cars of charles addams

The Cars of Charles Addams Part 1

October 11, 2021 By pete

Addams and the 8C 2300 Alfa Romeo Castagna in front of his Westhampton Beach home in shortly before trading it for Ken Purdy’s Bugatti. Photo copyright and courtesy of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.

By Pete Vack

From the Archives, 2010

Classic Addams: From a high perch of their haunted Victorian mansion, a chilly Morticia looks on as Lurch and Gomez prepare to pour a cauldron of boiling oil onto an unsuspecting and cheery group of Christmas carolers three stories below.

Perhaps no cartoon better illustrated the wit, charm, style and macabre humor of Charles Addams than this New Yorker art from 1946 known as “Boiling Oil.” It is Addams at his best; the detail, the creepy mansion, the scary but lovable characters, the anticipation of a gruesome act which never actually transpires. His Addams Family™ cartoons inspired two TV series, two feature length movies and made him and the Addams Family™ household names. And the story lives on; Addams Family 2 opens this month in theaters near you. [Read more…] about The Cars of Charles Addams Part 1

Charles Addams: The Bugatti Years, 1960-1988

June 2, 2010 By pete

Legendary mechanic Jim McGee works on the Bugatti while Charles Addams looks on. Watermill, NY., 1978. Photo by H.R.Krause. Used with permission from the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.

By Pete Vack

Read Part I, Charles Addams and His Cars, 1948-1960

In 1960, Charles Addams was about to embark upon the most lucrative years of his career as a cartoonist, even having enough spare cash to renew car insurance.” By 1964 his income had almost tripled and the “Addams Family” was just making its debut on nation-wide TV. Like never before, Addams, an otherwise “normal boy” from New Jersey, would be able to enjoy both his cars and his freedom.

After two years of racing the Alfa 8C2300 (see Driving the 8C2300) around eastern Long Island, Addams began looking for a Bugatti. Already well known by Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) members, Addams was an active member in the nascent club, and even though he rarely sallied forth to events at Lime Rock or Thompson, Connecticut, he seldom missed a vintage meet at

Addams, left with Ken Purdy (glasses and white hair) at the annual meeting of the American Bugatti Club at Le Chanteclair, circa 1960. Photo from the collection of Ralph Gross and first published in My Two Lives.

Bridgehampton, Long Island. But he was at the right bar at the right time when “Kings of the Road” author Ken Purdy decided to part with his well-known T35C. Ed Bond got involved with a complex brokered deal between Derry Mallalieu, Addams and Purdy. “When the four way transaction was complete the results were as follows: Addams owned Ken’s T35C, (s/n 4813) Ken was Bugless, Mallalieu had the Alfa, and I purchased the Alfa from Mallalieu.” The Alfa was purchased by Fred Simeone a few years later and can be seen today at the Simeone Foundation.
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Charles Addams and his CAR Toons

June 2, 2010 By pete

By Pete Vack
From the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2010

A deep interest in classic cars was bound to reveal itself in the art of Charles Addams. When the Tee and Charles Foundation began to collect and identify the Addams cartoons, they found over 70 related to the automobile. [Read more…] about Charles Addams and his CAR Toons