The Aero-Mobile, the car driven by the great Howard Hughes will be up for auction after a thorough restoration which even found Hughes’ 1936 credit card hidden under the fabric and wood lining of the glove box door.
The “Aero-Mobile” has left the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon, and is now being prepared for its departure to the Leake Collector Car Auction in Tulsa Oklahoma. It will be put up for auction on June 13th 2009. The automobile was acquired in 2005 from a museum owner’s estate. It has since been completely restored to the time Hughes had personally customized it.
After reducing the original weight by thousands of pounds and modifying the engine and exhaust, this car would have easily cruised in excess of 100 MPH. Originally Hughes might have started out to compete in some sort of speed contest; however, some say Hughes was developing retractable aircraft landing gear and had to create a car that could keep up with airplanes while filming high speed take offs and landings.
(Source) Press
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