1912Staver

So much runaround ! It's not surprising some people just give up. So much about the title process seems to be created by Kafka. And bureaucracies usually have trouble dealing with anything from before the current system. Hat's off to you for your steely determination and resourcefulness. Greg

Yes , I definitely have heard of them. The Silver stash is the stuff of legends around here. I have seen the Peerless a few times over the years, quite a car ! The others I have not seen with the possible exception of the Speedway Six. The last significant long term storage find locally that I am aware of was a Speedway Six 5 or 6 years ago. They may be the same car. None of the Pierce Arrow's are in the current local club roster. Someone like Peter Findlay ;who is far more active in the hobby than I am ,most likely knows the current status of them. Greg

And as has been mentioned on here before ,the tire size rationalization of 1918 caused a good number of the larger cars to be almost overnight obsolete. I am sure some people thought once the war was over the discontinued sizes would be re -introduced. And stored some of the low mile, better condition cars away . But the tires remained unavailable until the late 1940's / early 1950's when Antique Car hobbyist's persuaded Firestone to once again produce several of the long un available sizes. I am sure that even some very affluent people were shocked that they could no longer buy tires for a very expensive car that might only be 2 or 3 years old. Greg

Top photo looks like a Royal Enfield , middle, a BSA , might be something good , bottom a Norton Commando. All well worth saving ! Commando's have excellent parts availability. The BSA really depends on the model, some have quite low value , Thunderbolt's for example. Others are quite valuable and sought after, Hornet's and Spitfires. Greg ... more or less retired from British M.C.'s but at one time I was very keen. Owned many.

As far as I can tell virtually none of those cars survived. Unless they have been sealed up in some sort of Aladin's cave the local vintage car scene has relatively few rare and exclusive cars from the 1908 - 1925 era. And quite a few of those that do exist came here from somewhere else. I agree that there are photo's of many very interesting gars from this area. Packard's, Winton's, Napier ,a number of the more sporting teens British cars . And even the Roamer you mention. But if they do still exist I sure am unaware of them. Nor do they show up in the local club roster. Similarly , the Horseless Carriage club roster only shows a relative handful of local , upper middle class and better cars. I think the scrappage from the mid 1920's onward must have been brutal. Particularly the depression and the WW2 era. Greg

I was thinking more along the lines of pre 1925 cars with that comment. As interesting as they seem today, in the mid 1970's things like Tatraplan's and similar European oddballs were way off my radar. Aston Martin DB2 , I would have become really excited . I knew of a person with a Tatra in the later 1970's and I really was a bit puzzled at what he saw in it. Another person who lived close by had a Wills Sainte Claire , now that I found interesting ! Greg

In my experience they are rather few and far between. But we can all dream ! It's an unfortunate fact many women are a lot more interested in something along the lines of the Martha Stewart lifestyle than old cars. Finding one that even tolerates the old car hobby is at times a challenge. They are out there , but sort of like Duesenbergs . Much more demand than supply. Greg

That's easy. Just buy one and only one car, ready to use . And have any work needed done at a pro shop. No dirt , smell, parts , parts cars, dirt under the fingernails, grease on hands. Next projects, sheds full of parts, friends cars under tarps out in the yard, need I go on. In other words a good 60 % of us will never be able to have our hobby as we know it and truly make our wives happy. We can try , but it is a loosing battle. A stand off needs to be counted as a win. Greg

That number 56 has the strangest mounting position for snubbers I have ever seen. Someone's big idea that fizzled. I think it is one of the small model Overland's with the unconventional front spring. Greg

Very cool ! The capital C cars are far more than this sort of price. But yes a bit optimistic. This one would be very welcome at my place. Not even that far away from me. I have a feeling that's U.S. dollars, why would a car in Idaho be advertised in Canadian $ ? Very odd. If it actually is Canadian $ then probably not too far off the mark on price. Greg

Was that a " name brand " hitch ? I see the label but it is not one I am familiar with. Mind you apart from Reese I am not very up on hitches. So much offshore junk out there these days! Just a general observation , I am not implying you cheaped out on your new hitch. Greg

That tail light looks like a unique item as well. Possibly even more " one of a kind " than your headlights. When old cars were junked people tended to hand on to things like dash clocks, magneto's and headlights. But few bothered to save tailights. Greg

The other thing , not just the fear of something new, is the electronic complexity of electric cars. Many of us on the forum are quite hands on. And with time some of us can even grapple with basic repairs on reasonably modern cars. But from what I have seen on things like Tesla's they are truly loaded with electronics. All new vehicles have a ton of " mystery box " components. But I get the impression things like Tesla's, E Mustangs, and most likely E Corvettes take things to a new level. New car buyers seem to have accepted that they will be forever tied to the dealer for repair and servicing. I still search out very simple cars that I can maintain and repair myself. I can't see an electric ever fitting that requirement. Keeping things simple and affordable is why I have a very simple laptop and no cell of any kind. If worst comes to worst it is very cheap to replace. My wife and son have cells, apart from the sky high plan rates in Canada there is the added problem of broken screens , short battery life and loosing the blasted things. Over the last 5 years they have spent way , way more on their phones than I have spent on my laptop and very basic WI Fi. Greg

