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Topic starter
07/06/2026 2:27 pm
Norman Timbs was a prolific engineer who designed various Indy car winners in the 1930s. Post war ,he was an engineer working for Preston Tucker as well as Hallibrand. Starting somewhere in the mid-'40s, as a personal project, he crafted a tubular chromalloy frame that extended to a 117" chassis powered by a mid-mounted '47 Buick straight 8 with a Packard rear axle. He then fabricated a super streamlined body with minimal grill and ornamentation o make the car as slick as possible with no doors or top. The resultant 17.5' body was inspired by the prowar Auto Union streamliner LSRs. Collector/restorer Gary Cerveny accidently bid on the surviving remains of the car at Barrett-Jackson, and for $17,000 he now owned the remains of the car that had been picked clean and sun bleached after years in the California desert.
Working with Timbs' family archives, and with the frame and most of the body intact, he restored the car to its original glory finished the original gold flecked maroon. Here it is at Amelia Island:
Then, in 2018, The annual Southern California wild fires destroyed his Malibu estate as well as his car collection. The fire department inexplicably just let it all burn to the ground along with 1600 other residences and, as of a few years ago was still waiting for the proper permits to rebuild. As to the Timbs, having no water used on the fire allowed the remains to slowly cool preventing any warpage. Of all the cars he lost, he decided to fully restore the car once again. The process is still ongoing as the body was badly burned but the steel chassis was intact. Here's some pics of the ongoing process:
Here's the model by Automodello:
This topic was modified 4 months ago 2 times by Rich Sufficool
07/06/2026 2:36 pm
Such a sad story. I wish him luck in his and his cars' recovery. I was very lucky to see it in 2015 in Indy...
07/06/2026 2:46 pm
WOW; the quintessential definition of streamliner. Or should we say, extremeliner? This thread could qualify for Pete Rovero's "Around the Neighborhood" derelict car series!
07/06/2026 5:56 pm
I have the Automodello model for it's place in history.
GDH and Rich Sufficool reacted
07/06/2026 6:14 pm
+1 Bob. I did not know that another resurrection was being attempted, thanks RichI have the Automodello model for it's place in history.
GDH and Rich Sufficool reacted
07/06/2026 6:15 pm
Great pics of another favorite of mine, Rich. I no longer have the "Separated at Birth?" photo I originally posted on the old Forum, but this will give you an idea of it.
