lump

Wow, this is one of VERY few times I've seen this group of sharp car collectors stumped on an old vehicle. This must be a really tough one. I note that the radiator shell shape reminds me of Model T Ford, but looks too large for this to be a TT. Seems to be chain drive...at least that small wheel in front of the rear wheel looks like a sprocket to me. Other ideas at all?

Wow, Leif! That was a quick and thorough answer. You seem to really know those old Buicks. Well done.

"All this car needs is....."

Here is a photo of a 1939 Dodge rear fender on a sedan

Those ribs do remind me of Dodge fenders.

Hello gang. I went to an estate sale recently, with the relatives conducting the sale. I couldn't believe they wanted to sell old photo albums full of family pictures, but that's their business, not mine. Anyway, I bought one album because it had several cool old photos of cars and/or other vintage vehicles. Tonight I'll post an image of a very old truck that I thought was very cool. Anyone have any idea about the make/year/model of this old solid-rubber-tire stake bed truck?

Hupp experts, if you don't mind, please take a look in the General Discussion forum at the thread about "LOOKING FOR INFO ON 40's and 50's BATTERIES." Some found an old trash pile loaded with old hard rubber auto battery cases. One of those cases has raised letters reading "H SERVICE", with big circle surrounding the "H." That logo looks very much like the radiator badge on my 1923 Model R Hupp touring. I'm wondering if "H Service" might have been Hupmobile...or perhaps Hudson? Your thoughts?

Those hubcaps are probably aftermarket. At least, I don't recognize them. Your ornament sure looks familiar...

I am quite curious about the case marked, "H Service." Is anyone familiar with that company? I wonder if it could mean Hudson or Hupmobile?

Hello, Steven. I have a 1923 Model R touring, which I inherited from my parents. There are some spare parts in boxes, which I will try to look through, to see if I have any spare bearings.

Here is a photo from the internet of a Grant car. Note that the placement of the radiator badge is more similar on this Grant, than the emblem was on the first photo of a Scripps-Booth. That emblem was located higher, I think.

By the way, I seem to recall that some Grant cars used Falls brand engines, and at other times Walker engines were installed. I understand that neither engine was considered to be of superior quality. Danoboy, would you like to sell that firewall tag? It might look pretty good in my little collection. Cheers!

My parents had a 1921 Grant Six roadster when I was a kid. I have a photo of the day they drug it out of a barn in Indiana They did some research and wrote a story for the AACA magazine about the Grant Motor Car company. I'll see if I can find a copy of that in my files. In the meantime, here is a photo of some NOS Grant memorabilia that my parents acquired from a gentleman who had worked for the Grant company. They met him at an AACA tour in the early 1960's, when he came up and introduced himself.

Hmmm....the one on the right could also be a Grant. They had radiator shells like that one.

If you don't find any other source, I have a large supply of old stock USA made bulbs, of nearly every size. Send me a PM, if you like.

Can't wait to see what you find out. Good luck!

AWESOME car, Skip. Nice to see that it has the 350 hp engine, bucket seats, and console (which includes floor shifter). Is that paint and/or upholstery original, by any chance? Next it would be great to search for a build sheet. Then you can really sort out the details of what it was originally equipped with.

Matt...."tens of thousands"?? I agree with not calling this car a gold mine without knowing more facts----but are you aware that GM produced less than 9,000 TOTAL Chevelle V8 model convertibles in 1969? (Check out stats on Chevellestuff online). And as near as we know, MOST of those were not SS 396 models. So right off the bat, this car has the POTENTIAL to be very valuable. The OP says it has 23,000 original miles, and "all paperwork." If that's original paint, upholstery, etc. Wow. More so than regular passenger cars, muscle cars were driven hard, and commonly abused...if not by their first owners, then by subsequent owners. Totally original unmolested muscle cars are quite rare as a percentage of the total extant fleet. As such, muscle car collectors value "survivor" cars much more than nicely restored units. There are many times more restored cars out there than "survivors." Silver paint over red interior was not super common in 1969, but i have seen several SS 396 models with this combination, which seems to be much appreciated by collectors today. Anyway, we're ALL anxious for details, photos, etc, before advising of value. But the statistics provided by the OP, if accurate, suggest a very expensive car, in my experience.

