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Lucy's Cars

Luvsbway

By Luvsbway,
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Luvsbway

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I was thinking of a topic we hadn’t covered in detail too much yet and I thought about Lucy’s cars.  What did she own over the years and what good stories are there involving cars?  I will warn you know that I don’t know much about cars so for makes and models I’ll have to have others chime in.

 

Early Car Stories

From many accounts we know that Lucy was not the best driver.  On the Scrapbook CD-Rom Fred tells a story that Lucy could never judge the parking distance too well in the garage at the Ogdon Dr. house and would frequently hit the back wall knocking it out.  Luckily Grandpa was around to fix it every time.

 

We also know the well told story of Grandpa wanting to get rid of the tree out front and slowing chopping away at the roots until it fell on Lucy’s car in a rain storm.

 

1940’s Cars

When they first met Desi had a Buick Roadmaster (I believe) that he bought to drive from NYC to LA.  I’m thinking this would have been the car he would take her driving up the coast in while she screamed at the top of her lungs to lower her voice (oh if only she would have known).  In a letter she writes him in late 1940 that is included on the Scrapbook CD-Rom she asks him a bunch of questions and one is “what are you going to do with your car?”.  Since he went back to NYC and I think onto Chicago around this time I wonder what in fact he did do with the car. 

 

There are a few cars found in the Home Movies.  They are quick glimpses so I can’t even begin to put a year on them and have no idea what they were.

 

Desi tells a good story in his book.  Back during the war it was really hard to get a new car.  Well they really needed a new car and he pulled a lot of strings to get one.  He didn't have his choice of color though and had to take whatever was available.  Well he doesn’t tell Lucy the whole story but just says that he bought a new car and told her when it was going to be delivered.  He's not home when it comes but she is.  It arrives and is red.  Well with that hair of her's she says there is no way she can ride in it (it may have been a convertible, I'm not sure) so she tells the guy he has to take it back and he does.  Desi gets home, finds out what she did and yells at her, telling her she better get the guy on the phone now and get the car back.  She does and says that she will just have to cover her hair when she rides in it.

 

Another good story the Lucy tells in her book.  After another heated fight, she is still angry the next day.  She goes out and smashes out all the windows in his car and then calls to have it fixed at her expense.

 

On the Dick Cavette show Lucy tells the story about driving home to the valley late one night during the war and picking up radio signals in her teeth.  The signals eventually turned out to be coming from a buried Japanese radio station.  Mythbusters in one of their first season episodes took what she said in this interview and tried to debunk it, which they pretty much did.  We know Lucy liked to embellish so I wonder what really was the story.

 

60’s and Beyond

We know Gary was a car nutt and they had quite a few when he came into the picture.  There was the Roles from Hedda Hopper’s estate.  That talking Chrysler thing.  I think Lucy had her own Roles at some point as I found a passing reference to her once driving one and it wasn’t the Hedda one.  Didn’t Gary get one from someone else’s estate too?  Lee bought that station wagon thing I believe with the Mark Cross leather off the estate after she died.  There was the car Larry had that was donated to the museum and at some festivals I know you could get your picture taken in it or at least see it.  I never did see it myself, hence why I don’t remember what it was.  And in the Widow Morton auction there was also a car auctioned off there.  In the Barbara Walters interview they show a quick shot of the garage and there were a few there too.  From having watched so many car collector shows with my husband I’ve realized that car collectors/enthusiasts do turn over their cars a lot, so my hunch is Gary may have too, at least the more collectable ones and maybe not the everyday driver ones.  If anyone has makes and models we should get a list started.

 

In Lee’s book he tells the story about the talking Chrysler in the 80’s and how Lucy would talk back to it.  Wasn’t there some cute thing she use to say whenever it would say “the door is ajar”?  This was also the car that left her stranded on the freeway one time I believe.  I have friend who had the same car back in the 80’s and she says it really was a piece of crap.

