1933 Graham Blue Streak

America’s automotive history is rich with the exploits of Erwin George Baker, an early-20th-century swashbuckler who set scores of speed and distance records with machines as diverse as Indian motorcycles; cars from Stutz, Cadillac, and Wills Sainte Claire; and even a Buick truck. The most memorable drive by the man known as “Cannonball” Baker was his 1933 cross-country United States dash in a Graham Blue Streak Eight, completed in an astonishing 53 1⁄2 hours. The record stood for nearly four decades.

Joseph, Robert, and Ray Graham formed their company after selling their truck-building operation to Dodge in 1926 and, in 1927, taking control of the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company. The brothers sold more than 73,000 cars in 1928, but four years later, at the height of the Great Depression, they needed a bold new model to turn around their sinking fortunes. The scholarly Amos Northup, a pioneer of streamline design who worked for Murray, a Detroit-based supplier of body stampings, came to their rescue for the 1932 Blue Streak Eight. In an era of styling conventions defined by upright grilles and cycle fenders, Northup’s sloped-back grille and skirted fenders were a breakthrough. The fenders wrapped down from their horizontal surfaces to hide the inner wheel-well panels (and the mud that collected there) while creating a picture frame to showcase the wheels themselves.

Built between 1932-34, Graham-Paige’s Blue Streak styling was the talk of the industry and a break point between the past and the future of automobile design that changed cars forever. It wasn't hard for the public and other manufacturers to tell that this was the way forward.

By 1934, nearly every new car in America had skirted fenders in place of what previously had been little more than planks over the front and rear tires. The 1933 Graham Blue Streak was honestly advertised as "the most imitated car on the road."

Functional streamlining became a counterpoint to the styling embellishments seen on everything from automobiles to pencil sharpeners to radios and locomotives in the 1930s. Even at rest, the Graham Blue Streak projects a sense of speed.

The Graham’s new chassis also in influenced the Blue Streak’s styling. The rear axle passed through an opening in the “banjo” frame, so called because of that area’s profile, and the rear springs were relocated outboard of the frame rails, rather than directly underneath them, strengthening it as well as lowering the car's center of gravity. It made handling characteristics far superior to anything else at the time.

The Graham Blue Streak Eight is the 19th car documented for the National Historic Vehicle Register in the United States.

This Blue Streak was imported new into Belgium in 1933 by a diamond business owner and remained in the same family for 70 years. It was passed on from the first owner to his son. During the Second World War it was confiscated by the Nazis and found two years after the war had ended. In the 1970s it spent some time in the Belgium Congo before returning to Europe. It was purchased by its new Belgium owner in France and restored there some 15+ years ago and is in great condition. It then returned to Belgium.

The original eight cylinder engine produces 90bhp and runs on a 6 volt electrical system.

Two original headlamps come with the car as well as service history paperwork from the last owner in Belgium (post restoration) and its original owner’s manual. The car is UK registered.

This historic vehicle would be a jewel in any car collection. A rare opportunity as Blue Streaks almost never come to market.

Open to offers. Would consider a swap for a car of similar value or may part exchange.