X-Frame

John, again, someone says they don't agree but did not say why? Are you afraid of not passing? Don't like tests? Most people I talk to don't grasp the rules of the road like they should. OK... If I put my arm out of the window up in a 90-degree angle does that mean I am making a right turn or waving Hi to someone? When you are at an intersection and a car is also stopped in the oncoming direction but making a left turn and you straight through, do I have the right of way or whoever gets through the intersection first wins? When approaching a stop sign, if the person in front of you stopped, do you also stop or just roll on through with the car in front like you are an attached trailer? At a crosswalk, the wide white line painted across your lane... do you stop with your front bumper over it or the middle of the car so your front end is out in traffic? Just some stupid stuff I see and have encountered daily and there is a LOT more because people do not follow rules of the road. Yeah, that is an old excuse people use that never works and don't know why they think the cops haven't heard it before either?

I'll go one further to contemplate. What if you are on a two lane road and the people in the right lane are going too slow and the people in the left too fast?

Problem in Virginia, police are ticket happy but the other problem is finding a cop on the job because there is a need for more of them. As for the 10-year test, that will help and supposedly for those who get caught in-between, are to go to the court appointed Traffic School.

Why would you be opposed to making sure you know the "proper" rules of the road and utilizing them? Why not a test every 10 years? We aren't talking once a year. I don't consider it excessive or unreasonable. People tend to electively forget the rules and I think a refresher is needed for everyone involved. To say NO is almost like giving yourself a license to do whatever you want on the road which is part of aggressive driving.

l live in Richmond, VA. I can relate to the people who hurry up around you only to slow down. We don't have 75 speed limits - top speed is 70 here and mostly 55-60 on highways except on rural stretches. I am very conscious of speed and speed signs. But apparently a lot of people don't care. You can be approaching a construction zone where there is a reduced speed sign posted (60 mph for example) and will continue to do 80, trying to force you up the road and risk the $200 ticket for speeding through that area. I see speed checked through aircraft signs all the time but have yet in all these years see an aircraft doing it. As for the trucker that changed lanes and was then forced to slow down up a grade... that was just plain rudeness. An unprofessional driver. I hate people who will ride my bumper when I am already above the posted speed limit. If it says 55-mph then you are supposed to do 55-mph. I know most police will allow 5-mph over (which I will do) but 10 or above and caught will cost you on the ticket and points. People who insist doing 80 in a 55 is just plain ridiculous and dangerous. You will often see them making illegal repeated lane changes as well. They rather be 5 feet on your rear bumper at 70-mph instead of allowing 7-car lengths so they won't crash into you but have room to stop in case of an emergency. Then when you try to do the right thing, they won't let you by jumping in and closing that gap. All falls into aggressive drivers. The enjoyability factor diminished with aggressive drivers who rather cut you off, don't pay attention to their surroundings, speed, etc... as opposed to the courtesy of watching out for the other driver. It was more simple and leisurely - say, 40-50 years or more ago than today. Hell, you even take your own life in hand in parking lots. The spaces and lanes now to small and narrow with a lot of blind spots with the glut of SUV's when you drive a normal car 2 feet lower to the ground.

Why do you agree and why do you think it is so? Thanks Eric

Time marches on. Cars we could once purchase on car lot back rows for $100 went the way of the dinosaur. Around 30 years ago, vehicles with hundreds of computers on board were still to come and shade tree mechanics could still work on them. Being so, parts stores still had items on their shelves. In this age of sealed engines with 100,000 mile warranties and 80% electronics, shade tree mechanics have also went the way of the dino. Junk yards, in general, only keep stock for cars 10 years old or newer and crush the rest - which includes the classics, leaving the pool of original parts shallow. That means, supply and demand dictates costs. Also in this age of technology, people's eye for detail have become keener and so, restorations are more scrutinized than in the past. Eric

Remember the days when you could take a leisurely and enjoyable drive to the grocery store? Now you are always tense and on the defense...less than enjoyable. Drivers have become, like society, all about ME. I don't want to follow behind anyone. I don't want to drive the speed limit. I don't want to read signs. In general, I don't adhere to the rules of the road as aggressive drivers. I have been driving for the past 42-years and never had an accident (knock on wood). The last ticket that I received was 30-years ago and not a moving violation (expired inspection sticker). People say I drive like a grandpa but I follow the rules. Do the speed limit (often set the cruise control on highways) while trying to keep the proper 1 car length for every 10-mph between cars (proper braking distance). Stop completely at stop signs (not a rolling stop) while giving the proper right of way, etc... I am also an advocate of wanting to make people take a written driving test every time they renew their drivers license (every 10 years here) which will reeducate people. One of my turn signal bulbs went out not long ago and I used the proper hand signals. Drivers around me didn't have a clue (in driving manuals). Anyway, as I get older the less I enjoy driving because of all of the crazy people on the road. Even more so by those who are always on phones and don't use turn signals, blow through crossings, or don't pay attention to their surroundings. Courteous drivers, are they a thing of the past? Am I alone on this one? Eric

Any part of the car hobby is not for people on fixed budgets.

