lump

Wow. Whatta car! And wonderful provenance too.

Well said, Alsancle. They are only unrestored once. And as I've grown older, I do really appreciate the unrestored original vehicles more and more.

I'm STILL trying to come up with a way to get the original owner of this very rusty 1970 Cuda to sell it to me. No dice, so far. It just keeps settling lower into the back yard.

I may have this part, or at least a spare generator. You can email me at wirth4@aol.com. We have family in from out of town for the holidays. I'll try to check on this for you in the next week or so. Best wishes, --------Jim

West, I think you mean Dennis (Denny) Long, of Beavercreek, Ohio (a Dayton suburb). Denny is an old friend of mine, and an occasional contributor on the AACA forums. Let me know if you need help contacting him.

No trouble, Don Jr, and don't let well-intended gruff comments bother you. We truly do love to help folks solve automotive mysteries like this, and we welcome folks like you who want to share their cool cars, etc. We can help you identify specifics about this Nova, and my whole intent was to share with you the particular clues we use to help us solve the challenge. As I said before, a 1971 V8 2-door Nova is a wonderful car, which is right up my alley. Keep feeding us photos, questions, etc, and we can keep providing you with insights. Best wishes for the holidays too! -----Jim W

Don't get discouraged, Don Jr. A 1971 Nova is a cool car, period. And according to your VIN, that is indeed what this car is. When you try to determine the factory-original history of a car like this, NO single bit of evidence is very convincing to people who really, really know these cars. Even build sheets and Protecto-Plates are available as reproductions, and some of them look very authentic. And "verbal histories" from owners and previous owners frankly carry very little credibility with the general car-buying public. Thus serious collectors of Chevy muscle cars try to piece together the most complete picture possible, by scrutinizing LOTS of telling details and then trying to create a chronological trail to follow. For example, when was the engine block made as a raw casting (the casting number and casting date code). Next, when was the block machined and assembled as an engine? (stamped-in engine date code) Next, we try to find production date codes on lots of other components (IE: cylinder heads, intake, exhaust manifolds, water pump, alternator, starter, master cylinder, power brake booster (if present), wiper motor, rear axle, transmission, etc). Then we look to that Trim Tag on the firewall, and determine the year, month, and week that the body was assembled. Obviously, the block must be cast before it can be machined and assembled. And other components (if original to this car) must have been produced before the engine was completed (generally speaking...there are rare exceptions for smaller components, such as backorders and labor strikes). And all of these things must have been completed before the car itself was assembled. So finding all these date codes in a sequence goes a long way toward convincing collectors that a car may be close to original as manufactured. Without writing an entire book here, my point is really to share with you that all the experienced collectors who are responding to your post here are trying to gather the information which is essential to confirming what this car really was on the day it left the assembly line. We need LOTS of information, and when we are examining one of these cars for our own potential purchase, we often spend several hours examining the details as pointed out above. No matter what, a 1970 Chevy Nova V8 2-door is a pretty cool car, for Chevy folks.

Wow, Paul. I'm really sorry to learn of your accident. Hope you will soon be totally finished with that ordeal. Happy holiday season to you.

So, please, tell your entire story here...with photos!

When I was a kid, my parents came home from driving around with some friends in the 1923 Hupp touring which I still have. My dad had not yet installed the new-year license plates, so he worried a little when he went past a city cop. Sure enough, the prowl car pulled out, and followed closely behind. Shortly the red n blue lights went on, and Dad pulled over. The policeman, and older gentleman, walked up casually and Dad blurted out, "Officer, I know my plates are expired, but I do have the new plates at home. I"m sorry, I just forgot to install them today!" The officer chuckled and said, "Well, how about that? I never even noticed! I just wanted to put my foot on a running board again. I haven't done that in decades!" After some pleasant chatting, Dad fired up the old Hupmobile and headed for home. He and Mom and their guests were still laughing about it when they pulled in the driveway at home, where I was playing with some friends.

Praying for a full and speedy recovery, Steve Moskowitz! Lots of folks pulling for you here.

Send me a PM, and we can trade email addresses, if you like. I have a late 1923 Model R touring car, and have some maintenance projects ahead of me. Maybe we can trade info, etc. Cheers, mate!

CONGRATULATIONS, DEN41! Glad to see you found one that you love. You know, one thing I thought of while reading this very interesting thread is that INDIVIDUAL cars make natural exceptions to the concept of, "...which brand/model/year car is 'better.'" My dad once bought a 1950 Hudson Commodore 6 from the estate of a gentleman, and after all the dust and dirt was cleaned from it, that car was immaculate! And it drove like a dream. I don't know what the mileage was, but it was quite low. After Dad removed the aftermarket seatcovers, the interior was perfect. So my point is, that a car in that kind of condition might often be a better choice than a more preferable model in a lesser condition. Cheers to you!

