1912Staver

The next generation of full size Riley's are in my opinion actually better cars than the RM series cars. But at least partially a badge engineered BMC product . They get very little respect at all in North America. If you can find one they can be a real bargain. Even the very pleasing Riley 1.5 only recently got any real respect. Any of these mid 1950's Saloons plus MG ZA , ZB Magnette's are top's in my book for value for money.

Riley engines look like dohc but they are not. The Saloons are very nice cars, however pretty hefty weight, and a comparatively small displacement so only modest performance. A MK 2 Jag will eat one for lunch. But yes, about as charming a British Saloon as you could want. They are also potential money pits depending on the state of the woodwork. So that plus the fact that 99% of the car is Riley only and somewhat hard to source / relatively expensive, depresses prices. Much the same can be said for pretty much any of the British postwar coachbuilt Saloons. Charming cars but complex body structures .And a rather high trouble / cost vs performance / road handling. They also require a knowledgeable , hands on owner as Riley capable shops and mechanics are very thin on the ground in North America.

Interesting car , but wow !, $26,000.00 ! I hope they have very long term storage lined up.

I guess it depends on what you call " really old stuff " . Most of what I call "really old stuff " never even had a repair manual. Sometimes an owners manual that covered most day to day operation and maintenance , and perhaps common repairs. The oldest reasonably proper manual I have is for my 1918 Packard truck. And I think it is more because they were supplied to the U.S. Military for use in WW1 that the manual is as comprehensive as it is. But compared to my automotive interest's 1918 is pretty new. Even right on up to the late 1920's , factory material can be somewhat superficial. Parts books seem a bit more common for early cars , but they are often quite rare unless you are talking about one of the top 10 or sellers of their day. I have been looking for a parts book for my 1912 Staver Chicago for over 20 years now. I have a pretty so - so photocopy of one a previous owner obtained from Harrah's library many years ago, but much of the detail in the illustrations is hard to make out. So far I have not even heard of a genuine copy for sale. Sure would be interesting to know what happened to Walter Millers massive collection.

One other drawback I find with the best books is the vast majority are either written about very common cars like Model T and Model A Fords, cars I have personally more or less lost interest in as the decades rolled by. Or they focus on wonderful cars that I will probably never even see in real life let alone own or drive. Nice to know about, but of little practical value as far as my own cars are concerned. Thanks for reminding me about the online sources for early journals JV. I own a smattering of original copy's , but they tend to be quite hard to find unless a person is prepared to pay ebay prices. I agree that there is a wealth of information in these early journals.

The market is crazy at the moment. Makes my head spin. As many on here say , a pre war project car that would have been pounced on by multiple restorers 40 years ago is probably now a parts car. But anything interesting from the 1950's / 60's / early 70's is worth its weight in gold. Even the oddball / small bore cars I generally try to latch on to have shot up to unreachable prices. Where is all this money coming from ? Covid has done nothing but plunge my already thin retirement income even lower.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/121150773372097/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks&tracking={"qid"%3A"6969240420890031193"%2C"mf_story_key"%3A"1062646778952312467"%2C"commerce_rank_obj"%3A"{\"target_id\"%3A1062646778952312467%2C\"target_type\"%3A6%2C\"primary_position\"%3A0%2C\"ranking_signature\"%3A7308849291890524160%2C\"commerce_channel\"%3A501%2C\"value\"%3A0%2C\"upsell_type\"%3A21%2C\"grouping_info\"%3Anull}"}e, Here is the link. Ad says they are in Spokane WA. , $250.00 Unfortunately the U.S. border is closed so I can't fetch them. Hopefully a Washington State member can. Looks like a great deal !

It's a constant search. The best books as far as I am concerned are very in depth. Books like this are unfortunately generally printed in very small print runs, and the price tends to be in many cases quite high. Websites, magazines and periodicals have a general tendency to be somewhat superficial. The now defunct Automobile Quarterly was probably about as good as a periodical can hope to be. Constantly high quality articles , from many of the leading automotive writers. A good place to start would be reading AQ from start to finish . But a complete collection is not cheap. Also the feature hard cover books on individual car makes published over the years by AQ. Some titles are fairly rare and expensive , but most are quite reasonable if a person patiently watches on ebay. After that the sky is the limit. Both cost and needed storage space.

Even up here in Canada I see occasional Home depot tool box specials. But I never buy new tool boxes these days. Years ago when I was a young apprentice ,later 1970's,I bought a brand new, large { for the era } Craftsman top and bottom box. They were on sale far a very good price and have stood up well over the years. But since that time I have bought several used boxes. Usually Snap On or similar " better " quality box's. I now have 3 roll- a-way's { 1 1950's, one 1960's Snap On } plus 3 more top boxes that sit on workbenches. All very good quality , and all extremely good value for the money. Best deal of all was a recent find at a local thrift store. I had a few minutes to kill before a Dentist apt. so I took a quick look in the Thrift Store in the same strip mall as the Dentist. A smaller 1960's Snap on bottom cab. plus a 2 drawer Snap On middle cabinet, plus a very good quality but non Snap On top box. The whole stack for the princely sum of $50.00 plus tax. The lady at the check out said they were short of space and wanted them gone, so in to the back of the trusty Hyundai they went. They just barely fit ! So keep your eyes open at swap Meets and garage sales , Craigslist and over time you will probably do just fine. I just hope to some day find the top of the line Snap on set up from the 1940's without breaking the bank. K - 60 top box and K 260 or similar " top of the line " bottom box.

