Motoring Monday : 1933 Pontiac Coupe

The 1933 Pontiac Straight Eight Standard Coupe.
From a newspaper advertisement. Original source unknown.

The 1933 Pontiac Coupe was the Dixon family car between 1942 and 1945.(1)  My goodness, Gramps did like the sporty cars! This is another two-seater, but I believe it may have come with a rumble seat. The car Wallace B. Dixon purchased was likely well broken in since it had been on the road for nine years by the time he purchased it. Still, it's quite a looker!

Since this was the family car while my mother was in high school, I wonder if she ever got to drive it.

License and Registration (2)

The only registration that I have for this vehicle tells us that the car was a green Pontiac Coupe with an 8-cylinder engine. It also shows a new family address : 763 South Broad Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey.

1942 NJ Vehicle Registration for the
1933 Pontiac Coupe.

The driver's licenses for 1942 and 1943 have the same residence. Also, they have reduced my grandfather's height to a much more realistic 5'5" from the 5'7" of previous years.

Wallace B. Dixon's 1942 NJ Auto Driver's License.

Wallace B. Dixon's 1943 NJ Auto Driver's License.

But then, in 1944 and 1954...

Hello Miami!

For at least part of World War II the Wallace B. and Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon lived in Miami. Or at least I'm assuming Sophie was there as well. But perhaps not, with a daughter in her last years of high school.

I knew that my grandparents had spent a good bit of time in Florida, but I had assumed it had been for my Grandfather's health. He had contracted emphysema while working in a soap factory (or so I believe he told me) and I'm sure the warm winter air in Florida would have been beneficial for him.

This new evidence makes it look like he was working while in Miami, as an "inspector" of some sort. Since he had a long career with Standard Oil, I wonder if he worked for them in some capacity. More research is certainly required!

In any case, according to these documents, he was issued a Florida Driver's License on 13 March 1944, at which time he was living at 340 NE 17th Terrace, Miami, Dade County, Florida.  On 28 September 1944 he renewed that license for 1945.

1944 Florida Driver's License issued to Wallace B. Dixon.
Privately held by E. Ackermann, 2016.

1945 Florida Driver's License issued to Wallace B. Dixon.
Privately held by E. Ackermann, 2016.

 So now I have some Florida research to do. I know there are photos somewhere of the Dixons in Florida. Stay tuned!

Sources
(1) Wallace B. Dixon, handwritten note listing all the cars he owned and home addresses. Wallace B. Dixon Collection, privately held by his grandaughter, E. Ackermann, 2016.

(2) New Jersey driver's licenses from 1926, 1928, 1929, Wallace B. Dixon Collection; privately held by Elizabeth Ackermann, [address for private use], 2016. Inherited by his daughter, Mary E. Dixon Traina, and then by her daughter, E. Ackermann.