wayne sheldon

Most states have a horsepower lower limit that these with their original engine may not meet for use on interstates or other designated freeways. Even some smaller motorcycles are not allowed on freeways in many states. Honda along about 1970 altered their small motorcycle lineup because a certain model had a rated horsepower that barely qualified for California freeways. The problem was that actual dynamometer tests showed a significant percentage of that model were slightly short of the legal requirement, and California contended that the requirement was for actual horsepower and not stated ratings. I remember this because one of my cousins got caught in that model trap. His was tested (independently), and found barely shy of the requirement. A year later he had a 1966 Mustang. I don't recall what the legally required horsepower was at that time. But I find myself wondering if the King Midget might have met the requirement for the horsepower of not?

I was almost sure that was the movie this scene was from, but it has been fifty years since I have seen it, and I couldn't recall the title. The movie has a great bit in it when Lou pushes his way into a home to try to sell a vacuum cleaner, throwing dirt all over the floor and promising to eat it up with a spoon if his vacuum doesn't clean it up completely. The lady of the house keeps trying to stop him from throwing the dirt around, however, being a pushy salesman, Lou doesn't let her stop him. Then he holds the electric cord up and asks where to plug it in. She hands him a spoon as she says the house had never had electricity. Lou, now down on his knees, utters a plaintive sounding "Abbo-ott" as he scoops up the first spoon-full of dirt. One of the details I thought odd at the time I watched the movie, was here was this house way out in the country, that hadn't yet been wired for electricity. Yet there was the lady of the house, perfectly attired, and with flawless hair. A true "June Cleaver" moment on film ten years before "Leave it to Beaver"!

I had to laugh! A "truth in advertising" moment perhaps? In the description he calls it a "running, driving, breaking" car. Spelling Nazis unite!

I have seen several Essex automobiles that I did not care for up close. (Blockish and cheap looking.) I have also seen several Essex automobiles that up close I liked a lot! i am pretty sure I would really like this one. But criminy the price is beyond ridiculous! In the recent few years I have seen at least four running and drivable 1926/'30 Packard sedans (mostly earlier sixes) sell for around $10,000. No Essex is worth four times Packard money! And this car looks like an older cosmetic restoration after a couple decades of bad storage. Tom LaFerriere had a Packard (1928 if I recall correctly?) I drooled over photos of for about a year before he sold it.

Bryan, The lenses on that Reo look like "Flintex" lenses. They were used as factory original lenses of a few cars of the early 1920s, and also sold as after-market replacements. I had a 1924 Model T Ford that had them on it. The Reo the fifth's headlamps would have originally been plain round glass. Several states began requiring some sort of light spreading or diffusing technology around 1918, and automobile manufacturers began including it as standard lighting equipment in the couple years following. Prior to 1918, even most expensive automobiles had plain simple glass "lenses". As for who made those headlamps? I don't know.

The 1941 Chevrolet four-door sedan is one of my favorite barely prewar cars! It is what my parents had up until I was seven. Somehow I always loved that car (I still remember the 1956 California license plate number on it!). The seller doesn't show the interior much at all. And what little I can see? Wasn't properly done (the front seat bottom cushion cover doesn't fit properly). Price seems optimistic for a car that might need a significant rework of the interior? Otherwise I really like it! It even has the same fold out factory option trunk guard. I remember one time, my dad in a pinch folded that down and chained a trailer tongue to it in order to move the trailer about a mile. He drove slowly and carefully, no harm done.

I grew up in and for over thirty years worked field service work all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area and beyond! Having vacationed a few times in Southern California, I am convinced that the Bay Area freeways are far worse than anything in Southern California! I once "clocked" my travel through a highway interchange that I went through several times every week. Two tenths of a mile in TWENTY MINUTES! It was like that every day! My thirty mile commute had gone from its original thirty minutes to two hours each way over twenty years. We ended up in Grass Valley, where the local clueless think fifteen cars lined up at a stop sign is a major gridlock! Enter (a few years ago now?), roundabouts. I have a simple question. Who the blankety-blank ever thought that people incapable of figuring out a simple single lane all directions four-way stop-sign intersection would be able to understand and use a roundabout?!

