nzcarnerd
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Posts posted by nzcarnerd
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10 hours ago, Peter R. said:
Civil car conscripted by the army during WWII
1932 Buick Model 95 seven passenger phaeton. A rare car even when new - Buick built only 131 for domestic sales and 15 for export
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Now back to some 'period' images.
I have a mystery to solve here. This first photo showed up on a facebook page and I recognised it, having seen it before - back in 2015 as it turned out.
It is a 1907-08 Darracq, a big one, probably 50 hp. Darracq changed their radiator styles quite frequently.
Another shot, although obviously from a different occasion, of which is presumed to be the same car, is readily available on the net -
The mystery is this. I am sure I have seen a shot of the same car taken in a US city - maybe Boston - and I recall a story about the owner taking it there and using it as a hire car. I now can't recall where I read that. Vintman doesn't recall it either. I am hoping this might jog a memory or two.
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While on the subject of Saurer trucks, this one was at Dorset Steam Fair in 2016 -
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20 hours ago, pre10 said:
Car at the top is a Simplex, about 1910.
With an accessory windshield, a type I have seen several times before but can't recall the name of.
I think the middle one is a circa 1904 Fiat and the lower one a Mercer.
20 hours ago, pre10 said: -
Re you comment about Shannons' lack of Buick knowledge, at least they are not far out with their estimate of 45 built. That is what my copy of the History of Holden says. There were another five built in 1935 which would have been the same. As to their origins of the cars, all of the Buicks that came to NZ in that era came from Flint and I presume the bare chassis sent to Australia to be bodied came from there as well(?).
There is one of these here in NZ which was imported in 2005 -
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I was about to agree i that it was an MO series Oxford but then if you look at the front fender you can see the raised section for the headlight which the Oxford does not have - unless that is an optical illusion. It is a pity the couple are obscuring the centre pillar area.
Here is a Minor -
Compare with an MO Oxford - no raised section of the fender - it also has a much bulkier C pillar which our mystery car does not have -
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1913 Oakland - I think -
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Flanders??
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The location of this one i apparently Fort Smith, Arkansas.
I think the car may be something obscure. Haven't time to trawl through The Standard Catalog at the moment.
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A Reo sedan. I am not sure of the year - maybe 1918-19? A quick internet search failed to find another similar one.
Maybe someone can interpret the plate.
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Buffalo 1905. Any recognisable cars?
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Posted by Mike Wakeman on a facebook page. He writes - "My families(sic) home town in Northern California. Early 1900s. The town was established in 1848 when gold was discovered near here which started the great gold rush of 1949" but neglects to mention the name of the town.
The car in the photo all look to be more expensive models, and are decorated. Must be some sort of special occasion.
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I have seen a lot of pics of those 'sightseeing automobiles'. I suspect in most cases they were custom built in the city they worked in. I agree this one looks to be electric.
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For my USA road trip in 1978 I used a 1967 Pontiac LeMans, California spec, 326 V8 2 speed auto, and presumably fairly tall gears. I drove coast to coast, LA to Florida (much of it on I10), and back again through the centre - St Louis west on a mix of roads and the final half mostly on I80) , and up the Pacific Coast almost to Canada and back to San Diego where I sold it (for $400). It averaged 22.5 mpg (US) over 12,500 miles at gas prices averaging around 65c/gal. A typical tankful was around $9.
Here it is in on the road to Dauphin island in Alabama.
On comparison my 1965 Pontiac Bonneville got at best about 16 mpg (per Imperial gallon which is about 20% bigger). A friend had a 1970 Buick Electra convertible which got similar mileage.
My figures from here on are all in Imperial. 4.55 litres in a gallon vs 3.8 in a US gallon.
My recently purchased 1929 Studebaker averaged 13 mpg Imperial on its 400 mile delivery drive home.
We are looking at converting it to a modern Weber downdraft carb. Apparently it should improve economy to nearer 20 mpg.
