In the September 2016 issue of Memphis magazine, my colleague Michael Finger wrote a long-winded article called "Memphis in Motion," in which he told about the early days of automobile dealerships in this city. The story was actually an excerpt from a book published by Contemporary Media, the magazine's parent company. Memphis in Motion: How The Automobile Changed Our City celebrated 100 years of cars in Memphis, as a salute to the 100th anniversary of the Greater Memphis Automobile Dealers Association. (That book is for sale by contacting our circulation department at 901-521-9000, extension 470.)
I have to say Michael did a decent job with the story, and the book, but of course he is not a Lauderdale, and never will be.
Last week, we received a most interesting letter, from a Geoff Gradden in Sydney, Australia. How he found the magazine story is beyond me, but it was especially interesting to him, because it seems he owns a 1931 Cadillac, which was purchased new from Southern Motors Cadillac in Memphis, one of the dealerships profiled in the magazine article and the book.
He wrote, "I read online your story about 'Memphis in Motion' and was particularly interested in Southern Motors in the early 1930s. I live in Sydney, Australia, and own a 1931 Cadillac that was originally delivered to Southern Motors. Attached is a photo of the car [above] – a 1931 Cadillac 370A Sport Phaeton V12 as well as a copy of the original GM build sheet. This car is very original. It was restored about 40 years ago and is regularly driven in Australia."
Geoff wanted to know if we had more information about the dealership, so he could possibly learn more about his car. So — being the nice people that we are — we put him in touch with Pixie Hosmer Woodall, who is the granddaughter of Robert R. Price, the dealership's original owner. Although Pixie and her husband, Richard, still have many photographs and other items from Southern Motors, they don't have any sales records for individual cars purchased there. They were as curious as I was how a car from Memphis landed in Australia.
Geoff told how that came to be: "I was in Kansas City a few years ago on business and saw the car for sale. It had been in museums for over 40 years and I could see that it was very original and also a rare example of early 1930s motor history. Only 128 of these were made in 1931 and less than 100 more over the following six years. I purchased the car and shipped it back to Australia."
Contacted by the Woodalls, he also explained, "We think the car was restored in the late 1960s or early 1970s. From looking at the car and how original the parts on it are, we think that it was repainted and the chrome was redone, but otherwise it seems that little work was needed. The car then spent many years in museums and we have records from 1984 for an owner in Colorado. I don’t think it was driven at all after restoration and only has 32,000 miles on the clock. I drive it regularly, but only about 200 miles per year."
Unfortunately, tracing the car's entire history, from its days in Memphis, will be a challenge. As Richard Woodall explained, "In 1931, the Southern Motor Car Company was located at 1107 Union Avenue in Memphis. Unfortunately, that site was torn down years ago to provide room for Interstate 240 at Union Avenue. I have not been able to find photos of that location from our archives. According to records, it was at that location from 1928 to 1937. Of course, I have photos of the other sites where the company existed before and after that time."
One of those photos is shown below.
Richard continued, "There is no way we could determine who the original purchaser of that particular Cadillac is. None of the bill of sales in regard to autos was kept in Pixie's grandfather’s trove of mementos and documents."
Oh well, maybe something will turn up some day. In the meantime, this may set a distance (and endurance) record for a car purchased from a Memphis dealership.
SOUTHERN MOTORS PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY PIXIE PRICE AND RICHARD WOODALL.
