On Automotive Continuation Page 1:
  Automotive Apocrypha - continued.
  Amphicar.
  An Odd NY City Street (moved again, to Odd Streets page on 16 May 02),
  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!, and
  Old 16 Locomobile

On Automotive Continuation Page 2:
  Gasoline Brands (moved from main page 25 Jan 2003 and to Cont. Page 4 on 23 May 2007),
    (see also Old Gas Stations on Cont. Page 4.
  Automotive Slogans.
  Nomenclature - automotive terms (with British practice).
  Classic Cars.
  Woodlites

On this Automotive Continuation Page 3:
  K-R-I-T   (04 Aug 08)
  Classic Cars Continued, with
    Australian Phantom I with Mystery Body.
  Porsche Patricide

On Automotive Continuation Page 4:
  Gasoline Brands (moved from main page 25 Jan 2003 and to this Page 4 on 23 May 2007),
  Old Gas Stations

Odd Streets - highways and byways.
    An Odd NY City Street
    Nassau Boulevard.

I don't know where to stick this, Long Island, history, RR (Trolley), etc., so this will have to do; it relates a story of my father, who, with his father, was one of New York City's leading funeral directors.  When he was a kid, just after WWI, he rode one of those huge hearses that were used back then out to a Long Island cemetery and back for some reason or another.  It was Winter and wet and freezing.  On the way home to Manhattan, they took the outside of the inbound outer (north) lower level of the then-new Queensborough bridge, where trolley cars ran then.  On arriving at the Manhattan (west) end, the high, narrow front tires of the hearse stayed in the trolley tracks and wouldn't steer.  The trolley barn under the bridge abutment was coming up fast and they had to steer to the right to stay on the roadway and the slick, icy rails had the hearse in an uncontrollable slide.  Unable to either stop or steer, they slid majestically into the trolley barn, past astonished workers, until the dry rails inside gave enough traction to stop.  My, did they scare the bejasus out of the workers!  In those days, they used a "service chapel", a rented facility that supplied space and all mortuary services and amentities, even hearses and cars and drivers; the place was the Universal Funeral Chapel, then owned by Sam Hornthal.  Dad and two other directors later joined in partnership with Hornthal and Dad then bought them out.  Since Dad died in 1970, I've had his desk paperweight, a 2½" x 4" x ¾" chunk of glass with a photo of a hearse (much like that one but with balloon tires) under the glass; it took a bit of doing but here is a scan of the paperweight:

(31 May 2004 image by and © 2004 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
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[Gramercy!  Will you look at that telephone number - 2094 Gramercy?]

Of that same era was the K-R-I-T (not Krit), named for builder Kenneth Crittenden and only made from 1910 to 1915:   (04 Aug 08)

(1912 K-R-I-T 25/30 photo from Net)

The company/car name is spelled both "KRIT" and "K-R-I-T" in various publications but "KRIT" on the radiator badges.   (04 Aug 08)

On 03 Aug 2008, along cometh John Hinckley, grandson of Kenneth Crittenden, who (the grandfather) was "a founder and Chief Engineer of the K-R-I-T Motor Car Company in Detroit (1909-1915); after the company folded and the facilities were sold to Owen Magnetic and Packard, he went to work for Henry Ford for several years, then was hired by Walter P. Chrysler, and spent the next 40 years with Chrysler, retiring in the mid-60's as Vice President - Manufacturing."   (04 Aug 08)

Hinkley, no mean automotive personage in his own right, is a retired senior Chrysler executive who spent his last six years as the Viper Plant Manager before retiring in 2001.  He notes that "there is at least one exceptional K-R-I-T example left - a 1913 5-passenger touring car is on display at the National Auto Museum in Reno, Nevada (formerly the Bill Harrah collection)".

John Hinkley also sent along the cover and six pages from a booklet of testimonials by satisfied K-R-I-T owners, published by K-R-I-T in late 1912 (click on thumbnails for larger images):   (04 Aug 08)

So - what other K-R-I-Ts remain?  Let's hear from you (readers, not cars!).

Down in Australia sits a monster 1925 New Phantom (Phantom I) with an incomplete body and quite a history.  Let's start with a photo of what's left of the car (with its current ~5' 6" owners, for comparison):

(cropped from photo courtesy of owners - all rights reserved)
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Although quite a bit of documentation exists for this car, it's exact body details are, unfortunately, unknown (so far) and that is the purpose of this posting.  We seek any information, or leads to such, regarding how this car was originally bodied in order to restore it as authentically as possible.

We know, for starters, that the car was built by the Derby works of Rolls Royce in 1925; the original build sheets indicate that the car was shipped as a right hand drive chassis to Mr. William B. Leeds in 1926.  "Billy' Leeds was quite a guy, being married to Princess Xenia of the Russian Romanovs at 18 while still at Eton; he lived at Strathbrae, in Oyster Bay, Long Island, but delivery was to New York, transported by Wingate & Johnson.

In 1929 (13/2/29), it was serviced (lots done) by Rolls Royce Ltd. (which facility - Derby, Springfield, or Long Island City?), marked for the attention of a Mr McLocklin (possibly Billy's chauffeur).

The odds are very good that the body, which was originally to have been a limousine, was probably built in Long Island City by Brewster; the tubular bumper is a Brewster "trademark".  There are a number of other features that indicate that it may have been a Brewster Body, but there is no carrosserie badge to prove that.  You can see the roadster-style boot (trunk) lid up in the photo.  The records show that the chassis had to be modified at Derby for the lighter body prior to shipment.

