1912Staver

It looks like the sort of place I could really call "home ". Not so sure about my wife however. On 18 acres you could always build another " nice " house out of sight from the ' collection " part of the property to keep the spouse happy. Very cheap by Canadian standards, that would not even buy the tiniest apartment around here. But the wrong side of the border and the continent for me. I wonder what is inside all the semi trailers. Probably quite a bit of treasure. Unfortunately the medical insurance for my wife and I would eat up quite a bit of the cheap property advantage assuming we both last another 20 - 30 years. There are similar places around British Columbia for about double to triple the money. But in the British Columbia interior or somewhat Northern areas. Wife and I thought of moving further away from town, but the forest fire risk made us think twice and stay in the Vancouver area. Every summer you are throwing the dice with regards to getting burned out. Look at a 25 year ownership duration and the odds become quite concerning. My sister lives in the interior, twice in the last 5 years she has been on evacuation alert. Sooner or later luck has a way of running out. About 3% of British Columbia burned last year alone.

I agree that finding good value for the money old cars has become much harder. Lots of them that sit on CL or Marketplace for months and months. Way overpriced, looking for a sucker ? And the decently priced ones seem to sell in a blink. At least around here. I already have a couple of good projects, but I am always keeping an eye on what's out there in my area as well. Very short list of cars I would like. But all of them are quite scarce. Morgan +4 or 4/4, almost anything TVR 1958 - 1976, Peerless GT 1957-1962, Anything Lola, Elva or Lotus prior to 1962. 1965-66 Mustang GT coupe. Loads of parts I am looking for. Nearly all are available new but at what I consider to be eye watering prices. I keep looking for reasonably priced , second hand, second or even third rate condition, but I never find. I guess that is why people have tooled up to make new ones. Everyone looking comes up against the same dead end regarding used examples. But man, you really have to desperately need the part. A perfect car that needs that one part to be mobile again, not a project car that has many needs.

99% sure it is V8 Cadillac , later teens era.

That hurts to see even though we know it had to happen to countless other high quality brass cars over the decades. Think of the treasure trove if only 5% of the $2,000.00 and up class. pre 1920 cars survived.

I am curious , is this McFarland drag strip event replacing the Tulare event or is it in addition to it ? Tulare is a lot closer to where I live.

They are almost right next door to me, but I need another { two } project cars like I need a hole in my head. I like the engines a lot. The Vega's themselves only a little. I am a huge fan of everything Cosworth engineering related. But reality is that I already have a car that was from the factory Cosworth powered and I can't afford to return it to a Cosworth engine. It just has the production Ford engine in it now that the Cosworth was based on. It's a straight bolt in, nothing at all changed to switch back and forth. { OK rad hoses, fuel lines, front 1/2 of the exhaust system and the engine sub harness } Most of that came with the car and is boxed up in my crawl space. But not the main components of the engine itself. Putting it back to Cosworth power would be at least a $10,000 move. So until it is time to sell my car I won't do it. Works just fine for my use with the base model engine. I would be far ahead of the game to forget about pleasant and interesting diversions like these Vega's and just start buying up Cosworth Ford engine parts.

Thanks for the video's ! The pre war segment of the hobby needs greater exposure.

Not to nit pick, but you seem to contradict yourself. How did the HCCA " local group " " shut it down ", and "stonewall " the well respected person if they did not own it ? This link from 2019 states it is a joint venture of the HCCA and the Kern County Model T Ford club. I may be mistaken but I believe the Model T club joined forces with the HCCA in relatively recent times and prior to that it was solely a HCCA event. Easy enough to look up as I have Gazettes going back to the 1950's and the Bakersfield event was always promoted in the Gazette. It doesn't really matter, good on your friend for putting together the current event. 28th Annual Bakersfield Swap Meet 2019 – Model T Ford Fix

That's unfortunate. Hard to see how the event had "run its course". I expect it more of a case of the members of the local group getting up there in years and no longer able to get the person power together to run the event. Is the new event going to be advertised in the HCCA Gazette ?

I agree the price is somewhat high, but only somewhat. It would take something more like 10 K each to get a rapid sale. Intact examples of quite desirable cars. 20 K for the pair and they would probably end up in Western Europe. From what I have seen still a robust market for them there.

Unless the Horseless Carriage Club of America is involved I doubt this will be much like the Bakersfield meet of the past. It's absolutely a nice touch that an area will be provided for pre war stuff, but otherwise I don't see any indication this meet will be any different from any other general car hobby meet.

When I was in High School I had a 1966 Mustang 2 + 2 . I afforded it quite easily on my weekend job earnings. { 12 paid hours / week at minimum wage } Insurance and gas came out of the same pay cheque, but I was 17 so living at home for nothing. These days the same car is way , way out of reach. How times have changed. Mine wasn't 100% stock. Aftermarket wheels and headers. It was the 1970's after all.

My guess would be marine. But it could just as easily be a hoist engine. Stephenson link reversing mechanism. So something that either needs to go back and forth or up and down under power.

1969 Mercury Cyclone C.J.

In 1975 this was 100% a problem. These days this looks like a great deal to me. If they were Cosworth Sierra's ; the next step in Cosworth's racer for the road development you would be looking at more like $40,000 - $50,000. Instead of Cosworth working their magic on the the Vega bottom end, the Sierra was based on a Ford Pinto short block. Is a Pinto based engine really worth 10 X or more what a Vega based engine is worth ? Unfortunately too many projects already, but this package is seriously tempting!!!

