1) Alex describes ruining several tablecloths while sketching out the Mormon Meteor III with Augie Duesenberg in 1937. Alex worked closely with Herb Newport, the designer of Ab Jenkins' original Duesenberg Special, and was lifelong friends with both Jenkins and Duesenberg, so this seems entirely plausible. The Meteor III certainly looks the part.
2) The other is a 40 year-old solved mystery - the origins of the gold and black paint schemes used for the Apollo 12 courtesy cars from GM: The GM "AstroVettes" for Astronauts Alan Bean, Dick Gordon and Pete Conrad. I found letters and photos and confirmed with Alan Bean that Alex did, in fact, design all three matching cars and the red, white and blue logos for each car.
I'll post more as time permits...
- streamliner
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:34 pm
Re: Tremulis and Austin Bantam Designs
by SuperFleye » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:54 am
That is good to hear Streamliner Thanks for the new facts on Alex, he sure was involved with a lot of cool things! I wasn't aware of his involvement in the Mormon Meteor III.
Thanks for the new facts on Alex, he sure was involved with a lot of cool things! I wasn't aware of his involvement in the Mormon Meteor III.Kustomrama - Traditional Rod & Kustom Wikipedia
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
http://www.kustomrama.com
Kustomra'mag - Traditional Rod & Kustom Magazine
http://www.kustomramag.com
- SuperFleye
- Tucker Fan
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:29 am
15 posts • Page 1 of 1
Return to Tremulis, Egan, Lawson & Other Great Designers
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest