Celebrity Mark IIs

[Phil Gevertz]

Was Ike's Continental leased to him during his White House years? It has been bought and sold several times over the years. I know it was fully optioned with an Automatic headlamp Dimmer. Does anyone know where the car is today?

[Barry Wolk]

I make take some flame for this but, who really gives a crap about who previously owned a car? I don't get it. Unless you're planning on cloning the person from cells left behind, what does it matter?

[Nick DeSpirito]

Funny, there's no owner's plaque on the transmission. You would think there would have been one for him, even if the interior was redone.

[Barry Wolk]

Probably stolen.:rolleyes:

[Shelly Harris]

I make take some flame for this but, who really gives a crap about who previously owned a car? I don't get it.

I do. When Elvis' car goes for thousands more than a like car, I think it's a huge consideration. BTW add to the list of celebrities Mike Todd who owned his while married to Liz Taylor.

[Barry Wolk]

Meh. That's what I don't get. Who cares if Elvis plopped his fat ass on the seat?

Just because it brings more doesn't correlate with being worth more, does it?

Picasso's works suck IMO. I don't see the allure.

[dgaribay15]

Probably the only good thing about buying a celebreties car is that it probably wasn't driven very much. Low miles means higher price. Other than that,who cares who was once behind the wheel.

[CarMan]

Clearly, most people enjoy the celebrity connection. At the most recent Mecum St. Charles auctions, for example, Lou Gramm (former lead singer of Foreigner) had about 5 of his well worn driver quality muscle cars sell at pretty decent prices. It appeared the bidding action got a little hotter when Lou Gramm said he'd do some autographs and take pictures with the cars after they sold.

[TomPiantanida]

A car's WORTH is determined precisely by how much someone will pay for it.

[Barry Wolk]

Meh. Celebrity means nothing to me. Never has. When my wife and I started dating at 16 I expected to see the traditional rock and movie star posters on her walls. Nope, she had photos of mid-'60s Mopar hot rods on her wall that she had taken at various auto shows. She's never been affected by celebrity, either.

Meh.

[Barry Wolk]

I remember seeing Harvey Firestone's Mark II at the Henry Ford Museum. It looked like crap. The Bugatti Royale it's near is perfectly restored yet the Mark II is there only because some tire guy related to the Fords by marriage bought, or was given, one of their cars. BFD.

[Phil Gevertz]

MRS. JACK WARNER'S nameplate in a recent car for sale.

[Chuck Lutz]

I don't get too wrapped around the ankles about the celb aspect of the cars but in 1955 -56 there was a limited cross section of the population that could consider the Mark II at $10K. A number of those folks were somewhat famous. I think if you have one of those cars it's a nice footnote to the car's history.
I was looking up a friends car for the history and looked up the original owner. He was a successful guy in Florida that started Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. No, he wasn't famous but there seems to be a common thread. Successful person, charismatic, liked to be noticed and very outgoing.
I see that a lot in the history of the past owners.

[Barry Wolk]

And the current ones. Celebrity as a footnote is great. I like that. Every car needs a story.

[vancec]

For me, I wouldn't care that a celebrity owned my car unless that celebrity was one of my personal heros. E.g., I personally don't really care about Ike or the Shah of Iran or even Elvis. But if I had Sinatra's or Louis Prima's car it would be my Holy Grail.

That said, it wouldn't exactly bother me to know that my car was worth an extra 100Gs just because it had a famous owner!

[Barry Wolk]

Maybe that's the difference. I have no personal heroes. No pedestal cars or people for me.

[Ian Cowie]

I recently downloaded and viewed the PDF master listing and noticed that my car was purchased in Los Angeles by Harry Warner (of Warner Bros fame?). Do I care who owned it ... no but it certainly would be nice to know how a Los Angeles car ended up in Ontario, Canada. How do you go about researching the history of your car?

[Doc]

Harry Warner was one of the three Warner Brothers of studio fame. He died in the late 1950s. For what it's worth, that was undoubtedly the Warner who had your car originally.

[Barry Wolk]

If you mean all previous owners, that may be near impossible due to so much time passing.

You might contact a relative, but that's a longshot. Don't even bother with DMV records as many don't go back more than 10 years.

There is a source that I don't have access to, but lawyers do. The serial number can be run to see if the car was involved in any litigation.

[Shelly Harris]

I had seen "somewhere" that Jack Warner owned one, but his brother Harry is news to me.

[Phil Gevertz]

Gary, no I don't have any further information on this, PG

[Chuck Lutz]

I had seen "somewhere" that Jack Warner owned one, but his brother Harry is news to me.

I seem to remember that it was Mrs. Jack Warner who was listed on that one.

I've always chuckled (no pun) about Henry Kaiser having one bought at home in CA and one bought in Hawaii. Now that's having all the comforts of home while away.

[linc64]

Jack's and Harry's name are both on the list of notable Mark II owners that appeared in Continental Comments #141.
http://markiiforum.com/showthread.php?t=407