Transport Motors San Francisco

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Mark Hill
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Transport Motors San Francisco

#1 Post by Mark Hill »

Folks,

Does anyone know if any records still exist from Transport Motors in San Francisco as owned by Carl Block in the 50's ?

I believe that Harry Weber worked there, is he still around ?

Any leads would be appreciated.

best regards,

Mark
London, UK

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Barry Brisco
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#2 Post by Barry Brisco »

Hi Mark,

It's hard to imagine those records could have survived but I can't say for sure. I wish they were available: my father ordered his '59 A coupe through Transport Motors (though it was picked up at the factory by an acquaintance, driven for a week and then shipped to California) and Harry Weber worked on his car. I have no idea if Harry Weber is still alive. My dad remembers dealing with Harry when he took his car in for service, but he remembers the dealer as being in Oakland, not S.F.

If you find the '58 - '59 records of that dealer please let me know. I would like to learn the chassis number of my father's 356 and see how close it is to mine, which is 105553.

Thanks,

Barry
Mark Hill wrote:Folks,

Does anyone know if any records still exist from Transport Motors in San Francisco as owned by Carl Block in the 50's ?

I believe that Harry Weber worked there, is he still around ?

Any leads would be appreciated.

best regards,

Mark
London, UK

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Jim Breazeale
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#3 Post by Jim Breazeale »

Mark Hill wrote:Folks,

Does anyone know if any records still exist from Transport Motors in San Francisco as owned by Carl Block in the 50's ?

I believe that Harry Weber worked there, is he still around ?

Any leads would be appreciated.

best regards,

Mark
London, UK
Unless things have changed without my knowlege, Harry is alive and well and living in Fresno, Ca.

Regards
Jim Breazeale
www.easypor.com
www.facebook.com/pages/European-Auto-Salvage-Yard-EASY/120458108029410

Philip R Trenholme
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Transport Motors San Francisco

#4 Post by Philip R Trenholme »

I recall that Reinhard Reidel at a race a few years ago said he was Harry's cousin and that Harry had died and Harry's son was running the BMW dealelership in Fresno. My elderly mind may not have this exactly correct or correct at all. My elderly mind also recalls that Carl Block was located in Oakland (almost Berkeley) on Broadway. Possibly this was a 2nd location but I think Harry worked there.

Phil
Los Gatos, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Breazeale (easypor@sbcglobal.net)
To: 356talk@356registry.com (356talk@356registry.com)
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:16 AM
Subject: [356Talk] Transport Motors San Francisco


Mark Hill wrote: Folks,

Does anyone know if any records still exist from Transport Motors in San Francisco as owned by Carl Block in the 50's ?

I believe that Harry Weber worked there, is he still around ?

Any leads would be appreciated.

best regards,

Mark
London, UK

Unless things have changed without my knowlege, Harry is alive and well and living in Fresno, Ca.

Regards



Jim Breazeale
OWNER
EASY
www.easypor.com
510.653.3279
Registry Member #825



Post generated using Mail2Forum via email.

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Larry Wilson
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#5 Post by Larry Wilson »

Jim Breazeale wrote:Unless things have changed without my knowlege, Harry is alive and well and living in Fresno, Ca.
As chance would have it, this morning I talked on the phone with Sheena, the receptionist at Weber BMW in Fresno, and she said that Harry passed away, she thought about 5 years ago. Also she said his son, Ben, sold the business a few years ago.

Larry Wilson
Larry Wilson
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Richard Emerson
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#6 Post by Richard Emerson »

I have an unrestored 1959 that was sold by Transport Motors. It is a great survivor with a very interesting history that I would like to show as a preservation class car. (I never enter shows well once but this car should be show to others too).

Consequently to highlight its Bay Area roots I would really like to find a Carl Block Transport Motors license plate frame if anyone has one.

Thoughts?

Steve Douglas
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#7 Post by Steve Douglas »

Here's ad for Transport Motors, thought someone might like to ad it their collection
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Gary Koehler
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#8 Post by Gary Koehler »

I bought my 1965 SC from Harry Weber in 1968.
He had a BMW dealership in San Leandro at that time and took this car in on a trade. His mechanic Ron Kauts (sp) did most of the work there for me. Still was wearing his coveralls at that time…

Steve Douglas
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#9 Post by Steve Douglas »

Here's another one, from 1966 Harry Weber BMW Motors in San Leandro, while Transport Motors had moved a few blocks south, from 3737 Broadway to 3080 Broadway in Oakland, not selling Porsche any longer. Martin Johnson Porsche had opened next to Johnson Pacific (currently VW of Oakland) at Broadway and West Grand Ave.
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Richard Emerson
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#10 Post by Richard Emerson »

That newspaper section just shows how active car racing was and how it was covered. Hill climbs with 150 entrants?!

Steve Douglas
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#11 Post by Steve Douglas »

Back to original topic License Frames, Think out of Porsche Box. Alfa Store in Berkeley, Fiat arts ( Santa Cruz has a guy with a basement full of old Fiat parts)..In the day Carl Block sold many brands, Alfa, Citroen, Simca, Fiat, Borgward, Lancia, and I thing Gogomobile. Somebody has to be hoarding a stash of these unique marques. Maybe the Arcane Auto Society.

Steve Douglas
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#12 Post by Steve Douglas »

Here's another Carl Block ad, plus one of the other Porsche Dealers ad. There was also Berkey Lee VW - Porsche in Albany (North Berkeley), and Johnson Pacific VW that also sold Porsche in the 1950s.
Attachments
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Richard Emerson
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#13 Post by Richard Emerson »

Those are great ads! Thank you for sharing them.

Steve Douglas
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Re: Transport Motors San Francisco

#14 Post by Steve Douglas »

There are always interesting columns and ads in old magazines. There are a couple of websites with downloadable copies of Autoweek Competition Press, which started out in Detroit and the San Francisco and then in Lafayette CA in the SF East Bay. They tried to cover it all during 60's and 70's in the pre-internet days it was the only way to find out what was happening in the car world. The Bay Area had several track or race locations. Cotai and Santa Rosa airport in the North Bay, East area: Vaca Valley, Sacramento, Cal Expo, Mather Airbase, Stockton Airport, Tracy Airport, Merced, Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg. SF area Candle Stick Park, Golden Gate Park, Pleasanton Fairgrounds (autoX), Lockheed Moffet Field, Milpitas Ford Plant. Then South Salinas Airport, Laguna Seca. There 5 or 6 Drag Strips: Fremont, Sacramento, Fresno, Half-moon Bay. Plus every weekend there were "sports car rallys" the Rally Club in Mt View, and the East Bay Rally club, every Friday night, and many Saturday day rallies. SCCA Concours (5 or 6 a year), Club concours, many. Picnics. tech sessions, and tours. Way to much to do, and most were free or cheap, not many restrictions, and everybody was friendly, which was great for a teenager, I could afford it on $2.35/hr at the gas station. Plus cheap gas .29-.35, our group drove a lot. Sometimes we would see a race car being trailered somewhere and end up at race. Wish sometimes we could go back to having those care free days.
In the SF Bay Area there are a few of us attempting to combine marques doing a few tours and a picnic, Vintage cars: British, American, German, Italian and Asian. It shouldn't matter what you drive as long as you enjoy cars and driving the long way home.

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