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Our Two Cents: 7 of Our Favorite Pieces of Automobilia
As gearheads, we’re used to the unafflicted masses raising an eyebrow when we explain that we have more cars than drivers in our households, and that some don’t, erm, work right now. When we talk “collecting” in this sort of hobby, we’re generally referring to the vehicles themselves.
But the world of automobilia—the trinkets, the baubles, the brochures, the badges, the scale models, the list goes on—has a pull unto its own. We’d bet that if you looked around your computer, living room, or garage as you read this, your eyes could land on at least one car-related thing that is not a car itself. Lord knows our staff certainly can.
As such, we polled the folks you read day in and day out on this website to ask them to share their favorite piece of automobilia. Some are quirky, some are sentimental, some are just flat out cool, and there’s not much else to it. Without further delay: The non-car car things that turn the corners of our mouths skyward.
Desk Decor and a Brush with Greatness
I don’t know that I have a single favorite piece of automobilia, but I’ll count what’s behind my desk as one grouping, since it’s what my coworkers are forced to look at for every Zoom call.
The rainbow of Porsches comes from the first season of the International Race of Champions. Seems that more often than not, when people see that they think I’m a Porschephile, but my affinity lies more in the original intent of the series and Mark Donohue’s involvement.
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The big photo is one I shot of an Alpine A110 through some trees at the Pittsburgh Grand Prix. I’m no Cameron Neveu with a lens, but it’s a fun hobby.
The cars: the Daytona Prototype that Tony Stewart nearly limped to victory after a suspension piece broke with 45 minutes to go in the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona. That drive made me fall in love with the 24, and I’ve been attending for more than 15 years. The other is a C5 Corvette given to me by our own Sajeev Mehta.
Last is the Senna art/photo. That’s ten-year-old me standing with him the day before the Canadian Grand Prix in 1990—plenty of moments set me on this path I’m on, but if I had to pick the most significant, this would be it. — Eddy Eckart
New Loophole Unlocked: One (1) Collection of Things
Like Eddy, I can’t point to one piece of automobilia that’s my favorite or even come close. Also, I’m not sure if books even count as automobilia, but I’ve built up a solid library of car books over the years and built some bookshelves to house them.
Something that does count as automobilia are posters, and I’ve got dozens, many of them not yet framed because framing is so damn expensive. I collect vintage posters in general, but car stuff probably makes up 50% of my purchases. Here are a bunch in my entryway.
(I should note that I just buy the stuff and enjoy it. My fiancée is the one who used to be an interior designer, which is why the presentation looks nice.) — Andrew Newton
Cadillac’s Masterpiece, Posterized
Apparently I don’t actually have much automobilia; I own a lot of car parts. While maybe a car part with a good enough story becomes automobilia, what I have is not that.
But one thing I do have that will likely never leave is a banner I saved from a dumpster over a decade ago that shows a simplified engineering draft of a Cadillac V-16 engine. Simple black and white, but also interesting enough that I catch myself staring at it occasionally when I get lost in thought while trying to do math or solve a small problem on a project.
A perfect conversation piece that also rides up and down on the garage door. Maybe I’ll own more of a V-16 than a drawing one day, but for now, this will do just fine. — Kyle Smith
The Automobilia Ace Himself
I am having a hard time with this question, because I have been collecting automobilia for the ’70s–’90s era vehicles since many of them were new. But I have a feeling I should pick my ridiculous collection of “alternate history” memorabilia from the time Lincoln almost celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1995.
It started with a hunt for restoration parts for my 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII, as it was getting a glass-out body re-spray. When looking for new emblems, I came across emblems, slide shows, clothing, and a book suggesting 1995 was the year to celebrate.
It wasn’t, because Ford celebrated that in 1996. But since they actually did sell their first cars in 1920, I was emboldened enough to turn my 1995 model into an alternate history Anniversary Edition, with emblems on my speaker grilles to prove the point. — Sajeev Mehta
Truly, Sajeev’s collection could supply a year’s worth of lists like this on its own. And we love him all the more because of that. — Ed.
