1912Staver

Hi George, interesting to hear that the Winter is the active time in Florida. Up here in the cool, wet, Pacific North West all the old cars and old car people are just starting to come out of hibernation.

I have an engine but I am a long way away! Actually that complete Cadillac would be quite welcome around my place.

Not a very good seller . A bit pricy for a time when most Japanese cars were thought of as a cheaper alternative. They were quite popular in Japan, and sold well there. As far as Cosmo's go I prefer the first version. But I don't think more than a small handful made it to North America.

Hard to find but not impossible. Other than hauling it yourself , there are few other options for loads like this these days.

Nice Cadillac. I hope by " the same " you are meaning the same size and in a white wall. Sears Allstate has been out of business for some time now.

Smaller part , home casting is very manageable as long as you are talking aluminum , brass and bronze. Iron and especially steel are much more difficult. If the aluminum part needs to be a specific alloy , and /or heat treated then probably a job for a commercial foundry. A good friend who is heavily into pre 1920 motorcycles is getting set up for basic heat treatment. The main heat treat shop in our area is turning down small jobs these days. It's sort of counter intuitive. The parts and early cars / trucks / motorcycles that the parts fit just keep getting more and more expensive. But fewer and fewer commercial outfits want to be involved with them. Seems like if you want less than a couple of thousand of a particular part , you will be on your own. Most of my working life I was involved with large marine machinery . Many one off jobs. You name it , hard chrome and grind back to size, very challenging crack repairs, obsolete part fabrication , obsolete castings re made , massive block castings repaired with shrunk in inserts. { very large sleeves shrunk into where 24 inch diameter, cylinder liners locate in the main block } The local specialized shops were always up to any challenge. I wonder what has happened over the last 5 years or so ?

They were my second favorite behind 240 Z's back in the day. Excluding the exotics , Toyota 2000, the JDM Z's, Skyline GTR's etc. Prices have sure gone up over the last 20 years ! I even squirreled away a 18RG engine years ago thinking there was probably a early Celica coming up in my future. Never happened. At current prices , never will.

One suggestion in addition to your above comment, you do need to be more specific about your budget. One of the first things I learned in the old car game was to know exactly how much I had available to spend . And secondly, to avoid wasting both my time and the sellers time , only enquire about cars that were no more than 10-15 % outside of what I had to spend. In some cases a $ shortage within that sort of figure was something that could be negotiated with the seller. Or if a car was really " the one " I could sometimes borrow the difference. Unfortunately this is a hobby where 99% of the time it is the money that talks. It is fine to anticipate a improving financial situation, but time sometime proves otherwise.

Price might be a bit steep, but at least the seller states it's all original.

Holy #### Peter, shift over to the Pacific North West and compare chapters vs square miles . No wonder I at times get the feeling I am living in Outer Mongolia. Exactly one chapter for 4 States and Western Canada. Alaska is doing better on its own.

Agree 100 %. My very wise father shared a gem of his powers of observation with me about a decade before his passing. About my 3 rd decade point in the hobby. " If you had of put even 50% of the effort you have put into your vintage car obsession into learning how to make and manage money, all your ambitions would have come true by now." I did invest in a good , if costly education, and had a reasonably decent career until cost of living and family expenses started to outstrip earning increases. But I never did learn about investments and the power of compound interest, tax advantage pro's and cons on various income streams vs direct employment and all the rest that successful people know inside and out. Really didn't pay too much attention except in a very general way until retirement was upon me , and by then it was very late in the game.

There is another reason to move up a decade or so from a 1916, usability. A few 1916 and older cars can be driven in regular traffic as long as you are in an area where 40 MPH won't cause a big hold up to other drivers, powerhouse Whites excepted. You can drive them almost anywhere except perhaps an Interstate. But most 1916 and older cars really will need to be trailered to events and Brass Era runs. Many of the cheaper ones are really only 30 - 35 MPH cars. So that means in addition to the car itself, there also has to be room in the budget for a truck and trailer. As you get into the mid and later 20's the cars become a lot more road capable. A few will cruise along at 55 - 60.

trimacar, that's a good one ! I get the feeling that all these years I have also been looking for a Unicorn. A mid size , 1908 - 1912 basket case , at least 90% complete . And no dramatically damaged parts. Icing on the cake , West of the Rockies. 30 years ago I had no idea I was looking for a Unicorn. It's amazing how much you learn over the decades.

