1932 Ruxton, or how I became an unwitting restorer.

The sedans look so much sleeker when a trunk is NOT on the luggage rack. Hat's off to Jim and Scott for leaving off the bulky-looking trunk.

If I had to choose my favorite color scheme, I'd go with Scott's shades of gray.

Kinder words were never spoken, West. That means a lot coming from you.

Every man's dream is to own a vehicle of that calibre ! Congratulations on a remarkable job !

Wayne

Interestingly, when I saw the photos of the car coming off the trailer, I was thinking... "Oh! They should have painted the header above the windshield black, not grey." Now I see that the sun visor (or whatever they called it) was missing, and it is indeed black. Amazing how that little detail makes the car look so much lower.

Carry on. Job well done.

I'm proud to have been a part of this experience. I've become closer with good friends and made new ones, and I gave it my all in honor of that. I'm also impressed with the caliber of observers here and on other forums. The positive intangibles have been just as rewarding as the car itself.

Good job, and thanks to everyone.

Jocko McNeal

The Enthusiast Garage, llc

Monroe, MI

A job well done by everyone...........but especially Barry, without his expertise & guidance the project wouldn't have been completed with such perfection!!

.........And Barry, thanks for taking us along on the journey. IMO, this was the most interesting thread on ANY forum I have read!!

Dale Essick

Thanks, Dale.

We flew out on Thursday, the day of the Tour.

We were invited to share a meal with the trucking community by the owner's transporter. Their job is a tough one and would make me very nervous transporting $30 million dollar cars. This gave us an opportunity to get a visual treat, long before most everyone else. That was pretty cool. I liked this better than the show field. Talk about living the dream.

Talk about intense. The owner was in the same shape I was 10 days ago. He had spent the previous 4 days fixing the problems with the interior and getting the hood to latch. I jumped in and helped with that, but the rest was up to him. I was on vacation. The wife kept reminding me of that.

The hood wouldn't latch properly. It was the last thing to go on the car in Michigan. The latches were out of alignment. I loosened everything and parts fell into place. Only minor persuasion is now required. At this point the visor had not been installed, But just about everything else was done. It took their poor transport guy, John, hours of grinding to get the hubcaps to fit. He wore out 6 grinding wheels. Welcome to my world. No one is happy with the chromer. They had both parts. They should have been test fit there. "Fat" chrome plagued the finish of this job. Had I had more experience I would have test fit everything and sent back what was problematic.

Let's play, "What's that behind the Ruxton and what's in the garage?" The car was treated to a high-end detail.

On Saturday a friend from the area, Jeff, picked us up in his '84 turbo convertible Mustang and took us to the "Le-Mons", a free show where the worst is the best. The owners won the event last year when they brought their Voison, no not the Voison you may think, it is a 2-stroke golf cart-like open cab bubble that smoked so bad that gas masks became a necessary part of their costume. We didn't stay long enough to see who won but I loved the Mercedes van that looked like a VW 21-window on steroids. I took pictures here instead of the Concours, because everyone is posting Pebble pictures. I thought you'd like these.

When we were done our friend Jeff suggested that we have lunch in Big Sur at a restaurant on a hilltop with a terrific view. He reminded me that I lamented last year about not being able to grasp the beauty of the area when I drove on the Tour and didn't see anything as I was hyper-focused on not hitting the million-dollar Rolls-Royce in front of me. We never stopped at the Bixby Bridge for pictures so Jeff offered up his photographic skills.

The view from the restaurant was impressive, but everything was so brown.

Thinking we would get snarled in traffic we decided to leave early. The "Guest" passes entitled us to general parking, but our friend told us about some mansions on the surrounding roads letting their kids use their driveways and yards for $50 parking. That's what the sign said, too. That sounded good to me. When we go to secure parking we're told it's $50 for 3 hours and $80 for the day. Enterprising little grifters. They tried to park us on some dirt which we felt the rental car sinking into. My wife offered him an extra $20 to park us on pavement. :mad:

They got there early. Our Hagerty friends put on another "Dawn Patrol" providing coffee and doughnuts to the throngs of photographers that line the entry to the show field. I believe he said he got there at 5 and is 13th, I think, in the video posted somewhere. I know exactly what his experience was like as we lived it the year before. Cars start lining up in the wee hours, vying to be first on the field. It really doesn't matter as you're all treated like you're first on the field. The cars are lined up, three abreast in the staging area. Every once in a while all heads will turn when one of the cars fires up, mostly to make sure that they can, but some of the race cars fire up just to make noise. It works. It's like Pavlov's dogs. This is where the schmoozing is done amongst the owners or handlers. Many of these cars are, one-of, road-worthy museum pieces that have been treated to off-frame restorations. The estimated value of the cars that drove the Tour was $500,000,000. McKeel Hagerty joked nervously about insuring most of them. Hagerty provided roadside assistance, naturally.

