Sam Adelman's N.Y. Full Classic Junkyard

Mr. Hunter,

Just ran across this post. I grew up in Flint, Michigan. My Father, Don Smith, (see In Memorium) had many friends in the classics, he was a member of the ACD since 1958 according to a green card that I found.

As a kid, we would go to my Grandfather's place on Secord Res, near Standish, Michigan. We always ended up in a barn somewhere, looking at something. Sometimes he would walk away with a part, after an exchange of money, always, "this is between us."

More often though, there would be stories about how it got there and who owned it. I was a kid, 9, 10 years old.

Auburn, darn near every year, him there, me there, him pointing out things about the Auburns, Duesenbergs and his baby the Cord.

All the memories, of us crawling over all those rusted farm implements, to get to the prize, sometime a body, sometime a chassis, an engine or two, or just a heap of rusted parts. Always at the prize, that smile of his.

I am 57, it was and always will be priceless to me. As I am sure it is to you.

God Bless,

Paul D. Smith

Hello Josh~~~
I also really appreciate your kind words & thoughts about my grief over the loss of my father !

After reading Joe's post about Mike Caruso along with his scrapyard, and his midget race car history which I knew nothing about,~~~
I did a web search and found this great website about Mike Caruso and his scrapyard + his midget race car business & race team history~~~

www.carusomidgetracing.com/about ... -rose.html

As I remmber as a small child Mike's srapyard covered a vast area of real estate~~~Much MUCH larger in size than Sam Adelman's yard.

Enjoy~
BRAD~

Brad, your affection for your dad is so touching. My own collection is one car -- my beloved Moonshadow -- but I am cheered by something that happened a couple of months ago. I was ill, and my two sons were visiting. I always wondered what would happen to my Cord after I go. It's willed to wife Betty, but I don't expect her to keep it in one-half of our two-car garage forever. The kids had grown up with my Cords, but never showed any great interest. Now 52 and 48, they came to me and told me that they really wanted the Cord to take care of. And they want me to teach them to drive and maintain it. After all these years!

So keep the stories coming. They are a nice admixture of personal and car-related. May you keep writing until YOU are at least 92! And may my own kids think of their dad as you do of yours.

Hi Joe~~~

Thank's for your very kind thoughts & words on my continued grief over Dad's passing~~~
I reeally appreciate them !

Re: "Uncle Austie" ~~
Much has already been written on Henry Austin Clark in hobby publications & websites~~~
I could start a entire new thread on "Uncle Austie" with many more first hand personal observations !

Many old auto parts items in those piles of parts you spoke about in his old war surplus steel quonsit hut sheds, as well as the vast piles of parts stored outside & outback were originally "donated by my Dad !

Couple of things Brad;

Sorry to hear that you have found it so difficult/impossible to get past the point of grief, where our memories of Dad and others are almost all GOOD memories that make remembering/thinking of them, an enjoyable situation. After working side-by-side with MY Dad for 20 years, (working on vintage aircraft and vintage race cars) just the two of us, It certainly took ME a GOOD while to go from devastating, overwhelming sense of loss, to fond retelling and recalling of the many events in ou mutual lives. Today, I think of him and feel good. I hope you will reach that point, eventually. No two people or their Life experiences, are the same of course. I wish you peace of mind..

Secondly, I just TREASURE and appreciate all your stories. The longer and more detailed, the better. These are a fascinating history, that can not be found anywhere else. And full of such unique and interesting, and visionary characters..

Before your Last post, I had immediately thought of Mike Caruso's vintage auto salvage yard. Mike was MOST famous, (I think) for his continuous line of owning some of the best midget race cars, before and after the war. They were constantly successful, of the best quality, and had some of the best and winningest drivers, with the quality involved. My Dad knew Mike pretty well. My Dad built a LOT of early midgets. Most vivid memory I have of the Dad/Caruso tales was his story of how they cut a straight 8 Bugatti engine in half, to try in a Midget race car. Mike used the rear half, which easily adapted to a transmission/gearbox set up. Dad was faced with using the Front half, and it was quite a challenge to get it "hooked up."
I know that his half of the Bugatti engine still exists today.
We also enjoyed many aftenoon, digging through the rusty, mountainous piles of parts in Austie's deteriorationg outer storage buildings, In Southampton. Piles of junk, with the occassional "WOW" treasure, (Found the Hubs, spindles and Knock-off caps Marked for Jimmy Murphys race car. ) Like mining for gold, sometimes

Keep those stories coming please.

WEST~~~

Thinking about your question about your Dad's Packard originally comming from a Long Island auto salvage yard.

