1912Staver

The sun visor bracket is uncommon as well. And yes, they look to be very nice, elegant castings. If only metal could talk. Greg in Canada

I don't like to generalise too much. As others have said only a very small segment of the population is even interested in Model A sedan ownership. Of those potentially interested far fewer are in a position to buy one. Space, disposable income, life's demands on time, Even fewer still are actively scanning the market to buy one. If the car is priced at a " very good value for the money " position then the pool of potential buyers enlarges...a little. Most likely enough to sell , but even at that probably : as you are finding, not an immediate slam dunk. So not so much "plain cheap or broke ", but a dwindelling amount of people in the potential buyers pool. Greg in Canada

Possibly I am a bit paranoid , but it's not the other Facebook members I would be concerned about. It's Facebook itself as an information gathering and data mining organisation. And nothing I have seen over the last few years in any venue from Government hearings downward make me feel any confidence about the benignness of Facebook and similar sites. I still see little evidence that Facebook is anything other than a information gathering, packaging and sales organisation. And I am not talking about information within posts, but rather information about members and their contacts. Just too much going on behind the scenes at Facebook for my personal "sniff test". Greg in Canada

Don't you have to be a Facebook member to use Facebook marketplace ? Safer ??? I am sure there are riskier sites out there than Facebook , but from what I have heard in general about it I can't imagine anyone belonging to it and exposing themselves to all the baggage that comes along with membership. Any good reason Facebook users would be any less flakey than Craigslist users ? Greg in Canada

The younger generation seem to have much different old car interests than Model A's. My son and one of his friends think Nissan Sylvia's {240 SX's } are where it is at. Another friend is very partial to 2nd gen Firebirds. Something like a Model A Ford makes about as much sense to them as a buckboard. Even when I think of Model A's it is generally as a lightly modified Pickup, Roadster , or Touring. And I am in my early 60's. Very few younger people can manage anything other than a car that can be both a hobby and a daily driver. There are always a few young people that are interested in their grandfathers or great grandfathers car but they seem to be quite few in number. Your potential market is almost certainly someone 50 and up. And in my experience few people in that age group are expanding their hobby car ownership. I know a number of people in my general age category that want to downsize. I know a few people that have bought hobby cars over the last year or so. Generally one quite nice car following the sale of a few secondary cars or project cars. I have nothing against Model A's. However there are always a number of them on the market so buyers are becoming very choosy. Greg in Canada

And even worse, the everyday Canadian version of a everyday car. A few Canadian market cars are quite rare AND quite interesting, SD Beaumont's just to pull an example out of the air. But much of the Canadian market was dominated by " good value for the money " but pretty ordinary cars. Nostalgic to the people who grew up with them , but otherwise nothing to get a modern day car guy's heart racing. And generally not very well documented on the internet or elsewhere. Today the survivors provide a decent , reasonable cost way to get your feet wet in the old car hobby. Cars like this are often available at a price almost anyone can afford, and mechanical parts to keep them running are usually available. Greg in Canada

Nice enough cars. They were popular with younger family's on a bit of a budget. Like anything of this era, ones in decent condition like this one have a following. I can't even count how many of these were driven by the parents of kids I went to school with. The 4 door was even more popular. Greg in Canada

Some lamps seem very susceptible to age cracking. I imagine the brass alloy used plays a role. No doubt there was some metallurgical variation from maker to maker or even possibly batch to batch depending on where the brass sheet was sourced from. Greg in Canada

Jobs like this are quite technical. You need a good machinist who has vintage machinery experience. Start with blanks from someone like Boston gear and then a reasonably straightforward engineering process. It won't be cheap. Highly unlikely anyone will have these gears "off the shelf", but check with the Reo Club. Greg in Canada

Couldn't agree more. 45 years in the game and a 120 HP car is a perfect fit with my budget and driving ability. Greg

I have a very weight reduced and suspension modified Miata as an autocross car. It's cheap as the engine is near stock. But still relatively heavy and underpowered. Fine for auto-x but slow on a race track. You can make it quite a bit faster for track use but at substantial cost. There is no substitute to starting out with a car several hundred pounds lighter like the Lola. Once I get the sports racer sorted out I have a very rough Formula Ford that will be rebuilt and will replace the Miata. Once again a major weight reduction compared to the Miata with similar H.P. For auto - x a Porsche 914 gearbox is a cheaper alternative to a Hewland. The adapter is a bit of an outlay but much cheaper than a auto - x suitable, modified Hewland. I always use the simplest mouse trap possible. On a tight budget I have no other choice. Greg

Years ago as a student I was one of a group of four that pooled our resources in order to do something similar. A much simpler car than a BMW, a Bug Eye Sprite. But locally a very competitive class. The owner of the car was a mechanical engineering student, his younger brother a mechanical engineering tech. student, I was a marine engineering student and the fourth had no technical interest but was a very good driver who was being coached by his future father in law who himself was a very experienced, very accomplished competition driver. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work developing the car. Adapting a production car is more work than many realise. Every change takes time and money, and is always a trial and error process. Usually lots of errors if you do things in a properly analytic manner. Definitely lots of learning, but much frustration as well. Due mainly to the vision of the mechanical engineer by the second year things really clicked in the results department as well. I am older now. And retired so play money is tight. I have slowly come to the realization that an older factory built car is both better and cheaper than anything I can build myself. The mid 70's up till the late 1980's is the sweet spot for simple , affordable , safe, and capable factory cars. A shot of the Lola without its bodywork. It took 3 years of searching to find one that fit my very limited budget. But eventually my patience was rewarded. { Part of the low price is that the engine is out and needs a freshen up.} Cheaper and faster than a well prepared BMW. And so much easier to maintain and set up. Also; if I ever win the lotto, a Cosworth bolts right in. Same block as the very simple production Ford that is the normal powerplant Greg in Canada

