That's a nice ride

Polly and Clayton Brown were recently visiting an automobile museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., when they saw something that looked awfully familiar.

The highlight of the auto show was a bright red, fully-restored, 1931 Cadillac V-16 Pheaton, said to be one of only 86 made in that style. It was an elegant car with wire wheels, twin mounted spares, and rather rakish lines.

The Browns were pretty sure they’d seen the car before, and when they read the information board they knew they had. The car was purchased in 1931 by Augusta Little, of Lyndeborough, who built and lived for many years in the house now owned by Paul and Tracey Turner.

When Mrs. Little decided she no longer needed the car, she donated it to the General Motors collection. Her only request was “take care of my baby.”

During her years in Lyndeborough, Augusta Little did many things for the town, and helped many individuals. She gave the fire department a new fire truck, assisted with the repair of the Center Church steeple, and with the purchase of the Town Hall stage curtain.

Many older residents recall her driving around town in her “woody” station wagon with her two white standard poodles, which she did not clip so they looked like sheep.

She later moved to Greenfield, where she died in the early 1990s.