The cars are waved through, one at a time, to receive their show-field packet and goodie bag, often containing car care products for the last-minute touch-ups. Both sides of the pathway are lined with photographers and bright lights. You can hear what the people are saying about your car as you coast by at slow speed. Between the camera flashes and the crowd's kudos the head tends to swell a little. If it's your first time and you are uninitiated it can be a bit overwhelming especially as the ropes tend to allow human bodies a little too close for comfort. From there it's anti-climatic unless you are positioned on the water, which is the only roped part of the show. That's where the 4 Ruxtons with Joseph Urban paint jobs were.

On Saturday night another Hagerty friend got us wristbands to the RM auction, held right next door to our hotel. We could hear them, late into the night. We watched Steve McQueen's Ferrari being auctioned in MILLION DOLLAR INCREMENTS. We the watched a Fiat mini bus and a Jolly brought $210,000 for the pair, beating the high estimate of a high end of $175,000. Too rich for my blood. I shot pictures from chest level so that I wouldn't be confused with someone actually bidding for those vehicles.

Come show day he was on pins and needles. I thought he was going to jump right out of his fancy Brook Brother's suite. His wife had a period-correct outfit made that would have been befitting the "Lady of the House". Dozen of people asked them to pose by their car. I'm sure it got tiresome, but they alway obliged.

The judges showed up early. I'm an old hand at showing cars and no one knows this car better than I do, but the owner wasn't there and I didn't want to steal his thunder so I suggested that they come back. They were very complementary on the color scheme, much to the pleasure of the owner and his wife. The words I heard during the day was sophisticated and stunning. They even praised it highly in the opening ceremony where the Ruxtons with Urban paint jobs were used to transport the dignitaries to the stage.

Then it happened. The judges came back and started their inspection. They had started with the car next to the gray one. The judges probably averaged 70. I had to help one of them back up after truing to look under the car. It's so low he couldn't get back up. They never looked under the gray car. The owner came back and they simply changed their order.

They put the car through testing all of the lights and how it sounds when running. It started up and purred like a kitten. They even wanted to hear the horn. The only problem is that nothing worked. The headlights and running lights worked perfectly but the brake and back-up didn't. I deduced that we had a blown fuse and swapped in a fuse from another holder. Everything worked! Even the judges seemed excited about that.

We didn't know that the cars were going to be used in this manner. The extensive coverage of the cars at the beginning of the Pebble coverage is the best you could get. They couldn't have made the cars look any better. The aerial view of the gray car shows the extra roof stripe that was wasn't on the other cars. It's pretty clearly there in the factory photos.

My artsy shot for the day.

Alas, the Ruxton won nothing but the honor of being on the lawn at Pebble Beach and fulfilling a Bucket List entry, for everyone involved. He's been a spectator for 35 years. It was time to jump in with both feet, pretty much what we did 12 years ago.

Congratulations, Scott and Celesta. Your car was well-received at Pebble Beach. It doesn't get much better than that.

Thanks for the trip and the adventure.

Great job, gentlemen. You must be very proud.

....restaurant looks like Nepenthe -- one of my favorite places.

Yep, that's the place. Worth the wait. I don't often say that.

Yes, I guess I am proud. I know the other guys are. People often say to me at Concours, "You must be very proud", when referring to our show cars. My standard response is that the craftsmen that did the work should be proud as I didn't do a thing to the Porsche nor the Mark II except keep them up. I've really just been their caretaker. It's certainly very rewarding to be on the other side of the equation.

Those of you that do this for a living, I tip my cap to you. It's not an easy job. It would be a struggle to keep things separate for two cars, let alone a building full of projects.

