Curved-dash Olds

This is a curious bit of ephemera from 1952 sent to me by a car-collecting colleague of my father’s some years ago.

While Daddy and I are featured on the cover of Auto Sport Review, there’s nothing about him, the car, or his collection inside the magazine, with the exception of a description of the cover shot. In fact, the entire magazine is about racing and sped records—hardly what our little Curved-Dash Olds was noted for.

Here’s what the cover explanation says: “James Melton and his six-year-old daughter, Margo, pictured in a half-size model of a Curved-dash Oldsmobile built by Dick Francis of Philadelphia, who is shown with them. The car was designed by Mr. Melton and Mr. Francis and built by Mr. Francis in his bicycle shop. It has a power unit Cushman motor—two speeds forward, one reverse, transmission with automatic clutch. Body built dos-a-dos with top-grain red leather—leather fenders—speed 35 miles per hour with two adults and two children. Weight 400 lbs. Mr. Melton had the car built to car on the lounge deck of his cruiser ‘Serenata.’”

Next blog, I’ll post a photo of the car on the deck of our yacht.