Interesting car , but almost certainly a homebuilt creation of a talented amateur builder. And a road car in the style of a speed record car, not an actual record attempt car. Or as Matt suggested at one time , a movie prop car. Greg

The only aspect that really raises my blood pressure is the tax payer supported rebates. In Canada at least they are significant. A further case of average people with little enough disposable income already giving a big leg up to a ; in many cases, rather high end product and rather high end buyers. If a Tesla or E Corvette warms your heart by all means splurge, but on your own dime if you please. Yes , in areas where hydro power is the main source of power they do make a measure of sense. But a good many regions are still using thermal power plants. The overall efficiency may not be quite as good as you suspect . Lots of heating losses in transmission lines and transformers. I am pretty middle / middle class since retirement. I still view a $10,000 daily driver outlay as substantial. I would not possibly be able to be involved with old cars if I bought a " cheap " $30,000 electric. It would suck up all my extra $. Since retirement I drive far less than I used to , I would be driving the electric wonder a decade or more past my death in order to make up the extra cost of the car on fuel savings. I don't hate electrics . But unless the price comes dramatically down there most likely won't be one in my future. Greg

I am a bit puzzled at how electrics are " recognizably superior ". Many study's show little if any environmental advantage to electrics if the entire package is examined. Harm of creating and disposing of the battery, and the overall carbon footprint of the root power source. They seem to me to be two fold in advantage, and both are rather hollow from my point of view. #1 , they let affluent soccer moms have a clear conscience regarding their extravagant life style. # 2 ,They give affluent A type guys a clean conscience " hot performing car ". Doing their part , and reaping a serious tax payer funded incentive at the same time. If you can come up with the price of admission , why not I guess ? Greg

Impressive indeed , but at the same time shockingly expensive. Even more so here in Canada. If personal vehicles continue on this track probably the majority of us will be public transit riders 20 years from now. I get a real laugh when I see new vehicles in the $25,000 - $30,000 class described as " inexpensive ". That price point will utterly consume the disposable income of many households. The days of a new or newer big 3 entry level car within the reach of almost any household are indeed long behind us. Greg

Peter is a great guy. He very generously let me drive his previous Brass car ; 4 Cyl Cadillac, 2 years ago. A real thrill, and yes cars from this era are quite unique in their road manners. Great video Keith! Greg

Hubcaps are Dodge Bros. The dump box would not have been made by the truck maker. Almost all trucks over 1 ton were sold as a " cab and chassis ". The buyer then went to the many specialist truck outfits and had whatever additional equipment { flat deck , van body, dump box , etc, } installed. A few of the most popular set ups ; flat deck for example, might be a factory option. But almost always they were built by an outside Co. Someone who is involved with vintage trucks might want the dump box, particularly if it is a well built unit. But flatdecks are more popular , not too many people using antique dump trucks. Hard to tell if what's left of the truck itself is REO Speedwagon or something else, perhaps Dodge as the hubcaps indicate. The rear end and wheels will be of value to the right person. Greg

So not just specific to late production White cars , but additionally only with Rubay as a body builder ! No wonder the headlight Guru has never seen them before. Greg

I was wondering about that rope in your photo's Ed. I wasn't sure if it was a filler strip or just a length of rope you were using to work the tire off the rim. Are all 6 of your rims this style or just the two spares ? Greg

I wonder if any of the White trucks with electric lights in this same era used these lights? 1918 was still very early for commercial vehicles to have electric lights. But they were an available option with most of the leading truck makers like White , Mack , Autocar and Packard. Greg

That's very interesting. I was under the impression that the filler strip was suitable for regular use. That puts my rim situation in a bit of a pickle. 27" rims are rare and expensive used and really expensive new. I thought I was extremely lucky when I found the 3 I have to go along with the pair of type E rims I already had. I might end up on 25 " Buffalo wires after all. Greg

How important are the two counterbores at the gear end ? What threads into the 1.25 " thread ? Could these counterbores be reduced in size { use a smaller diameter fastener }and then leave enough shaft material that the gear could be a seperate , pressed on part ? Just thinking of a way to avoid doing it all in one piece. Possibly turning the gear into something that can be purchased from Boston Gear or similar. Greg

Point taken. Yes, small one off jobs are not likely to be taken seriously by a big aerospace shop. My friend used to do all his own motorcycle fork legs when he worked at the aircraft shop. But as time went by they were bought out by one of the very large ,German turbine company's. Even as shop foreman it became very difficult to get " home jobs " in and out under the radar. He has retired 5 years ago and sold off his Jag's and most of his racing M.C.'s . Still a couple of Parilla's and a Manx Norton. But mostly racing Pigeons these days. A really low stress/ low budget retirement. Greg