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Binford??


CT Car Guy

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Anyone ever hear of a 1905 Binford? :confused: That's what someone thought the car I looked at today but there are no marks anywhere on it. They think it has a 2 cylinder Davis engine with 2 speeds forward and reverse.I've looked for hours through books and on-line and cannot find any record of Binford. The owner thinks it may be a one-off. Help!

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Guest cben09

The 'Binford" I recall had the flywheel at front like early Stevens-D,,,and had a 2 cyl engine,,,but vertical twin,,,crank throws at 180,,,so it fired that un-even beat,,,seems like it had large sprockets on chain dr,,

Was at the VMCCA meet at Princeton auto museum,,around 1952-53,[June meet??]],Pic in Bulb Horn I think,,Ben

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Thanks Guys. I have not seen a list with Binford on it so if have seen it, what list is it on? I did find a remark by the late owner that he thought it was a very early "kit" car. I searched his files and found no file about the car only others is the collection. All of those I can find information on. I was hoping to find something in his files from when he bought it. It seems strange since he had excellent files on all of his other cars. I am on a quest. I will find out the history on this car. I wonder if the AACA Library would have any information?

Edited by CT Car Guy
typo (see edit history)
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Guest cben09

The car at Princeton had same radiator,,and overall looked the same,,,but the front flywheel was painted 1/2 so it would be seen whizzing around.

Owner was Bob Shonfeld,,Shonberg,,,something like that,,He was friend of Al and Sulley Garganigo,,museum owners,,the cars are gone the bldngs and memoories are left,,,

The engine definately was a 2cyl vertical,with a 180 crank,,,not a common arrangement,, the sound ,,ta tdum ta,tdum,,,like a John Deere,,ahh,,memories,,,Ben

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  • 3 weeks later...

I C on the flywheel is Intake Closes,,Check and see if in fact the tappet actually comes clear at this point,,Dont disterb anything,,just observe,,

NOW,,, here's an interesting story,,,

Working on Rod Blood's American,,we made new valves,,In setting the valves to perhaps ,010 it had poor compression,,Rod suggested to set the valves by the timing marks,,like they did in the old days,,[Rod was born in 1899 I think]]

So I set the valves by the flywheel markings,,and it had good compression and started ran well,,,,and the clearence came to about ,120" when the tappet was all the wey down!!! This was a 5'n3/8 X5.5" 4cyl Teetor engine,,1913 short 4 pass tourer,,,

Wonder where she is now,,,Would love to talk to the present owner,,especially about the original voltage regulator that worked so well and strange,,,,,haha,,,Cheers,,Ben

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  • 9 months later...
Anyone ever hear of a 1905 Binford? :confused: That's what someone thought the car I looked at today but there are no marks anywhere on it. They think it has a 2 cylinder Davis engine with 2 speeds forward and reverse.I've looked for hours through books and on-line and cannot find any record of Binford. The owner thinks it may be a one-off. Help!

Mention and some pix of the Binford can be found in the following: 7/51 (XII-3) 10/54 (XV-4) "Bulb Horn"s (with mentions of Schonberg and Garganigo), claiming a Jackson engine (!); and 4/81 & 9/81 "Cars & Parts."

Autolit.com on eBay has had a photo of the car ("taken by Henry Austin Clark" at the Former (Goddard) Mohawk Trail Auto Museum in Charlemont, MA) in yellow. The museum also published a a Real Photo card in black and white of the 1905. None of the cards or photos I have are postmarked, so establishing a date of the Goddard Museum ('50's - '60's) is if-y!

Last I knew (1990's) the car was in J. Parker Wickham's collection, Eastern Long Island. Hope this helps! Conway

PS. There is a website (something about "Earliest Automobiles...." in the web-name, that I think carries another "Binford" image, but it looks nothing like the car for which you have pictures on the AACA Forum.

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  • 1 year later...

I have heard about this car a few times since I was a kid. I always heard it was a built-up car that two brothers on Long Island assembled and restored in the 1940's or 1950's. They put it together from parts they had in Bins and it was all they could afford. That's how they came up with Binford. Also why I believe it is not listed in the Standard Catalog. It could also explain the tall radiator and empty hood covering a two-cylinder opposed engine. None of this may be true, and I don't want to further spread rumors, but that's what I've always heard.

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I see the mysterious Binford has now appeared in the latest Hemmings under Pre-1916 for sale. And, it now has claims to being owned at one time by Austin Clark. Mr. Clark being one of the authors of the Standard Catalog of American Cars, I think that if it had any legitimacy, it certainly would have been included by him.

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  • 8 years later...

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