Grog, I agree with this. I also hate seeing rare cars being raped and destroyed beyond the point of no return. Eric

Bringing this back to the top for the weekenders who may want to add to the discussion... thanks!

Don't forget pictures of a peek underneath the car (chassis).

I know the Wagonaire used an X-Braced chassis. The wheelbase is different than the Lark Convertible but wondered if the general layout are the same? Does anyone have a picture of a Wagonaire on the rack to see the chassis or a bare / rolling chassis pic? Thanks! Eric

I remember back in the early 1970s seeing "Mechanic Specials" or "Back Row" specials at the various auto dealerships. I had to pass up on a 1957 Cadillac Coupe de Ville in which an elderly woman brought it in for some transmission work and never picked it up. They were selling it for $100 just to cover the mechanic work. The car looked like new. The same for 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood. You could get specials like that all the time. There was a junk yard that had a 1957 Thunderbird they started to restore off frame and had all parts sandblasted and coated, both tops, etc.. and only wanted $2,500. That is what I am talking about how cars I could have gotten cheap in the day are unapproachable now. You don't see deals like those any more.

Cute website the links are on about forgotten makes. Yes, there are many cars long forgotten... at least by today's Millennials or Generation X. Many either I remember new or even worked on straight off the car carriers which are all but now a memory in the annals of automotive history. I like the Mercury Marauder, always have. But that model car version shown has an antenna the scale of a vacuum cleaner wand. NEO models are in better scale. I would love to own a 1955 Imperial, a 1966 Thunderbird, a 1949 Buick Sedanet, 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood, and a few more but, so many years have passed when these were once accessible and affordable and now unobtainable for me... sigh. Eric

There were two more oddities I recall. The 1935 Chevrolet Standard which used a X brace (not the V-K the Master used) and was used on that one model, one year only. The same with the 1940 Chevrolet Cabriolet. It had a massive, overbuilt but under engineered chassis that utilized stacked side rails, heavy cross members, off axis X legs, a large wolfs plate (large square plate covering the area where the axis should be). Chevrolet declared it a disaster and used a more traditional X the following year on the convertibles. I have yet to know why the 1940 design was even used and who came up with that disaster of a chassis design used only on that car, model, one year only?

Sorry, used that in a generic sense. I suspect that the frame looked similar in shape and structure though... any photos or illustrations of the Wagonaire chassis?

Glad to see more registries popping up. I know there is one for the 1956-1957 Continental Mk II which I helped track down owners through some state registrations available through an online service (monthly pay site). The Continental group keeps a registry of everyone who owned each car from the original factory order to current owner, and any parts or destroyed cars. Eric

Yes, a 1936 Chevrolet master Deluxe... seen in this picture and must have come off of the other?

Here is the index page of the owner's manual for you particular car. You can see it is like a mini shop manual.

I don't suspect there were any in 1929 either. Owner's manuals that were detailed existed and fairly generic Motors shop manuals. Think most of service information was through shop training.

You aren't getting my request for a chassis scan for the 1932 Packard confused? Which has since been fulfilled.

Roger, yes... I have been doing this research for at least 6 years concerning various X designs. And yes, have been part of both the 1956-1957 Continental Mk II forums and helped you out with photographs years past. Since I am only one of two people in the entire United States with my name, what would be the odds

Getting back to the original post - any more comments about the transverse mounted X brace design? As time went on, more variables showed up. This include the design used on Chrysler products between 1932-1933 which is called an "X" girder even though it had odd length legs which looks more like a curved beam in the rear section. But goes to show that manufacturers do call odd designs "X" designs.

Your model building is a full time job as is. And besides, if you can use a microwave then you can cook. They have autotune now for singing. And who wants to go 80-mph on two floor planks holding on either a rope behind a speeding boat creating wakes or holding two toothpicks to keep you from becoming tree pâté? I rather have a feeling of being in control (and enclosed) going that fast. Eric