The car then disappears until sold in the 1950's.  The present owners bought it from a man in New Hampshire on behalf of his grandfather, who bought it in the 50's.  The seller didn't know much about the history and certainly didn't know where it was between 1930 and 1950.  This car was delivered as, and has always been right-hand drive - reducing it's value in the U. S. {news to me! - SB,III}  So, the present owners found it for sale on the Internet and bought it (they are right-hand drive there in Australia).

We do not know much germane to the tale of the Rolls.  For the human aspect, a personal note - Billy Leeds married Princess Xenia Georgievna Romanov on 09 Oct 1921; the King and Queen sent the bride a diamond and ruby pendant.  The bridegroom's mother had recently married the brother of the King of Greece.  American millionairess Mrs. William B. Leeds, wife of Prince Christopher of Greece, had died on 23 Aug 1923 at Spencer House, St. James, leaving the famous Leeds jewels, said to be worth £250,000, to her daughter-in-law, Princess Xenia of Russia.  Princess Xenia soon refused to wear the jewels following her husband's insistence that they were unlucky and must be stored at a jewellers.

Xenia and Billy Leeds had a daughter, Nancy Helen Marie Leeds, born in New York City on 04 Feb 1925.  Nancy married Edward Judson Wynkoop, Jr. (born in Syracuse, New York, on 23 May 1917, the son of Edward Judson Wynkoop) on 22 Dec 1945 and is the grand-daughter of Princess Marie of Greece (Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg).  Princess Marie's mother was Olga and her father was George I.  Olga and Czar Nicholas II of Russia were first cousins (Nicholas was the father of Princess Anastasia).  Nancy had a daughter, Alexandra (Aleka) Wynkoop (born in Stamford, Connecticut, on 30 Mar 1959).  Billy Leeds and Princess Xenia were later divorced, in 1930.  Princess Xenia Georgievna Romanov Leeds Jud passed away in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York on 17 Sep 1965.

Nancy Wynkoop, who is the great-great-granddaughter of George Mikhailovitch, is directly in the line of succession to the Greek throne thanks to a deal between King Constantine I and Nancy Leeds.  That succession is limited to the descendants of George I - the current succession is Pavlos, Nicholas, Philippos, Alexia, Theodora, Irene, and Nancy Leeds Wynkoop, (as Princess Marie never renounced her rights when she married George of Russia.)

Nancy Wynkoop was interviewed several years ago for a special on Anastasia which plays from time to time on TLC or the History Channel on Cable here in the United States.

While this is all most interesting, it sheds no light on the car in question (Nancy and Alexandra Wynkoop are unable to help with this matter).

So, does anyone out there in the great Internet Unknown have any information to help with the proper restoration of this most interesting vehicle?

Now, here's another Rolls, a sketch (or tracing) I made apparently ca. Apr 1955 or so, cropped from a yellowed 8½" x 11" vellum sheet I found inexplicably on the floor one day in early Aug 2008 (I can only guess it slipped out from other papers):   (10 Aug 08)

(cropped from ca. 1955 sketch/tracing by and © 2008 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[click on thumbnailed image for a larger image]

(photo courtesy of owner - all rights reserved)

'33 Chrysler {?} Trunk - I was sent these three gigantic images of a trunk supposedly from a 1933 Chrysler touring car; it certainly looked right to me but I wasn't sure.  Because it is so shallow (front-to-back), I was inclined to think it from a smaller car, not from an Imperial:

(all rights reserved to JH)
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That badge strikes me as odd; would the maker have painted over his own badge?

It reads:

(all rights reserved to JH)
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Originally, I posted this on my Chrysler page 5 but moved it when I realized that we were 'way off base.  Chrysler works trunks of that era were quite different; the rear sloped up and forward and they had a chrome band centered vertically on the rear and no straps.  Also, they were all low and deep.  LeBaron and other custom Chryslers (usually Imperials) had two chrome bands but no straps.  So, unless it was a custom trunk, or a MUCH earlier trunk, this is NOT a Chrysler trunk.  If anyone knows anything more about this particular trunk or Padco, please let us know.

Gigantic rail cars for carrying enormous loads like nuclear reactor vessels and transformers (800 tons worth!) are covered on my Schnabel page, et seq.; roadable versions of these monsters now have their own Road Loads page, et seq.

Rocket Car (no, really!) - there are incredible pictures and some historical background about a 1921 Chevy 490 converted (supposedly in 1929 - wouldn't Dr. Goddard have been surprised!) with a B-29-style body and a rocket engine on my Champlain College Continuation Page 3 page.

Porsche Patricide

Here's automotive mayhem to make the toughest guy weep!  Sent via e-mail, I have no provenance other than that there is a posting on the Net quoting the AP that a train struck a car-carrier in Ventura, California, loaded with vintage Porsches after the carrier became "high-centered" on the tracks around 15:45 on Sunday, 12 Sep 2004.  The police tried to stop all train traffic but a northbound freight train cleaned the carrier dead center.  Luckily, the hapless (witless?) driver got out in time and the train, although the loco's front truck derailed, stayed on the track.  A Porsche collection at a museum somewhere, in transit, and - - - WHAMMO:   (23 Nov 2004)

(from e-mail - no provenance)
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THUMBS UP!

THUMBS UP!  -  Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!

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S. Berliner, III

To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.

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