I just remembered yet another old auto salvage yard operation in the Long Island NY area that Dad & I also visited in the late 1950s-late 1960s~~~

This was a very large auto salvage yard in size & scope~~~
Much larger than Sam's

Henry Austin "Austin Clark Jr. first told Dad about this place~~~

"Uncle Austie's" wife was a distant relation to my Father as her former maiden name was Waleta Hunter !

"Uncle Austie" had once told us he had dragged a number of great early Antiques & Classics out of this scrarpyard~
One of "Austie's" great finds from that very yard that I remember was a spectacular Locomobile ~~~~a 1906 or 07 I believe ?

It was called~~~ Mike Caruso's Auto Scrapyard~~~~ located I believe in Hicksville Long Island .

There were literally hundreds of Antique autos in Mike's yard in the late 1950s }! ! !
I do believe that old Mike was in the Antique & Classic auto hobby ? ? ? And very active in the NY region !
Supposedly Mike was a great friend of "Uncle Austie"Cark.

I remenber seeing many great old cars in this yard ; along with a large number of old scrappd WW II Warbird hulks & very large military avation engines.

I will see if I can dig-up an exact road, or street address, for Caruso's scrapyard out of my Dad's old files~~~
It may take me some time digging ~~~~I suspect !
If can locate the exact address we can then use Google earth to see what it looks like today

Cheers~~~
BRAD

Thank You Jonathan~~
for your very kind compliments !

I often don't know if I am just angering forum members here with my old memory lane threads, like I seem to have angered the AACA forum moderators & AACA club officials, I have NOT returned to that website since ! ! !

OR~~~
If the ACD club members & Form readers here actually really Enjoy reading my various Antique & Classic Car threads ?
I often wonder if many folks actually Read my threads here as they are often not exactly ACD auto related ?

This old thread started with me sitting home alone here and just going down memory lane thinking of the great times I once had with my Dad and his Classic & Brass era car hobby~~~

I really miss my Dad who passed-away a few years ago at 92 Y/O~~~
Dad attended the Very First AACA Hershey Fall Meet in the early 1950s heald completely inside the old horseshoe Hershey stadium. There were only a couple dozen cars, if that many, at this first show & six flea market parts vendors !
Ever since Dad had returned every fall through age 91~~~When he thought I could make the annual trip to Hershey with him I have attended this event with him ever since the age of four !

He was my Best buddy & we shared our old car hobby & boating & fishing together.
Everyone always said that we were unlike any other Father & Son team that they have ever seen !

Since the late 1950s I used to tag-along with my father on his various car expeditions.

In the early days this car hobby one of the primary restoraton items that my Dad was always searching for were good New Old Stock tires.

There were No repoduction tires in the early days of the car collecting hobby.
Finding good usable tires in older long dicontinued tire sizes & types was THE MAIN single restoration problem issue that these early car collector/restorers faced .

SURE~~
Sears sold a few common old sizes in thier famous catalog~~~Mosty in model "T" & "A" sizes for surviving cars that farmers & ranchers were still using as work "Trucks"
Many of these tires had the Sears & Roebuck's private "Allstate" logo name on the side. I still have a half dozen old cars sporting 1950s-70s "ALLSTATE" tires on them !

Montgomery~Ward also had some old tire sizes in their catalog .

On family weekend country car trips Dad would always stop at old long established tire dealers he spotted along he way to ask if they had any older style tires in stock that had been sitting around in storage gathering dust for years.
Dad would buy Every New Old Stock tire he could find;
if he actually needed that style & size tire or not !

He knew that he Might need them some day for another car that he would eventually be adding to his ever growing Brass & Classic collection.


Dad also knew that he could always trade un-needed tire sizes to other collector friends of his such as Henry "Austie" Austin Clarke in Long Island , singer James Melton,Jim Hoe in Ct, Cameron Peck, Ralph Buckley in NJ ,Bill Pollock in Pottstown PA,, & a long long list of other old "antique " car collectors whome most average folks thought were just crazy old car nuts !

On many of these weekend car trips Dad would fill the Entire trunk & back-seat area of his 1953 DeSoto, & somtimes part of the front seat passenger area, with NOS tires & tubes !
Many of these old tires were still factory wrapped in spiraled-resin treated brown wrapping & shipping paper !
Mom would just shake her head and keep telling Dad~~~" Don't forget to leave a little space for Brad & I,~~~~We don't want to stay here; or ride home on the roof ! "
Mom & I often rode all the way home sitting ON & totally surrounded by tires.
Dad also sometimes had tires strapped on his add-on suction cup & strap roof racks .

