1912Staver

Most look like they have been there for at least 40 years. Amazing they have not been scraped yet. Some are very photogenic artifacts . I like that big, tandem 1953 or so GMC , yellow and surface rust. Greg in Canada

Hi Ed, I am very space compromised so parts get worked on and then stored away. It hasn't been " mock up " assembled since it was in the hands of the person I bought it from. And since then some of the correct engine has turned up and the Stephens Duryea engine that was considered has been sold off. I have some photos of it and a bunch of general Staver Chicago information on my Flickr page. I don't have any of the photo's on my present computer after a hard drive failure a couple of years ago. Some day I need to try to re load all of it on my present computer. Some of it is on a flash drive . The gent right at the bottom is Ralph Staver ; now deceased, , grandson of Harry Staver, owner of Staver Chicago. Greg

Brass cars are quite a bit different animal than the big classics. Of course original body cars are most desirable in either case. But many brass cars weren't saved until the bodywork was in tatters . Wood body cars are even fewer in number with original bodywork. The big classics are usually 20 years at least newer and were generally far more durable in construction. Brass cars became obsolete very quickly and often turned into wagons or things like sawmill powerplants. The ones that made it to their 10 th birthday as intact cars are a true rarity. But from the early post war years onward people have been re creating them from fragments. A lucky few get to start with a barn stored original. When I became seriously interested in early cars I was surprised by how small a space many of them have when in the drivers seat. People must have been relatively small 100 - 120 years ago. I am 6' 2" 1 , 220 lbs, and find the majority of Brass touring cars quite small up front. My conclusion was to start with a chassis and build a speedster so I would actually have a comfortable fit. I ended up with a reasonably priced 1912 chassis only Staver Chicago 40. Tons of work to go , but it's a great learning experience. Staver built a few factory racing cars so that is what I am loosely basing my bodywork on. Simple construction with no attempt to deceive anyone that it is anything but a newly built body. My hat is off to those who are lucky enough to be the keepers of truly original brass cars. But that doesn't mean a few of us can't have a bit of fun with the cast offs. One of the racers back in about 1912 / 13, can a car get much more basic ? I think the racers were based on the Staver 30's. Similar to my 40 but a shorter wheelbase and slightly smaller bore on the Teetor Hartley "T " head. Greg in Canada

That front spring mount can't be a coincidence . The Mystery frame must be something in the small Mercedes family. Perhaps late 1930's ? Greg in Canada

Did anyone notice the 1948 Morgan has a Ford Pinto sohc engine ? No mention at all in the description. Quit a change from a 1100 cc British Ford sidevalve. Looks like a tight fit. Greg in Canada

I also tend toward something like a Roamer. Moon cars are nice but not quite of the size of the mystery car. There is also a definite possibility it is a 1 off custom body, if so it could be almost any higher quality car under the bodywork. Greg in Canada

It's the mounting for a Bosch magneto conversion. Most likely for Model T Ford but they were also made for Fordson tractors and possibly a few other applications.. A reasonably desirable part, especially with the drive gears. Greg in Canada

In my early 20's { 1980's} I worked as a mechanic , mainly on British sports cars, but also at a shop restoring early Mustangs. Long enough to qualify as a journeyman. At that time the pay was so-so and the benefit package quite thin. I turned that experience plus a 3 year technical college program into a career as a Marine Engineer. Quite a bit better wages , much better benefit program, quite good pension program. Definitely a big step up from a vehicle mechanic in all regards except ships are manned 24 hours so never ending shift work. Working as a mechanic ; similar to most trades, you are working in a physically demanding situation all day long. As an engineer on the running watches the physical side is much less, lots of small jobs , checks on a ton of running equipment and lots of instrument recording. In my situation the ship was tied up overnight { 350 car equivalent vehicle ferry , 2100 passengers and crew} so that is when all the maintenance and unscheduled repair took place. Once a year the ship was out of service for from 3 to 6 weeks for major scheduled inspection and overhaul. This is when the real work happened. Overall the job of engineer was much better than mechanic. At times very demanding, but substantially better rermuneration. I am sure a select few Automotive mechanics do quite well but I get the feeling a number of other trades are more consistently high earning. EG. Electrician, Tool and Die maker , Mllwright possibly even pipefitter. My nephew is currently apprenticing as a pipefitter, there still seems to be lots of work and quite decent wages. In my experience anything with a more "industrial " slant seems to do better than a Auto mechanic. Greg in Canada

Very dependent on local weather conditions. Two were in use here , number 1 is a reasonably large, rounded top , "premium unit. Its been fine. Number 2 was a cheaper , smaller unit. We don't get much snow locally but when we do it is frequently snow then rain. Instant crushing weight. The smaller unit collapsed and was a complete loss. Both are screwed down to heavy timbers so lots of foundation strength. But the smaller units are very lightly built these days. Buyer beware. Greg in Canada

My 1974 TVR 2500 when I first brought it home . Reasonably cheap, light project. Just needs a bit more assembly . A car I have known for a few decades, used to work on it when it was in the hands of its original owner back in the early 1980's. Finally had a chance to buy it so I did. Bought it at the right time , about 6 years ago. They have steadily gone up in price since, to the point I probably could not justify spending todays price to replace it. But I bought it well even by 6 year ago prices. The long overdue replacement for one I sold as a broke student back in 1983. Greg

