Essex Terraplane Trivia

Notes on the pictures below.

1) Contests for a free Terraplane: I have found numerous contests in Utah and California to win a free Essex Terraplane. In all but one of the contests I found, the person had to be present at the drawing to win the car. One California dealer kept extending the contest to new dates. It makes me wonder if the car was ever won.

2) Tom Botterill owned dealerships in Denver and Salt Lake City. His brother Frank managed the Salt Lake City location. Tom and Frank knew the value of advertising and had at least one photograph advertisement per month advertising the 1932-1933 Terraplanes. A link to a pdf file containing the full-page advertisement is attached to the picture. To get to the link you must first click on the picture to go to the full-page view. Next you must press the escape key or click on the two arrows in the upper left corner to see the full description. On smaller devices the two arrows might be replaced with an X in a black box.

Ten Terraplane Emblems, and a few Essex

A radio announcer's pocketbook

After market trunk kit showing a luggage trunk shaped to meet the curve of the car. This kit also came with a modified bumper. Shown with a 17" rim.

After Market accessory

Sales Brochure in England

1933 ET Paint codes

1932 Oldsmobile Paint codes. The maroon matches the 1933 ET codes.

1933 KU Instrument gauges. The top set was out of an early production KU, the bottom set was out of a parts car from a KU about 1000 numbers higher in the VIN.

1933 KT Instrument gauges

HUDSON MAKES NEW TYPE CAR
“Terraplane,” Six Cylinder Essex, on Display in San Pedro Today

1932 ET Advertisement

Advertisement: Manti [UT] Messenger 1932-07-29

Famous Inventor Gets
First Car
Orville Wright, inventor of the first practical airplane, was presented with the first of the new Essex Terraplane cars which was christened by Amelia Earhart at the huge driveaway ceremonies held in Detroit last week, it was announced yesterday by Earle C. Anthony, president and general manager of Earle C. Anthony, Inc.; Hudson and Essex distributors
Wright previewed the new car recently when he and a group of distinguished engineers and airplane designers visited the Hudson plant as the guests of Roy D. Chapin, chairman of the board of the Hudson Motor Car Company. Because the new Essex utilizes construction principles developed by aviation, Wright, discoverer of many of these principles, was selected for the honor of owning; the first of the now automobiles.
A host of notables attended the public christening and driveaway which took place at Hudson-Essex Field, in Detroit.
Several hundred officers and representatives of companies supplying materials for the new car. whose firms are enjoying a rush of business as a result of the production of the new car, enjoyed a preview of the new Terraplane and remained in Detroit for the drive.

Deseret News 1932-11-18 Page 15. Notice in this case the winner must be present.

Salt Lake Tribune 1932-12-03 Page 16. Notice in this case the winner does not need to be present.

Salt Lake Tribune 1933-01-05 Page 8

San Pedro News Pilot, 12 July 1933

San Pedro News Pilot, 26 July 1933

San Pedro News Pilot, 2 Aug 1933

Full-page advertisement Salt Lake Tribune 1932-08-11 Page 7. Click on this picture to go to the full-page view, and then click on the link to see the pdf file.

San Pedro News Pilot, 16 Aug 1933

Provo Evening Herald 1933-09-20 Page 5

For your comparison, a 1933 Hudson

Free Essex Terraplane, San Pedro News Pilot 2 September 1932

More Trivia: In some cases it costs more money today to professionally restore one of the emblems in the first picture than it cost to purchase the car new.