1933 Essex Terraplane Six emblem stolen

Jay_G

All, I purchased the 1933 Essex Terraplane Windover Sport in England that was for sale in WTN about 4 months ago. I just picked up the car from the shipper and the radiator emblem was missing. The griffin was intact but the white Essex Terraplane Six emblem with red lettering was gone.

Does anyone have one they are willing to sell? I believe they are the same as the 1932 emblems if you have one of those.

Thanks Jay

dbputman

Contact Kerry Haggerty. He is a FB member of Terraplane Seven, and I think he is also a member of the HET group. He has been selling a lot of parts on eBay.

dbputman

You might also check with Emblem Magic. Karla has restored some over the last few years.

dbputman

The emblem is held onto the Griffin with a small spring clip.

Jay_G

Thanks, I will give then a call. Karla restored my 27 Essex emblem that went the boattail that was at the National last year. Going to have her do my 1928 Essex as well.

tigermoth

This is why I have grown to hate people. What kind of pond scum cretin takes parts off an old car?

best of luck finding or recreating the stolen emblem.

regards, Tom

29sptphaeton

Here is a photo of the 1933 Essex Terraplane emblems. The one that says USA at the top is on my British built Terraplane. The other emblem is on the American built Terraplane.

29sptphaeton

Jay_G

Thanks for the pics. I found an emblem on an auction site. They were selling off a collection of about 500 emblems. So my understanding is the one without the USA is an export emblem. That is to one my car had on it and happily that was the one I was able to purchase. I have sent it off for restoration.

Nice looking Railton or is it a REAL? Mine grill is the same as your pic but only in a cream color. The car was originally red. Your Pic almost makes me want to repaint the car.

Jay

tigermoth

Who is restoring the old cloisonné emblems now?

regards, Tom

Jay_G

Ok, on further research, the one with USA is the export emblem. So I need one, if there is one to be found?

Karla Maxwell is restoring them.... well mine. She restored a 27 Essex for me last year. This year it is a 28 Essex and the 1933 Essex Terraplane emblem. Wait tile is about 6 months.

Jay

tigermoth

Thank you.

regards, Tom

Old Fogey UK

Hello Jay,

I placed the ad for your Terraplane in WTN on behalf of my friend David White.

He's not a HET Club member, I am.

If it's any consolation to you, the stolen radiator emblem was actually an amateur mock-up and not original to the car.

I hope you enjoy your ownership of the car, it's probably the rarest version of an Essex Terraplane there is.

No more than 25 were made and there are only 3 known Windoverette survivors, including yours.

I have what I think may be the only surviving '34 Hudson 8 LTS Brougham, the entry level Hudson for 1934.

There are a number of the De Luxe Broughams still around but not many Hudson LTS cars of any body style.

All the best,

David.

P.S. Welcome to the Railton Owners Club !

35626808216_c8b9e0f175_b (004).jpg

Jay_G

David,

Thank you, you have a nice looking car. I am currently working on the Windoverette. Fixing little things and putting new tires on. I am planning on having Bent Metal as he is know in this site to recreate the center grill spear. David gave me the restoration pictures and I noticed a center chrome addition that was not put back during the restoration in 1992. I plan on recreating that feature as it was on the car when found. I know of no other with this feature but it was on the car and I believe it was there when the car was build or painted.

Jay

Old Fogey UK

Hello again Jay,

Thanks for the reply.

Please send me some pics when you've finished the work.

David White has bought a 1950 Morgan Plus Four to replace the Terraplane.

David.

Old Fogey UK

Jay, check with the ROC experts about that grille centre strip before spending any money on it.

I've seen the other 2 surviving cars and they don't have it.

David.

Jay_G

David,

Yes, I am aware the other two don't have it. But.......somehow the car got it and judging from the barn find photos the car was painted red including the grill shell and insert. This chrome center strip was placed under the griffin and the grill insert modified to accept it. Given that these were made in such limited quantities and each car was basically hand built I can see them experimenting with different grills. In any event it was placed on the car at the same time as the red paint (from what i can see) and from the documentation I have the car went to Hudson unpainted, then was painted red and sold. Kind of strange to me but that is what is written when researched by one of the ROC guys in 1992 when the car was being restored. Also the racing one has a slightly modified grill insert near the bottom. Maybe I am getting too wrapped up in the history of this particular car.

But I do have a question for you UK guys. The car is fitted with a Cooper-Stewart London tach. On servicing and replacing the fan belts I noticed a grease fitting missing from the gear drive unit. It was just open. Which is not good as you would expect. An SAE 1/4 fitting is slightly to small and bottoms out locking the gear drive up. Is there British 1/4 fitting slighter larger or have a different thread pitch?