The Nebraska built Fuller, for some silly reason of trivia is somewhat more known than the Fuller built in Jackson Michigan. When I had mine, I usually referred to it as a "Jackson" Fuller simply to differentiate that it was in fact the one built in Jackson Michigan, and not the one so many people had heard of from Nebraska. The Fuller built in Nebraska was one of very few marques built in Nebraska, and therefore famous for being something unusual. The Fullers built in Michigan were one of many automakers that produced cars in Michigan, so not similarly notorious. The Jackson automobile is quite famous in its own right, and was for a few years one of the most respected automobiles built in the USA. Before Pierce, Packard, and Peerless took over the top spots in the USA, the Jackson was considered by many to be the best automobile manufactured in the USA. The entire Jackson, Carter, and Fuller history is filled with intrigue, dirty dealings, and the rise and fall of fortunes. Byron Carter's sad and untimely demise and its resulting effects on automotive history adds considerable interest to the entire affair. The Jackson Michigan built Fuller automobile manufactured one of the biggest two cylinder automobiles of the era (1908 thorough 1910), as well as a fine midsize four cylinder car. Their most popular model was a NOT typical high wheel standard design automobile. Although the car was a typical era style car, not a buggy style, it had larger wheels with solid rubber "tires" as opposed to pneumatic tires. Their four cylinder cars were typical midsize automobiles with pneumatic tires. Knowing which Fuller for some of us is just knowing what we are looking at. I am not nearly as familiar with the Nebraska Fuller as I am with the ones manufactured in Michigan. There were several very good articles in the major hobby magazines on the Jackson and Fuller automobiles and their history about a half century ago. Having read those, I simply recognize the model's style.

Hey there "G"! I sure love that car you had. Far and away one of my all time favorite Pierce Arrow cars (in spite of the series 80 standing!).And definitely one of my all-time favorite "0pera/Victoria" coupes! Great story about your father by the way!

Some people and even some advertising in the era called it a "hat box". Some people consider that the distinctive difference between a "Victoria" coupe, and an "opera" coupe. The notion being that the "opera" coupe needed a place for the special hat to be worn into the opera to be carried in the car. Personally, I think it is merely a matter of semantics. Just a linguistic anomaly. Advertisers call features and models all sorts of different things for all sorts of silly reasons (usually with a twist to make you want to buy it?). Colloquialisms have same things called many different words for many other reasons. Frankly, I always thought calling it a "hat box" was silly. Most hats that needed a place to be carried in the car wouldn't even begin to fit in those compartments!

Most of two days now, we don't know whether he wants the whole car re-restored, or minor engine work done. Does he want to drive it through a few local parades? A major CCCA Caravan? Or maybe a win at Pebble Beach? Maybe he wants to get the most money he can get from his inheritance? (Forgetting that every thousand dollars he adds to the sellable price will cost at least five thousand dollars up front!) Communication. It is a wonderful thing.

1972. I was going to college part time, and working almost full time. I had my 1929 Reo coupe, and a model T speedster, both of which ran well. The family's business was struggling a bit, and my mother's old car had blown the engine about a year earlier, and been junked. She had to either drive my dad's work station wagon, which was always crammed full of work stuff, or his 1951 Chevrolet 3/4 ton pickup, whichever one he was not driving that day. Sometimes I didn't want to drive my antiques, or leave them parked in some less than safe area. So I suggested I buy and repair a cheap car, and if they would cover the license and insurance, we could share the car. So I paid thirty dollars for a 1952 Chevrolet two door fastback. The fellow that had it, had bought it from where it had sat for about a decade, but supposedly "ran when parked". The fool put in a battery, and some fresh gasoline, then went straight out to see how fast it would go! Turned out I don't think the oil had been changed in about ten thousand miles, and he got only about three miles before throwing out a rod bearing! the crankshaft was basically destroyed. My dad had a bunch of extra 216 Chevy engine parts, so he donated those, and I pulled the engine and the two of us did a quicky refresh on it. Now, that engine was not all that good. The cylinders were four thousandths out of round, and believe it or not!? NINETEEN thousandths larger at the top than the bottom of the cylinders! YIKES! But a careful (???) valve and rings/gaskets turned it into the sweetest running 216 you ever heard! We put thirty thousand miles on that car before the speedometer cable broke, and probably another forty thousand after that. With fresh rings, as bad as those cylinders were, you could drive it all day long at 60 mph and it wouldn't burn a drop of oil! Push it to 65 mph and it would guzzle a quart in less than fifty miles. One day, dad decided to drive it from San Jose to Modesto California, a distance of about a hundred miles. Knowing his tendency to push cars faster than he should, I did the quick math and realized he would be crossing the couple/three mile long two lane bridge through the delta area just short of Modesto, right about the time the engine would run out of oil! I told him to stop before there was no place to stop and add some oil. He was a wonderful person in many ways? But taking advice from anyone else? He was always too smart to do that. So, naturally, he was about a hundred yards onto the no place to pull over bridge when the oil pressure dropped to zero. He eased it across and off the bridge area. Added a couple quarts and hoped. By the time he got home with the car, it had four knocking rods. Fortunately, the crankshaft this time was not hurt. And I spent a couple days doing an in-the-car rod bearing replacement project. We got a couple more good years out of that car until the transmission began to wear out (three speed jumping out of high gear, a common Chevrolet failing) . About then. my parents bought a mid 1960s Pontiac for my mom. About a month later my sister got her driver's license and went right out and wrecked it! The '52 Chevy had become practically not drivable. I had too many projects, had just gotten married, and some guy driving by wanted the desirable body style car more than anyone in my family did. So it went away for about three hundred dollars.