I was at an event recently where someone was spouting about how their friend's 1922 Rolls-Royce got 23 mpg - remember the engine is a 1906 design, flat head six of over 7 litres. My son spent three years working at a Rolls-Royce shop and he said they quickly learned there were two types of Ghost owners - those that got 10 mpg and those that lied. He and the shop foreman spent some time with one and managed to improves it economy to 12 mpg.
In contrast, in 2016 I spent three weeks in England driving a 2016 Mercedes-Benz A180 rental car with the paddle shift seven speed auto. It averaged 40 mpg over 2,000 miles. I then spent a week in France driving a French-built 2016 Toyota Yaris which had a 1350 cc engine and six speed manual box. It averaged 53 mpg over about 1,200 miles, including a lot of autoroute cruising at 125 kph (75+ mph).
Pic taken at the old Reims pits.
In a couple of weeks we will be taking the 1929 Plymouth on a weekend winter rally. I will try and keep a check on its fuel use.
People here often grizzle about how much we pay for fuel here in NZ compared with the US. Our tax regime is quite different so it really can't be compared. I am not up on details but I think in the US you can't get away without having medical insurance. Here in NZ medical care at hospital level is essentially free.
The government has temporarily dropped its fuel tax by half and at the moment a litre of 91 is selling around NZ$2.85 a litre. For 3.8 litres - a US gallon equivalent that is just under $11. BUT remembering the NZ dollar is only worth 64c US that brings the price back to just under $7 - not that far from current US prices?
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Some interesting trivia re Bowser pumps.
"Elonza J. Munger, Roanoke. Bicycle and Motorcycle repair - around 1915 - as I understand it. The photo is from Bowser fuel pump archives. Every time they did a new fuel pump install, they would take a photo of the installation. The man in the suit is the Bowser rep with E.J. Munger beside him...no name on the other guy..."
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51 minutes ago, Peter R. said:
Yep, 50% of the cars on the streets in Switzerland were of American manufacture in 1929.
In NZ the percentage was even greater. American cars could manage the poor roads better. It was only government regulation that turned the country more to British cars.
1925 was the first year that national registration figures were recorded. Prior to that they were done by individual counties and few records survive. In this file the 'Others' sections at the bottom would include a quite large number of makes. There were few makes that were not imported. Many of those that were, were often in very small numbers by independent importers.
In the Depression years of 1930-34 many of the new registrations would be of previous year models - some up to three years old.
From 1936 on the records were split into horsepower brackets.
New Zealand's population in 1930 was just under 1.5 million and our vehicle ownership rate was only a little behind the US as far as I know.
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On 5/17/2022 at 1:51 AM, K8096 said:
It’s a 30/31 not a 32.
Still wanting to determine which number body style it is.
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Thanks you for posting these really wonderful photos - 👍😀
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American cars always sold well in Europe. I think this is a circa 1926 four cylinder Chrysler 50.
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Beautiful smile -
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1 minute ago, Peter R. said:
Relatively rare Harley Sport Twin in the lower photo.
Interesting that throughout history have always been people on the move. In the current 'global warming' political climate there are those activists who would rather people stayed where they were.
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I guess he will grow into those pants...
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5 hours ago, Peter R. said:
The picture was definitely taken in Switzerland, probably in the early 1950's. The bus appears to be a Saurer L4C Alpenwagen. The Federal Mail Service operated those buses to transport people and mail in alpine regions where localities are inaccessible by railways.
I imagine any journey in that area, especially in a closed-body bus, would be slow, with lots of engine and transmission noise, any vibration being transmitted back through the body structure, and the driver having to make frequent gear changes.
Driving one of those big charas with no front brakes must have required a lot of skill - even at 20 kph.
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8 hours ago, Dave Mellor NJ said:
The dog was Spot,I think
That was Cal Worthington's 'dog'. Something I remember from my 1978 trip to the US - 😁
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Application?
in What is it?
Posted
Made by Smiths Instruments. The 'foreign' name makes them sound more upmarket than plain old Smiths. British Jaeger Instruments - Graces Guide