Display car art and gifts

Above is a photo of an "original" McDonalds drive-in hamburger shop circa 1960.

Scroll down to see my online STORE and all car-related creations below that.

If dimensions are listed for an item, they will be: width (left t0 right ) x height (top to bottom) x depth.(front to back) in inches. [I know, they should be metric, but the US is a backward country] All items, except those designed to be hung on a wall, have felt glued to the bottom so that they will not scratch the surface they are placed on.

MY STORE: Items currently offered for sale

MY DISPLAY : Items I have created

Below are all of my car-related creations, both For Sale and Not For Sale. Above is my on-line store. You may purchase available items there via PayPal. I also enjoy doing custom commissions - if you have a particular make/model that you wish to have a memorabilia of (for yourself or as a gift), please feel free to email me at burt.breedlove@yahoo.com and tell me of your interest. I will get back to you to discuss it. If convenient, leave a phone number.

A word about parts identification: I collect primarily pre-1960 ornaments and emblems. My personal recollection of these items begins in the mid-1950s. For most I have to rely on what others have posted on internet sites. I research as thoroughly as internet content allows at a given time. When I come across additional info I make corrections as warranted. If you believe that I have something misidentified as to make or year, please email me along with the basis of your ID.

Hood Ornaments

Small Ornaments

These small, stand-up hood ornaments are fun and quick to do mountings for. Some I turn on the lathe; others I shape with table saw, band saw, miter saw and belt sander.

Large Ornaments

These items can be complex and time consuming. Just fitting the base to the contour of the piece takes some time. I try to create a different and unique mounting for each one, hopefully suited to the design of the ornament.

Oldest Hood Ornament

Aftermarket

AMC Rambler

Buick

David D Buick was born in Scotland in 1854 and moved with his parents to Detroit when he was two. He went to work for a plumbing manufacturer, proving his inventiveness early. He invented a process for enameling bathtubs that is still in use today. He formed a plumbing business with a partner, but his growing interest in the novel internal combustion engine proved too much of a distraction and the business was eventually dissolved. His focus on engine development resulted in development of the revolutionary “Valve in Head” engine but only one vehicle was built during Buick Manufacturing Co.’s first year. Buick borrowed money, formed Buick Motor Company and began producing cars with the new engine design in 1903. The Valve in Head engine was the forerunner of today’s OHV engines, used in virtually all modern automobiles. Buick Motor Company would eventually become the cornerstone of the General Motors empire.

1920s Buick

1926-1927-1928 Buick

1930 & '31 Buick

1933 Buick

1937 Buick

1938 Buick

1939 Buick

1940 Buick

1941 Buick

1942 Buick

1946 & '47 Buick

1948 & '49 Buick

1950 Buick

1951 & '52 Buick

1953 Buick

1954 Buick

1955 Buick

1956 Buick

1957 Buick

1958 Buick

Late 1950s & beyond

Riviera ornaments

Some Buick pictures that I really like

Cadillac

Henry M. Leland, born in Vermont in 1843, gained experiences in toolmaking, metrology and manufacturing while employed by various manufacturers, including Colt Firearms and Olds Motor Vehicles. Leland created the Cadillac automobile from the remains of an early Henry Ford Company that was considering liquidation. Leland sold Cadillac to General Motors on July 29, 1909 for four and a half million dollars, but remained with GM as an executive.

1946-48 Cadillac

1950 Cadillac

1955 Cadillac

1956 Cadillac

Chevrolet

Louis Chevrolet was born in France in 1878. In his early years he worked as a machinist and had an interest in bicycle racing. In 1900 he moved to Montreal, Quebec, working as a mechanic, then moved to New York the following year. He obtained more and more work as a race car driver, including racing Buicks for William Durant, owner of Buick and founder of General Motors. In 1911, Chevrolet and Durant co-founded Chevrolet Motor Car Co. in Detroit. Chevrolet had design differences with Durant and sold his interest in Chevrolet Motors to Durant in 1915. Chevrolet Motors was merged with GM in 1917-18. Chevrolet himself continued a career in car racing and died of a heart attack in Detroit 1941.

