Collings Foundation Collection On Display During Open House
The Collings Foundation in Stow, MA, not normally open to the public, held an open house on June 7th and 8th. They have a great collection of antique cars and prewar race cars, as well as an equally great collection of vintage airplanes. It's truly one of the hidden treasures of the Boston area.
On display are over sixty-five antique automobiles and race cars that include the 1932 Duesenburg Dual-Cowl SJ Phaeton owned by Fred Duesenburg; a 1940 V-16 Cadillac Limousine custom built for Al Capone; a Springfield, MA built 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Phaeton; and an Indy Car driven by Mario Andretti. The aircraft collection includes a rare original 1909 Bleriot Model XI; a WWII vintage Fiesler FI-156 Storch; and a 1943 Cessna UC-78 that was formerly flown by Revere Airways.
Also on hand during the open house were the Charles River Radio Controllers, who were displaying and flying both powered and un-powered radio control aircraft on the Foundation's grounds (which are themselves quite beautiful). A lot of those planes are really fast!
If you ever get a chance to visit this venue,
don't pass it up! To learn more, visit the
Collings
Foundation web site. Thanks go out to Steve Silverstein, who passed along
the heads-up, which we relayed to our membership via email.
—Dave Pratt
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a
larger view,
and then use your browser's Back button)
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One other Alfa was spotted outside one of the museum buildings: the Spider of Charlie Banner |
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Some of the various classic formula racers in the collection |
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And here's a collection of old midget race cars, the last one inscribed with two Collings names: one the driver and one the mechanic |
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The antiques. In order: a Cadillac nearly 100 years old, a Mercer Runabout, a Stutz Bearcat, a Chevrolet delivery truck, a stunning Cord, a priceless Deusenburg, and Al Capone's custom Caddy |
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Some airplanes, about which I don't know very much |
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A steam tractor. Is this really an improvement over oxen? |
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Before and after shots of some of the RC airplanes zooming above the grounds |
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