With everyone staying home these days, it seems only right to keep the road trip destinations coming – so long as I can keep finding my pictures. Road trips are also on a (very wise) hiatus as reflected by traffic volumes in Missouri being down 40%, which is most likely similar to what has been experienced in other states.
I offer all this because if a person can’t do something themselves, they may as well live vicariously through others. So today let us go around 100 miles northeast of me to the self-proclaimed “American’s Hometown” of Hannibal, Missouri, and visit “Karlock’s Kars”.
Karlock’s sits in an otherwise fairly nondescript building on Rt 79 on the southern edge of downtown. Having lived in Hannibal from 2006 until 2012, Karlock’s has moved in since the time I left. While the number of cars they have is not tremendous, they are of great quality and/or noteworthiness.
One such noteworthy car is this 1953 Kaiser. Its having been converted into a pickup is unique by itself; add to this the claim it was used as the flower car at Henry Kaiser’s funeral in 1967, which ups the unique quotient.
The history of the Kaiser’s conversion is unknown although there is a tag on a door pillar that says “Barris Customs”.
Next to this semi-decapitated Kaiser was another Kaiser, this being a Darrin.
This picture can be upsized by clicking on it, but the story about this particular Darrin is compelling. Powered by a 1954 Cadillac V8, this Darrin was claimed to have been found abandoned after Kaiser moved production to Argentina, awaiting the scrap heap. Dutch Darrin didn’t want that outcome and brought this car, along with the other remaining Darrins, to his shop.
The Cadillac engine powering this Darrin has two, four-barrel carburetors sitting on its intake manifold.
In 1948, Hudson introduced an amazing new line of cars. This is a 1949 Hudson two-door that has been retrofitted with Twin-H Power, which is two carburetors feeding its 308 cubic inch flathead six.
These Hudsons are a delight to see.
Even if you can only see part of it.
By and large, General Motors is the featured manufacturer with some of their best being on display.
Case in point is this 1961 Pontiac Ventura powered by the 421 cubic inch Super Duty V8.
Ford wasn’t the first to use the pulse quickening phrase of “Super Duty”. They have, however, made a lot more hay from it than Pontiac ever did.
Also from the upper fringes of desirable 1961 Pontiacs is this Catalina convertible.
Coming from Philadelphia (presumably Pennsylvania although Philadelphia, Missouri is only about 20 miles from Hannibal), this Catalina has less than 30,000 miles.
The interior is unrestored.
Sitting near the Pontiac was this 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible. Making itself more interesting is this convertible was endowed with a fuel-injected 283 cubic inch V8 from the factory. It does have an automatic transmission and only 36,000 miles.
It is unknown how many miles are on this 1960 Buick Electra 225 convertible but we do know it had only one prior owner before coming to the museum. It was originally purchased by a couple from Deadwood, South Dakota. The went all out on the option list with power windows and seats, a console, and air conditioning. It is powered by a 401 cubic inch V8.
Unique about the car is the owners later went shopping to replace their Electra. Not liking anything on offer, they opted to restore the car they had.
With all these two-doors, let’s finish with something different. So here’s a 1956 Buick Century wagon. Once upon a time I was ambivalent about wagons but now I am rather intrigued with them. Thankfully this wagon escaped being used as a donor for a two-door. Wagons need to be appreciated and it seems that sentiment is now being shared by others.
I visited Karlock’s in May 2017 when these pictures were taken; it was still there as of November 2019. Hannibal may seem like an unusual place for a car museum, but due to the ongoing influence of Mark Twain, Hannibal has an abundance of international tourists.
Karlock’s is well worth the stop.
There was a little place in San Luis Obispo for years called Hudson’s Grill. I’m not sure if the owner’s name was Hudson or not but there was a ton of Hudson memorabilia inside, it was a typical Bar and Grill burger type place. In any case it’s where my wife and I went on our first date (as well as numerous subsequent ones in the mid ’90’s) and while I can’t swear to it, I believe that front Hudson section with the “Burger” vanity plate that you took a picture of was from there, I distinctly remember the front part of a Hudson on their wall, alas it closed down around 2007.