When we finally arrived back home we would pile the new tire finds in the second floor unused former driver's apartment in my Grandmother's old grand carriage house.
When mounted many of these New Old Stock tires held-up very well when used on the road~~~~
Ohers just wore-out in only a few hundred miles of road use~~~ as they were dry rotted and just powdered away !

At the time of my Grandmother's death in 1962 this second floor apartment was packed with NOS tires !

It was not until much later that mega-collector Winthrop Rockefeller acquired some long forgotten old tire molds and started to reproduce "Antique & Classic " car tires for the old car hobby in the basement of his large car museum .
I believe he may have been the Very First person to offer new reproduction car tires to fellow old car collectors ? ?


It was due in a very large part to the pioneer old auto guys , like Sam Adelman ,who had enough forsight & Love for these then almost forgotten Classics & Antiques to save few of them for the future~~~that we still have these survivor cars around today to continue to Love & Enjoy hopefully long long into the distant future !

I am now 58 Y/O and have always wanted to own, or at least drive, a Model "J" Duesenberg since I first saw one in my own neighborhood in the later 1950s ~~~~

That would be my Ultimate Dream Classic Car to own !

Will I ever be able to actually own one ? ? ? ?
That is the BIG question ? ? ? ? ! ! !

This Duesenberg quest is what first got me to join your Great ACD forum just a few short years ago~~~

I do not care one bit what these great old cars seem to be worth today.
To me they are Not just another investment~~~

Dad & I truely LOVED these cars for what they were , and still are !
Grand & Beautiful Mechanical Machines from our past glory days~~~

Dad always said that they were not made to just sit in big fancy museums.
He & I drove ALL his/our old cars~~~~
.
And WE were the Only ones who ever worked on them !

Just six weeks before Dad's passing-away, at the very young at heart age of 92, I one day found him under our newest car Barn~Find"
[ Springfield Rolls~Royce/ Brewster Phantom I # S-136 PM the Wimbledon Special Coupe' a 1926 New York Hotel Salon Showcar ]
He was laying on an old throw runner carpet under our low rise rotary lift scrapeing many years of accumultions of road-grime mixd with bijur chassis lubrication system lube oil .

When I asked him what he was working on now ?
He just climbed out from under that old Rolls~Royce covered from head to tow with 70+ years grease, dirt & grime with with the biggest smile you ever saw on his then 91 year old's face.
He was living his ultimate dream~~~~
Working on another one of his great "Barn-Find" dream cars~~~
You Know~~~He remembered these cars when they were still just brand new~~~as he was born in 1917 !
He had actually towed this car home himself on a flatbed trailer behind our 1991 Chevy 454 SS Super Sport pick-up Truck

That look he gave to me that day was priceless~~~
! will NEVER forget that great smile he gave me on that day !

That was the very last time we would Ever work on a car together !

In the next six weeks he had gone from looking like a person who was often times mistaken for being only 75~~~ ,while actually being 91 years old~~~ ,to only six short weeks later ~~~a person who looked like he was 100+ years old ~~~

We only two weeks later found out that he had developed stage 4 +++ stomach & throat cancer~~~
He was then told that he only had a few weeks ~~~to at best a month ~~~to live !
He sadly passed-away at age 92 only six weeks later.

I thought I was prepared for his passing~~~
Sadly I have found I was not !!!
He was my ENTIRE life~~~
I still have not been able to get over his death !
Now I am sadly all alone in this world ~~~
I was , and still am, crushed by his passing ~~~~
and still extremely very depressed~~~


One thing I know for sure~~~~

Working on his old cars & boats , along with hanging-out & living with me kept ~~~Dad very young at heart & mind !

He stayed very active all his life ~~~~until the very end !

Dad LOVED great old cars~~~

His Old Cars,& Boating & Fishing in Ocean City NJ with me , along with my late Mother were the true LOVES of his entire life !

Posting new threads & reply posts here is just a small way for me to honor & fondly remember my Father~~~

I do not know if this is a good thing for me to do~~~or Not ?

Perhapps I am just still sadly living in the past ? ?

