Before star cars, there were the cars of the stars!

Before star cars, there were the cars of the stars!

by Nate Truman

Often times at auto events I am approached with owners of a different type of “CarStar”, cars that were

once owned by a famous person.  As cars and stars have long been connected even before the “golden age” of movie and TV

customs (60’s through the 80’s) still the link between a memorable face from the films and a unique or special car started long before that.

Below is just a sample of press photos taken of the famous stars from the start of the film industry up to the 1940’s.

No commentary needed, if you don’t know who they are you can Google them!  So here’s a walk through the start of the Stars and their cars,

that later Hollywood and TV land finally figured out was a winning combination and took it a step further, and made the cars “Stars” in their own right!  Enjoy!

Paulette Goddard, getting into her husband’s (Charlie Chaplin) Rolls-Royce Phantom II
Some 20s glamour:

Fatty Arbuckle and his 1919 Pierce Arrow

Erich Von Stroheim and his Cadillac

Harold Lloyd and wife Mildred Davis with their Buick

Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry aka Stepin Fetchit with his Cadillac Phaeton

Joan Crawfordwith her 1929 Ford Town Car

Babe Ruth receiving a 1926 Auburn Roadster as a gift

And now – to 30s and 40s!

Lilian Harvey and her Mercedes

Johnny Weissmuller with his 1932 Chevrolet

Clark Gable with his 1932 Packard

Laurel and Hardy in their Buick 1930 Series 30 Model 30-45 phaeton

Joan Crawford (again) and her 1930 (or 1931) Cadillac Fleetwood

Carl Brisson behind the wheel of his 1934 Isotta Fraschini

Al Jolson with his Mercedes

Jean Harlow with her Cadillac

William Powell admires Gary Cooper’s Duesy

Buck Jones with his 1933 Packard Special

 

Errol Flynn driving his Packard…

… and Auburn Roadster

Tyrone Power with his Duesenberg…

… and post-war Jaguar

Robert Montgomery with his Cadillac Sport Phaeton

Joan Crawford (yes, again!) driving her 1933 Ford roadster

James Stewart with his Plymouth

Ginger Rogers and her 1937 Dodge

Norwegian Olympic figure-skating champion, and Hollywood star Sonja Henie, posing with her Cord 810

Cecil B deMille with his 1937 Cord

Rita Hayworth with her 1941 Lincoln Continental

Bing Crosby giving rides around the studio lot in his 1939 Olds coupe convertible

Cary Grant parked on the fender of his 1941 Buick Century

And finally, some double-retro:

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in a 1914 Stutz Bear Cat. Which later got it’s own series “The Bearcats”!

The Bearcats