Servicing cars in Hollywood’s golden age

• 

Ah - the Hollywood of the 1930s. When actors and actresses became world stars and the movie industry one of the largest businesses in the US. Even the Great Depression couldn’t stop it, or so we found out. An estimated 80 million Americans were going to the movies each week during the depression. No wonder Hollywood got its reputation as the land of affluence and fame.

But even movie stars are ordinary people who drive cars that can break down. Luckily for them, Paul A. Ziegler of South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles could come to the rescue. And he’d found a clever way to do so. Ziegler Inc. had the Cycletow in operation. The idea was quite simple. A mechanic drove out on his Cycletow-equipped motorcycle, expanded the two extra wheels at the back, hitched it behind the car-to-service and drove off with the bike behind (a bit more here).

We found the Oldsmobile to be an L-series straight-eight of 1932-vintage. The motorbike has to be a Harley-Davidson.

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture from the archive.

Aggiunga un commento...