Cheers to you all ! ! ! ~~~
BRAD HUNTER

,DEAR FELLOW ACD CLUB FORUM READERS,
This now 2 page post has to be one of the finest and historically significant compilations of commentary on the hobby that I have
had the pleasure to read , contemplate and enjoy. It began with one
of the earliest posts by frequent forum contributor Brad Hunter , aka
Silverghost dated 11-22-2010 and ends yesterday with the most
recent post by Mr. Hunter yesterday 5-30-2013. In between are
posts by various contributors including, in no special order , PNP Malks,
Randy Ema , Chris Summers , West Peterson and others. The primary
contributor is Brad Hunter and a marvelous historical yarn he spins.
I highly recommend this thread to readers of our forum. Sincerely,
Jonathan Richards at Red Oak, Iowa aka <a href="mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url]

West~

It was not under ~~~but not that far from the Tappan Zee bridge~~~on Columbus ave (Now rt 22 )

Check Google Earth for 635 South Columbus Ave Mount Vernon New York to see the area today.
His large building was still there last time I looked at the Sat. . photos !
Sam had several scrap lots in this same general area.
He would often run out of space &amp; lease additional storage lot grounds in this immediate area.

Sam also had an older smaller scrap yard near the Bronx &amp; one in Brooklyn before he consolidated into only a one lot operation later in his life.
HE then had a sign proclaiming "Sam Adelman Auto Wrecking &amp; Salvage in All it's branches" posted just outside the main yard gate !
Sam was a very funny guy with a heart of gold !
He would often come out with many words of wisdom .
He had a very dry sense of humor and often called folks that irritated him "Mental Giants" !
If he saw that you shared a true love &amp; interest in these old Cassics he would take you on his famous 50 cent all day tour of his scrap yard.
Dad &amp; I learned quite a bit about those grand old Classics from Sam
He treated me very well &amp; kindly as a very young kid who had matchbox model cars of many of his beloved Classics.
Sam would only Accept Classic autos from the 20s-30s in his yard~~~Nothing Newer !
You could have bought complete Classics from Sam for only $150-$300. in the early to mid 1960s
Many were in Running condition !
And you had better not refer to anything in his yard as "JUNK" !
I found out this the hard way on our very first visit!


Sam Adelman most likely saved hundreds of great Classics that we still see today !
It would not surprise me if your Dad's car was in fact saved by good old Sam !
Sam used to place lots of adverts in the first old then very thin Hemmings Motor news !

Brad
Was the Adelman yard near or under one of New York's bridges. I've heard stories that my father's 1930 Packard 734 boattail speedster was in such a yard, and would like to know if it was Adelman's.

Thank's RANDY ! ! !

You always come through with the great answers to very tough historical ACD questions ; &amp; also my fairly obscure questions ! ! !

Brad. Adm Byrd had classic cars as new cars but not as collector cars ie 1927 Pierce Arrow limo. But his son had collected classics ie Duesenberg and others as used cars. Randy

I just had a long phone conversation with one of my late Father's older Classic Car friends.

The subject of Sam Adelman &amp; his classic car wrecking yard came-up in our marathon coversation.

As I had mentioned earlier in this thread Sam had a pet rooster that lived in a Springfield Rolls~Royce towncar on his wrecking yard's business property.
I was reminded that the name of Sam's pet rooster was "Mr. Melton" as Sam's joke tribute to his close Antique &amp; Classic Car collector friend James Melton the famous popular singer &amp; early car collector.
Sam also insisted that if you planned to visit his scrapyard on a weekend you should arrive eary just before the "Chickens woke-up ! "
I remember my late Father getting me up at 4:00 AM to leave the Phila area to be up at Sam's place on time !
Sam was a very smart, &amp; sharp, fellow !
I was also told, by my Dad's friend, that in an earlier life Sam had been a big-time NY stockbroker until the Big 1929 Stock Market Crash.
Sam had once been a very welthy guy~~that is~~until the market's bottom fell-out I was told.
Then to make ends meet Sam then chose to drive a NY cab until he had saved up enough money to start his Classic Car Salvage Yard business.
He bought his very first yard, already a car scrapyard, in Brooklyn NY for $300 !
Soon he found that he needed much more space and then he moved the entire operation to Mount Vernon NY.
Sam stayed with this Classic Scrapyard Wrecking business until his passing in 1967 ?
I beieve many car collectors then bought-up his remaining cars &amp; spare parts when he passed-away.
It is said that RROC member, &amp; noted restorer, Frank Cooke bought most all his Springfield Rolls~Royce parts.

I am also told that Admiral Byrd had bought Classic car parts from Sam !
There are notes &amp; letters to Sam Adelman in Admiral Byrd's libray arcives.
Was he a Cassic Car Collector ? ? ?

These great old Classics from the NY, Ct. &amp; the entire North East USA seemed to somehow find their way to Sam's salvage &amp; auto wrecking scrapyard~~~
He soon became known all over the USA ,if not the word, as the go-to guy for buying &amp; selling old 20s-30s Classic Cars &amp; their hard to find parts.
He especially loved Springfield Rolls~Royces, Pierce Arrows, Packards , and almost Any brand of formal towncar.