That seems like a pretty high price. More than many / most, early Lotus 7's for example. The Honda's are interesting, but I don't think they are exceptionally rare. Over 13,000 were built plus over 11,000 S800's . And they are known to be somewhat fragile mechanically. The Lotus 7's on the other hand are in both short supply, and great demand around the world. Lotus only built about 2500 7's . But many more have been built by several different firms plus individual home builders since Lotus discontinued production .

That sure looks like the Portland Swap Meet. I was probably standing right beside you when you snapped that photo.

I am not only thinking about world class cars Ed. Unfortunately most of us are more or less limited to the small fry of the automotive world. But absolutely I have found a few that became unreliable / non functional when they were just used cars and ended up spending 3 or even 4 decades out of sight , out of everyone's mind. In the other branch of my collecting I just bought an estate collection of several collectable 1950's and 1960's , very high end racing bicycles. An estate sale, not one had been out of the owners basement in 35 - 40 years. Plus a large quantity of extra parts. Not a sleeping Duesenberg , but still I was pretty pleased with my luck. Husband and wife pair of well off , avid cyclists . But as they got into their later years they just rode a couple of newer mountain bikes. The wife's bikes are too small for me and will be sold. I should end up with 4 first class bikes plus a ton of spares at very low cost. The son was very happy to sell them all in one lot.

Agreed, but it's not only the exchange. Also the ordeal of actually getting a U.S. purchase legally across into Canada. I have done it twice in the last 3 years, so it is doable. But several hoops to jump through, some flaming. If there had have been any chance of buying similar cars in Canada I would have 100 % gone that route. Very few cars I am both interested in , and that are priced within my reach in Western Canada it would seem.

Perhaps not collector cars in general. But there are still quite a few cars that would be of collector interest that are currently owned by people with no connection to the hobby. Over the decades many cars have fallen out of regular use , and just been left sitting in various spots. Hopefully a weather tight building , but often anything from an open car port to a plastic tarp in a back yard. Eventually many of these do find their way into car hobby ownership. I have recovered several myself over the last 5 decades . And like many old car guys, always dream of finding another . I am choosy . It has to be the right car for my particular niche of collecting. And at a price I can manage. Directly related to price is location. The nearer to me the better, and it is a major, positive factor that it is on my side of the Canada - U.S. border.

That used to happen 4 or 5 times a year around here. But either they are going very deep , off the radar locally . Or they are leaving the area altogether. Very few seem to become a part of the local Antique car activity. And the number of new surfacing , long term sleepers , really seems to have fallen off over the last few years. They are almost always worth more somewhere else, so most seem to end up somewhere else. As often as not they don't even seem to be advertised locally. I see them on Bring a Trailer , or similar sites. Usually after they have sold.

99.9999999999 % SCAM !

Can you post some photo's ? I am very interested.

I expect also Fire Trucks.

And if you gents do start to run short of oil, up here in Western Canada we are almost swimming in it. Unfortunately the pipeline that was going to be bringing it South to your refineries was on the environmental movements hit list. After that there is always the Canadian Arctic, but now I really am dreaming. Back in the early 1980's I was in a accelerated training program intended to provide Engineers for the Canadian Arctic, oil industry. Just as I graduated the Canadian Arctic shut down. Lots of oil, just like Alaska's North Slope. But the price in the mid 1980's was too low compared to production costs. I ended up spending 30 years on Costal vehicle Ferries.

Worse than that actually. A model 80 so no market for even the rad cap. At least that's what I hear about these cars. .... But seriously, I have personally seen a couple over the years that I would have happily given a home if I could have afforded it. A wire wheel Roadster and a wire wheel touring. Nice cars, older restorations. But at a price of around 40 grand each, not happening.

Hi Terry, a 1974 2500 M . Previously a 1972 2500 Vixen, much missed. Broke and a later 20's return to school, something had to go. I have tried to buy it back a few times over the last 30 years. The price always goes up faster than my ability to pay. It went through Bring a Trailer a few years ago. Now with a Ford V8, and further out of my reach than ever.