Discovered some of my car's History. Another small world story

[Conn47D24]

Discovered my generator was not working.  Brought it to this place near by and they told me it had been there once before.

 

Thier initials , and the year " 75 " was stamped on the housing.  48 years ago !

 

That's when the PO ( friend of mine )  was getting it on the road.

 

Broken wire inside.  I must have tightened the terminal too far.

 

All set now.

 

Cool that this place has been there since 1929.  Current owner's grandfather bought it from the original family after working there for years.

 

Just another piece of this puzzle.

[soth122003]

Cool story! you might ask the current owners if they did more than just the genny on it. Back then more car owners brought the whole car in for work instead of just the part. It was a more personable time back then and customers were more likely to know the mechs working on the car. Unlike today where you are just a number to most.

 

Joe Lee

[Conn47D24]

I'll check it out.  You never know.

 

Still actually have receipts from P.O. 1975-1980.  Two other shops he used.  One of them  must have brought this genny in there 75 for re-build.

 

I will look for this stamp on the starter

[Ivan_B]

What a story... You should've asked them for a free repair under warranty ?

[desoto1939]

Clayton: Great history to have for your car and to pass on with the car.

After getting my build history from Chrylser Corp I was able to meet with the great Grandson of the original Desoto dealership from where my 1939 Desoto was sold.

 

The great grandson told me all about the history of the dealership and how they also did custom body enhancements.  He also went onto explain that they did partner with the Derham Custom body company that was located in Bryn Mawr PA which is on the Main Line here in PA, the real good old money section near Villanova, PA.

 

When either facility needed extra workers they would share their employees to each other shop.  The grandson now runs the Wolfington School Bus company and supplies busses to all of the major school districts.

I showed him the information on the car that I had and I drove the car to their location. He was impressed that I knew so much about the car.  We talked for approx 2 hours.

 

Always great to know the history of the car.

 

Hope to see you again in October at Hershey. Please stop by the site at OAD7&8.

 

Here isa link about the history of Derham Body Works:  Enjoy the history.

Derham Body Co., Derham Carriage Co, Enos Derham, Joseph J. Derham, Rosemont Carriage Works, Derham Top, Coachbult.com (coachbuilt.com)

 

Rich Hartung 

Edited July 6, 2023 by desoto1939

[Conn47D24]

More than just cars, right?

 

Rich, yes, I'll be there in October.   Too far to drive the D24 . But already booked.

 

 

[andyd]

Great story.......heres my version..........in the 1980's I used my 1940 Dodge as a wedding car for a fellow hot rod club member, whilst outside the church for the couple I was talking to an old guy, some sort of family member & he remarked that he liked my 1940 Dodge.......I was surprised that he knew the year as here in Oz they are not that common and I asked him how he knew the year......."well, a friend of mine had a 1940 Dodge in the 1960's".....where was that I asked?.........."well in a country town, Gunnedah, NSW"..........well thats interesting I said as when I bought this car in 1971 and transferred the registration over into my name the previous owner was listed as a George Mason from Gunnedah............"George Mason was my friend, his car was a gold/light brown colour, not the dark brown that your car is".........well this is THAT CAR.......I repainted it when I rebuilt/hotrodded it..........this guy couldn't remember much more abaout the car but he did say that it went thru the floods up to the centre of the doors in the 1960's........which explained why the upholstery was R/S............lol............its a small world...........andyd

[Bryan G]

I've been slowly trying to fit the pieces together on my car's history. I learned from Chrysler that it was sold at East Side Motors, Granite City, IL, but lots of searching has yet to turn up anything on the company. A possible successor outfit seems to have existed for 2-3 decades and the building seems to still exist in a lonely/gritty section of town. Unsure if that's where East Side was, however. It has a sticker in the back window promoting a union pension fund in the "quint cities" (Bettendorf/Davenport, IA, East Moline/Moline/Rock Island, IL.) By the early 90s, and probably before, it was around Muncie, IN. I was able to find and talk to the guy who owned it in the mid-90s, and the guy who sold it to the folks I bought it from. It's...been around! I'd love to know about the first owner but digging back that far is a tall order.

[Conn47D24]

Small world Andy !  Wow

 

There is still a Dodge dealer in White Palins NY where mine D24 was sold originally ( build card info )   .  Different name but same street.

 

Last PO is still a friend of mine.  He only had it 1974-80, then mine ever since.

[Ivan_B]

15 hours ago, Bryan G said:

I learned from Chrysler that it was sold at East Side Motors, Granite City, IL. . .

Just curious, how did you do that, wrote a letter to Chrysler? Would you kindly share the contact?

I was only potentially able to find-out the original owner's name and town by the radio warranty tag.

[Conn47D24]

There used to be a Chrysler Museum that you could write to small fee they would send you a copy of the original build card that went with the car to the dealer.

 

I just did a search for it the website is shut down and transferred to another Fiat company looks like the museum has been closed for a few years

Sad

[SteveR]

45 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

Just curious, how did you do that, wrote a letter to Chrysler? Would you kindly share the contact?

I found this on the internet. I just sent in my information. I hope I get something back.

https://www.chryslerclub.org/PDF files/Chrysler_Historical_Build_Record_Request.pdf

[Sniper]

It is interesting what you learn.  Some months back I was doing my grocery shopping and when I was putting the bags in my car an older lady came up to me and asked me if that was a 1951 Plymouth.  I was surprised she knew, turns out she used to "borrow" her Dad's 51 when she was in HS and she and her girlfriends used to go all sorts of places in it.  Told me that was her favorite car, ever.  It wasn't my 51, but it evoked memories for her and it was interesting nonetheless.

 

 

[Bryan G]

7 hours ago, SteveR said:

I found this on the internet. I just sent in my information. I hope I get something back.

https://www.chryslerclub.org/PDF files/Chrysler_Historical_Build_Record_Request.pdf

Yes, that is where I got my information. You can just email it, but you should change the address to @stellantis.com (I suspect the FCA address would still go through.) They had quite a backlog due to covid but seem to have caught up from what I've read from others. Aside from a photocopy of the build sheet, they will tell you the name of the original selling dealer & town, but that's it. I think back when the museum was running they would go more in-depth. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Bryan G

[SteveR]

12 hours ago, Conn47D24 said:

I just did a search for it the website is shut down and transferred to another Fiat company looks like the museum has been closed for a few years

Sad

I take it that the Chrysler Museum of Art is not the same thing, or what about Walter P. Chrysler Museum?

Edited July 8, 2023 by SteveR

[Dan Hiebert]

The Walter P. Chrysler auto museum is what closed.