I was also told that many of Barney Pollard's 700+ cars in his giant collection / hoard had come directly from Sam's wrecking yard.

Other Collectors such as~ ~
James Melton , as well as Austin Clark, &amp; early Classic car restorers, Jim Hoe, of Sportscar Garage fame in Westin Ct., &amp; Frank Cooke, of Springfield Rolls~Royce restoration fame had also bought many great Clasic cars, &amp; replacement spare parts, from Sam.

Sam's yard was located at 635 South Columbus Ave. Mount Vernon New York.
At any point in time 40-50 full Classics were packed tightly sid-by-side &amp; bumper-to-bumper.
Tall piles of Buffalo Wire Wheel Corp of America wire wheels were piled up eight feet high.

Sam would always be seen chomping on a cheap cigar burning in his mouth.
If it was really cold outside he would ask you to come inside "to Florida" and sit inside his office where he had a very large pot-bellied stove burning with scraps of old wood from old fruit crates.
His antique phone on his roll-top desk was always ringing with calls from collectors seeking parts &amp; cars.
You could barely get inside the door while the piles of removed rare spare parts were everywhere.
He had radiator mascots &amp; caps piled on his desk.
I once saw six Springfield Flying Lady mascots in a small pile inside the old oak roll-top desk !
There was only one low wattage drop light bulb to illuminate the office.
In spite of this large dis-array of piled parts Sam seemed to always know his entire parts stock~~~where each item was located~~~and could put his hands on whatever you needed very quickly.
Sam knew the complete history of every car in his yard; along with the technical mechanical specifications of each car brand &amp; model.
He was really a walking Classic Car encyclopedia !

To have visited Sam Adelman at his classic car parts wrecking yard ,when I was an 8-12 y/o, kid was an experience that I shall never Ever forget !

Sam was an early AACA &amp; CCCA member and started &amp; sponsored several early New York area car show events.

We believe Sam passed-away sometime in 1967 ?

[ Samuel Adelman 1894~1967 ]

Winthrop Rockefeller bought most of Melton's cars in 1961. Bill Harrah - a friend of the tenor - bought some others previously, and wound up with the rest when he bought out Rockefeller's collection in 1975. Harrah was not one to shortchange when buying cars and so the ones he purchased from the Melton were likely bought at fair prices.

My personal favorite Melton car was his favorite as well, a 1907 Rolls-Royce, actually the second Silver Ghost in the country. This car later wound up in Rick Carroll's collection and was sold back to England at his estate auction. Melton drove the car on numerous early Glidden Tours and on other tours all over the country. One of the best stories on Margo Melton Nutt's blog is of "Operation Brass Lamp," the tale of the lengths Melton had to go to when replacing a headlight that fell off his Rolls and under its wheels.

According to Ken Purdy, most of Melton's restorations were performed by an "elderly master mechanic," Conrad Lofink, working one car at a time in a one-car garage. Cosmetic work was by Gus Reuter of the Bronx, later Ridgefield, CT (Reuter's Coach Works). I seem to recall that Reuter descendants are still doing restoration work today.

Purdy's story on Gus Reuter, "The Body Beautiful," appeared originally in the September 1970 issue of "Holiday," as well as in his "Book of Automobiles." It is a wonderful insight into old-school restoration as practiced by Hoe, Reuter, and others.

James Melton, the high-profile popular singer had 110 cars at one time ! He was known worldwide for his interest in antique cars. Think of him as the Jay Leno of antique car collecting in his day ! Everyone who listened to Melton on Radio or TV knew of his car collecting hobby; and that is how he got many of his rare brass-era cars.
His collection would be worth tens of millions today !
Some of his cars were very rare, one only,survivors like his Speedwell raceabout.

James Melton lived in Weston Ct. not far from his friend Arthur"Jim" Hoe.
Dad knew Melton but he had already moved his collection to Fla. before I got to meet Jim Hoe in the 50s-late 60s.

Hoe often talked of working on many of Melton's restoration projects.
Jim Hoe and his "Sportscar Garage" crew restored or maintained many of James Melton's cars; mostly mechanical work.
Hoe also found cars for melton's growing collection.

Melton was also close friends to NY collector "Austie" Clarke ,and Sam Adelman .
All these early mega collectors knew each other in those days !

If we only had that time machine so we could all go back to buy those rare Antiques &amp; Classics at 1940s_1950s prices !
I doubt that the Melton estate got very much for that entire fantastic collection when they sold it in 1961 ? !