 

Kids Cars

In the book, Where the Hell is Desilu, Howard tells a story about Lucy wanting to get Desi Jr. a new car for his birthday.  Lucy mentioned to Howard that she wants to give him an Aston Martin.  Howard says that she should give him a mustang as it is more reliable.  Lucy says that he won’t think I love him if I don’t give him the Aston Martin.  Guess which car he got.

 

Whenever Lucie is asked about her step-mom she always says very nice things about her and always says that Edie was the one who taught her how to drive.    

 

Frank and driving

 

Frank has been a guest on Stu’s Show twice now Stu had him run down a typical day working for Lucy.  Both times he has said that he would take the kids to school and then go over and pickup DeDe to go run the daily errands.  So I’ve always wondered how did Lucy get to the studio?  He doesn’t make mention of taking her there.  I would think this is why you have a driver.  Did she drive herself there?  Later in life I think she may have had other people who worked for her drive as well.  In that posting about Lucy arriving at the seminar it’s mentioned Howard McClay drove her. 

 

Also Stu in one of his shows said who usually drove her home from Life With Lucy and I forget who it normally was, I’m thinking Tom?  Well whoever it was, was busy one day so Stu drove her home.  She gets in his little sports car thing he had and she’s all “oh this is cute”, etc…   Well he starts to talk to her about maybe getting a role on an upcoming episode.  Just as he is making a turn she turns to him and yells, “Stop this car.”  He thinks that she is super mad or something and pulls the car over.  She says” you never told me you wanted to be on the show.”  Well it all comes out good in the end and he tells the whole story then, but I got a kick out of her yelling at him (in a good way) in the car.

 

Frank in one Stu interview was asked how Lucy would get things done that everyday people would need to do but with her fame would make it really hard.  One was how did she go about renewing her driver’s license.  Frank says that they would make an appointment and she could go in a side door to do everything that needed to be done.  I believe they also did it at a time when it would not have been crowded or it may have been before they actually opened.    

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C L A U D E Newbie

C L A U D E

Posted
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I was thinking of a topic we hadn’t covered in detail too much yet and I thought about Lucy’s cars.  What did she own over the years and what good stories are there involving cars?  I will warn you know that I don’t know much about cars so for makes and models I’ll have to have others chime in.

 

Early Car Stories

From many accounts we know that Lucy was not the best driver.  On the Scrapbook CD-Rom Fred tells a story that Lucy could never judge the parking distance too well in the garage at the Ogdon Dr. house and would frequently hit the back wall knocking it out.  Luckily Grandpa was around to fix it every time.

 

We also know the well told story of Grandpa wanting to get rid of the tree out front and slowing chopping away at the roots until it fell on Lucy’s car in a rain storm.

 

1940’s Cars

When they first met Desi had a Buick Roadmaster (I believe) that he bought to drive from NYC to LA.  I’m thinking this would have been the car he would take her driving up the coast in while she screamed at the top of her lungs to lower her voice (oh if only she would have known).  In a letter she writes him in late 1940 that is included on the Scrapbook CD-Rom she asks him a bunch of questions and one is “what are you going to do with your car?”.  Since he went back to NYC and I think onto Chicago around this time I wonder what in fact he did do with the car. 

 

There are a few cars found in the Home Movies.  They are quick glimpses so I can’t even begin to put a year on them and have no idea what they were.

 

Desi tells a good story in his book.  Back during the war it was really hard to get a new car.  Well they really needed a new car and he pulled a lot of strings to get one.  He didn't have his choice of color though and had to take whatever was available.  Well he doesn’t tell Lucy the whole story but just says that he bought a new car and told her when it was going to be delivered.  He's not home when it comes but she is.  It arrives and is red.  Well with that hair of her's she says there is no way she can ride in it (it may have been a convertible, I'm not sure) so she tells the guy he has to take it back and he does.  Desi gets home, finds out what she did and yells at her, telling her she better get the guy on the phone now and get the car back.  She does and says that she will just have to cover her hair when she rides in it.

