A Land Office Business

"It may go, or it may not." So said Mr. Bishop to Mr. Titus, and according to local legend that's how Waterford, Connecticut's, Mago Point got its name. Titus and Bishop, partners in the land company that bore their names, were developing a subdivision of 255 lots, each 25 feet wide by 100 deep, on the eastern shore of the Niantic River.

To assist their marketing, they ordered a 1925 Chevrolet Superior commercial car from the Thompson Chevrolet Company in their home city of New London. As supplied, with hood and front fenders, but no body, it listed for $425. The partners then had a local carpenter build a miniature bungalow on the back, complete with hip roof, bay windows and a porch for the driver. "Little Down - $1.00 a Week Buys a Lot" read their marketing: "Ask the Man."

As it happened, Mago Point didn't go, at least for Titus and Bishop. After the land was foreclosed during the Depression, the Chevy went out to pasture. Following World War II it was sold to an oil company and used as a service vehicle, then laid up in the owner's back yard.

Karl Hansen grew up in the neighborhood, and he and other children often played in the Chevy's bungalow. In 1972, he asked the owner if he could buy it. Having turned down previous offers, the owner took a liking to Karl and accepted his offer, and even the impecunious teenager's time payment plan. Having fulfilled the $125 full price, Karl gave the truck a coat of white paint, reshingled the roof and began to participate in local parades and car shows.

By the mid-1990s, though, the Chevy had been sidelined as Karl bought and sold other collector cars. Finally, he decided its time had come and began a full restoration, replicating the original theme right down to the lettering and American flags on the roof.

Although about the same displacement as a Model T engine, the Chevy's ohv powerplant puts out 35 bhp, nearly double that of its rival. Its sliding gear transmission was more advanced, but otherwise the truck is quite primitive, with sparse instrumentation, an "armstrong" windshield wiper and rudimentary weather protection. The front doors are constructed like gates. It performs well, mostly due to light weight, as the 3.8 to 1 gearing is pretty tall for a truck. Karl has added a surveyor's transit to its equippage, as Titus and Bishop very likely used it to lay out their lots.

Mago Point eventually did go, but not until the 1950s. The lots now sprout plenty of big bungalows, and the original land office also survives, as an Italian restaurant.