One of Pollards cars, a L-29 Cab., showed up a Auburn a few years ago with the front of both front fenders in fiberglass because thay had rusted off being stored nose down.
CORDially Mike

Chris &amp; Others:
Rumor control~

Duesenberg "J" Rumors in the 70s !

I had often heard rumors of an older fellow that had six Duesenberg "J" s in barn storage and would not allow anyone to see them; nor would he sell any~
These were known cars; not undiscoverd new finds !

There was also a story of a model "J" in a junkyard that the owner would not sell.
Supposedly it was rough; but fairly complete.
It was often said he turned down $40 K in the mid 1970s !
Later I had heard that it was finally in fact sold ?

Now both these were rumors that were circulating around the car collector world in the 70s-80s ~

Is there any truth at all to both these rumors above ?

silverghost wrote: I have heard that some of Barney Pollard's family members are still selling-off some of his hoard from time to time still to this very day ? He once had over 1200 autos in storage. Many were stored vertically and hung from the roof rafters !
A number of years back I heard of a curved dash Olds being bought by an AACA official out of his last remaining & almost full building.

Has anyone also heard about any other Pollard cars selling in the last few years ?
Have any more seen the light of day !

I will never forget attending the old A K Miller auction !
Did any ACD Forum members here attend ?

The Pollards sold a few cars through an RM auction earlier this decade - a Springfield Rolls-Royce Warwick sedan, a later Mercer touring, and a Locomobile once owned by President Harding come to mind. As with many of the names mentioned, a lot of the cars Pollard owned in the 1950s are today's show-winners.

I have heard that some of Barney Pollard's family members are still selling-off some of his hoard from time to time still to this very day ? He once had over 1200 autos in storage. Many were stored vertically and hung from the roof rafters !
A number of years back I heard of a curved dash Olds being bought by an AACA official out of his last remaining &amp; almost full building.

Has anyone also heard about any other Pollard cars selling in the last few years ?
Have any more seen the light of day !

I will never forget attending the old A K Miller auction !
Did any ACD Forum members here attend ?

Mike McManus traded at least two Duesenbergs and parts of another.

Then there's D. Cameron Peck and two of my heroes, James Melton and Bill Harrah. None of the three dealers, but like Austie Clark, they recognized what they were saving and restoring long before anyone else did.

Melton's daughter, Margo Melton Nutt, writes a wonderful blog that shares stories about her father - both his musical career and his cars. He was quite a personality and it's a shame so few "car guys" remember him today. He was, also, a customer in good standing at Sam Adelman's.

http://jamesmeltonmusicalcareerantiquec ... gspot.com/

For the best effect, play this while reading the above:

I remember Barney Pollard being profiled in Cars &amp; Parts magazine back in the '70s.

Another name to add to the list, familiar to left coasters: Mike McManus

Chris:
If you can somehow find a way to scan and post this article about Sam and his Wrecking scrapyard I , and I am sure others here, would love to see it !

It was guys like Sam Adelman, Jim Hoe, "Austie" Clarke, and Jerry Gebby, and,Barney Pollard, who saved many of these great Classic autos we all still have surviving to enjoy today from the crushers.
These early collectors, restorers should all be remembered by us today.
We owe them a great debt !

The 1954 "True's Automobile Yearbook" has a feature article, "Sam Adelman - Unrestored Classic" beginning on p. 58. There are several photos of Mr. Adelman and the cars in his lot. I don't have a scanner or I would post the article here. I assume that copies of the magazine can be found online.

Running the former address (635 S. Columbus Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY) through Google Maps shows the lot apparently occupied by a gravel business but otherwise not much changed. In fact, Adelman's original building, shown partially in the "True's" article, seems to be intact in the background.

I last visited Sam in 1958. I remember because that was the year I left New York. (Driving my Cord, of course. It was my only transportation. Ran most of the time.)

With new job, then marriage and military service I did not get back for over a decade. By the time I saw Mount Vernon again Sam and "Auto Wrecking In All Its Branches" were gone. If there was an auction, I never heard of it.

Seems to me that I read something about Sam and his yard some years ago. May have been in [i:1y4b9dkw]Skinned Knuckles[/i:1y4b9dkw].

Josh:&amp; others~

Dad and I visited Sam at his scrapyard at least two dozen times ; well into the late 1960s.

Do you have any idea the aprox. year Sam's Scrapyard finally closed down operations?

I seem to remmber the late John W. DeCampi ( Rolls~Royce in America) and Frank Cooke(restoration shop owner) telling my Father that they and, some of their R~R friends, bought all of Sam's Springfield Rolls~Royce parts and project cars at the scrapyard's closing. Some of those parts are still sitting around on shelves today !

Did Sam have a closing auction ?