1931-32 Chevrolet

1934 Chevrolet

1935 Chevrolet

1936 Chevrolet DeLuxe

1936 Chevrolet Standard

1937 Chevrolet

1937 Chev Pickup-Suburban-Panel Truck

1939 Chevrolet

1941 Chevrolet

1946 Chevrolet

1947 Chevrolet

1947-48 Chevrolet Truck

1949-50 Chevrolet

1950 Chevrolet

1951 Chevrolet

1952 Chevrolet

1953 Chevrolet

1954 Chevrolet

1955 Chevrolet

1956 Chevrolet

1958 Chevrolet

1959 Chevrolet

Chrysler

Walter P. Chrysler was born in 1875 in Kansas, a first generation American. He worked as a railroad mechanic and earned a mechanical degree through correspondence courses. A local banker introduced him to Charles Nash, then president of Buick Motor Co. in Flint, MI. Nash hired Chrysler as works manager where he found many ways to reduce the costs of production. When William Durant wrested control of General Motors in 1916, Chrysler turned in his resignation to Durant who was then located in New York City, but Durant was able to keep Chrysler as head of Buick with the unheard-of offer of ten thousand dollars a year. Chrysler stayed on for three years, but in 1919 he did leave Buick due to policy disagreements with Durant. Chrysler’s stock in GM was bought out for ten million dollars, making him one of the richest men in America. After a well-payed stint at Willys-Overland Motor Co in Toledo, OH, in 1921 Chrysler acquired a controlling interest in ailing Maxwell Motor Co. and absorbed it into his new firm, Chrysler Corp, which manufactured cars under the name Chrysler and soon created brands Plymouth and DeSoto as well as purchasing Dodge Brothers, dropping “Brothers” from the brand name. In 1928 he financed the construction of the Chrysler Building in NYC and was named Time Mag’s Man of the Year.

1934 Chrysler AirFlow

1941 Chrysler

1946-48 Chrysler

1949 Chrysler

Model year comparison

Chrysler really liked the bird motif in the early '50s. 1951 & '52 ornaments are on the right - I have not been able to determine which is which. (Like the '55 & '56 Chevy ornaments, they are so similar that most vendors do not know which is which) 1954 is upper left; 1955 is lower left.

1951-52 Chrysler New Yorker & Imperial

1953 Chrysler

1954 Chrysler

1955 Chrysler

DeSoto

1942-48 DeSoto

1955-56 DeSoto

Dodge

John Francis and Horace Dodge were born in 1864 and 1868 respectively in Michigan. The brothers started a bicycle manufacturing business with a third partner, which was highly successful thanks to a patented ball bearing that Horace had invented. After four years the brothers sold their interest in the bicycle business and started their own machine shop. They soon had lucrative contracts with Olds and Ford to supply automotive parts that were considered superior to most other suppliers. When Henry Ford Co. was in financial difficulties, its debt to Dodge Brothers was satisfied with a transfer of 10% of Ford stock to the brothers. When Ford could not meet demand for the Model T, the brothers produced some of the Ford cars. John eventually became a vice president at Ford. In 1913 they decided to produce their own eponymous automobiles to compete with the Model T. Their car set itself apart with all steel construction, 12 volt electrical and 35 horsepower. Their plant was the first to have its own on-site test track. In 1916 they produced an enclosed “winter” car and in 1917 an ambulance for the U.S. Army which evolved into the commercial truck.

1931-34 Dodge

1935 Dodge (?)

1936-37 Dodge

1938-39 Dodge

1940-41 Dodge

1946-47 Dodge

1948 Dodge

1949-50 Dodge

1951-54 Dodge

1957 & '58 Dodge

1980s Dodge truck

Ford

Henry Ford was born in 1863 in Dearborn, MI, a first generation American. He apprenticed as a machinist, later he worked for Westinghouse and Edison. He also studied bookkeeping. In 1898, while working for Edison in Detroit, he developed a self-propelled “Quadricycle” on his own time but with Edison’s approval. With outside capital, Ford built a successfully raced automobile in 1901, which led to greater investments allowing the founding of the Henry Ford Co. which became the Cadillac Automobile Co. the following year. Ford formed a partnership with a Detroit coal dealer producing inexpensive cars with the Dodge brothers as major parts suppliers. In 1903, this partnership was incorporated as Ford Motor Co. The Model T debuted on October 1, 1903 and the rest is common knowledge.

1908-27 Ford Model-T

1929-32 Model-A

1933 Ford

1936 Ford

1937 Ford

1940 Ford

1946 Ford

1947-48 Ford

1949-50 Ford

1950 Ford - Illuminated

1951 Ford

1952 Ford

1952-53 Ford (aftermarket)

1953+54 Ford

1954 Ford

1955-56 Ford

1956 Ford

1957 Ford

1958 Ford

1959 Ford

1960 Ford

1963 Ford

Hudson

On February 20, 1909 the Hudson Motor Car Company was formed by eight Detroit businessmen, including Joseph L. Hudson, a department store entrepreneur. who provided the needed capital and allowed his name to be used. One of the chief “car men” of the group was Roy D. Chapin, Sr., an American industrialist who had worked with Ransom E. Olds and later served as United States Secretary of Commerce. In 1954 Hudson merged with Nash -Kelvinator to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The Hudson name was used through the 1957 model year, then discontinued.

1946 Hudson

1949-50 Hudson

1951-52 Hudson Hornet

1951-52 Hudson Wasp

Humber (British)

Jaguar

1963-69 Jaguar S-Type

2002-08 Jaguar S-Type & X-Type

Aftermarket imitation leaping cat

Kaiser-Frazer

Frazer was the premium line of Kaiser-Frazer. There were two models produced for model years 1947-1951: Standard and Manhattan. Kaiser also had a Manhattan model, which was considerably less expensive than the Frazer and outsold it two-to-one. In spite of their near-Cadillac price and trim, all Frazers came with a six-cylinder engine, manual transmission and the hood ornament was an option. Frazer ended production in 1951 (a warmed-over 1950 model) while Kaiser soldiered on until 1955 before dropping the Kaiser moniker and concentrating on Willys Jeeps, which Kaiser had purchased in 1953. and were being produced in Argentina.