My next project is cleaning up after this one. Holy crap, my toy box looks like all the other barn find shots.

The '88 750iL started right up. It ran choppy for a few second and settled out nicely. It had been on a battery tender. The '33 Continental was stone dead. I discovered that he ignition switch had rotated so what I though was off, wasn't. The battery on the '77 Town Car was really flat and wouldn't take a charge at first. It didn't want to start, but I'm sure it will. The boat's just a dusty mess. The 325iX served as a storage platform for the Ruxton's light interior bits and the poor pickup suffered the worst of it. I decided to try to start it and it fired up quickly. As I backed it into my air-conditioned detailing space I smelled gas. It was pouring out on the shop floor.

I guess that's my next project.

I just found this picture of a town car and thought the peanut gallery might like it.Anybody know the dame?

Mary Pickford?

The car is on its way back to Michigan. It will be going to Jocko McNeal's new shop in Monroe, MI, "The Enthusiast Garage" where he'll get to finish what he started. It will be the centerpiece for his grand opening in a month, or so.

I'd lay odds that it's Marion Davies, shown here in 1930 from "Photoplay" magazine.

In a photo with caption reprinted from the December 1929 issue of "Autobody" magazine in, "The Golden Age of the Luxury Car", (1980, Dover Books), the town car is listed as built by Baker-Raulang. The caption notes the "old ivory" contrasting paint trim highlights.

Here are a couple more images of it, the first from, "Autobody", and another contemporary press pic.

Note the change to Woodlite head and fender lamps, whitewalls, and revised belt and fenderline painted highlights.

Larger

Congrats Barry on all your efforts on the Ruxton. Beautiful job!

TG

Thanks for the answer, TG and heaps of praise to Barry, Jocko and company.

Love your Ruxton, FOR SURE.....

I showed an Offy at Pebble Beach in 2001, didn't win a thing either.

Great time, lots of enthused lookers, everyone wanted to hear it run, so every hour or so I started it. Big crowd always showed up.

It was the 1952 Indy car that places 2nd. in the Indy 1953 500. Art Cross was driver, it was national champ car in 52. That's when cars were driven more than one year.

My uncle S R Miller (Ray) had a Ruxton PINK convert in his Elkhart, Indiana museum.

Dale in Indy

Here is a photo of my Uncle's Ruxton. It has since been sold.

Dale in Indy

^^^^and here it is last week at Pebble Beach

Here is the auction listing. It sold for $305,000.00 plus fees, in 2004. I was at the auction, Ray was my Mother's brother.

The Ruxton was on the cover of the BEAUTIFUL catalog, and a center fold.

Dale in Indy

Is there a story about how that car came to be painted the color of lipstick?

I can't say this is the WHOLE/TRUE story, but my Mother said, Linda his wife wanted it PINK. Linda was the one that did all the period clothing in the museum. Elkhart tried to buy the museum, but it didn't work out, so the auction was held. It was a sad two days.

Did you know Ray? He started a small box die cutting business in his one car garage in the early 50's, he asked my father to invest, Dad didn't think it was going to go over. Well it grew and grew, and Ray had a wonderful museum in Elkhart, In. I was there many times, he was in a car wreck, and is mind went down hill. He was one of 13 children, at one time 3-generation of Miller's worked at Studebaker. Only one of the children remain.

He was trying to fill his museum with as many INDIANA made cars as possible, but passed on.

Dale in Indy

Nice video, Barry! You look good...and so does the car!!

Great job in restoring the Ruxton, allowing us to follow the progress, and for completing the car in time for Pebble Beach. This will be a hard one to top.

Way to Go!!!!

Looks fabulous Barry.

It looks like the Ruxton restoration has hit the news beyond this Forum. A nice write up and video on Yahoo News.

Here's the link: https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/from-clunker-to-concours--inside-the-restoration-of-a-rare-ruxton-223732808.html

Congratulations Barry.

Cheers,

Grog

Received my AutoWeek mag today, and on page 17 is a nice large photo of the car.

Very nice picture of it at the PEBBLE.

Dale in Indy

The Ruxton required some further attention. The persistent oil leak reported by the previous owner went unresolved as it wasn't discovered until just before the car left for Pebble. The previous owner said he went through 5 quarts of oil on his way back to Flint after being shown at Meadow Brook in 2007. It seems that it was it was actually 10 years longer than that. I doubted the story as there was no sign of any oil leak, anywhere.

