Wednesday, October 14, 2020

sure looks interesting with the bolt on air dam

but the running board area, probably added storage, is not a good look. 

I suppose the horns must have been bolted to the fenders for a reason, but what? Is sone going to honk them to tell a train, hey! I'm driving here! Get off the tracks? 

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5156036-Vintage-photos-Awesome!/page297

2 comments:

  1. Someone put some work into making this look finished, instead of just doing what was needed to convert to the railroad wheels. They added hubcaps to the railroad wheels and added material under the back bumper like on the front. It looks like there is a brake shoe on the outside of the front wheel, too.

    Maybe the horns are for animals on the tracks?

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  2. It's a 1939 Buick. Looks like a Limited, although a Limited should have fender mounted spares. I think the "Air dam" is to sweep small critters off the tracks when they are moving along relatively rapidly, equivalent to the "cow catcher" on locomotives. The horns more than likely are there as warning horns for grade crossings. The running board mods look like extra steps added to help the "suits" climb up into the car which sits much higher than normal. Keep in mind that any mods were probably made in a RR shop where repairs and mods were usually big and more functional than aesthetic!

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