Brothers T.O. & M.F. Brooks owned this auto parts store on S. Congress Ave. — in the 1930s, it was called ‘San Antonio Highway.’ The Standard 1938 Ford Model 81B was a lot different than the Model 81A Deluxe, including a curvy grille, a more modern dash, instruments, an 85 hp (60 hp for the Standard Model 81B) engine, sliding gear 3 speed transmission, shaft drive and 3/4 inch floating rear axle.
Recently, I took a drive in East Texas. In lovely Gladewater, there is a collector car dealer, Economy Automotive, in the smack dead center of town, and this 1942 Mack, model EHU, is his daily driver. Actually, it’s mostly a more recent one ton Chevrolet truck with this vintage Mack cab. Comparing it to the old pic, this fellow fabricated the front fenders and the grille bars. Nice truck, tho. (Here is an earlier post of a custom 1941 Chevy for sale by this same dealer.)
W.A. Swearingen founded this Ford dealership, later to became Leif Johnson Ford, with Jack Gray, an All American basketball guard at UT, and then UT’s basketball coach (1936-42, 1945-51). Gray changed basketball shooting technique forever by shooting with just one hand, the “push shot.” Multiple window signs say “Ford Leads the Way.” Two pictures show Gray as a player – in 1935, and then as a coach. The first two dealership pictures were taken in 1948, the last one in 1949, showing the classic Ford F1.
I see a 1947 Studebaker, so the picture must have been taken late in 1946.
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