Free Republic

Otis Chandler's one-of-a-kind car and motorcycle collection will likely draw auto enthusiasts and their fat checkbooks from around the globe when 100 rare vehicles go on the auction block next month. The late Los Angeles Times publisher and Ojai resident collected some of the world's most expensive cars, stashing them in a rarely opened Oxnard museum. The collection includes a 1904 Mercedes 40/45 Sports Touring, a 1934 Packard Two Place Coupe and a 1931 Duesenberg J Special Phaeton by LeBaron. The collection could be one of the largest auctions in automotive history, with some 100-year-old cars expected to fetch well...

LOS ANGELES - Otis Chandler, who transformed his family's Los Angeles Times from a provincial, conservative paper into a respected national media voice, died Monday. He was 78. Chandler died at his home in Ojai, said Tom Johnson, who had succeeded Chandler as publisher. He said Chandler had been suffering from a neurological disorder known as Lewy body disease. Chandler was the scion of a family that wielded financial and political power in the Los Angeles area for decades. With his blond hair, weightlifter physique and love of surfing, he was a quintessential Californian of his generation. As a publisher,...