I do not know the car, or the seller myself, so have no advice to give. However, the seller has it listed for sale on the model T forum, and is a semi-regular poster over there. https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40490 The price seems very reasonable. However? I am not sure Overland had a removeable head in 1915? I think maybe some models did? But the couple of them I knew owners of did not.

As one of the few people around that has actually had a Fuller, I can tell you that the few Jackson Michigan Fuller owners do keep somewhat in contact with each other. I had to sell mine some years ago for family reasons, and have not kept track of the Fuller owners since. Twenty year ago, there were seventeen Jackson Fullers believed/known to exist. Most of those were the two cylinder models. About a third of them were in running condition. And yes, one of the few errors in the Kimes and Clark book is the photos of the Nebraska and Jackson Michigan Fullers are slightly mixed up. The Jackson and Nebraska Fuller automobiles were manufactured at about the same time and there were some similarities, however they were not related to each other. With connections to the Cartercar and Jackson (No hill too steep, no sand too deep), the Jackson Michigan Fuller has a very interesting history!

Other areas of automobiles for sale are specifically for members of the AACA or the forum to list their own cars for sale, under their own names if they want, or avatars if they prefer. Easily half of the cars for sale shared in the "not mine" section are for sale by people that are not very familiar with antique automobiles, and often do not really understand what they have. Often, they are clueless to their own ignorance. Many of the listings are by flippers hoping to score a big profit, usually on a car that was barely worth what they paid for it in the first place. A lot of others are family members expecting a big windfall from a family member's treasured old car. These cases are often very sad. I have seen it hundreds of times. Dad or grandpa or uncle so-n-so loved his old car. But nobody else really cared about it when they were alive. They didn't ask questions, didn't help clean it up for a local showing. The car was said to "be valuable", but actual dollars were seldom discussed. And even if they were, we have all seen it many times. "My car is the finest one there is!" Most of us have a special set of "rose colored glasses" for our favorite cars. But when the older member of the family dies, the younger generation sees only dollar signs. I think most of the regulars on here try to be fair with most of their comments. Usually negative comments are intended to point out failings in the vehicle or its listing. Most of what I read I see as not so much being harsh, as it is trying to help people that may be somewhat interested to make a more informed decision. Comparing current listings with similar past listings are usually very helpful. Most discussions of value I read seem to be geared toward educating both the sellers (if they are willing to learn?), and potential buyers.

My great uncle Ernest (helped raise my dad during the depression) and his wife my great aunt Hally (named for her birthdate, Halloween), were real life desert rats. They lived for a couple decades on a small cattle ranch in Nevada's high desert. Lifelong rock-hounds, and bottle collectors, they wandered all over that Nevada desert. They even discovered an unknown natural fossil depository filled with many thousands of fifty million year old fish entombed in the sediment. They reported their finding to the University of Nevada, who then made quite a study of their find. After the University reopened the site to the public, aunt Hally and uncle Ernest took us all out there to hunt for fossil fish. I was probably about ten at the time. I still have a few fifty million year old goldfish. For most of my growing up years, we would go and stay with them for a couple days, almost every year. His pickup? A Powell, all red. I really liked that pickup. A cute little bugger, with a look all its own. In the mid 1960s, it still looked really nice. I wanted to have it when I was old enough. Then one day, they sold the ranch and almost everything on it, including the Powell.

b-c-g, I know someone that has a Hudson motorcycle, about that vintage. They have had it for about twenty-five years. It is in very nice mostly very original unrestored condition. Not one that a person is likely to see many of. I wonder if it might be the same one? A major private collection, I won't mention the name.

