The most famous of all 1934 Fords -- the Bonnie and Clyde "Death Car"

Hi folks -- I just ran across an article in the New York Times from July 29, 1973 entitled "Car that Gangsters Died In is Auctioned for $175,000.  

From the Times: 

The car was sold at the Bay State Antique Automobile  Exposition [Princeton, MA} for a record $175,000. to Peter A. Simon, 22 years old, a casino operator from Jean, Nev. It was formerly owned by Ned Toddy a retired Atlanta film producer.

The car has 160 bullet holes, blood stained seats and shattered windows and windshield....In the more than 20 years that Mr. Toddy owned the car, he said it has brought in more than $2 million in publicity and exhibition revenues.

Other facts from an Internet site:

The car in which Bonnie and Clyde were killed was a 1934 Ford V8. The car was stolen from the driveway of Jesse and Ruth Warren in Topeka, Kansas. After the shoot out, the Ford V8 was returned to the Warrens. Later the car was sold for $3,000 and exhibited at state fairs and carnivals. Eventually the death car was obtained for $250,000 by the Primm Valley Resort and Casino.

The exact quantities of weapons found in Bonnie and Clyde's 1934 Ford V8 death car are a matter of some debate. The following is a summary of the lists of weapons reportedly found in the 1934 Ford V8:

• Three 30-caliber Browning automatic rifles (BARs) (definite)
• One ten-gauge sawed-off shotgun (definite)
• One twenty-gauge sawed-off shotgun (definite)
• Six or seven Colt 45-caliber automatic pistols (definite)
• One Colt 32-caliber automatic pistol (probably)
• One Colt 38-caliber revolver or pistol (probably)
• One Colt 45-caliber revolver (probably)
• 2000-3000 rounds of ammunition (definite)
• The most heinous weapon of all: one saxophone (definite)

A collection of Bonnie and Clyde artifacts is on display at the Primm Valley Resort and Casino, in Primm Valley, Nevada. Primm Valley is just north of the California border on the Interstate 15. The display is located in a foyer between two large casinos. It is necessary to walk through miles of casino to reach the display. Artifacts on display include:

• Bonnie and Clyde's death car, a Ford V8
• Certificate of authenticity for the Ford V8 as Bonnie and Clyde's death car
• Original letter from Clyde Barrow to Henry Ford praising the merits of the Ford V8
• Clyde Barrow's death shirt
• Certificate of authenticity for Clyde Barrow's death shirt