So, this thread re-appearing caused me to go look more closely at the REO emblem I have hanging in a frame among my modest collection. I am pleased to report that mine is apparently an original, and like the others bears the "Greenduck Co" name upside down on the back. When looking at the following close-up photos, I also noticed that I had gotten a little clumsy with the epoxy putty I used on the backside to fasten a mounting screw. You can see a smudge of the epoxy on the frontside at about 10 or 11 o'clock, right about where the left wing crosses the white circle, over top of the "R" of REO. Don't know why I never noticed that before, but I'll have to be very careful to remove it without damaging the emblem. Another interesting tidbit (at least interesting to me). I had never noticed "The Fifth" ribbon near the bottom...or at least I didn't remember it. LOL

I have TONS of old model kits and parts, Jeff. And I live in Greene County, Ohio...not all that far from you. I have boxes of parts sorted by component type, IE: Engine parts, and interior parts, and wheels, etc, etc.

I also think Maxwell had a plant in Dayton, Ohio area for a time. Not positive on that, but during my senior year in high school (1972), our history teacher loved to rear back in his seat and hold forth on various subjects, trying to impress us with great facts that he knew. One day he loudly and proudly pronounced that only one motor car was ever produced in Dayton, Ohio: being the Stoddard-Dayton. I was sure he wasn't correct on that, having grown up in the antique car clubs in our area. But I kept my mouth shut. In later years, I found a list (maybe from AACA?) of cars manufactured in Dayton...and there was certainly more than one. So I found that teacher's phone number and called for him. His wife answered and told me very kindly that he had passed away. But she thought it was so sweet of me to call for him. I felt a little guilty just then, because I had planned to simply prove him wrong. You see, on several occasions during his history I had challenged his "facts," and I usually prevailed (later, after finding myself forced to prove my point in a research paper, as impromptu homework). I soon learned to just let those questionable "facts" go, rather than get stuck with mandatory "extra credit" homework! Now, as I look back, I actually learned a lot in his class. RIP, Mr Townsley, history teacher.

And the Stoddard-Dayton and Courier cars of Dayton, Ohio.

Can't forget the Grant motor car company, originally in Findlay, Ohio, and later in Cleveland. Or another company which Grant Motors acquired, the Denmo trucks of Cleveland.

I have spare used Model R parts, including some flywheels. Let me know if you cannot fix yours as described above. I'm in Ohio, by the way.

Visit the web forum "Garage Journal" where you will find popular threads of many people who really like vintage tool boxes of the style you have there. Here is a link to the "Vintage Tool Discussion" section. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forums/vintage-tool-discussion.38/

Sorry about your trailer theft, John. It could have been much worse, if you had had some irreplaceable antique car parts inside, etc. I've had 3 trailers stolen in my lifetime. I recovered one of them, when a lazy thief didn't remove the small name and phone number of the previous owner on the front frame of the trailer, and then "owner" failed to pay a mechanic who came to his house to fix bad wheel bearings. The mechanic then noticed the serial number ground off, and called the police. The cops then dialed that phone number, and later I got a call asking if I had maybe sold the trailer. About 6 months later I got the trailer back. All types of locks are easy to cut off and remove, especially with today's cheap cordless hand-held grinders. The best two anti-theft tools I have finally settled on are 1) removing tires & wheels from one side of the trailer, and 2) Putting bold vinyl graphics on the sides of the trailer (vinyl graphics are miserably difficult to remove, and paint soon peels off of them). Cops might easily spot a stolen trailer with very specific graphics on it. None of the trailers stolen from me had graphics on them, nor did any of them have wheels removed. With so many trailers sitting around in America, thieves tend to look for easy marks.

Looking closely, I think a clever someone has cut the car, and wrapped it carefully around the tree trunk (years ago). Note that the rear fender is loose in front, and there seems to be a seam cut just above the tail lamp assy, just over the brown patch on the fender. Clever work, either way. But I agree with you, that tree is too old to have been inside a car as new as that for its entire life.

I would suggest that your friend Bob should join the Hupmobile club. It is an active group, and they have copies of factory blueprints and shop manuals, as well as dedicated volunteer advisors for each different Hupmobile model.

I knew Dick Wood. He was from right here in Ohio. In fact, he borrowed the spare tire hold-down bracket from my 1923 Hupp Model R-12 touring to make a copy for his coupe. He was a nice guy.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!