This aging Hollywood star needs some major help to get back on her feet again. The 1940 Graham Hollywood Supercharged Sedan is in the middle of a restoration but the seller has “no time to finish this project so it’s up for sale” on eBay. The current bid price is $1,000 and the Buy It Now price is $7,900. This will be a star car when it’s done.
This is a follow-up story to one that Barn Finds editor-in-chief, Jesse, showed us a little over a year ago. This car is on the market again and it may be worth another look.
Talk about a blind spot! As I’ve said before when it comes to classic cars- the heck with practicality, reliability, and function; if a car looks cool that’s all that matters to me! And these cars definitely were as cool as it got, especially for 1940 when they were almost mind-blowingly different. As you can see, a lot of the body looks like it’s in pretty good condition and all of the panels were taken off to start the restoration. Plus, the seller says that he has “hundreds of extra parts collected over 20 years.”
There is some rust on the rocker panels and possibly elsewhere, but I don’t see any other rust. The RR door looks like it could use a long, deep Swedish massage to get it straightened out. Luckily, it looks like the seller has another one that goes with the car so you should be good for doors. This is about as close as it gets to an interior photo, unfortunately, but it looks like there’s a seat laying on the floor? And, then there’s this black one that goes with the car. I’m not sure what color/colour (the car is in Canada, 4 miles from the Champlain, New York border) this car would have originally been.
Yes, there are a lot of parts that go to and with this car; but who knows if any of them are missing or duplicates, etc. It will take an experienced, seasoned restoration expert to put this Humpty-Dumpty back together again.
Speaking of big eggs, this is the famous 217.8 cubic-inch inline-six with 120 hp. This engine with the supercharger was much more efficient in using every available ounce of fuel, and power; almost like mixing an egg! No really, that was one of their advertising pieces. It’s hard to believe that it has just a one-barrel carburetor, maybe because I grew up in the 60s and 70s when the thing to have was a six-pack or dual-quad setup. I wonder.. hmm.. This car can definitely be brought back to life again by someone with a passion for this brand. Do you like these stylish Graham Hollywood cars and is this one worthy of being restored?
When & if finished it should be a superb car!
I love these and the Hupmobile Skylarks!
Makes my mouth water “seeing” how the fully restored car will look. I have the money to purchase – and even transport to my place – but the restoration cost stops me dead in my tracks.
I Love the Cigar box parts bins, reminds me of the days of working with Dad in his shop, we always had cigar boxes around and would put parts in them as we worked on cars that Dad’s always said when the shop isn’t busy work. Dad smoked Hauptman cigar which came in tins, and one of the old boys smoked White Owls, which came in the boxes similar to those shown!!!
The carburetor shown on the supercharger isn’t correct. It should be a two barrel.
Does the body look like a Cord? Maybe because Graham purchased the Cord body dies, I would take this and put a coffin nose front end on it. On 2nd thought, if I had that kind of money I’d just buy a Cord, never mind.
Good luck finding a coffin nose to put on this car! And, good luck finding a Cord in any shape for sale at $7900. Dreamy speculation from many decades ago. That’s why I’ve kept a few old Hemmings from the 1960’s to reminisce on the price of classic ACD vehicles!
Both of those images show a two barrel carburettor. The one on the car for sale looks like a Stromberg 94. Definitely a dual throat.
Yes, this car is essentially a Cord. Graham bought the dies from Cord when they folded. Somehow, Huppmobile figures in. Anyway, there was the Graham Hollywood, the coffin nosed Cord and a Huppmobile, all with the same body. These cars are hard to find, there were few made and a lot have been bastardized.
I believe this is the same car I contemplated buying a couple of years ago (basically the same location, and how many of these are around?) and that was before it had been taken apart. It was much cheaper then (IIRC about $3000) but I passed as I felt parts would be impossible to find and this was beyond my skill set. Will be killer when/if it’s ever completed.
That carburetor is a strongberg two barrel not a one barrel, but in actuality as small as it was it could of been a on barrel.
Mike do you still have this? We had one and was being towed from OR to AZ on a car trailer and my husband lost control and the trailer flipped and totalled our Grame ): we are looking for a replacement to fix up?