It appears that when the damaged occurred to the crossmember and transmission housing the engine twisted enough to bend the plate that held up the other end of the engine. That movement bent the plate exactly where the generator mounted, preventing a good seal.

Dave and I decided to take a Fred and Barney approach to rectifying the situation, and after about an hour we tweaked it straight enough to seal off the leak.

A coat of self-etching primer and gloss black engine paint and it's ready to go back on the car with a new set of gaskets for the pan and cover.

Tomorrow I package the headlights and hub covers for shipping to the chrome shop to be stripped and re-chromed so that the hub caps and headlights parts properly fit. They apparently used too much copper plating making the parts "fat". I'll press the emblems into the mud flaps and finish them off, too.

In the days since finishing the car word has spread and I've captured 25% of the Ruxton sole leather mudflap business.

ALRIGHT!! Job security!!

If they only built more Ruxtons, you would make a Million Barry. Dandy Dave!

Barry, I have a quick question for you about the Ruxton. I know that in America, the 1907 Peerless was the first single drop frame by 2-1/2 inches to help the center of gravity. The 1907 Imperial (not Chrysler) was the first with double-drop for in-line drive. Some dropped very low so the cars are short in body height by the standards of the day and the Ruxton was like 11-inches shorter compared to some.

Does any of your manuals or documents state by how much the Ruxton frame is dropped in the middle by inches? I know it is a very deep drop behind the engine since there was no drive train to the rear axle being FWD. Thanks.

Eric

I'm not sure what you're asking.

We are so use to seeing double-drop frames since they were the norm before unibody, that we don't think about these things outside of frame alignments. But many cars beforr 1907 and long afterwards since they did not take off at first, had basically straight side rails over the axles (the kick-up). As you can see on the Ruxton, it has a high curve over the front axle area and a shorter one over the rear. If you draw a straight line at the top of the curve and measure down to the top of the side rail where it goes straight down the side of the car, what is that drop distance? As mentioned on Peerless it was 2-1/2 inches but on Ruxton it was much deeper as you can obviously see. I was curious since the low body profile was very noted on these cars if that info was readily available or mentioned somewhere in a manual?

Ruxton on left above next to a more traditional height car then. The deep double drop frame was responsible for this while the car on the right used a straight type rail frame. (example below)

There is no manual, that I know of. It's low look is deceiving as the body is channeled over the frame 3" while comparable car's bodies sat on top of the frame. Being a Wollesey body (British) it already started off very small and squat.

In order to use the bodies in this manner the whole front of the car had to be widened 4". The unique parts are the firewall, which bolts to the body and has a removable made for access to the "front" of the engine. The top of the cowl was unique but everything else, including the windscreen header is simply splice of a 4" wide insert. It looks like they did nothing to the rear end. The widening of the front cause some wonky panel fit in the rear as nothing changed back there.

The picture on the left must be a mock-up or a prototype as that are not that low. The rear window on that car and the body lines are all wrong as the window has a gentle curve top and bottom. That looks to be several inches shorter than real production car.

I've actually never driven the car since the seat went in. My knees are up against the dash, my head touches the ceiling and it's doubtful a normal size person could sit next to me. The only time I drove it was in my parking lot while sitting on a Home Depot orange bucket. Once the seat went in it was impossible. I say this as the pictures are deceiving. It just looks longer and lower and bigger than it really is. Joseph Urban was hired to enhance that with his striped paint job.

I have seen some other British bodies like the Stutz Weymann Monte Carlo that also has a channeled body. Wasn't aware of it on Ruxton. I think the picture is of extremes anyway and they used a large vehicle for comparison for the effect. The Ruxton Model C stands 53 inches tall (less than 4-1/2 feet tall) while the average car then was 6-feet tall (or more). The fact that your head hit the roof says it was short since cars were designed for hat wearing people then and part of the Hudson (and others) low profile challenges of the late 40s-mid 50s.

You can see how short they are with this girl standing next to one... In any event you did a First Class job and wish you could get ahold of the Packard FWD Prototype since it needs a restoration!

Now that's a challenge I would enjoy. As long as there's no deadline. Did I mention I hate deadlines?