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Jay Leno and Dick Shappy at Jay's Burbank California facility in March of 2003 standing in front of Jay's newly restored 1947 American LaFrance fire truck. Comment from Dick Shappy. "Jay is a true hobbyist and is one of the most cordial and interesting people I have met since being involved in this hobby for the past 33 years". | |
| Several weeks ago I was contacted by Jonathan O'Beirne who is a producer with CNN's "Great Big Story". He had information that I was in possession of an exact recreation of the 1911 Marmon Wasp that was the first Indy 500 winner on May 30, 1911 driven by Ray Harroun. He asked if he could come to my showroom... Click here to read the full article |
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| This article was published in the Pharos-Tribune Logansport, Indiana by Kevin Burkett, editor Used with permission Shappy came to own what was left of the contents of the Logansport ReVere plant's inventory... Click here if you need the Adobe Reader --- Click here to read the full article in PDF format |
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| With over sixty vintage cars and sixty antique motorcycles in our growing inventory, we have decided that we need more space to store and display these vehicles. One really can't appreciate the beauty and design of a rare car or motorcycle if it is boxed in with other items parked only inches away. It is also not practical to do body work and repairs in close proximity to finished or restored cars. The space where these vehicles are displayed must be dust free and properly lighted. Click here to read the full article |
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| This article was published in the June 8, 2017 edition of the Johnston Sunrise Trucks have always been part of most boys' early childhood fantasies. Through the years kids have had a special affinity for all shapes and sizes of trucks, especially police, fire and military vehicles. As the old adage goes, "Little boys play with toy trucks and bigger boys tinker with the real McCoys." Click here to read the full article |
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| I attended the Tri-State Firefighter Meet at Memorial Beach Park, Webster, Massachusetts on May 21, 2017 and displayed my 1939 Ahrens Fox for the first time. I have always had great interest in early fire apparatus and have been a member of both local and national clubs that are dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of antique fire apparatus. In fact, many years ago, I learned of a fire museum on Cape Cod that was... Click here to read the full article |
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| I always enjoy the annual swap meet of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America at Oley, Pennsylvania, and I always come home with rusty “gold”. I just returned and am happy to say that the meet this year was as good as it could be. The weather was absolutely perfect with temperatures reaching the mid eighties and many treasures were available for sale. Click here to read the full article |
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| In September 2010, I sponsored and participated in the first Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Race which was the brainchild of Lonnie Isam Jr. I had great hopes and expectations that my entry, a 1911 Flying Merkel Single, would have a good run and would be in the winner’s circle at the end of the 15-day endurance test. If you read “Motorcycle Cannonball Conclusion”, on this site that I wrote in December 2010, you will see that I was not very happy with the outcome of the race and reported that I was embarrassed by our poor performance... Click here to read the full article Click here for our progress September 10 - 25, Atlantic City, New Jersey to Carlsbad, California |
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| Used with permission 1922 Packard Twin Six Cape Top — Body By Brunn Richard Shappy, Warwick, Rhode Island, owner Story by Dick Shappy with Don Hull, Photos by Tracey McDermott Fashion model is Ashley Kingsbury Here’s where Dick Shappy first saw the 1922 Packard Twin Six --- crossing the winner’s circle at Pebble Beach, August, 2014. The car had won Best in Class for Preservation Class. And Shappy simply had to have that car. Fortunately, it was owned by his friend, Mark Hyman, who gladly surrendered it to his friend in an “affordable” exchange—one arm, one leg, his eye teeth, two congressman, one senator, a supreme court justice, a summer castle in Spain, two Greek islands, and a dinner with Donald Trump. That’s how much it cost Dick Shappy and how the car found itself a new home on the east coast. Dick Shappy is a major league classic car collector with 35 years of experience in the hobby, so when he saw this Packard, he knew it was a unique opportunity to own one of the great treasures of Packarddom. Click here if you need the Adobe Reader --- Click here to read the full article in PDF format |
