Graham-Paige, Past, Present and Bright Future, Part II

I am still searching for Grandpa’s 1933 57A. I know she’s out there somewhere, I can feel her, the search continued...years passed...

My quest for an allusive 1933 started to fester again. I slept with one eye open for almost six years. While checking the Graham web sight I found an ad for a 1934 Graham six (a 1933 eight and 1934 six are almost identical cars). After a lot of negotiation and several hours on the phone a deal was struck, I was the proud new owner of a (in need of a lot of work) Graham very similar to my Grandfather’s. What? It is sold, yes, to me? No, not to me? You know it used to be a verbal deal was a deal, but apparently not any more? I had lost the 1934 Graham to a somewhat shifty deal. Now being a Graham and this world is getting smaller each day, it was not long till I found the true story and where the 1934 Graham had went. Well to make a long story short it is now in good Graham hands.

Needless to say I was extremely disappointed to loose the allusive car, especially one so similar to my Grandfather’s. Shortly after the setback, I started looking through some 20 year old Supercharger issues and a Graham I had not noticed before appeared, in Wisconsin, near where my Grandfather lived. Well the issue was almost 20 years old but… I found a phone number for the Gentleman and gave him a call….Graham, yes, wonderful car, yes, I did have one, oh, do you still? Why yes I do, black? Yes, it is black, wire wheels? Yes, it does have six wire wheels, a sport light? Why yes, it does have a sport light. The probability of a 1933, black, six wire wheel, sport light car, only a half hour away from my Grandfathers house and not being my Grandfather's car is almost impossible…. How about turn signals? (My Uncle Dick had installed the signal lights in 1949) No, no turn signal lights……. But the holes are still there!!! We made an appointment to get together to look at the Graham.
New Year’s weekend, it might be a wonderful New Year. The gentleman’s name is Lowell, he has taken great care of the 1933 Graham for almost 20 years, and his friend Rolland had owned the car for another 20 years. I was going to get to meet two of the gentlemen most responsible for keeping this Graham together and in original condition for over 40 years. It was not easy to prove it was my Grandfather’s Graham but the one picture I had left out of the last article gave several critical details (that is my Mom in the front seat of the Graham in 1952). First was the exact location of the signal lights my Uncle had mounted in 1949. The second was the small football shaped dent on the front fender that is still there today! The last detail I have just learned was my Grandfather had a hole in the oil pan repaired, the repair is still visible, a small hole made when on a family vacation crossing a plowed field! Lowell’s father had owned a Graham Crusader and Lowell wanted to continue owning a Graham, so we made a deal to trade one of my Grahams for my Grandfather’s car. It was a great almost surreal day for me; the end of a journey I was starting to believe would never come.


The 1933 still runs and drives, it has had a hard life but considering its age she is in remarkable condition. With the unbelievable amount of help from the “Graham family” I have gathered mountains of information about both of my 1929 and 1933 Grahams. Bill has been unbelievable in his help and friendship. I am planning an off frame restoration but first carefully documenting all the details of the car. Reconstructing the history and the way the car was originally built is as exciting for me as driving a piece of American and family history. The way our Grandfathers constructed these cars is an engineering marvel, driving the same car as my Grandfather loved is creating new Graham history.


I have been able to piece together most of the 1933 Graham 64’s life….
• 1933 to 1935, originally purchased by a leather salesman Frank Schubert for his wife they were from Appleton WI.
• 1935 to 1957, owned by my Grandfather, Brillion, WI, sold with approximately 34,000 miles.
• 1957, sold to Kloehn Oldsmobile Brillion WI. The car had had an interior fire on the sales lot in Brillion, kids smoking in the car. Several unidentified owners followed.
• 1962 to 1974, owned by Roland, Jerry and John (cousins). Purchased the car in Haven, WI. The Graham ran and drove but the interior was still in burned condition. For several years the Graham sat under a mulberry tree and made a great tree house for the kids to play in. The car was eventually parked in a Roland’s barn and forgotten for twelve years.
• 1972 to 1975, owned by Walter, he worked on the mechanicals, got the car running again and worked on the brakes but could never get them to work correctly.
• 1975 to 2006, owned by Lowell, continued light restoration, put in replacement seats, a replacement gas tank and a brush paint job.
• Feb, 18th 2006 to present, owned by me, I am collecting the missing parts and planning a compete frame off restoration to original. 37,549 original miles.


If anyone comes across a picture of this car I would be extremely interested. If you add up the options on this 1933 64 it exceeds the cost of the 57A so I feel it may have been a show/display car, maybe at the 1933 Chicago Auto Show or perhaps the 8 cylinder Graham used in the 1933 “Graham Safety Tour”.



1933 Graham 64 sedan; six wire wheels, safety plate glass, dual “clear vision ventilators”, steel trunk, bumper protectors, Sport light, dual wipers, dual horns, twin rear tail lights, wool taupe broadcloth interior, dual sun visors, radiator stone guard, dual zone deluxe Tropic Aire heater, and the flying Lady.