I do hope most of the great project cars &amp; parts in his scrapyard were saved ! ?

I grew up in The Bronx from the '30s to the '50s. Bought my first Cord in 1953, and met Sam Adelman shortly thereafter. We shared a bit of heritage -- Sam himself and my father had both been Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe. Maybe that's why he was willing to talk to a wet-behind-the-ears kid. He never did think much of my Westchester -- not grand enough, I think.

Many people and many places are today rather loosely referred to as "one of a kind". But Sam Adelman and his place of business truly qualify for that designation.

I was one of the lucky ones.

Just feeling very sad &amp; very depressed because of the death of my 92 y/o Father and I am going down"Memory Lane" tonight~~~~

We have many a great story about our many visits to Sam Adelman's Classic Scrapyard/ Classic Junkyard.

As Sam saw that Dad &amp; I were both very interested in these great Classics he one told us a very interesting &amp; true story~

After the great Depression hit the country very hard it became no longer prudent for the still wealthy car owners to be seen riding in a car like a $16,000.00 Springfield Rolls~Royce.
Sam said that folks would often throw rocks at these great cars during this time period.
Owners did not wish to flaunt their wealth while average folks were out of work and standing in soup lines.
These high-end status cars were put away in carriage houses or garages to wait-out the poor economic conditions.
As luck would not be kind a turn-around did not rapidly appear and these once great Classics became almost worthless overnight~
Times had changed indeed ~
And times &amp; styles had marched-on~

Sam stated that many once grand Classics were often found abandoned on the streets of New York.
Others were left to rot-away on great estates .

Sam would often get the call to tow them away.

Sam told us that for some reason the then High-End Summer Shore resort city of Atlantic City NJ seemed almost immune to the nationwide depresson.
Life in Atlantic City went-on as usual with the wealthy from NY, Phila, and Ct.

The grand tourist Hotels in Atlantic City NJ started buying-up these great low milage High-End Classics in very large numbers for very little money !

The large fancy Hotels would use these great Classics to pick-up customers arriving in Atlantic City NJ at the train station.

Their wealthy customers were given the true
"Red Carpet Treatment" by the hotel's drivers.
Each car was equipped with a red carpet runner for the driver to roll out !
Some carpets had the hotel name and logo woven in this red carpet runner !
The customers were thrilled to have been picked-up in a Rolls~Royce Springfield Silver Ghost or Phantom I or similar great expensive car !

Not only did the hotels pick-up these customers at the train station~
They would also make the grand cars &amp; uniformed drivers available to their customers for rides, dinner trips, or day-trips to the surrounding South Jersey resort islands.
The hotels would have large fleets of these grand autos !

As a result of this practice Sam had supplied many fine Classics autos~ and spare repair parts for those cars to these AC resort hotel's motorpools.
They were in fact at one time his best customers !

Sam stated that at one point in time before the outbreak of WW II there were more fine Classics registered in Atlantic City NJ, especially Springfield Rolls~Royce Ghosts &amp; Phantoms, than anywhere in the entire USA !

When WW II broke out~
Atlantic City NJ all but died !
Wealthy tourists no longer came~
The Grand Hotels became Hospitals, and rest homes for the US Military.

The once-grand hotels were low on funds and did not maintain their buildings.
The military was also very rough on these once fancy buildings.
They were run into the ground !
The hotels then entered a long period of sad decline over decades that they sadly never recovered from !
Until the mid 1970s and Casino Gambling !

The great Classic autos were put into storage for the war's duration or sadly many were scrapped at government order for much needed steel and aluminum coachwork for the war effort!

Sam said he then started a scrapyard near Atlantic City NJ at this time ~

This was In addition to his New York Scrapyard/ auto junkyard operations~

He saved as many once great Classics as was possible at this time !
This was very hard to do with government watchdogs looking over his shoulders~
He did not save as many as he would have liked !!!

That's my second Sam Adelman story !
I hope you find it interesting ?

I am just a new forum member here ~
But have been around Classics all my life.
My 92 y/o Father long before me !

In the mid 1950s-early 1960s my father and I made many trips to Sam Adelman's all Classic Junkyard/Scrapyard in NY just outside New York City.
The very first time we went there to buy a Westinghouse Generator for my Grandmother's Springfield Rolls~Royce Phantom I which had been sitting in her carriage house unused since the mid 1930s
The Westinghouse generator had developed "legs" and had "walked away" over the yesrs from this very complete and low miles Classic.
Dad &amp; I wished to get this grand Classic running and on the road again.
Dad had heard about Sam Adelman's scrapyard from Henry Austin "Austie" Clark who dad knew very well. We would often visit "Austie's" Long Island Museum on weekends.

