THE CRAWFORD COLLECTION NEWS
Ever wanted to learn more about pieces in the Crawford Collection? Maybe you just want to stay up to date with the latest and greatest happenings at the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. Below you’ll find articles about all things Crawford as written by the Crawford Manager.
The Stainless Steel Car Mystery – April 2018
Made famous by the movie “Back to the Future,” most people can also recognize the DeLorean DMC-12 as being made out of the magical metal known as stainless steel. In truth, the material has been around since the early 1900s, and various automobiles were composed of the material long before the DeLorean. In fact, the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum is proud to be the home of not only the first DeLorean off the assembly line, but also three of the most historically significant stainless steel cars.
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The Stainless Steel Car Mystery
April 2018
Made famous by the movie “Back to the Future,” most people can also recognize the DeLorean DMC-12 as being made out of the magical metal known as stainless steel. In truth, the material has been around since the early 1900s, and various automobiles were composed of the material long before the DeLorean. In fact, the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum is proud to be the home of not only the first DeLorean off the assembly line, but also three of the most historically significant stainless steel cars.
The Ford Motor Company was a pioneer in using stainless steel long before the first DeLorean rolled off the assembly line. Ford’s use of the non-corroding wonder metal – stainless steel- began when they used the material in the construction of various parts for the Model A. In 1931, they would then decide to manufacture three complete two-door sedans for publicity purposes only. These stainless steel models were never offered to the public, but were driven and displayed for a short time by Ford, Allegheny Metal and The Universal Steel Co. Eventually these cars met various fates including being melted down, cut up and the last one disappearing from the collector community.
In 1936, Allegheny Ludlum (formerly Allegheny Metal) commissioned Ford Motor Co. to build six stainless steel sedans. These sedans were destined to be used by Allegheny salesmen in various districts for the promotion of the stainless product line. These vehicles stayed in service through the mid-1940s before being sold off. One of these sedans is currently on display in the lower Crawford, but had originally been used at the Allegheny Detroit field office.
The story of the other two stainless steel autos continues when Allegheny commissioned two more vehicles-Ford Thunderbirds- in 1960, and then another three vehicles –Lincoln Continental convertibles- in 1966. The two Ford Thunderbird hardtops were built at the end of the production year and, like those before them, were used as promotional cars. Though commissioned in 1966 the Lincoln’s ended up being updated to the 1967 appearance because they were built so far into the model year. Another interesting fact about these Lincoln’s is they were assembled mostly by hand due to their complexity.
So just what happened to these cars? One of the Thunderbirds would make its way to the Crawford in 2008 after being donated by the Senator John Heinz History Center/Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. After the production of the Continental’s, Allegheny would take possession of two of the cars while Ford Lincoln-Mercury Corporate would keep the third. The three Lincolns would signal the end of an era, and the end of the Allegheny and Ford relationship of building special promotional vehicles. Ford eventually sold its Lincoln to Allegheny, and in turn Allegheny donated this third Lincoln to the Crawford museum in 1977.
These four historical, and amazing, vehicles are on currently on display at the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.