Jewelry—But Not Like You’d Expect
I don’t really collect or own any automobilia, but Lalique hood ornaments have always stood out to me. In general, the variety of hood ornaments and personalized radiator caps of the 1920s and ’30s is fascinating, but tops among them are the glass creations of Frenchman René Lalique. He was a jeweler and maker of perfume bottles who also created about 30 different hood ornament styles for luxury cars over a two-decade period before WWII.
Mostly done in clear frosted or satin glass, and sometimes lightly colored in pink or blue, they represented themes such as speed (“Vitesse”), victory (“Victoire,” to commemorate the 10th anniversary of WWI Armistice), and seduction (“Chrysis”), but also came as more straightforward pieces, such as Tete de Paon, the head of a peacock, and Tete de Aigle, the head of an eagle. — Stefan Lombard
Apparel from a Bygone Era
One day in college, I went to study with one of my friends over at the house where she lived with several other girls, and one of them was wearing this Team Penske/Marlboro Racing sweatshirt. When I complimented it, she offered it to me—apparently, it had lost its luster.
In my ownership, it’s gained some holes in the cuffs, but it always makes me wish I had been alive for the period of IndyCar racing when cigarette sponsorships raised no eyebrows, in the early ’90s, when Team Penske dominated the Indy 500. It’s surreal to think that Roger Penske is still at it—now, with his eye on Le Mans. — Grace Jarvis
The Golf and Car Collab We Didn’t Know We Needed
History is littered with weird Venn diagrams where the worlds of golf and cars overlap in ways ranging from logical (hello, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance) to dismaying (Ben Hogan’s illustrious career was nearly brought to a terrible end in a car crash in 1949) to rather humorous. This one falls into that third category, but deserves a bit of context.
Behold: a badge from a Lincoln Town Car. Ah, but it’s not just any Lincoln Town Car; this is the special Jack Nicklaus Edition, paying a nod to, well, Jack Nicklaus, one of the greatest golfers in history, with 18 major championships to his name and scores of PGA Tour wins on top of that. The Nicklaus Edition Town Car was short-lived, arriving in 1991 and lasting through the conclusion of the 1992 model year.
Folks in the golfing space affectionately called him “The Golden Bear,” a nickname given to him by Australian sportswriter Don Ward—or so the most commonly cited tale for this title says. On top of his golfing success, Nicklaus fancied himself a bit of a businessman, happily leveraging his notoriety (and the now-famous golden bear logo) in the golfing space to help sell everything from apparel to wine to cars.
As a golfing fanatic myself, this little tie-in between my work world and one of the other, terribly expensive hobbies I’ve become hooked on never fails to make me crack a smile. (A special thanks to Sajeev, who generously sent me this badge after I mentioned the car’s existence in passing in a meeting. Is anyone surprised that he had a piece of Lincoln automobilia like this just lying around? What a treasure.) — Nate Petroelje
Like so many of you car people, I to have collected a few automobilia pieces. Probably my to favorites are a collection of around 54 original red line hot wheels cars from my childhood, and a signed Don Prudhomme 1995 top fuel dragster model in a plastic case. The model was given to me by a daughter of a patient who I was taking care of in a hospital not too far from where she worked at Don Prudhomme Racing. The heartfelt note she included means as much to me as the cool gift. Of course I have both.
That cutaway drawing of the Cadillac V-16 engine is interesting. The vee angle is so big it almost looks like a horizontally opposed engine.
As I understand it, you get minimal vibration with degree angles that divide 360 degrees by the number of cylinders. That would mean 22.5 degrees for a V-16 (multiples of that would also work).
I m a Buick type of person and have a 1955 Buick that I had Jay Leno sign a picture of. I also am into Corvette so I have about 30 models of different years. If I get thirsty I have a Beam’s 1929 Model A Ford Phaeton Police Car Bottle. any one out there have any other Jim Bean models.
I do not have much in the way of legit memorabilia, mostly just small bits of narrow interest, reminders of days gone by. There is one item from a race that most have never heard of: an advertising/promotion poster from the 1981 Dubai Grand Prix I snagged in Dubai in 1981. I now have it framed and hanging above my garage work bench. Taking it was probably very illegal, but I still have my right hand so all’s well as they say. Wish I could post a photo, but if you’re interested there is a web page with an excellent photo of it, which surprises me no end…
My understanding is that the Cadillac V16 was offered from 1930 to 1940 in two configurations: a 45 degree OHV V16 from 1930 to 1937 (the Series 452). Then, from 1938 to 1940 their V12 was 135 degrees with a side valve (the Series 90 that is apparently shown on the poster). So I’m confused by the poster in the picture.