I actually really like the " Foxbat " . Too bad even virtual parts car 150's are a kings ransom. Otherwise I might be tempted to build myself a replica. The concept has got me thinking however. I have a MGA coupe shell that could possibly be modified in a similar manner. But it is probably too narrow and would need a custom windshield.

If you do your own tire repairs , like I usually do , they are quite handy.

Hi Mike, my catalog details the rims themselves well , but generally does not cover what trucks they were used on nearly as well. Far too many small makers where there was often the option of using whatever rims the customer desired. It was really dependent on what size tires the customer wanted which depended on the use the customer was buying the truck for. The catalog does list Type C , 34 x 4 1/2 for White light duty , 1919 - 21 but does not break down what models that covered. Type B rims are fitted to most Whites in this era from what I have seen. But I suspect a 1 ton could have been fitted with either B or C. Export trucks often seem to have the " heavy duty " options more or less fitted as standard. A further complication is there are actually two different Firestone Type C rims. The first is the large car / light duty truck rim which I believe is what Layden's rim is. But there is also a " truck " series Type C which is quite similar to the Type B rims. I assume you are quoting the 36 x 6 tire size from White sales material. This is probably the most reliable source . My catalog shows that size is available in both Type B and the truck series Type C, but not the lighter car / light truck series rims. Unfortunately there is a difference in the measurement between the two beveled ridges which clamp the rim to the felloe when comparing Type B and truck Type C. Not a big difference but possibly enough to effect interchange. I will see if I can coax my steam powered scanner to co- operate and post the relevant pages. Greg

Hi Mike, what exactly do you need ? Wheels complete with hubs ? Or do you already have some parts ? I have some { poor condition } Firestone B felloes for wood spoke wheels. They came with some Packard wood spoke wheels { hard rubber style } that had at some point been modified to use Firestone Type B rims similar to your photo. It's hard to tell from your photo if they are type B or C rims but I believe Type B were more common, feel free to correct me. They are rusty beyond using , however I could make a drawing so you could have some made locally if that would be of help. Because they attach directly to the wood portion of the wheel they seen to suffer badly from rust. I think the wood holds moisture enough to cause substantial damage over the decades in all but desert climates. Greg

In my Firestone rim guide there is a notice warning that Type C { generally large cars and smaller trucks } rims only interchange with Type B rims { most of the larger trucks } in 36 x 6. I believe the reason is that all the other Type C sizes end up being too narrow between the inner bevels to fit on a Type B felloe. It is therefore important to identify what felloe you are trying to match a rim to when dealing with smaller trucks. Either type B or Type C are possibly used.

I wonder if demanding payment for Canadian Whisky in vintage car units would help alleviate the old car imbalance between Canada and the Eastern U.S. ? Crown Royal comes from Manitoba , which is the Start of Western Canada. Say for every ton of Crown shipped to Ed's part of the world, a ton of Pre War car has to be sent to those of us outcast in the boonies of the North West. Might be the start of a whole new chapter in Canada / U.S. trade.

I think Ed is talking about the Stearns - Knight. Very odd engines compared to what most of us are used to. 16 of the con rods move the sleeves up and down. The other 8 are " normal " con rods.

What about a 1920 or so McLaughlin 4 Cyl. ? The Oakland , or the McLaughlin based on the Oakland has the wrong hood louvers.

This photo reminds me of a once small fishing / farming town near where I lived in my late teens, early 20's. But on the Pacific coast rather than the Atlantic. Ladner B.C. Greatly changed today as it has evolved into a bedroom community for Vancouver B.C.

The other cars in the photo are quite interesting as well. A { I think } Model T open cab truck and a very sporting looking , fenderless, Model T roadster. The Roadster must have thrown up a fair bit of Ontario mud.

Gar Wood made lots of things besides boats. Winches and dump boxes along with many other commercial vehicle/ construction equipment items. I don't have a product catalog , but I imagine it is quite large.

I am a huge TVR fan. But the wedges from about the same era as the TR7 have little appeal to me. Mind you if I could find one close to todays average TR7 price range I would surely snap it up. Visually they are perhaps even more unappealing than a TR7. But the chassis is far better.

Yet TR8's have a strong fan base. I wouldn't mind one myself.

I would give a vote for the Continental MK 2 from 1956 and 7 as far as the post war , American version of the concept. The Hudson Italia is also a strong contender.

I agree about the driving position. I am 6'2" but somewhat short legs / long torso. So the fit in Italian cars is" O.K ". Alfa's are much the same in my experience. And luckily my feet are only size 10-11 depending on the shoe. But yes I am a tight fit in quite a few of the sports cars I like.

Using a Cobra replica as a first track car is probably a bit of a mistake. People are best to start out with something much slower to avoid situations like you describe. Cars like a Formula VEE are ideal. Most clubs will have a reasonably good number of FV cars so they usually run by themselves or sometimes with the slow group of early Formula Fords. That way there is not a huge difference in speeds between the fastest and slowest cars. And close racing really develops driving skill and awareness. Even better yet is attending one of the racing school programs. Expensive , but generally well worth the cost. Your Cobra probably felt fast for a street car, but most likely the chassis set up and tires were far from ideal for the track. It takes a lot of development to turn a street car into a track car. A car such as your Cobra almost certainly had too much HP and too little grip and chassis set up. A really good driver could probably have done alright with it but most of us are only fair drivers at best.