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| In the spring of 2013, I was approached by my next door neighbor at 375 Charles St. Providence who told me that he was considering closing his Sprint cell phone store. This was a great opportunity for me to expand my vintage car and motorcycle business. My growing car business definitely needed the space. It's a real no no to store finished vehicles in the same building where other cars are being painted or restored. Keeping my finished show cars clean had become a full-time job. Keeping them always covered was not a good solution. Click here to read the full article |
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| It has been quite a while since we have done work on the Osgood Bradley trolley, but that is about to change. Chris, who has done a superb job on the restoration of this beautiful piece of transportation history, has been repeatedly asked why he has not been available to continue working on this project. He said he wanted to continue and he even submitted a proposal to finish the work. Click here to read the full article |
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| Since the passing of Leroy Hartung, there had been much speculation as to what would happen to the vast collection of vintage cars, motorcycles, parts, license plates, and hundreds of other collectibles that he had amassed over the past fifty years. Click here to read the full article |
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| Once again it was time to visit the Perkiomen National Meet in Oley, Pennsylvania which was held this year on April 28th to April 30th. Sean Brayton and I loaded the motorhome school bus, truck, and trailer, and headed south for the five-hour ride to Oley. We left at midnight and reached Oley at sunrise only to experience a brutal wind storm and torrential downpour that lasted at least five hours. At that point, it looked like the day was going to be a total washout but as the afternoon progressed, everybody emerged from hiding and the meet began... Click here to read the full article |
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| September 10th is approaching fast, and the Motorcycle Cannonball event is the main topic of discussion in the antique motorcycle community. It is even changing the way we would normally schedule our visits to national AMCA meets. For example, it seems that the West Coast guys will have no trouble attending this year's grand daddy event held at Davenport, Iowa as they will just make it a stop over on their way to North Carolina. East Coast guys face a different situation as they would have to trek to Iowa... Click here to read the full article |
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| On Sunday, June 13th, a fire truck show sponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of SPAAMFAA which is the abbreviated name of the Society of the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motorized Fire Apparatus in America held it's annual muster at the Johnston Memorial Park in Johnston, Rhode Island. I was a member of the national SPAAMFAA organization for many years and had let my membership lapse a few years ago as I had sold off my collection of thirteen fire trucks... Click here to read the full article |
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| I have just returned from the Rhinebeck New York vintage motorcycle meet that was held on June 10th (Thursday) to June 13th (Sunday) 2010, and I can't believe that I have never attended this meet before. As usual, I found lots of hard to find goodies and made new contacts for future projects. My friend Sean and I arrived via the "bus" and quickly set up home base at Billy Campbell's flea market spaces. You can always count on Billy for a steady supply of cold ones "etc". and this year's addition of charcoal broiled... Click here to read the full article |
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| Since I began collecting vintage motorcycles years ago, I have been attending vintage motorcycle swap meets across the country. Last week April 23rd to 25th the Perkiomen's National Meet was held at Oley Pennsylvania and as always, this meet proved to be a great success for both vendors and collectors. I usually don't come home empty handed and this year's meet netted me a very nice original 1907 Indian Camel Back single. I got interested in this beautiful early piece after seeing it at Davenport Iowa last year... Click here to read the full article |
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| Dear Motorcycle Cannonball Entrants, We'd like to take a minute to introduce the newest member of the Motorcycle Cannonball staff, Karrie Sims. Mrs. Sims has joined our team as Events Manager and has already hit the floor running. In addition to the many administrative duties she's overseeing, Karrie is ironing out any wrinkles we may have and is working on producing a souvenir program for the event. Her extensive experience in... Click here to read the full article |