That might have been why it was in the dumpster I pulled it from!
That looks like a 45 degree angle to me.
I have almost all of the original Audi press kits starting from the Trans Am in 1988 up to the original R8 for the Lemans and the ALMS series. But the coolest one is an original Porsche press kit including a polo shirt for the abandoned Indy car effort with Danny Ongais after it was ruled illegal at the last minute in from 1979.
My favorite piece is a Peter Helck sketch of his artwork for the inaugural 1948 Watkins Glen road race poster and program. I managed to snag an original program also.
Your Cadillac V-16 poster is pretty funny. It shows date of 1927 yet V-16 wasn’t introduced until 1930. Also drawing shows 135 degree V-16 which wasn’t introduced until 1938, The 1930 V-16 had a 45 degree bank angle.
It has to be my Rothmans Porsche Racing Cap. Being a huge fan of Porsche and in the 1980’s Rothmans was their big sponsor for Group C Endurance racing and other racing events. It would have be the late 1990’s and I was in the industrial area of Winnipeg and I was driving past the Rothmans distribution warehouse and decided to stop in to see if they had any kind of promotional stuff from their Porsche days. I asked the girl at the front desk and she said she will pass my request to the person in charge of promotions. I got a call a few days later and the fellow told me that all of those items were long gone except for some items they kept for their own historic displays in Toronto. Hey, I tried………….about a week later I got a call from the Rothmans receptionist and she asked if I could come by at some point. The next day I went their and the fellow who called around about any Rothmans Porsche memorabilia came out holding an ORIGINAL ROTHMANS PORSCHE RACING baseball cap still in the plastic. I asked when he handed it to me how he found it and he said they have a room that contains promotional items like ashtrays, coffee mugs, lighters along with the newer baseball caps…………and he was moving one shelf of caps around and this was sitting at the very back. He then told me…………”rest assured, you have gotten THE very last of the Rothmans Porsche sponsorship items IN THE WORLD”……………TOO COOL!
I have only worn it at two events, the Porsche Rennsport Reunion V in 2015 and VI in 2018.
Thanks David.
Have you boughten a NEW vehicle yet?
My late aunt gave me a marble-based Lincoln hood ornament from the ’60s. I still have it!
I have one of those too, and I’ve never owned a Lincoln! Don’t know where I got it, but I’ve had it for years. Apparently, it originally had the customer’s name engraved on a little plaque on the marble base, but that’s long gone on mine.
Those were given to the original owners of 1961-69 Continentals! I don’t know when they stopped giving them out (maybe well before 1969) but I have a pair of them too!
I have a picture of a young Sebastian Vettel when he first started in Formula, in full racing gear, and signed by the man himself.
I’m a British Car (the inexpensive ones) collector,with a box of ‘bits’ from several cars.
But my favorite ‘collectable’ is my 1972 copy of “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive’,
by John Muir. Complete with ‘real’ VW oil stains. And brake fluid stains. And blood stains.
Rebuilt several VW engines with the information in that book.
I collect memorabilia from former club members or previous events: an original(?) Mobil horse (3’x4′-ish), a plague from an Cannonball Run, a hat from an early One Lap, and a one-of-one banner from the 1998 West Michigan Grand Prix (Scott Brayton Memorial Street Circuit).
Once at an auction I acquired a 1941 Shell Oil mechanics guide. What did mechanics do before YouTube videos about how to fix anything on about any car? They used one of these if they were lucky enough to have one. It is a gunmetal box with two internal rolls of information that display under plexiglass windows. Look up the car make and model on one wheel and get the mechanical system reference number, then look up that number on the other wheel and view details of that mechanical system! It is certainly not a pretty item or something that someone would display on a shelf, but it seems to be a rare item covering a vast array of ‘30’s cars that has historical and, perhaps for some, even practical value.
Got one license plate from every car that I have owned on the wall of the garage by the ceiling. That is over 40 years of plates.