Willoughby to be featured topic at Saratoga Automobile Museum lecture
Charles Flinchbaugh to present background on coachbuilder Willoughby On Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, Charles Flinchbaugh will offer a presentation at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Classic-era…
Charles Flinchbaugh to present background on coachbuilder Willoughby
On Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, Charles Flinchbaugh will offer a presentation at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Classic-era coachbuilder Willoughby Co. from 1-2:30 p.m. The presentation is free with regular museum admission.
The Willoughby Company of Utica, N.Y., specialized in handcrafting chauffeur-driven town car, landaulet and limousine car bodies of exceptional workmanship and conservative styling. Like most American custom coachbuilders, Willoughby was a production body builder, usually running production runs of 10 to 50 bodies for the custom catalogs of the luxury automobile manufacturers.
Today, Willoughby is fondly remembered for its Lincoln bodies (852 produced) of the 1920s and 1930s. Willoughby also built 370 coupe, limousine and town car bodies for Rolls-Royce Springfield Ghosts. In addition, it produced small production runs of bodies for Cadillac, Franklin, Pierce-Arrow, Peerless, Lozier, Cole and Packard chassis.
The Rockefeller Family, Joe Lewis, Al Capone and Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were among the many famous and wealthy Americans who enjoyed Willoughby town cars and limousines.
Angelo Van Bogart is the editor of Old Cars magazine and wrote the column "Hot Wheels Hunting" for Toy Cars & Models magazine for several years. He has authored several books including "Hot Wheels 40 Years," "Hot Wheels Classics: The Redline Era" and "Cadillac: 100 Years of Innovation." His 2023 book "Inside the Duesenberg SSJ" is his latest. He can be reached at avanbogart@aimmedia.com