For most of us the overall cost of such things is the deciding factor. A big part of the cost on track is tires. I personally favor a older purpose built, amateur level racing car. The reason is with 120 HP and 900 pounds weight my Lola can go a whole season on one set of tires. O.K. 2 sets if you are really pushing it. A 350 H.P. 2400 pound car is no faster on most tracks, but will often use up a set of tires in one to two weekends. And over a couple of seasons that's a tidy sum spent on tires. Real race cars are very straightforward machines. Everything is very accessible and everything that might need to be adjusted for track set up already has a provision for adjustment. Generally all the bodywork can be removed in a couple of minutes and then everything is right there in front of you. Most of the lower levels mandate a spec engine , Formula Ford, Sports 2000. etc. so you can avoid very expensive modifications needed on most road cars. Get the chassis set up right and work on your driving. It's hard to get a better bang for the buck than an older Formula Ford. Don't worry about winning, there is always someone with a lot more resources that will be consistently be on the podium. Use it as a learning experience and just worry about improving your own lap time. Also factory built race cars ; as opposed to modified production cars , tend to recover more of your expense at re-sale time. Repairs and rebuilds will end up being an out of pocket expense, but in most cases depreciation will be very little. Something like an early 1980's Van Diemen is hard to beat value wise. Apex Speed is a great amateur level racing forum. Everyone from beginners to seasoned veteran's with decades of racing. Good buy and sell section as well . Greg in Canada

One other thing to bear in mind is that most F1 teams operate out of the U.K. In fact circuit racing in general is very much a U.K. industry. I don't wish to dampen your enthusiasm but there are thousands of young people in the U.K. who have grown up in families immersed in the racing world and want to follow in their fathers or uncles { or mothers} footsteps. Mechanics , constructors, promotions people, teem organisers and managers, component builders , you name it. It is considered a very vibrant industry in the U.K. and competition for industry related jobs is quite intense. Greg in Canada

I like Alfa's as much as anyone . They are truly great cars. But cheap Alfa always sets off alarm bells with me. They are getting old. An engine rebuild is nearly impossible to do on a limited budget. Normal replacement parts , brakes, susp. and steering stuff and all the rest is quite pricy. And the problem that has sent more Alfa's prematurely to the crusher than anything else, RUST. I have owned a few and worked on many over the years. But always in my experience more expensive to own than expected. Also a word of advice you probably don't want to hear. Driving infractions get expensive in a hurry. Keep the performance driving to off road events. I drive a Hyundai Accent on the street, my other car is a Lola track only car. Greg in Canada

I second the Miata. Think of them as a 1960's Lotus Elan without 95% of the expense, fragility, and unreliability. I have owned many British sports cars, a few amateur level racing cars, a few Mustang's and a Miata. The Miata wins hands down for reliability and trouble free use. And they are just as much fun to drive as many of the older sports cars. If you buy a cheap one and drive it a few years until the rust becomes too serious they make a great starting point for a lo-cost lotus 7 project. Greg in Canada

Aston's have many fans , myself included. They are unfortunately definitely a car for the wealthy. As they age the purchase price drops substantially but the trade off is ever increasing maintenance and repair costs. It's an old saying but it generally holds true on any of the exotic automobiles. " If you can't afford a new one you definitely can't afford a older one". Greg in Canada

It looks like something the FWD corporation would have built for a military contract. Greg in Canada

My guess would be tractor. Possibly one of the larger garden tractor's of the 1970's or 1980's. They were built to last in those days, lots of them still in use today. Greg in Canada

See if you can find out where it came from. You never know, more of it might still be sitting there. One of the very best 1920's Packard's in my eyes. Greg in Canada

I can certainly see how you fell for the Buick. Definitely a charmer that needs the right owner. Unfortunately I am not that person . What is the paperwork situation ? Greg in Canada

The photo is not very clear however the hood almost has a White model G look to it. Greg in Canada

And yet almost none of the racing McLaren cars ; either those designed by Bruce McLaren or those built by his company after his death , are worth even 1 million. To me the McLaren road cars have no linkage whatsoever to the man himself, just a cheap attempt to cash in on his name. Same situation as the " Bugatti " we were talking about last week. When I think of McLaren I think of "the Bruce and Denny show" . Greg in Canada

Windshield frames don't help much on cars of this age. Many if not most were accessories and could have been installed either by the selling dealer or an independent top and windshield shop. Very few cars had a standard , factory installed windshield in the 1908 - 1910 era . A few makes listed them as factory options but even then the purchaser often had the choice of a number of different makes of windshields. Greg in Canada

I believe Stuyvesant made tools , particularly torque wrenches. Not sure when they were active however they seemed to advertise quite a bit in the 1950's and 60's. This is posibly a 1950's era promotional piece. Greg in Canada