 

Another good story the Lucy tells in her book.  After another heated fight, she is still angry the next day.  She goes out and smashes out all the windows in his car and then calls to have it fixed at her expense.

 

On the Dick Cavette show Lucy tells the story about driving home to the valley late one night during the war and picking up radio signals in her teeth.  The signals eventually turned out to be coming from a buried Japanese radio station.  Mythbusters in one of their first season episodes took what she said in this interview and tried to debunk it, which they pretty much did.  We know Lucy liked to embellish so I wonder what really was the story.

 

60’s and Beyond

We know Gary was a car nutt and they had quite a few when he came into the picture.  There was the Roles from Hedda Hopper’s estate.  That talking Chrysler thing.  I think Lucy had her own Roles at some point as I found a passing reference to her once driving one and it wasn’t the Hedda one.  Didn’t Gary get one from someone else’s estate too?  Lee bought that station wagon thing I believe with the Mark Cross leather off the estate after she died.  There was the car Larry had that was donated to the museum and at some festivals I know you could get your picture taken in it or at least see it.  I never did see it myself, hence why I don’t remember what it was.  And in the Widow Morton auction there was also a car auctioned off there.  In the Barbara Walters interview they show a quick shot of the garage and there were a few there too.  From having watched so many car collector shows with my husband I’ve realized that car collectors/enthusiasts do turn over their cars a lot, so my hunch is Gary may have too, at least the more collectable ones and maybe not the everyday driver ones.  If anyone has makes and models we should get a list started.

 

In Lee’s book he tells the story about the talking Chrysler in the 80’s and how Lucy would talk back to it.  Wasn’t there some cute thing she use to say whenever it would say “the door is ajar”?  This was also the car that left her stranded on the freeway one time I believe.  I have friend who had the same car back in the 80’s and she says it really was a piece of crap.

 

Kids Cars

In the book, Where the Hell is Desilu, Howard tells a story about Lucy wanting to get Desi Jr. a new car for his birthday.  Lucy mentioned to Howard that she wants to give him an Aston Martin.  Howard says that she should give him a mustang as it is more reliable.  Lucy says that he won’t think I love him if I don’t give him the Aston Martin.  Guess which car he got.

 

Whenever Lucie is asked about her step-mom she always says very nice things about her and always says that Edie was the one who taught her how to drive.    

 

Frank and driving

 

Frank has been a guest on Stu’s Show twice now Stu had him run down a typical day working for Lucy.  Both times he has said that he would take the kids to school and then go over and pickup DeDe to go run the daily errands.  So I’ve always wondered how did Lucy get to the studio?  He doesn’t make mention of taking her there.  I would think this is why you have a driver.  Did she drive herself there?  Later in life I think she may have had other people who worked for her drive as well.  In that posting about Lucy arriving at the seminar it’s mentioned Howard McClay drove her. 

 

Also Stu in one of his shows said who usually drove her home from Life With Lucy and I forget who it normally was, I’m thinking Tom?  Well whoever it was, was busy one day so Stu drove her home.  She gets in his little sports car thing he had and she’s all “oh this is cute”, etc…   Well he starts to talk to her about maybe getting a role on an upcoming episode.  Just as he is making a turn she turns to him and yells, “Stop this car.”  He thinks that she is super mad or something and pulls the car over.  She says” you never told me you wanted to be on the show.”  Well it all comes out good in the end and he tells the whole story then, but I got a kick out of her yelling at him (in a good way) in the car.

 

Frank in one Stu interview was asked how Lucy would get things done that everyday people would need to do but with her fame would make it really hard.  One was how did she go about renewing her driver’s license.  Frank says that they would make an appointment and she could go in a side door to do everything that needed to be done.  I believe they also did it at a time when it would not have been crowded or it may have been before they actually opened.    

Man, imagine how fun your posts would be if you just bothered to do a little research, LOL!  You're unbelievable!

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