One of the most brilliant flashes of light to come out of the Depression-era American auto scene was the 1932-1935 Graham "Blue Streak" Eight, a car of such trend-setting appearance that it served as a blueprint for the future, sending rival automakers into overtime, scrambling to catch up. Here is an introduction to the 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935 Graham Blue Streak. This was especially true in the once-prosperous automobile industry. Yet the Depression's deepening adversity spurred American automakers to new heights of engineering and styling achievements. But in order to fully savor the 1932-1935 Graham Blue Streak, an under-appreciated automotive achievement, and its even more amazing sponsors, a bit of perspective is in order. If the 1930s were a time of grim survival, by contrast the 1920s were a time of expectancy, fueled by Wall Street's Big Bull Market, which promised that everything was possible. By decade's end, Ford's domination of the market was forever broken via Alfred P. Sloan's policy of a General Motors car "for every purse and purpose," and Walter Chrysler was the head of a new automotive giant forged from an unlikely amalgamation of Maxwell, Chalmers, and Dodge.
In the meantime, daring entrepreneurs like William C. Durant and Errett Lobban Cord were fashioning their ephemeral empires. Concurrent with this frenetic activity, the automobile was itself transformed from a luxury to a necessity, closed cars triumphed over open cars in the public's fancy, and "planned obsolescence" had arrived to entice customers on an annual basis. Into this melange strode the brothers Graham, fated to take their place among the ranks of famous automotive brother acts, among them the Appersons, Bradys, Briscoes, Dodges, Duesenbergs, Duryeas, Fishers, Gardners, Jewetts, Kissels, Macks, Packards, Stanleys, Studebakers, and Whites. Continue to the next page to learn more about these brothers who created the Graham Blue Streak. In 1825, James Graham, the boys' father, had purchased 121 acres in Daviess County surrounding the small community of Washington, and had prospered. The farm could have provided the brothers a comfortable living, but the three siblings had dreams beyond the bucolic life.
In 1921, they were invited to Detroit by Frederick J. Haynes, president of Dodge Brothers, who was anxious to expand Dodge’s own limited truck business. The brothers agreed to build their trucks using Dodge engines and drivetrains exclusively, and sell them through the extensive Dodge Brothers retail network. By 1926, not only were these Indiana sharpies the largest exclusive truck manufacturer in the world, they were running the giant Dodge organization, www.PrimeBoosts.com and had been closely following the 1925 sale by the Dodge heirs of their Dodge Brothers holdings to the investment firm of Dillon, Read and Company. But in April 1926, the Grahams suddenly and unexpectedly resigned from Dodge, which promptly completed its acquisition of the brothers’ truck business. Why the Grahams left so abruptly remains unknown, but their unforeseen departure had important, far-reaching consequences. Deprived of their astute management, the Dodge firm slid rapidly downhill, ultimately -- in 1928 -- into the waiting arms of Walter P. Chrysler.
But Dodge was firmly in the truck business, and the Grahams were firmly out. In 1927, the brothers organized the Graham Brothers Corporation to manage their financial interests, which included an $11 million-dollar share of the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company in Toledo. Concurrently, the Grahams were casting about for an automotive property. They found it in the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company, assuming control on June 10, 1927, from Harry Jewett, who, with his brothers, had built Paige into a successful and well-known independent. But competition was increasing, profits were slipping, and Jewett was eager to sell. Perhaps Paige’s most attractive asset was a modern new factory the company was completing on Warren Avenue in Dearborn, just beyond the Detroit border. Joe Graham became president, Robert vice-president/sales, and Ray secretary-treasurer of the renamed Graham-Paige Motors Corporation. In January 1928, the brothers proudly presented their new line of Graham-Paige cars, four sixes and an eight priced from $860 to $2,485. Find out how these new Graham cars were received on the next page.
The Graham brothers' first automotive products were an instant success, as production of 73,195 cars in 1928 permitted the new Graham-Paige organization to set a sales record for a new make of automobile in its first year (a sign of good things to come for the 1932 Graham Blue Streak). Output peaked at 77,007 units in 1929, making Graham-Paige the largest of the "minor" independents -- those producing fewer than 100,000 cars annually -- and comfortably ahead of rival Hupmobile. To beat the Depression, something special was needed. Enter the Graham Blue Streak, godspeedoffroad.com which debuted on December 8, 1931, to universal acclaim and admiration. The 1932 Graham Blue Streak Eights -- available only in sedan, three-window coupe, and convertible coupe body styles -- possessed a truly arresting appearance. Mounted over a generous 123-inch wheelbase, the stunning new bodies were smooth and rounded, with unsightly chassis parts concealed, especially at the rear. Windshields -- one-piece on the sedan and coupe, two-piece on the convertible -- were raked at a sharp angle, which was mimicked by the louvers on the hood side panels and by the smartly sloped vee'd radiator grille, whose vertical pattern of bright bars tapered toward the bottom.