Hiding away in a small town, called Sylmar, just off the I5 freeway in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, you will find a veritable treasure trove of vintage, veteran and classic cars. This is the Nethercutt Collection, assembled over many years by the eponymous late JB and Dorothy Nethercutt. Over 250 cars have been amassed, and these are split between a museum, which is open from Tuesday to Saturday, and a separate Collection in a building across the street, for which advance booking are required and where the only access is for those who are deemed to be smartly enough dressed and no under 12s are permitted, who then get a 2 hour guided tour. The Collection incIudes several previous winners of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. I was unaware of the prior reservation requirement, so had to content myself (this time) with the museum, and what a fabulous array of vehicles awaited me in there.

There are a lot of cars in the museum, and they are parked up fairly close to each other, so not ideal for the photographer. did not manage to photograph everything, but captured much of what was on display, and had to resort to making a note of what each exhibit was, as there are many unusual vehicles presented, a lot of them from marques that have long since disappeared. So, pictured in the order in which I came across the cars, here they are:

1909 Gordon Brillie 70/90 Tourer1913 Christie Front Drive Pumper. These were very popular, and provided one of the first replacements for horse driven fire appliances. This particular example saw service for 40 years.1925 Doble Series E1931 Cunningham Series V-91936 Hupmobile 618G 6 Passenger Sedan1917 Oldsmobile 451937 Graham Cavalier Series 95 1925 Franklin 10/C Sedan1937 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Sedanca da Ville1923 Renault 40CV Tourer1919 Pierce Arrow 51 7 Passenger1911 Pope Hartford1956 Packard Caribbean1952 Hudson Hornet Convertible1947 Ford “Woodie” 1933 Hispano-Suiza S12 Coupe de Ville1937 Pierce-Arrow 1702, complete with period caravan1926 Bugatti Type 23 Brescia1913 Rolls-Royce Silver GhostThe museum pointed out very proudly that they have an example of every different “mark” of Phantom, and they believe are the only collection to do so 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville1950 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV. Only 18 cars were made in the 4th mark of the Phantom series, and they all went to Heads of State around the world, initially. 1966 Rolls-Royce Phantom V1972 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI1963 Rolls-Royce Silver-Cloud III 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Coupe. This car was the personal property of JB Nethercutt, founder of the museum, who bought it from new1951 Bentley Mark VI1936 Duesenberg Model SJ1904 Packard Model L1938 Cadillac Series 75 Convertible Coupe1941 Packard 1907 Custom Super 81939 Packard Twelve1933 Pierce-Arrow Convertible Sedan1948 MG TC. These cars were very popular with GIs returning to the US after seeing service in Europe in WW2.1956 Porsche 3561934 Ford De Luxe Roadster1933 American Austin1967 Ferrari 365 California Spider1933 Franklin 174 Club Brougham1928 Nash Special Six Coupe1903 Peerless Type 6 Style F Rear Entrance Tonneau. This particular car has competed successfully in the London – Brighton event in the past1927 Pierce-Arrow 36 Dual Cowl Phaeton1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Town Car1913 Mercedes 37/95 Double Phaeton Torpedo1914 Peerless 48-Six Touring1911 Kroon Thirty1907 Pierce Great Arrow 65Q Touring1916 Simplex Crane Model 51920 Kenworthy 4-80 7 Passenger Touring1930 Packard 745 de Luxe 81928 Chrysler 72 Sport Roadster1938 Cadillac Series 901933 Cadillac 452-C Imperial Limousine1931 Daimler Double-Six1932 Cadillac 355-B De Luxe Sport Coupe1937 Packard Twelve Fifteenth Series1932 Pierce-Arrow 53 Sedan1921 Lincoln L Phaeton1923 Voisin C5 Sporting Limousine1936 Ford V8 de Luxe Roadster1931 Ford Model “A” de Luxe Phaeton1931 Ford Model “A” Sport Coupe1931 Bugatti Type 511923 Hispano-Suiza H6 Cabrio de Ville I’ve saved the best bit until last. Admission to see these priceless treasures is absolutely free!More details can be found at http://www.nethercuttcollection.org2009-12-12 20:39:29