Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

T

heStahlsAutomotiveFoun-
dationisoneofthemost
fascinatingcarmuseums
thatyou’veprobablynever
heardof.Tuckedawayin
a businessparkjust 35 miles
north-eastofdowntown
Detroit, it’s a must-seeforanyonevisitingthe
Motor City. But itwilltakesomeplanning:the
museum is only opentothepubliconTuesdays
and the first Saturdayofeachmonth.It’sworth
the effort, though,toseea displayofmorethan
80 cars (out of a collectionof 120-plus),ranging
from an 1899 DeDion-Boutontricyclethrough
to a 1967 PontiacGTOconvertible.
The museum isthecreationof localentrepre-
neur Ted Stahl. In1990,heandhiswifeMary
purchased a 1930FordModelARoadster
Deluxe to restorewiththeirkids.Thatonecar
led to another, thenanother...andbeforehe
knew it, Stahl ownedanentiremuseum’sworth
of classics. His hobbyis thepublic’sgain,because
a remarkable selectionis nowonshow.
Perhaps he wasinspiredbythefamilystory
behind the 1939 Fordmidgetracerin thelobby:
a gift to William ClayFordonhis14thbirthday

• the legal age todriveat thetime– thesingle-
  seater was designedbyhisgrandfatherHenry
  and father Edsel. (Itdoesn’tseemfair:I gota new
  horn for my bicycleformy14thbirthday!)
  The cars are dividedintosevencategories:
  Veteran Era; BrassEra;Vintage;Pre-war;
  Post-war; Performance;andMovieCars.For
  those in your groupwhoneedsomedistraction
  while you spendhoursporingoverthecars,
  meanwhile, there’salsoanincredibleselection
  of antique music machinesthatprovidea charm-
  ing vintage soundtrackto yourvisit.Theyrange

STAHLS WITH

SUBSTANCE

CLASSIC SHRINE

When you live in the heart of Motor City, a love of old cars is

almost inevitable. But Ted Stahl’s collection reveals what

happens when that passion turns into an obsession

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY MICHAEL MILNE

from a Wurlitzer theatre organ to a massive

Gaudin dance-hall organ – the latter so large

that the four gold statues flanking the façade

look downright Lilliputian at 9ft tall.

The cars are laid out in a roughly chronologi-

cal order, beginning at around the turn of the

previous century with a corner devoted to

General Motors co-founder William Durant,

whom Stahl admired for his legendary resil-

ience. Among the cars in ‘Durant Corner’ is

a 1910 Buick Model F, which features a two-

cylinder engine that was mounted underneath

the body, rather than in the engine bay.

The rare 1904 Oldsmobile Model N ‘French

Front’ Touring Runabout was so named for the

front grille’s rectangular shape – mimicking the

cars coming out of France at the time – in place

of the iconic Curved Dash frontal treatment,

despite the engine remaining under the seat.

The Model N boasted another Oldsmobile first,

with a steering wheel rather than a tiller. Nearby

is a real oddity: a 1904 Cyklon Cyklonette Trike.

This German three-wheeler was a challenge to

drive because the throttle, mixture and ignition

controls are all mounted on the tiller.

In a lesson for other manufacturers over the

years, the 1907 Pope-Toledo XV Touring was

built in Connecticut without regard for whether

there was enough demand for such a high-end

vehicle (it cost the equivalent of £130k today).

Within five years the company was bankrupt and

only a handful of these prestigious cars survive.

The museum really shines with its collection

of pre-WW2 marques. The 1934 LaSalle Road-

ster Series 50 Model 350, styled by the legendary

Harley Earl, was the only convertible produced

by LaSalle that year. Seven years earlier, General

Motors had launched its ‘Art and Color Section’,

September 2019 Classic & Sports Car 167

Above, from top: fabulous

streamlined style of the

1936 Hudson (née Essex)

Terraplane Series 61

Deluxe; just part of the

museum’s impressive

collection of automotive

badges, mounted in an

Overland radiator shell