Early Expedition Vehicle with Trailer - and we thought teardrops were a new rage!!

[Dendy Jarrett]

I had the great pleasure of visiting the Lane Motor Museum (which is 10 minutes from my home) this weekend. Not sure why I never went before, but if you ever find yourself through Nashville, ... it is well worth the $7 price of admission.
Many, Many early cars on display- mostly European micro cars, and the like.

This was there as well:
1934 McQuay-Norris Streamliner with tear drop!!

It is just a small example of what they had on display there, but I thought this was a very cool example of an early expedition vehicle. And while we thought the tear drops were all the new rage, ... this one from 1934 shows that they have not changed all that much!! Spartan - yes, ... but very functional.

Here is just the truck. Hard to see, but the steering wheel is just inside the door. There is about 5 feet of dash to look over! (think boat hull!)

Just the trailer:

and the inside: mattress on floor with wool army blanket- Ahhh, cozy!

Rear of trailer: Pretty much like today!

So, the tear drops were exploring way back!!

For more info on Lane Motor Museum:
http://lanemotormuseum.org/

Thanks,
Dendy

 

[maxingout]

That is very cool. I have never seen one of those vehicles or even heard of one. I wonder how capable it was and if it had four wheel drive.

 

[adventureduo]

Very cool! Thanks for posting!

 

[Titanpat57]

The more things change, the more they stay the same....:ylsmoke:

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

They also had this Citroen 2CV 4X4 Sahara - something like only 495 built with only less than a 100 remaining.

It was built to traverse the Sahara. Unusual 4X4 in that there is a front and rear engine! The top was completely roll back canvas. It had great visibility:

http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/citroen-2cv-4x4-sahara-1962

D

 

[Toyotero]

Interesting rig...

Is that the hood under the windshield (the dash)? What's purpose does it serve to enclose that space?

Is there any info about that stove? Fuel type, brand?

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

They did not allow folks to touch the cars, so I didn't get to peer under the "hood" but my guess is the Ford V8 Flat Head resides under the "dash" as it was hinged and did lift up and off- that much I could tell.
There was no info on the stove- did have a label on the back, but just a warning label of some sort.
Sorry- I can't help more. Check it out on their website. The guy that owns the place is a car nut and would probably answer all queries.
D

 

[cruiseroutfit]

A neat vintage setup!

Tear drops are far from a new rage, they were all the range in the 30's when they really got popular. There are some great websites that cover the history of teardrops, wiki's is basic but informative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teardrop_trailers

I too would love to know more about that stove, I've not seen one like that before.

 

[lowenbrau]

I too would love to know more about that stove, I've not seen one like that before.

Porta-chef?

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Lowenbrau: I believe you are right. I was able to enlarge the image and the yellow decal on the back does say what appears to be Porta-chef.
D

 

[lowenbrau]

That comes as a surprise. The trademark only seems to have been in use since the late 80s and I can't find any reference to a vintage Porta-chef stove (and the internet seems to have lots of vintage stove enthusiasts)

Onward manufacturing owns the brand now and markets low end portable gas grills (not campstoves) with it. They also make Broil King, Huntington Forge and Broil-Mate in the US and nearly every grill you can imagine in Canada. (Broil mate, Grill pro, Bravo, Sterling, Blue Ember, even Weber)

 

[Borrego60]

I thought it was cool,did I see propane hose inside the stove?

 

[Toyotero]

It looks like the "porta-chef" name used to be owned by a different company...

There is a similar one for sale on ebay that includes the description, " Porta Chef Model ST 200." and "Made in Rochester Ny. By Family Camping. 4 Elton St. 14607"



In some brief searching, I didn't find much on that company name except auctions for another vintage stove and some parts.

BTW, that address is currently occupied by Carone Contracting



BTW, it looks like they are propane. I think that little curved piece on the left of the stove in the OP's images is a place to set a LP cartridge.

I'm betting that the stove in the teardrop trailer is not exactly period for the trailer and vehicle... it maybe a 1960s or 70s model, but it looks vintage enough to fit the look.

 

[DividingCreek]

Cool post. Thanks for sharing Dendy.
I'm digging the trailer tailights.