1950 Kaiser Virginian

1951 Frazer Manhattan

1953 Kaiser Dragon

Lincoln

Henry M. Leland formed the Lincoln Motor Company with a ten million dollar contract from the Federal Government to build the V12 Liberty engine for use in WWI. After the war, the Lincoln Motor Company plant was retooled to manufacture luxury automobiles. In 1922, Lincoln became insolvent and was bought out by Ford Motor Company, whose eight million dollar bid was the only one submitted, in spite of Lincoln being valued at twice that amount. Leland chose the company name because he was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln.

1934 Lincoln

1946 Lincoln

1949-50 Lincoln

1953 Lincoln

1956-69 Lincoln

1970-79 Lincoln

Mack Truck

In 1893 brothers Jack and Gus Mack purchased the Fallesen and Berry Carriage Company in Brooklyn, NY. In 1900 they established the firm name “Mack Brothers Company” which produced its first successful motorized vehicle that year. The company's trademark Bulldog was earned in 1917, during World War I, when the British government purchased the Mack AC model to supply its front lines with troops, food and equipment. British soldiers dubbed the truck the Bulldog Mack. Its pugnacious, blunt-nosed hood, coupled with its durability, reminded soldiers of the tenacious qualities of their country's mascot, the British Bulldog. In 1922 the company adopted its present name, Mack Trucks, Inc., and established the now-famous bulldog logo.

Mercedes-Benz

Karl Benz developed a carriage with an internal combustion engine, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, which he financed with Bertha Benz's dowry and patented in January 1886. This is generally acknowledged as the world’s first self-propelled vehicle. In 1899 a European entrepreneur named Emil Jellinek successfully raced an automobile in Nice, France built by Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. He raced under his daughter’s first name, Mercedes, to conceal the identity of the competitor (a common practice of the time). In 1901 the trademark “Mercedes” was registered by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Jellinek proceeded to successfully sell the cars to the wealthy of Europe and the US.

Mercury

The Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company was created in 1938 by Edsel Ford as an entry level premium brand positioned between Ford and Lincoln to compete with such other marques as Buick and Chrysler. In 1945 it was combined with Lincoln as the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford. In 2010 Ford announced the closing of Mercury and the last “Merc” left the plant in January, 2011. “Mercury” remains an active trademark of Ford.

1949-50 Mercury

1952-53 Mercury

1955-56 Mercury

1957 Mercury

1958 Mercury

Morris (Great Britain)

1956 to 1971 Minor 1000

Nash

Charles W. Nash was born in 1864 to a farming family in DeKalb, IL. His parents moved to a farm near Flint, MI when he was two, but divorced when he was six and abandoned him. A court “bound him out” as a farm hand until he turned 21, but he ran away at age twelve. He worked his way up from farm hand to shepherd to owner of hay bailing machinery and managed to acquire a fair education along the way, learning the trade of mechanic. In 1890 Nash was hired by William C. Durant as an upholstery stuffer for $1/day at Durant’s carriage manufacturing company. As the automobile industry grew, Durant’s carriage company transitioned to building auto bodies. In 1910 Durant bought Buick Motors in Flint and Nash was made vice president. When Durant was fired from General Motors in 1912, Nash became its 5th president. Nash made many improvements at Buick and GM, improving efficiency and profits. In 1916, when the heirs of the Jeffery Motor Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin, (makers of the Rambler automobile) were anxious to retire, Nash bought the company with a down payment of a half million dollars. He renamed it Nash Motors a year later. By 1929 Nash was the fourth largest automaker after the Big Three. During its production from 1916 to 1956, Nash Motors pioneered such improvements as the modern heating and ventilation system, unibody construction (1941), seat belts (1950) and one of the first successful compact cars, Metropolitan (1950). Mr. Nash retired and moved to Southern California in 1936 and died in Beverly Hills in 1948, leaving an estate valued at $50 million. Later acquisitions and mergers with Packard, Studebaker, Willys-Overland and Hudson led to the creation of American Motors Corp. which was purchased by Chrysler in 1987, evidently for the sole purpose of acquiring the Jeep brand because all other brand names were dropped.

1928-29 Nash

1950-51 Nash

1952 Nash

1953-55 Nash

1956 Nash

Oldsmobile

Ransom Eli Olds was born in Geneva, Ohio on June 3, 1864 but eventually settled in Lansing, Michigan, where he married Metta Ursula Woodward on June 5, 1889. He founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing on August 21, 1897. The modern assembly line and its basic concept is credited to Olds, who used it to build the first mass-produced automobile, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash. (Henry Ford developed the first moving assembly line) In 1899 the company was bought by copper and lumber magnate Samuel L. Smith and renamed Olds Motor Works with Olds as vice president and general manager. Olds left the company in 1904 because of a dispute and formed the REO Motor Car Company. General Motors purchased the company in 1908 and discontinued the Oldsmobile brand in 2004, after a production run of 96 years. At that time Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque and one of the oldest in the world.