Our Year of the Motorcycle program launched on August 19 with the opening of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum exhibit, A Century of the American Motorcycle. This outstanding display of around thirty five select machines from the Barber collection embody the very finest in American motorcycle technology and design from 1905 to the present. The exhibit has been a great success, generating much media coverage, and of all surveyed guests visiting the Cleveland History Center, around seventy percent cited the Century exhibit as their primary interest. 

August 28 saw the Crawford ‘Invaded’ by a group of local bikers celebrating a ‘Mods vs Rockers’ tribute to classic British motorcycling, where owners of scooters faced off against traditional large-displacement motorcycles with a display of their machines and a tour of the Century exhibit. Of course, it was all good-natured rivalry, but their gathering served as a reminder of the very real confrontations created when ‘Mod’ scooter riders faced off against traditional ‘Rocker’ bikers in 1960’s England. The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr famously replied, when asked whether he was a ‘Mod’ or a ‘Rocker’, ‘Neither. I’m a Mocker’. Cleveland’s Skidmark Garage serves as headquarters for the ‘Mods vs Rockers’ group, and the Crawford looks forward to hosting this bunch of local rowdies again in the near future.

Late September saw the Crawford participating in the Molto Bella car show, held at Stan Hywet Hall on the 12th, where we displayed our newly-acquired 1956 Citroen Traction Avant Familiale to great interest from the crowd. Also, on the 25th, our Macedonia Preservation and Storage Facility hosted its second ‘Coffee and Cars’ of the year, but with dire weather forecast for the day, attendance was sparse. The rains held off however, and a highlight of the event was the firing up of two aircraft engines owned by Macedonia volunteer Frank Sesek (see Frank’s profile in News from the Crawford, Issue One).

Most recently, the Crawford participated in the seventh annual Fuel Cleveland motorcycle show, held at the former Cleveland Twist Drill factory at East 47^th and Lakeside. We brought our 1918 Cleveland single cylinder bike, along with our ultra-rare 1956 Vincent Black Prince, and the positive response was immediate. Around five thousand visitors packed the one-day show, and the variety of choppers, customs, bobbers, and vintage bikes was remarkable. Machines like the Vincent are so rarely seen that quite a stir was created, particularly among the motorcycle media. Our friends at Lowbrow Customs sponsored and organized the show, and with some good fortune, we may be invited back again next year! We would like to thank Bob Vail, Tim Dunn, and Bill Glavac for their kind assistance transporting our bikes to the show.

Occasionally, great classic cars are like comets; they burn brightly across the night sky, remain for a short time, then continue on their unseen and mysterious journey. Such is the case with our featured car, a 1929 Auburn 8-120 Speedster, originally owned by professional boxer Johnny Risko of Sheffield Lake, Ohio.

Risko, now largely forgotten, was a sports superstar in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, going toe-to-toe and sometimes beating boxing legends like Gene Tunney, Max Baer, and Max Schmelling. He became known as the ‘Rubber Man’ because of his ability to take a punch and keep coming forward. In approximately 140 fights, he was stopped only three times, and counted out only once, when he was 38 years old. Because of his success, Risko could afford the finer things in life, one being the purchase of a new 1929 Auburn Speedster. When most cars of the period were capable of speeds in the 40 mph range, the Auburn could push nearly 100 mph. Risko, although a great boxer was an average driver, who promptly wrecked the car. Undaunted, he purchased another 1929 Speedster, drove more carefully, and kept the car until his death in 1953. From that point on, the Speedster became the proverbial comet, hidden from view in a Lodi, Ohio barn from 1956 until Auburn enthusiast Alan J. Atkinson of Houston, Texas recently discovered it while purchasing another Auburn from the the owner.

Bottom Right: ‘A fragment of the headlight collection’ Photo by John Lutsch, Bottom Left: ‘Vintage trophies gleam at Macedonia’ Photo by John Lutsch

It was in a rather dark corner of a small storage area that the subject of this article was discovered, surrounded by equally rare and beautiful objects. It is an original casting of ‘La Cigogne’ (The Stork) created by French Sculptor Francois Bazin in 1920. Not only is it a beautifully executed bronze work of art, but significantly, it is the prototype for the ornaments which graced the radiator caps of all Hispano Suiza motorcars from 1920 onwards. It is an iconic image familiar to most vintage automobile enthusiasts and has been reproduced in all sizes and materials throughout the past century.

Earlier this month, Jay Leno, television host, comedian, and writer, famous for his incredible collection of classic cars and motorcycles, stopped by the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum with Lou Vitantonio, President of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association (GCADA).  Jay, Lou, Dennis Barrie, Glenn Anderson and I toured the Century of the American Motorcycle exhibit on loan to the Crawford (thru 3/2022) from the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, a special treat given Jay's knowledge and unrivaled passion for motorcycles. However, the highlight of the visit was being with Jay - automotive and entertainment royalty - in the Crawford collection, listening to stories, ideas, and learning from a leading authority on automobiles and automotive history. Jay's visit is a feather in the cap for the Crawford, one of the finest automobile museums in the United States. 

Consider the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum for your next club meeting or event! With 50,000 sq. ft. of open gallery space, there is plenty of room to safely host your next club outing.

From versatile conference spaces, to opulent reception halls, there is a space for every meeting, get-together, and event at our convenient University Circle location!