1941 Graham Hollywood Custom

The three Graham brothers began their working career for a glass company for which Joseph Graham invented an improved method to blow glass bottles. Ray Graham then invented a method to convert Ford Model T's into one-ton trucks. They soon entered into an agreement with Dodge to build trucks using Dodge drivetrains which were sold by Dodge dealers. They sold their Dodge stock in April of 1926 and started their own automobile company.

The Hollywood was built using dies from the Cord 810/812. The dies had been bought by Huppmobile but they had difficulties getting their car into production. A joint venture between the two companies resulted in the Graham Hollywood and Huppmobile Skylark. The Hollywood did not have the hidden headlights or front-wheel drive of the Cord. It did feature a supercharged 125 horsepower, six-cylinder Graham-designed engine built by Continental, much as the Cord featured a supercharged Continental engine.

In September of 1940, the Graham-Paige Company switched production to military items in support of the World War II effort. After the war, in 1946, the company resumed the production of automobiles. Their new car, the Frazer, was named in honor of Joseph Washington Frazer, the president of the Graham-Paige Company.

In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and Frazer became the owners of the Graham-Paige assets and became known as the Kaiser-Frazer. Graham's facilities were sold to the Chrysler Corporation.

Graham-Paige went into the real estate building. In 1962 the company changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation.

In 1941 the Graham Company offered two models though they were nearly identical. The models were the Hollywood Custom Supercharged and the Custom Hollywood. Both rode on a 115-inch wheelbase and were offered as a four-door sedan. Both were powered by a 217.8 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine and both had a bore of 3.25 inches and a stroke of 4.38 inches. The differences were obvious due to the description of the model, a supercharger. Without the supercharger, the horsepower was 95 but with it, horsepower rose to 124.

Sedan
Chassis number: 701050

This is the only known Hollywood to have the unique Yosemite Green and Mist Green iridescent color combinations. There were only 1,859 Hollywoods and 319 Skylarks built, making these cars rarer than the Cord 810/812, which had a production run of about 3,000 units. This is believed to be among the last fifty Graham Hollywood's built.

Sedan

The Graham Company entered into a contract with Hupmobile in 1940 to build a car called the Skylark. Hupmobile soon went out of business which left Graham with a production line set up. The company renamed the car the Graham Hollywood and continued production.

From the cowl back, the car is based on the 1936-37 Cord. Hupmoible had purchased the body dies from the Auburn Automobile Company which had gone out of business. Many changes from the Cord were implemented, including a redesigned front end and the conversion from front-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive.

There were 1,859 examples of the Hollywood built with the majority being fitted with a supercharger. Some of the Hollywood cars were raced, and with a power-to-weight ratio that was unmatched, many drivers found success including Bill France, the father of NASCAR.

The supercharged six-cylinder engine produced 124 horsepower and rested on a 115-inch platform. the car weighs just 2,365 pounds and sold for $1,250 when new.

by Dan Vaughan

Convertible

This car is the only known Graham Hollywood convertible known to exist and was originally driven by the son of company founder Robert Graham.

The unibody Graham was equipped with a supercharged 217 cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine offering 120 horsepower and, with a weight of only 3,000 lbs., offered the highest power-to-weight ratio of any 1941 American car.

The body of this Graham Hollywood was built using the dies used to build the 1936-37 Cord. These cars were not built very long. The Graham company shut down production in September of 1940 and never resumed.

Sedan

The current owner acquired this car from the granddaughter of Joe Graham, one of the original Graham brothers.

Sedan
Chassis number: 900053

This Graham Hollywood Sedan is powered by a 217 cubic-inch, L-head engine built by Continental and offering 85 horsepower. There is a three-speed manual transmission, utility spotlights, wide whitewall tires, painted steel wheels, AM radio, heater, and cloth interior. In the front are a three-piece grille, split front windshield, chrome bumpers, and bumper guards. The car has suicide front doors and a body that was styled after the 1939 Hupmobile Skylark.

by Dan Vaughan

Sedan
Chassis number: 700325
Engine number: 710345

In the years that followed the First World War, the three Graham brothers enjoyed success with a truck-building business. They later sold their truck business to the Dodge brothers and in 1928 bought the ailing carmaker Paige-Detroit. The cars that followed were called the Graham-Paige. By 1930, they were simply known as Graham. The Graham automobiles were found successful in speed trials and hillclimbs, but due to limited capital, they found it difficult to weather the Great Depression. Their 'Sharknose' Graham was not well received so they reached an agreement with the Hupp Motor Company to build the Hupmobile Skylark as a separate Graham version of the car. These were based on the Gordon Buehrig-designed Cord 810/812 with tooling that Hupp had acquired after Cord entered receivership. Graham redesigned the front sheet metal and installed it on a new purpose-designed chassis powered by Graham's own six-cylinder engine. A supercharger was offered as optional equipment.

This particular Graham Hollywood Custom Sedan is fitted with the optional supercharger. It has been given a restoration with the work being completed in 1996. It has been used sparingly since that time and shown rarely. In 2016, it was displayed at the Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance where it took 2nd in Class.

by Dan Vaughan

Sedan
Chassis number: 710119

1941 Graham Hollywood Sedan was formerly on display at the Nostalgia Vintage Auto Museum in Hollister, California. It wears an older restoration and is finished in white with a sable interior. The 217 cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine is fitted with a supercharger and paired with a three-speed manual transmission. It has a bench seat, a chrome grille, bumpers, and trim.

by Dan Vaughan