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| It had been a dream of Lonnie Isam Jr's for years to assemble a group of pre-1916 motorcycle owners, collectors and enthusiasts and convince them to take their early vintage machines out of "display only" status and put them on the road for a grueling coast to coast test of man and machine. Click here to read the full article |
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| There aren’t many Speedwell Speed cars around. Speedwell Motor Car Co. was only in existence for seven years, from 1907 to 1914. Apart from its Speed Car, the company is perhaps most famous for building a closed car in 1911 that was the first to be called a sedan. Click here to read the full article |
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| If you are an antique automobile enthusiast, a trip to Hershey in early October is virtually a must. Antique motorcycle enthusiasts have several meets across the country where many go to buy, sell, or trade those hard to acquire vintage parts. Similar events occur at Wauseon Ohio, Rhinebeck New York, and Oley Pennsylvania but Davenport Iowa is the grand daddy and by far the largest. Click here for more pictures |
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| Dick Shappy adds eleven more early motorcycles to the collection. Some need to be restored, some are in show quality condition and a few are in excellent original unrestored condition. They include a 1912 Yale twin, 1912 Thor twin, 1912 emblem Twin, 1914 Thor Twin, many 40's era Harleys and Indians. All will either be displayed for sale or as a "project in progress" real soon. Click here for more pictures |
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| On Sunday May 17, 2009 Dick Shappy was invited to the Lars Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline Massachusetts to be the guest speaker on Cadillac Day. Dick has been restoring and collecting Cadillac cars for the past thirty-five years and is currently displaying two of his restorations at the museum. Click here to read the full article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Doris Duke Packard by Rollston will be on display at the Newport Rhode Island Concours D'elegense this coming weekend May 31st Click here to view its gallery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I look forward to attending the Oley Pennsylvania antique motorcycle meet each year, and I find it to be the best source on the east coast for acquiring those hard-to-find pieces that are needed to finish a difficult vintage motorcycle restoration. Of course, we all agree that the Davenport Iowa meet is by far the best... but we love Oley. Click here to read the full article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's almost easy to imagine Dick Shappy's 1911 electric trolley rattling down the streets of Providence. Almost, because it is still missing its wheels and two electric engines. But the basic structure is in shape, with rebuilt platforms at each end, two rows of... Click here to read the full article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Approximately ten years ago, Dick Shappy caught the motorcycle "bug" and has since developed a keen interest in locating, restoring, and preserving some of the finest early American antique and vintage motorcycles that can be found. His collection consists of such name brands as Henderson, Harley Davidson, Indian, Merkel, Miami, and Pope but he is always looking to expand the collection to include such marquees as Ace, Crocker, Curtiss, Emblem, Excelsior, Pierce, Yale, or anything interesting ... Click here to read the full article
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For the past several years, my friend Sean Brayton and I had talked about attending a national antique motorcycle meet which is held once a year in Davenport, Iowa. I had decided months before this year's meet that I would attend, and I told Sean that I wanted him to go as well. There are a few similar vintage motorcycle meets across the country each year such as at Hebron, Connecticut, Oley, Pennsylvania, and Wauseon, Ohio, but the Davenport meet is regarded... Click here to read the full article
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From left to right. Billy "V" from Sports Legends TV show, Actor John Ashton of Beverly Hills Cop, Dick Shappy, and three-time Super Bowl quarterback and legend Jim McMahon pose at Dick Shappy's house with Billy "V's" 1959 Rolls Royce.
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Dick Shappy's television appearance on "Cruisin' New England" has been uploaded to www.cruisinnewenglandtv.com. The episode features a number of rare vehicles in Dick's collection, including their rich histories, in addition to interesting information about the classic car trade. To view the online episodes, Adobe Flash Player 9 or later needs to be installed on your computer. Click "Download Now" to get the Flash Player. 
