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Boys who grow up in Southern California have gasoline in their DNA
Excerpt from Chapter 5 of a biography by Stuart Leuthner of Clive Cussler, best selling adventure author.
In 1946 when Clive Cussler was 15 years old he spotted a 1923/24’ Jewett Touring Car languishing in the back row of a used car lot in Southern California, and the price tag of $15.00 caught his attention. America was entering the rocket age and a car built in the 1920’s, especially an obscure example like the Jewett, was considered prehistoric but fascinating, in addition to being affordable for this lad. Today, Clive’s appreciation for vintage cars is legendary, but this car stands out in his memory.
Whenever Clive brought up the subject of a car to his father Eric he would end the discussion by telling him he needed insurance. Clive called several companies, asking if they would insure the Jewett. The agents would either tell him to call back when he was older, or laugh and hang up. Dejected, he wet to see Joe Servais, the owner of the car lot. Clive explained that he wanted the Jewett but his father insisted he needed insurance, Servais, working under a car, stuck his head out from under the car and hollered, “Call Lloyd’s of London, they will insure anything.” Although Servais was obviously joking, Clive only heard, “they will insure anything.”
When Eric came home from work, the first thing he saw was a very large black Touring Car sitting in the driveway, he rushed into the house, “Damn it Clive! I told you that you couldn’t have a car unless you had insurance.” Faced with his father’s Germanic fury, Clive blurted out, “Dad, Lloyd’s of London will insure anything.” The usually loquacious Eric Cussler was speechless. “I think that was the only time, Clive says, I ever really got to my old man.”
Although it was never insured, Eric allowed Clive to keep the Jewett if he promised to limit his driving to the adjacent neighborhood. Clive promptly removed the top, the fenders, the back half of the body and the hood. He left the front seat, the cowl, the windshield and the radiator. Behind the front seat and on top of the frame he built a flat bed out of wood that ended up being a perfect place for his friends to ride. Lastly he painted a large number “12” on the doors and radiator. He had now created his version of a hot rod racer or what was known in the 1920’s as a ‘hill-climber’.
Clive and several of his friends almost came to grief in the Jewett. The car’s vacuum fuel pump ceased to operate, which meant someone had to perch themselves on the cowl in front of the windshield and pour gas directly into the vacuum canister in order to keep the car running. Descending a hill, the Jewett hit a bump and the boy with the gas can lost his balance and tumbled back over the windshield and into the car. He lost his grip on the can and a big splash of gasoline hit Clive in the face, temporarily blinding him. The car jumped over the curb and skidded into a vacant lot. It had been raining and the Jewett’s rear brakes (no front brakes), questionable under the best of conditions, were useless in the mud. While Clive fought to get the car under control, it crashed through a fence, careened across a neighbor’s yard, down their driveway and into a street. Surprisingly enough, he was able to continue driving but a few weeks later he sold the Jewett to a junk dealer for eighteen dollars.
*Special thanks to Stuart Leuthner of Golden Bell Press for providing this article
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