There was an interesting array of US vehicles on display at the Bristol and South Gloucestershire Stationary Engine Club Rally in Coalpit Heath a couple of weeks dating from at least 1923 to 1956.

From 1923 this Ford Model T pickup is undergoing some restoration the wooden bed at the back looks better than new.

The 1929 Studebaker is a little more difficult to identify from the outside it looks like an 8 cylinder Commander but the official DVLA website gives the engine size as 4.5 litres / 274 cui too small to be an 8 and too big to be a 6 cylinder.

Chryslers appear to have been popular motors in the UK, this 3 litre CM6 was built in 1930 and registered in the UK on the 15th of January 1931.

Terraplane was an entry level brand belonging to Hudson that replaced the Essex brand between 1932 and 1934. Terraplane outsold Hudson and was eventually removed from the market. This 1936 Terraplane features the cascading waterfall grill that was imitated by Donald Healey on the 1936 Triumph Dolomite 14/65.

Immediately after the end of hostilities in 1945 there was an estimated demand for 6 million new motor vehicles per year in the USA. Plymouth after re equipping it’s factories with it’s 20,000 machines managed to build 770 between October and December 1945. I believe this Plymouth P15 was one of them.

Despite eulogies from Elvis and Chuck Berry I have to confess until I saw one in the flesh I didn’t really get pink Cadillacs, having seen a couple now I’m still not sure I get them, but undeniably like this ’56 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan they do have a presence that few other land yachts can match.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coalpit Heath Americana” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !