WBR's roadster from about 1950

[weaselmeatgravy]

Some of you may recall that some years ago, Bill Ruger's grandson auctioned off the content's of grampa's rolltop desk from the Southport factory. The contents were split into, I think, three lots and I ended up buying two of them. One of the items in one lot was a developed roll of B&W film in a continuous strip rolled up in a little ivory colored celluloid container. I had a flatbed scanner at the time and scanned a few of the images, and I just recently happened upon a folder on my PC that had 5 images from that strip of film. They seem to be vacation photos from a trip to San Francisco and I date them to 1950 based on one pic that has a theatre marquee advertising the movie, "Annie Get Your Gun" starring Betty Hutton and Howard Keel (in Technicolor) which google says came out in 1950.

Anyway, I thought this pic would be of the most interest to the Ruger collector crowd, showing his CT vanity license plate "GUNS":

I reckon the point of the pic was to show the tops of the suspension bridge towers obscured by low clouds or fog.

Maybe he saw Annie Get Your Gun here on this trip and got jazzed up for cowboy guns and went back home all inspired to design the Single Six which came out in 1953.

 

[contender]

Great pics! Pictures,, without the backstory do cause the imagination to run wild!

 

[hittman]

Woulda been quite a drive in that car from CT to SF.

 

[Danjet500]

Probably not allowed to have that plate today. Cool pics though.

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

Probably not allowed to have that plate today.

I dunno. I still have this one.

Different truck now, but same plate.

 

[Cholo]

That parking job explains Ruger's canted front sight problem

 

[Watertender]

Probably not allowed to have that plate today. Cool pics though.

There is a member on this forum that has the plate "Iluv44s" and has been flashed many times by young ladies mistaking his plate for admiration of the female anatomy....

 

[bedfordboy]

^^^ really… maybe I should think about getting me a custom plate too

 

[contender]

I know the owner of "Iluv44s" and there are some good "behind the scenes" stories.

But getting custom plates can be a trial & error event. It all depends upon who at the tag office looks at it & what they THINK it may mean.
Nowadays,, anything with guns may raise eyebrows.

 

[Watertender]

I know the owner of "Iluv44s" and there are some good "behind the scenes" stories.

But getting custom plates can be a trial & error event. It all depends upon who at the tag office looks at it & what they THINK it may mean.
Nowadays,, anything with guns may raise eyebrows.

He not only has the 44's plate, he has a nice red velvet case for a pair of 38's! My plate says Watertender but you have to look at it to understand how it's presented. I am sure there are ways to get plates portraying your favorite Ruger, you just have to make it a little different.

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

But getting custom plates can be a trial & error event. It all depends upon who at the tag office looks at it & what they THINK it may mean.

Yup, the old lady that handled my application was difficult. SIXGUNS was my second choice. She denied me having 3SCREWS.

 

[Johnnu2]

So, what kind of car is that the old man had there...?
A Jag..?
J.

 

[eveled]

Cool pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Since we strayed into vanity plate stories. Years ago my very Italian wife and I were on a roadtrip and were having fun spotting and translating vanity plates, many of them are abbreviated or use numbers as words, some are very clever.

We stopped at a store and she found a rock with the word IMAGINE on it. She held it up and proudly translated it to. "I'm a Guinea"!

 

[Watertender]

Over 40 years ago in West Virginia I saw a beat up truck with the doors held shut by wire and no plates on it. The driver was in worn bib overalls and slouch hat and denim frock coat. I can't remember the make of the truck but I do remember the driver and what he had painted on the doors.....

FRAM UCE.... (farm use)... I was tempted to ask him where I might find a jug of corn likker but I heard a banjo up in the holler and the movie Deliverance flashed through my mind...

 

[jussbad]

Rode this one around for years.

 

[dobegrant.45]

Thanks for sharing the pics, pretty cool

 

[44Squatch]

Rode this one around for years.

View attachment 34207

Gotta ask Sir … why did you stop ?
(That was probably a tough one to initially get)

 

[jussbad]

Gotta ask Sir … why did you stop ?
(That was probably a tough one to initially get)

Well, the short answer is the money CA collects for "environmental plate fee" I was paying for 6 different vehicles with this style plate. I still have the plates hanging in my shop.

 

[44Squatch]

Well, the short answer is the money CA collects for "environmental plate fee" I was paying for 6 different vehicles with this style plate. I still have the plates hanging in my shop.

Understood. I guess I forgot what some states charge for personalized plates. Ohio charges 50 bucks, so it's kind of a non-issue. At least the "Republik" didn't give you crap for your choice of cool plates.

 

[chet15]

WBR moved the "GUNS" plate to something different (forgot what the car was now) as there is a pic of it sitting in the parking area of the Red Barn complex and WBR and several others discussing something on one of the docks.
Chet15