Ed, that is a stunning snapshot of todays market. Greg in Canada

The main reason for such harsh rules stems from the substantial numbers of wealthy foreign university students that come to British Columbia. Over the last decade they have purchased quite a few { hundreds } of supercars and then engaged in some very dangerous and headline making, high speed antics . Super car sales are also part of our very serious international money laundering problem along with luxury homes. Some estimates put it at 5 billion a year or thereabouts. Sometimes up to 15 or so cars in a very high speed highway blitz. The Govt felt compelled to put some real teeth in the speeding laws and came up with the "excessive speeding " measures. Once the Police had it in their tool kit they ran with it. 40 km over is definitely quite fast on city streets, but on the highway really not a lot at all. Lots of commuters get nicked just doing something they have been doing safely for years . Most of our highway limits are fairly low according to many road safety experts. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-living-in-a-supercar-capital-is-bad-for-your-health Greg

I guess if you can afford it why not ? You are completely correct Matt, many things in life make no sense from a strictly practical point of view. I personally have to scrutinise and rationalize every purchase but many are in a completely different situation. Long live the 1% , some of it must trickle down to the rest of us .You can't take it with you after all. Greg

It looks like a full eliptic rear spring, Marion bobcat ? Greg in Canada

Hard to imagine a machine more death defying to ride except possibly the IOM TT. Greg

I can see the technical merit of such an engineering project. Yes the results are very impressive. But it still begs the question why ? At least in the case of the customer cars. My context is that I live in a Province with very stringent anti speeding laws and focused enforcement. Here in British Columbia approximately 6000 drivers per year have a instant roadside 2 week vehicle seizure for " excessive " speed since the new laws came down 4 years ago. The law now defines " excessive speed " as anything 40 KMH { 24.85 MPH } over a British Columbia posted speed limit. You can do that much over in a Smart car without trying hard. How oblivious to reality would a super car owner have to be to have own something like this with every cop in the land painting a target on you and your wallet ? I made a conscious decision to buy a track only Lola sports racer. Satisfies my need for speed in a safe , legal, affordable manner. I know some people have more money than brains, but is that really a good thing ? Greg in Canada

I would have probably been impressed by this when I was young. But today I just see these things as ego trips for the super rich. We have a couple of " Country Club " style tracks in British Columbia. A place for the successful Condo Kings and Drug Lords to do hot laps and impress their friends. The irony is they don't even have "real " races at these tracks. 90% of the real racers could not afford the membership dues. Put these rich clowns in a real racing situation and a real race car and see if they are still game. Who needs 2500 HP? Bruce and Denny did just fine with about 850. A M8 McLaren isn't cheap , but a fraction of the crazy Bugatti price.

Actually several are quite well known , Car Craft has been around since the mid 1950's , started as one of the small sized digests like Rod and Custom. Mustangs Monthly is well known in early Mustang circles, Street Rodder was once very popular in rodding circles. Not obscure titles at all. Greg in Canada

Sorry, with all the electric vehicle talk I couldn't resist. Hard to imagine any " car " less environmentally friendly than that mutant Cadillac. Greg

In thermodynamics if it burns fuel it is a " heat engine ". However in marine craft if it has a gasoline or diesel { possibly even electric } power plant then it is a " Motor Vessel ". Here in Canada our marine engineer licences are either Steam Ship or Motor Vessel. Not much Commercial vessel Steam left these days except a few on the Great Lakes, although larger Navy vessels still have quite a few Steam turbines. Greg in Canada

Looks like fun , but I wonder if they make it in an electric ? Greg

Great find. Parts cars are always a good thing as long as you have the space. Especially for something as rare as a prewar Morris in North America. Parts are probably somewhat available in the U.K. but shipping can get costly on anything bulky or heavy. I am sure it will pay off over time and you might be able to arrange trades with other Morris owners. Does anything directly interchange with the TC ? Were these sold new in the U.S. ? Or have they made there way in from the U.K. or possibly Canada. There is a smattering of pre - war British saloons out here on the West Coast of Canada. Some were sold new here but they were a relatively small segment our domestic market. Post war sales really took off. Greg in Canada

Late 1970's - early 1980's I liked Facel Vega's a lot. They have their quirks but prices were still reasonable. Then they shot up in price, well beyond anything I could justify { or afford }.The bang for the buck equation got completely distorted. Greg

The last 1974 I was looking at { last summer } was a light project. Very decent body { came from Oregon } with orig paint and the expected wear of a 40 + year old used but not badly abused vehicle. Interior plastic was suffering from the typical GM product surface deterioration. 250 6 Cyl, and 3 speed manual, both of which are fine with me esp. the manual trans. Running and drivable, but needing at least brakes, probably in reality a comprehensive mechanical go thru. Some paperwork complications. Legally imported from the U.S.A. with correct paperwork but it had changed hands since importation and was a more convoluted process than usual to get legal B.C. registration. But just a few extra hoops, nothing even remotely close to what I hear of Title problems in the U.S. $2,500.00 Canadian Seemed like a decent deal. It only recently sold. The market is tough around here for projects. Greg in Canada

Those are sweet, but from what I have seen locally much more expensive than the next bodystyle newer. Usually at least double , often triple. Expensive enough I wouldn't use one as a light duty truck / utility vehicle. They are fringe " muscle car era " favorites and have gone way up in value on the coattails of SS Chevelle's. Greg in Canada