One important fact that I can contribute to this thread is that on many reproduction parts, THERE IS MORE THAN ONE MANUFACTURER, and MORE THAN ONE LEVEL OF QUALITY AVAILABLE. The problem is, we collectors and restorers are conditioned that, for all the body and trim parts for these cars and trucks (when they were fairly new transportation vehicles), there were only TWO sources available...the parts dept at your local car dealer, and/or used parts from salvage yards. No one thought of buying an off-brand fender, door, or bumper for a 3 year-old car; reproduction body or trim parts didn't exist. So everyone used to check on the price of new parts replacement parts at the dealership, and then scour junk yards and want ads for used parts. Then the shopper would settle on the best price he/she could find. So today, when we need reproduction parts, what do we do? We get on the phone and call around to several sources, and then order the item we need from whichever source offers the lowest overall cost (for the part plus shipping). We do that without even knowing that some of those parts we got quotes for are "economy versions," while other parts are show-car worthy. In my career position, this drives me CRAZY! For example, did you know that there are FIVE DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS of those "cowl hoods" for 1967 to 1969 Camaros? (Regular Production Option ZL-2, "Special Ducted Hood" actually debuted in about January of 1969, but it seems like MOST 67-69 Camaros are fitted with them now). Anyway, some of those reproduction hoods are really, really good...made from heavy gauge steel on all-steel tooling, and are at LEAST as good of quality as the OEM parts were. However, there are also some cowl hoods out there of questionable quality. And if you call around to several suppliers seeking the lowest overall cost...guess which one you'll likely get? So when someone asks me if reproduction parts for certain vehicles are really good, or really bad. I answer them, "YES. Exactly." Moreover, not all restorers even WANT the same level of quality. There are many, many car owners out there who just want to patch a rough old car together and blow it out at the next swap meet. Those folks want the cheapest part they can find. Other folks may be trying to build a platinum quality car, intent on winning their Junior, Senior, and Preservation awards at the next few Hershey events. It's ok when the first guy gets cheapo parts in the mail. But that guy with his sights set on platinum is going to be disappointed if his new quarter panel doesn't "quite" fit right. For over 30 years, I've been doing the advertising and marketing for LOTS of the companies which manufacture or retail reproduction parts for collector vehicles. I design and produce their ads, catalogs, websites, swap meet exhibits, SEMA show exhibits, and provide them with advice on how to sell their products. I've spent literally thousands of hours behind the scenes of manufacturers and retailers in this industry from coast to coast. Some of the retailers try to compete on price alone, and are forced to stock and sell the lowest priced parts they can find, while others try to find the best parts available, and consequently cannot offer the lowest price. Some of the manufacturers try to make the highest quality part available, and then try to convince the retailers to stock THEIR parts instead of the "cheapo's." But many retailers are afraid of losing the sale if they cannot offer the lowest price. Why is that...? Because restorers and collectors really do call around and shop primarily by lowest overall price. This explains why one restorer will talk about having bought a reproduction bumper for his Mustang (for example) and grumble about the piss-poor quality of that D#$(&n repro crap, while another guy in the same conversation group will say that he too bought repro bumpers for the same year Mustang and loved the quality. BOTH men are telling the truth! My advice? Educate yourself before you buy. Find out if there is more than one version of those new bumpers available. And keep in mind that some retailers don't want you to know that, because they want to buy from whichever manufacturer will cut them a deal THIS WEEK. So they might have sold BRAND X last week, but are stocking BRAND Y today. Educate yourself, and buy the parts which will suit you the best. Oftentimes, you have a choice in the matter, if you take the time to find out about it.

Who has the popcorn? Like a strange old b&w movie, this has a weird plot, but it's strangely interesting to watch. I'll be at the SEMA show next week, and will see my good friend Corky, plus the all the major US rubber manufacturers while I'm there. It might be interesting to hear their take on this.

Bleach, I believe the Caddy photo was from someone else, who merely posted it to express appreciation of abandoned cars as an art form.

Many parts that are interesting to many folks. However, they often have low value; making it hardly worth the time and effort to struggle to take them off. 1955 and 1956 Chevy's used 15 inch wheels which had "nubs" around the outer edge for holding hubcaps in place. Early Corvettes used those exact same wheels for holding on their hubcaps. When I was younger I kept a careful eye out for those wheels in local junk yards, and dragged them home to sell at swap meets. Corvette guys would snap them up, often for $25 apiece or so, which was good money for a young guy in those days. Today I'm sure there are reproduction wheels available, but not cheap. The wheels on that Chevy are probably rusted pretty severely, but there could be a good spare in the trunk. The steering wheel has some value, as do some of the dash parts. Seat springs for 2 door models have long been in demand, but today even 4-door seats have value. There is lots of stainless trim on that car. The glass on these cars is usually de-laminated and/or fogged internally, rendering it useless. But original glass also came with date codes etched in a lower corner. So if a windshield or side glass is in near perfect condition AND is original GM equipment with the date codes, some collectors would really want it. Just about all 55-57 Chevy's rusted badly in the same places, so it is not likely that the sheet metal on this car is good enough to sell. Personally, I would love to have one of those "Frontenac" scripts just to hang on the wall, because they are so uncommon. It would be a labor of love mostly; not much in the way of payment-per-hour of your time, but many of us car freaks would love to find cars like this, and remove salvageable parts. I used to do that all the time when I was about 30 years younger.

Wow, that old phaeton is some seriously COOL yard art. I love it! Honestly, I wish it were in the woods behind my cabin. I would plan spring flowers, etc, around it, and photograph it every season. Would make great holiday cards!

Caddy, I really hope you get to own this car. And once we know a few more facts about the car, we can help you arrive at a fair price. But ASSUMING it really is all original, and retains its original numbers-matching components, and has its authentic original Protecto-Plate, has bucket seats and console, really is one-owner, and the paint and upholstery really do look like this car has less than 30,000 miles, I'm guessing somewhere around 45 to 50 grand. (Maybe more). A one-owner factory muscle car with extreme low mileage and all documentation in very good shape, which would STAY within the same family....that is nearly unheard of. IF all that is true, one thing is for sure: You'll NEVER get another chance like this, and just about no one else will either! GO for it! And then someday, take me for a ride. Better yet, let me see under the hood, and crawl beneath the car. I want my own 1970 Chevelle to look really right when it's done. And looking at another SS big block Chevelle with such low mileage would be a privilege. I would be willing to make a trip just to see it.

Wow, I can't help but wonder... What kind of title did you get with the car?