This adorable shot was taken in 1936. From the publicity caption:
SHIRLEY TEMPLE PROUDLY DISPLAYS HER OWN CAR — before her bungalow on the 20th Century-Fox lot, the famous child actress is enjoying many thrills with her midget speedster, a birthday gift from the Knickerbocker automobile works of New York and Bill Robinson, the famous tap dancer. The car is powered by single cylinder motorcycle engine with a top speed of ten miles an hour. Shirley conquered its mechanism in a single trip around the block.
In this 1940’s shot, it appears that the hood ornament had bit the dust; maybe Shirley figured out how to increase the speed over 10 mph.
When the car came up for auction in 2015, it came with a hood ornament. Looks better with it, don’t you think? Whether Shirley had a replica made or not is unknown.
What IS known is that the car survived in better shape over the years than Shirley’s Fox Bungalow.
Yikes.
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
It's so hard to tell a replica from the real thing. I'm going to take an educated guess that the car flipped at some point, the hood ornament broke off and some lucky restoration expert found a NOS replacement of that exact ornament. I can't imagine sculpting/casting one of those today. Lots of time.
ReplyDeleteWow, today's (06/09 ) Google doodle is Shirley!
ReplyDelete