All I think of when you mention San Luis Obispo is this, in much a good way:
Haha, yeah, that pretty much sums it up, thanks for the link! Good times…
Hudson’s Grill was a chain out of Dallas Texas. I remember a couple when I lived in California and was surprised to find them in Wisconsin when I moved here. I think they are all closed now.
Any car museum that houses a 1959 Chevy is alright with me! The building doesn’t look too large, but big enough to spend a nice quality afternoon there admiring the beauties inside. A very nice collection it seems indeed.
Looking at the seating in that Pontiac, reminds me of how far automotive seating has come in terms of comfort, safety, side to side control, headrests, etc. Not to mention seat belts. We have come a long way.
Thanks for sharing.
I wouldn’t say that’s a nondescript building, the brickwork on that vintage beauty is wonderful. Somebody cared when they were making their merchant building a hundred years ago.
Nice 61 Pontiacs, I’ll take mine with a 283 though.
Yes to the beauty of the building! I love those stone keystones in the arched windows and whatever the corresponding pieces at the ends of the arches are called. I took a little google trip around downtown Hannibal; there seem to be a lot of gems worth seeing there – a city (or town) that time seems to have passed by. It reminds me of Galena, Illinois.
Doug, you must be from up in the northland! Down here, only 389s.
Nice looking place! All the memorabilia might be as interesting as the cars. It’s kind of like somebody’s ultimate garage, and he charges admission. Not a bad idea!
I dig all those cars. The Catalina is beautiful. I always liked Pontiac’s translucent steering wheels in that era. I can understand the Buick owners’ feeling, how can you improve on a 60 Electra convertible? On the wagon, I wonder if the wire wheels are original. Very impressive if they are.
Where did you get the info that traffic is down 40%? I’d be curious what our stats are. For all the negatives of our collective Carona party, I am really loving the traffic! I attached a photo of Houston’s West Loop northbound just past US 59 at 6:30pm on a weekday, one of the worst choke points in a city of bad choke points. Usually a parking lot at this time.
Photo didn’t attach. I’ll try it again. If it doesn’t work, imagine a scintillating image of a freeway with a few cars driving at full speed.
Jon, As you were saying…
https://www.10news.com/news/coronavirus/chp-officers-say-less-traffic-is-leading-to-more-speeding-drivers-during-coronavirus-pandemic
In regard to knowing traffic volumes, I have access to an abundance of insider knowledge.
Insider info, sweet! Too bad there isn’t such a thing as a traffic stock market.
From what I’ve seen, i suspect our traffic down more than 40% and perhaps 60-70%. Anecdotal only, and measuring may well not be being done on a like for like basis.
Whoa! A 1961 Ventura. In Honduras Maroon.
The 1961 Pontiac Ventura in Honduras Maroon has been, still is, and will always be my favorite all time car. Chalk it up to being a 17 year old car crazy kid and the Ventura being brand new, quick as hell (certainly quicker than my 1953 fluid drive Chrysler), and just so, SO beautiful.
It wasn’t mine; it belonged to my parents. But on cold winter mornings I would volunteer to take it out to the deserted Jones Beach ocean parkway and clean out the carbon build up in its 389. It was the least I could do.
The sample pictured above is a 421 Super Duty with three-twos and probably has a four speed manual, so it is in another class altogether. That hood is held up with a small pole to show off the engine; under normal conditions it would open much more.
The 389 was easy to work on and my father taught me to do basic tune ups on it. The distributor had a little trap door that enabled one to adjust the points while the engine was running. This was for GM V8s only and was not available on GM’s 6 cylinder models (like my ’67 OHC Tempest).
The white same year Catalina is nice too and that interior shot rings a number of memory bells, especially that big translucent steering wheel and the clean chrome transmission select lever.
