The Cussler Museum, Colorado. 2) Cars from the Books

(1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, featured in Treasure of Khan)

This is the second in a three part series of my visit to the Cussler Museum in Arvado, Colorado.  You can read part 1 here for a background of the museum and its collection if you are interested.

Author Clive Cussler, the museum’s founder, loved to share details of his cars in the books he wrote.  Many of the vehicles were quite unusual and rare.  While wandering through the collection I made a point of taking photos of these cars, including most of the books they were featured in.  I was genuinely impressed by the breadth of the collection, the immaculate shape each car was in, and having read a number of the books how well Cussler described them.  Most, although not all, are of European origin.

This post is longer than most of my blogs, but I thought that car aficionados would appreciate the details provided herein.  The vehicles are grouped by year of manufacture, starting with the 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost shown above, and not for any other reason.

I’m curious to know which vehicles you’d take home with  you (if you could):

1925 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8

1929 4.5 Liter Blower Bentley 

One of only 50 of these supercharged models produced.  This very car was extensively raced back in the day….

1929 Duesenberg Model J-140 

From the plaque at the Museum:  “No other car in the history of the automotive industry has approached the luxury, style, elegance and mechanical masterwork of the Duesenberg.  Kings and queens, movie stars, politicians and business tycoons all drove them.”

1930 Packard Speedster 8 Runabout 

The fastest sportscar of its day.  Only 25 of 113 of these cars survive today.

1931 Stutz Boattail DV-32 Speedstar

Stutz was a maker of fast cars from 1911 t0 1935.  Only six examples of this model still exist.

1932 Auburn V-12 Boattail 

1932 Stutz DV-32 Towncar

1936 Avions Viosin C-28 Ambassade

The first car to be made with an aluminum skin.  Fewer than 50 Viosins remain, most having been destroyed during WWII by the Germans for their aluminum.

1936 Ford Cabriolet Hot Rod 

1936 Pierce-Arrow V-12 Berliner with 1937 Pierce-Arrow Travelodge Trailer

The powerful V12 engine helped the car reach speeds of up to 110 miles per hour.  It also made pulling the trailer quite easy.

1938 Packard V12 Town Car

1939 Bugatti Type 57-C

1948 DeLaHaye Type 135

1948 Talbot Lago Grand Sport

My favorite car of this bunch.  A beautiful, elegant car.

1951 Daimler DE-36 Green Goddess 

Only eight of these cars were produced!

1952 Allard J2X 

A custom race car from England.

This series concludes at this link with a look at some more European cars and other memorabilia in the Cussler Collection.