Thanks Jay

Old Fogey UK

I bought some British grease fittings that wouldn't fit in my US market Hudson.

They might work.

Would you like me to send you one or two ?

What do you need - straight, 45 degrees or 90 degrees ?

The racing Windoverette has a modified grille to cover the big hole where a supercharger was once fitted.

David.

Jay_G

Thanks, I have some friends coming for the eclipse who have some morris minors. They are binging me a few to try. Thanks for the offer.

As for the center grill piece. I am conflicted as the Essex Terraplane did not have one. But I understand that some full size Hudsons did. So it is not out of the question to see something fitted? Maybe.

I may post a thread in the near future with a few of the pre and post restoration pictures with the center piece fitted. Just to see what people say. Not that I go with what people say......

Jay

Old Fogey UK

https://openforum.hetclub.org/discussion/comment/253780#Comment_253780

I hope they work for you. I don't know what grease fittings are used on Morris Minors - I haven't owned one since I was at university in the 1970s.

If they don't work, let me know.

David.

Jay_G

So they brought the small thread style, this uses the larger thread size. However, I was able to fit an SAE fitting after grinding the fitting down so that just a few of the upper threads grabbed. The housing for the is a very thin casting with only a few threads visible anyway. If the fitting screwed in too far it would interfere with the gears. This would have been the case with almost any fitting. Once I got the fitting to clear the gears, I put blue lock tight on the threads and screwed in hand tight. it is now locked into place and will not fall out. all it needed is a cap of sometime to keep the dirt and water out.

As for the center grill piece. After looking at the unrestored disasslembled pics of the grill I could see red paint under where the center piece was fitted. So yes, you were right and originally the grill piece would not have been fitted. I am having the grill repainted as it was peeling badly. Once that is done I will start the re-fitment. I did decide to repaint the wire wheels and the grill insert green to match the interior. There was just too much white on the car. Between the white car, fenders, grill, wire wheels, and white wall tires all you saw was a white blob. It need something to make it pop a little more as there is not much chrome on the car.

Old Fogey UK

I agree on all that white, it was just too much.

I think the wheels would look nice done in a green to match the leather seats - and black wall tyres are a must, no 1930s sporting English motorist would have dreamt of putting wide white walls on his car ! Your car had black walls on it when Mr White got it but he swapped them with somebody for a set of white walls. I don't know why he did that.

As regards the other 2 survivors, one is totally burgundy red including the seats and it looks a bit dull. The other is Old English White (like yours but a bit more of a cream shade, very 1930s - which I think looks better than bright white) but with green wheels.

My son painted the hub cap centres for David White and he did them by hand - not bad for a first attempt ? Having perfected the technique, he did mine too.

Old Fogey UK

I should have mentioned that the Windoverette cars were available from Hudson on a special order only basis. There were no stock colours and the buyer could specify whatever they wanted as regards paint and upholstery colours.

So the choice is yours, Jay, but please remember that we Brits were a conservative bunch back in those days and ivory was about as unrestrained as we got with paint - and mudguards (fenders to you guys) were invariably a darker colour than the body on two-tone schemes.

A popular two-tone was ivory with black or very dark brown fenders, with wheels in either body or fender colour. Dublin and Ulster Green and Oxford and Cambridge Blue were also very common two-tones on sporting cars, as well as all-over red - which back in the day tended to be far less bright than modern reds.

White wall tyres only appeared on the cars of dubious "gentlemen" with Clark Gable moustaches and "caddish" lifestyles ! 😄

David.

Jay_G

David,

You read my mind. I am going with a green grill insert after it is restored back to original without the cut center piece. The wire wheels are going green as well. They will match the interior. I agree the tires should be black. I have purchased them, just waiting on the wheels. I am going with the Terraplane 6 hubcaps. I am working the dents out of a set and will have them rechromed. I will try my hand at painting as well.

I had not thought about painting the wings a different color at this point. I probably will not but I am going to have the paint retouched in spots. At that point I will post pics and take it to some Hudson meets. I think I have found an intact Griffin to replace the one that is a bit tired when I get the radiator badge back.

You won't believe the transformation of the dash. I made new plastic castings from the existing knobs and replaced the switches and cable pulls so they look like the original. I would post a pic but the gas gauge is out for repair. I also restored the idot lights. They look good in polished brass. oh and a correct Lucas starter button......well one like the unrestored pic.

This should be a nice refreshed example when I am done. It might be worth a short article in WTN when finished as it is so unique.

Jay

Old Fogey UK

Keep me posted.

I'll try to help locate any period English bits and pieces (knobs, etc.) if you need them.

Why not use my private email address for further correspondence so we don't over use the Forum ?

David.