Moparlee: Catalina seating was plainer than the Ventura, and yes, one tended to slide around on quick turns and no, there were no seat belts. Add in drum brakes all around, bias ply tires, soft suspensions, mostly steel dashboards, solid steering columns, and no air bags, well… it’s a wonder so many people from that era are still alive. At least so far.
That GM points adjuster through a window in the distributor cap was sure handy. Hook up a dwell meter and it was SO easy. But if your hands were sweaty and one hand was on a fender or otherwise grounded, you could get an electric shock. 12 volts isn’t going to injure you but the “tickle” got your attention. Don’t ask how I know.
12 volts will not shock you. It is the ~300 volt spike when the points open.
That “window” in the side of the distributor on my 1957 Star Chief brings back memories of Sunday afternoon tuneups. I still have that job-specific flex shaft point adjuster with a blue handle. I sold the dwell meter n vacuum gauge.
I STILL have both the blue-handled adjuster AND my dwell meter. (somewhere). I’ll be ready when my new Lexus RX350 needs its points replaced.
Is it still 30 degrees?
How many times had that hood been struck by a mechanic’s or owner’s head?
What a terrible design.
Hi VanillaDude, I see your point, especially with the way the hood is positioned in the subject photo.
Through the distant fog of 50-60 year old memories (the Ventura was stolen and used in an armed robbery in NYC in the early 1970s – it was tagged as evidence and we never got it back), I do not recall ever hitting my head on the hood’s odd downward projection. That doesn’t mean it never happened; I just do not recall it happening.
Most of shade tree work we did on it (points, plugs, condenser, rotor, dist. cap/wires, carb, air cleaner, etc.) was performed from the side.
Also, the hood opened up so the projection was quite high (see photo).
You and I are both fans of that color, as it was also on the first car I remember in my family – a 1961 Oldsmobile F-85 wagon that my parents kept until 1964.
And have we done this trivia before – that the exact same color formula was Avanti Red during that car’s original Studebaker iteration – and that the Avanti owned by my best friend’s dad was that color.
I do like these little museums. Random thoughts: If that Kaiser flower car started out as a 53, someone retrofitted the 54-55 Buick-knockoff front end. The stock 53 still used the original low grille.
The 308 with the Twin-H setup is to Hudson people what the R series V8s are to Studebaker people – they are on way more cars now then they ever were then.
For the first time I noticed how similar the rear styling on the 61 Pontiac is to the 61 Buick. The taillights are roughly the same general size and shape, and the rear end is severely concave. The blades on the edge of the Pontiac are the big difference.
As much as I love wagons, that 56 Buick is just awkward. I love the “regular” 56 Buicks, but the wagon just doesn’t work for me.
When I was a kid I always wondered about how GM did such a terrible job on the station wagon design for those 1954-56 Buicks. All vertical posts, thick rounded vertical rear. Chevrolet wagons were similar but not identical until 1955, although the pillars stayed vertical on the non-Nomads. Meanwhile Chrysler and Ford product station wagons were much more modern looking. Then Buick kind of made up for it with the four door hardtop 1957’s.
There is a tendency to put chrome wire wheels on restored classic cars that didn’t actually have them. i think they are Kelsey Hayes wheels like on some later Thunderbirds, or maybe some company makes some knock off now(?)
Those cars had some pretty awesome correct wheel covers that would be a lot better.
There’s a lot of great stuff here! I love that 1960 Electra 225 convertible, the Kaiser Darrin DKF, and even that little, white Kaiser-Camino does something for me. Thanks for the virtual trip through this interesting collection.
According to some sources, the “Super Duty” naming was originally used by Ford on their line of heavy duty gasoline-engined trucks in 1958. In fact, Pontiac used the Ford designed and produced truck hood scoop for their early 60’s factory race cars. I came across one (hood scoop) at a swap meet years ago, and bought it as a novelty. I’m not sure if I still have it or not.
toss up between the Buick Electra and the wagon for me. The sun’s shining here, so we’ll go Electra.
That’s the sort of museum I like – I’d love to volunteer there.