Sam Adelman had a very unusual scrapyard full of only Full Classics.
For a young kid it was just like going to a Classic car show.
There were thirty or more Classics lined up in his fenced-in yard.
Sam had an unusual tow-truck.
It was a converted Springfield Rolls~Royce Phantom I ironhead with the aft section of it's towncar coachwork cut-off !
Sam's pet rooster, his "Watch-Dog", lived in this tow truck !

Sam was a very colorful fellow who always had a cheap White Owl cigar in his mouth and always offered many words of wisdom about the Classics and about life !

The many old Cassics in Sam's yard seemed almost unbelievable to me as a young car crazy kid.
I simply could not believe that anyone would not want to keep these great cars; and would want to scrap them. These were the sort of cars I had only seen before in Ralph Stein's many great early car books !
Here at least 30 of the great Classics were lined-up before my very eyes in his fenced-in yard !
It soon became quite clear that Sam loved these Classics as much, or MORE than Dad and I .
Sam was known all over NY, PA, CT, NJ, for his great cars &amp; rare parts.
He advertised in Hemmings Motor News~
Then a two or three page mimeographed newsletter !

These once-great cars seemed to find Sam.
He had "Pickers" at all the North-Eastern US Junkyards and advertised in NY papers for cars. Many he would get for FREE !
He was always on the lookout for Classics with great custom coachwork lines to add to his collection.
He would scrap an "Ugly Girl" &amp; sedans, while at the very same time always trying to find new home for his "Real Beauty's" with new collectors. There were some cars that he flatly refused to part-out !
Early collectors, and owners, would seek-out parts for their great autos from Sam.
New Car Dealers would also be Sam's customers.
He would often be found in his dark and damp &amp; dank office sitting at his old oak desk talking on the telephone.
He only had one small wattage drop bulb for light. The pot-bellied stove was always fired-up for heat. Sam did not believe in high-overhead costs !

ACD forum member Bob Roller mentioned in one of my other earlier posts on Duesenberg Owner, and my great uncle William "Wild Bill" Hunter, that Sam stated that he was "Going to Florida" which actually ment that he was going inside to his old stove !
Sam used many funny expressions like this !

Sam was a small stockey but strong man with an Eastern European accent~ Possibly Russian?.

When talking on the phone about a great old classic Sam would often ask "Is she beautyful with graceful body lines" when speaking to a picker about a possible new addition to his "collection".

Sam was an early CCCA, &amp; AACA member.
I believe today there are several Sam Adelman award trophys in his honor given at NY car shows to this very day !
He also had a real car collection of his own.

Sam told us that he had once worked at a great Classic Dealership in New York City when he was younger. I cannot remember the car brand today ?
He started cleaning &amp; washing and delivering new cars and later became a mechanic.

When you walked into his office and "inside Storage" building you were immediately hit with the strong smell of cheap cigar smoke, wood &amp; coal smoke, along with paper cardboard trash smoke from the cast-iron stove ,and the smell of 90W rear-end and transmssion lube !
One could hardly get in the door as Sam had piles and Shelves of spare parts all over the place.
Sam could immediately get his hands on anything you needed.
He knew his entire parts inventory from memory !
The parts were fairly cheap in this day~
I remember the Westinghouse generator was under $20 !
Sam always asked for your old part in exchange ~ If you indeed had one to trade-in !

Sam Adelman was one in a million~
He was a rough &amp; tough man but was great with kids.
He had a heart of gold !

He truly loved these great old Classic machines.
He had no time for the then "Modern Cars"
"They have no personality or Soul" he would often say !

Over the years Sam Adelman saved many great Classics from the crusher~
He supplied countless parts for others~
He would ofen say~
"Some must die~~~~So that the others may live and survive for the future !"

So what's the Auburn Cord Duesenberg connection to Sam Adelman you may ask ???
Well Jim Hoe, &amp; Jerry Gebby pulled several Deusenberg Model "J"s out of Sam's salvage yard along with several engines, and parts !
One of Jim Hoe's Hill-climb racers came from Sam's Salvage yard too !

We have no doubt that others got Cords and Auburns from old Sam also !

There are many great Classics alive today and still living in great collections because of the efforts of Sam Adelman.

Do you know any cars from Sam's NY Scrapyard that are living today ?
Where &amp; what are they ?

Does anyone, other than Bob Roller &amp; myself, remember Sam and his ALL CLASSICS NY Scrapyard/junkyard. ?

I only wish I had a time machine so Dad &amp; I could make just one more visit to Sam Adelman's Classic Scrapyard !