Photo Journal: Buffalo/Niagara

Yesterday in Buffalo I treated myself to a few hours in the extensive Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow museum.

I came by my childhood automotive passion honestly: My dad restored vintage cars, and painted oil canvases w old cars as the subject. This is me, 3 years old, with my dad’s ’37 Chev:

And Sherman Iverson’s painting of the inside of a ’57 Oldsmobile, including a bit of self-portrait (that’s also the house where I grew up):

I enjoyed the Pierce-Arrow museum so much that I just might make a survey of automobile museums an adventure of my golden years.

As a boy I had a lot of picture books with antique cars. About the only thing I remembered about Pierce-Arrow from my childhood studies was the way that the headlamps “grow” out of the fenders.

At the turn of the previous century, Buffalo was a powerhouse, and grandly produced luxurious automobiles crafted by the Pierce-Arrow company. The most extraordinary vehicle on display might be the 1936 Metropolitan Town Brougham. Naturally, it is coach-built, and essentially unique.

The building hosts a variety of other cars, artifacts, and memorabilia.

This is not a great photo of the Frank Lloyd Wright filling station housed inside the museum (only recently built to Wright’s original blueprint) but the image gives a general idea:

A few other pics:

1901 Packard Model C. One cylinder, top speed 24 mph. Better hope it isn’t raining! Still, it was a mechanical marvel at the time.
1904 Arrow Rear Entry

late ’50s Cadillac — straight out of a Stephen King novel

another Caddy with a terrifying grill
Most of the vehicles were American, but there were a few foreign objects, including a wonderful 1938 Bugatti supercharged for racing. It’s hard to believe, but apparently this Bugatti could reach speeds up to 120 mph.

I don’t go for muscle cars as much but…yeah, I like this ‘67 Cougar XR7/GT
You can see my reflection in the Thunderbird above, and thus becomes a minor photographic tribute to Sherman Iverson. I am my father’s son!

The previous day Bruce Eaton took me on my maiden voyage to Niagara Falls.