These engines have a lot of potential. The full race spec. versions had problems with cylinder distortion, but like rockettraider says a power output of at least 270 HP. Not bad at all for a N.A. 2 liter . Dial it back to 150 - 175 H.P. and they are wonderful. The Cosworth Ford 4 cyl. is even better either in 1.6 or 2.0 Liter form. But prices for those are $10,000.00 + these days. { just for the engine }

I guess my previous comments were not clear enough. This car only makes sense to a local Canadian buyer. That's because of the very high cost of bringing a " better " car back home to Canada. 99% of the local, potential buyers could not care less that a running , driving 75%+ better overall New Mexico car is available for only about 4 or 5 times the price. { by the time you get it back home and paid for in Canadian dollars. } The Canada / U.S. border is a 50 foot high wall of extra expense for would be Canadian buyers. Even more so at the entry level, starting point of a street machine level. Whatever power train is in either car is going to be the first thing pulled out and listed on marketplace for $500.00 - $1000.00. Then a clip goes in , followed by a crate motor. Dozens of cars like this at car shows around here. Tons of interest in cars like this in my area. The scruffy but not too far gone appearance is seen as a bonus to most potential buyers, not a drawback that needs $ spent to correct. I agree, this car makes no sense at all for a U.S. buyer who has financially unhindered access to the far larger U.S. market.

I forgot to ask, what engine in the Caterham ?

If I could roll back the clock 40 years that would be a dream pairing. The LaSalle for my father and the Caterham for me. Too late for my father, but still some time left for me and something Seven- ish. I don't need to go too fast on the road these days. So something like a L.H.D. Series 1 Seven replica would fit the bill . A warmed up 1275 BMC A series would be more than enough power , but a 1500 or 1600 Kent is possibly a better choice. I had a early 1960's build 7 ish home built years ago. But pretty poor engineering compared to a Lotus built car. Sold it in the later 1980's but looking back I should have held on to it. The track car homebuilt I currently have would also make a very close to a Caterham road car substitute . Once again a bunch of poorly worked out details in the original build. But the basic chassis is done reasonably well. Once I get all the rough edges worked out of it I may attempt to change it from a dedicated Auto - X er to a road going machine. It was built as a circuit racing car and had a massive, high down force body built out from the basic 7 ish chassis. A pretty flimsy sub structure and a lot of thin alloy panel work. But crude and apart from the down force not much to recommend it. I am 99% going to not use it. Much like later Mallock's but without all the well engineered tech in a Mallock.

I will put things into a bit of perspective. { I have been doing the old car thing here in British Columbia for about 50 years now } First thing you have to realize is that for the local market this is actually a quite desirable car. Many / most of the more upmarket local cars were high graded to a U.S. buyer a decade or more ago. Or in very long term ownership, will as often as not will change hands to an insider. Great body style of a great looking car. Most sub 10 K 1950's , 2 Dr. Ht. cars around here are needs everything , total basket cases. And most of the time nothing for paperwork. The paperwork alone makes this car at least 30 % - 40 % more valuable than the same car without paperwork. And that any car bought in the U.S. is going to cost a lot more by the time you have it home in your garage. Anywhere from 50% more to 100% what you paid for it in the U.S. { Canadian dollars out of your pocket vs what you paid in U.S. dollars } So that $20,000 New Mexico 51 Pontiac is going to look more like $40,000 to a British Columbia buyer. Also bear in mind it is just as hard for a Canadian to earn / set aside $100.00 Canadian as it is for a U.S. person to earn / set aside $100.00 U.S.D. Worst of both worlds, cost of living is high here and wages are nearly always less than in the U.S. Why do you think so many U.S. TV and Movie production companies do so much filming here in Canada? They save a ton of money paying Canadians to do all the non actor work compared to paying U.S. wages to film in the U.S. The market here is tiny compared to the U.S. , but the number of affordable , decent starting point cars around here is even tinier. Much tinier. Not what I would do ; but like I said, 98 % this will end up as a street machine with a crate motor, clip , 9 inch rear end.

The Caterham sounds great. A 7 or 7 concept car has been on my bucket list for 50 years now. I have a home made knock off . track car. Sort of a cross between a 7 and a Mallock. Built in the 90's by a local racer. Not so sure about the Le Mans coupe. I had a MGA coupe back in the late 1970's. Hot and very noisy { interior noise } out on the road. Sold it quickly and put the $ into rebuilding the engine on my MGA roadster. I still have the roadster.

In this part of the world [ the car is only a few miles from me } this is absolutely a good deal. Two or three years from now this will be showing up at car events with a crate motor and modern drive line. Compared to 99% of what is on offer around here in the sub $10,00.00 bracket this one is a sure seller. Just next door to Washington State, but not just another country, a whole different world as far as old cars go.

Unfortunately this sort of situation seems to happen quite a bit with relatively rare and desirable estate / elderly owner vehicles. A family member is tasked with selling the car and advertises at what most would call a realistic " priced to sell without further fuss " price. Then various people decide they just have to have it and bid it to the absolute top ; given the condition , price or even beyond. I have seen it a number of times. Most recently on a local early 1960's Morgan. Very long term storage { about 30 years } elderly owner going into a home. Son selling house and car. Owner's memory seriously fading and can't remember why he parked the car back in 1992. Not a bad car, but generally pretty scruffy. { much like this Buick } Son advertises it on the local British car club site for a pretty reasonable price. And the son's messages explode. Car sells for over twice the initial asking price. No bargain at all considering the money that needs to be spent before the car sees the road again. And that is assuming there wasn't a serious failure that caused the car to be parked in the first place. More or less the same thing happened about 4 years ago on a similar long time sleeping Morgan except it only went for about 50% more than the initial asking price. There could be triple the number of Morgan's and late 30's Buick convertibles in the world and still the prices would be high. Relative low production cars that are reasonably easy to bring back to life and that are great cars out on the road.

Hit and miss style engine ? Perhaps try Smokstak.

One of the best tracks in North America. I have made the pilgrimage several times over the decades.