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A record crowd attended last Saturday's 56th Annual Fall Meet of the Fairfield County Region Horseless Carriage Club of America and Antique Automobile Club of America, held on the grounds of the historic Lonetown Farm for the seventh year. The Redding Historical Society, which hosted the event and was the beneficiary of the $8 adult admission fee, was hoping to attract more than 400 paid attendees; the count for the sunny afternoon was nearly 500... Click here to read the full article
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By Fred Roe Yes, it is Dick Shappy’s car now, but to a few of us New England old timers, we know it as Phil Cade’s Duesenberg. After all, Phil and Peggy Cade owned it from 1942 until it came into Dick’s hands in 2005.That is over sixty years. While in most of those years it remained, unused, in the Cade garage, early in their ownership, it was conspicuously active in the New England area. I don’t remember when I first saw it, but the Cades became very active in The Sports Car Club of America which was hatched in 1944... Click here to read the full article
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WARWICK The movement to conserve and preserve old cars rather than completely restoring them is gaining ground in the world of antique car collecting. The interest is reflected in a new category — Postwar Preservation through 1967 — being introduced this weekend at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, Calif... Click here to read the full article
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WARWICK They tick and whine and grind, but the pre-1915 brass car is a work of art, a piece of moving history, and about 130 of these beauties are currently cruising the back roads of the Ocean State. You may have seen them, set up high and bumbling along on their narrow tires, their eponymous brass work gleaming in the sunshine... Click here to read the full article
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It is recomended that you right-click the link, and download the file to your hard drive if you have a slower internet connection or computer. The article is a PDF file. To view it properly, you may need to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. Click here to read the full article 
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When Cadillac turned the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline into its own version of a ``Caddy Shack" on a rainy, late summer evening, the star of the show was the lovingly restored 1930 V-16 Phaeton owned by Rhode Island collector Dick Shappy. Shappy's car -- a reminder of Cadillac's storied past -- wasn't there as a nostalgia item. Instead, it was proudly displayed as an icon of hand craftsmanship, starting with the $8,000 Lalique eagle hood ornament/radiator cap. "You're going to find more hand craftsmanship in future Cadillacs." Click Here to View Full Article
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It is recomended that you right click on the link, and download the article to your hard drive if you have a slower internet connection or computer. The Hemmings article is a PDF file. To view it properly, you may need to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. Click here to read the full Hemmings article
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Recently, Dick Shappy was interviewed for an article that will be appearing in the February 2007 Hemmings Motor News magazine. We have the oportunity to present a sneak peak of what will be published. Click Here to View the Preview
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Dick Shappy rubs elbows with the likes of Jay Leno, and, like Leno, he rolls up his sleeves and gets his hands dirty restoring his collection of classic cars. Most of his fleet of some 40 cars are Cadillacs, but there are notable exceptions... Click Here to View Full Article
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Of all the cars in Dick Shappy’s collection of Cadillacs, his current favorite is his 1930 V16 Phaeton convertible sedan. The all-weather phaeton, a Model 4380, is a national award winner in the Classic Car Club of America competition and won the Chairman’s Award in June at the Newport Concours d’Elegance. The 452-cubic-inch engine makes 175 hp and the car rides on 19-inch wire wheels... Click Here to View Full Article
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Once a year in mid March, Joe and Mike Ersland host the "National Pre War Swap Meet" in Chickasha Oklahoma. It is billed as the event where "east meets west" and is a unique kind of swap met where only pre world war 2 parts and accessories are allowed. For a collector like myself, who mostly enjoys the early automobiles, it is great to move from one space to the next and see only early parts and memorabilia for sale. One does not have to fight through the trinkets and jewelry or car models and all kinds of other new car junk. The organizers of this meet are quite serious about what is allowed to be sold here and monitor it all closely, which makes all of us... Click Here to View Full Article
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Several years ago, when we discovered the trolley disguised as a diner in West Warwick, Rhode Island, we knew that we had found a piece of transportation history. After a little research, we learned that we had found an "Osgood Bradley" car which was once part of the great United Electric Railway System (UER) which provided transportation for thousands of people in the Rhode Island community beginning in 1892. After a little more research, we learned that thirty-one Osgood Bradley cars were purchased by the company in 1911, and each was assigned a different serial number. The "Bradley" cars from the 1911 series were numbered 1068 to 1099 and... Click Here to View Full Article
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Every automobile enthusiast dreams of finding a rare or desirable car forgotten in a remote barn, scooping it up for a paltry sum, dusting off 50 years of neglect, and having a great story to tell at club meets and car shows. For collectors around the world, the Duesenberg is the ultimate American car, and to locate one of these ultra-rare, powerful, and justifiably desirable cars hidden in a building is the ultimate find... Click Here to View Full Article
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