House clearance is often a difficult process, for many reasons. Almost certainly, something will come to light that brings back some memories and has associations, and my Mum’s recent move after 32 years was no different.
Deep in the back of a drawer was a key fob from a garage. So far, so ordinary – it probably happens in every house clearance or move. But to me, this one was different.
It is a key fob from the garage my Dad used for all his car purchases from 1971 to 1985, known as Prospect Garage in the town of Morley, in the south of Leeds in Yorkshire.. Over that period, he and Mum purchased 9 cars, ranging from a second hand and rather dubious Hillman Imp, a Chrysler 2 Litre saloon from the Chrysler UK management staff fleet to a Chrysler Horizon and 3 Chrysler Alpines
Actually, it was only one Chrysler Alpine, as the second and third (which were the same colour as each other) were actually Talbot Alpines, after the Peugeot takeover of Chrysler Europe in 1978.
The key fob is for Talbot Sales and Service from Prospect Garage, so I believe it probably came with the second or third Alpine in 1981 or 1985. Talbot as a brand was killed off by Peugeot in 1986, after disappointing sales and with little in the way of new products in the pipeline. It’s also worth pausing to remember what dealer marketing accessories were like 30 years ago – this is just a snip of printed paper enclosed in a simple plastic housing, and for an ambitious brand.
The dealer is still there, now owned by a regional logistics and vehicle leasing group and selling Fords, and new building cladding aside, is still recognisable. It is still known as Prospect Garage as a postal address and still has the same telephone number. The key fob is now with the keys for my Mazda MX-5 – I suspect it is the only MX-5 with a Talbot Sales and Service key fob, and that suits me just fine.
So, QOTD is, what has been your best house clearance or house move find with CC relevance?
The Fiat 124 Badges and documents from mum’s old car, which i should try writing up. it’s also why I occasionally hate people
I bought a license plate frame from a defunct local Pontiac-Olds dealer at a recent garage sale…..thought it was pretty cool, in a sad way. Dunno how old it is, but it has the Pontiac Indian head logo so must be pretty old. The dealer carried Cadillac and Chevy too up until about 5 years ago when they sold (or lost) their franchises and closed for good.
The Pontiac Indian head logo hasn’t been used since the early ’50s I believe.
According to this site, the Indian head logo was used until 1956, about the time new Pontiac sedans still had suspenders on the hood.
http://www.dinesh.com/history_of_logos/car_logos_design_and_history/pontiac_logo_design_and_history.html
The Indian was replaced by the arrow head logo or Red Dart, which was prominent on Pontiacs made in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Pontiac Indian head profile remained in use all the way through 1970 on the inside of the full-size cars – specifically, as the high-beam indicator (just above the odometer), which lit up in red. I also have a leather key fob of the same era from a Pontiac dealer, with the Indian head embossed on it.
Two things:
First, when moving three years ago, I found an old key clip, key, and Oldsmobile keychain that was my grandfather’s. The key doesn’t look like a car key, probably to a shed or something.
Second, my mom and I found his old license plates. If you live in Massachusetts, you know that the old green plates are a something of a collector’s item. He was one of the earlier ones to receive red “Spirit of America” plates, and these ones were last used in 1989. He knew someone at the registry, which is why he always had a rare 5-digit combination.
Roma licence plate my mum found for me in Dad’s family’s flat in Italy. Priceless.
When we cleared out Mom and Pop’s place I found (actually re-found) a 1939 Arkansas license plate that had gone missing during our last move. Clearly some of our old moving boxes had made their way to their place….
When my wife’s grandfather passed some years ago, we made an epic trip from Atlanta up to Douglas, MA in my ’71 VW Campmobile to recover some items from the estate.
I grabbed a couple old gas cans from his garage to use for refueling my lawn mower, which are now also used to refuel my 8N. There were several more, and in hindsight, I kick myself for not having grabbed them, too.
We moved from Brooklyn,NY to Freehold NJ last January. While we were getting ready for the move, I found a set of keys from a `82 Mercury Colony Park station wagon that I forgot I even had. I sold the vehicle in 1997. I also found some “Eldorado” and Cadillac crests and badges. I found an owners manual from a `81 Olds Delta, and a long lost red and black “Club” steering wheel lock. Remember them? Also, of non auto related items,I found old college term papers and the baptism record from my nephew`s baptism at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Eatontown, NJ from 1991. I was his godfather.
when i sold my ’68 firebird convertible to my cousin and her husband i did a real good cleaning. underneath the drivers seat and also under the carpet i found a calendar/date book from a local community college. the year was 1968 and there were a few assignments written in it beginning fall term. they petered out about mid-october and the whole thing was kept closed with a red garter belt. i’m certain there were some stories there if only the two could talk.
For years I have kept a file with paperwork and various other related items for the various cars I have owned. While it had been missing in action, it turned up about a year ago. It has been a good source of information and I have tapped into it for various articles since it re-emerged. It includes the original bill of sale for my ’75 Thunderbird, a list of every vehicle I had driven as of April 1994, and paperwork for when I ordered my 1996 Thunderbird. Sadly, the window sticker has taken a sabbatical.
My grandfather found a Nash hubcap in a house cleansing and I still have it.
Since you mention house moves, it opens the door for the last item. In my (seemingly never-ending) quest for another house, I have encountered a number of intriguing vehicles in sheds and garages. Attached is what I found this past Wednesday.
Subscribed .
-Nate
I found a couple of old key fobs at my mother’s house years ago. One was a little metal Kaiser emblem that came with my grandparents 1951 Kaiser. The other was a similarly sized metal Cadillac crest, probably from the same era that probably came from her Uncle, a physician who bought quite a few Cads before his death in the mid 1950s.
I also found a pair of keys from my 59 Plymouth. During the Exner era, Chrysler keys were aluminum instead of the plated brass that everyone else used. They were probably more expensive to make, but they always felt so lightweight and cheap compared to normal keys.
I found a set of w112/w113 factory service manuals in my garage of my first house I owned, in 2008. Interesting read, Benz actually called for an engine tear down around 200k km. All the bearings, bores, and rings were to be scrutinised , and a complete rebuild demanded if they were only minor issues, at least to us yanks. Gave them away on CL, to anyone who could prove ownership of the cars. Someone could sure need them more than me. I can curl up with an old Haynes on cold rainy night.
While clearing out my great-uncle’s house after he passed away in 2011, we came across a photo album with a photo of my great aunt with a late 70’s Corvette she had owned. I hadn’t any idea she had been a sports car person; by the time I knew her well she no longer drove.
Uncle George made some interesting automotive choices as well, buying a Prius at age 84 and then another one after the first was damaged in an accident. He drove an Olds 98 into the late 90’s, but then switched to a Camry and from there to the most advanced car of anyone in the family!
What about the Super Minx? Where did Dad buy that? And Morley isn’t really in Leeds, it’s near Leeds.
Super Minx came from Comberhill in Wakefield.
Morley is officially in Leeds. As they say, get with the programme