My opinion. And I am certainly not a model A expert, although I have been around them for a long time and have many friends that love them and drive theirs a lot! The color on both cars in not correct. To a lot of the model A crowd, that really matters. To a lot of the drive and enjoy owners? Not a big deal. The yellow one annoys me, for one silly reason. Back in the 1970s, the model A crowd prevailing wisdom was that any factory color used on any year or body style could be used on any other year or body style car. Frankly, I have read some conflicting information about the factory yellow. A few things I have read indicated that yellow might have been available on some sport roadsters or touring cars. But I have never been convinced of that, and even if it was, it was not common. The one and only body style in the model A lineup that was in fact usually yellow was the cabriolet, from 1929 through 1931 (if I recall correctly?). However, back in the 1970s/'80s, literally hundreds of coupes were painted yellow when they were restored! It just looks wrong to me, and back then it was "yellow coupe" overload. The brown coupe makes a comment about the seats being "decent", while the yellow coupe has pictures of a pretty nice looking interior. Both cars have rumble seats (which I really like!). Both cars need a fair amount of detailing that I noticed. The yellow one looks a bit nicer/ But the yellow one also has a sealed beam headlamp conversion (personally, I don't like those). Personally, from ten feet away? I like the brown one better. However, I suspect the interior in the yellow one might be worth the additional $2000. One in New Hampshire? One in California. I would say the shipping costs dictate the better buy. As always, a personal inspection is always advisable! Over the years, I have seen a lot of cars that looked nice in photos, but upon closer inspection were found to have significant amounts of damage and really bad repairs. You asked.

trim, I would have loved to have met Lillian Gish!

Oh, THAT disappeared a long time ago!

I agree with nearly all said above. Model A Fords are great prewar cars, antique by almost everybody's standards, with fantastic club support almost every civilized corner of the country. I did have one I was restoring bout fifty years ago, then decided I just really wanted cars just a bit earlier and sold it. Several times over the years, I have reconsidered that, and thought about getting one again. If my circumstances improve enough that I can buy something in decent condition? I may yet end up with a model A. As long as I have at least one good earlier car. I have had many friends that loved their model A Fords. Even a few of my best friends have had model As they used a lot. One of my closest friends had a 1929 Town Sedan, well accessorized, and nicely restored. He and I went to many meets together in his car, including one MAFCA national meet in Southern California. I often drove his car when heading home. Seriously, unless one is too large to fit behind the steering wheel? What is there about them to not like? I have always recommended model As as great cars for club and parts availability reasons, as one of the best antique automobiles for beginners to real antiques. One observation about this car. I followed the link to the fb advertisement. That engine doesn't look very nice. It looks like it night be the worst blown head gasket I have ever seen? Or maybe it was very seriously overheated? Stuck might be one thing. Engines sit for awhile, valves or pistons can get stuck on minor rust. Even if some relatively minor damage was somehow done? The model A engine can "often" be repaired by a competent mechanic. Then again, either a badly blown head gasket or a badly overheated engine can leave cylinders filled with coolant which may cause severe rust or other major issues. A severely overheated engine might not be repairable, short of an expenditure well beyond the value of the car. However, fear not. In spite of over a half century as the most driven of all antique automobiles, there are still engines out there waiting to be brought back and put into a nice car again. So even if the engine is basically destroyed? The car can be repaired for a fair price.

There are cars that I have seen and like them on. However, generally speaking, I never really cared about them. But, that is just me. (They do look great on a Kissel Gold Bug!)

Quite a fleet of unusual (for us Southern 'Mericans?) trucks! Neat to see them.

Thank you again Varun C! The American Underslung is well known in the brass era parts of our hobby. The Regal Underslung somewhat less known. The Colby is one that few have ever seen, and most have not even heard of. Nice looking automobile!

I grew up in the South San Francisco Bay Area. Not often it ever snows there except on mountain tops where few people ever go to (except for our Model T Ford Club's endurance runs?). However, my dad had grown up on a cattle ranch in Northeastern Nevada. Extreme cold, and moderate levels of snow every year! He made sure I learned how to drive in snow and on ice (which I was eager to learn anyhow). Through my adult years, I managed to drive in snow several times, but not a lot. Then, nearing my mid 50s, my wife has had it with Bay Area congestion! We end up moving to Grass Valley up in the Sierra foothills (about 2000 feet elevation). Here, we get some snow every year, and some years quite a bit! I have an older Ford Expedition, tow vehicle with four wheel drive, and I have never even put my chains on it (I carry them every winter just in case). No trouble at all getting around up to a foot of snow on the ground! What amazes me, is that half the people in town, were born here, families dating back almost a century or more. Two stinking inches of snow shuts the whole town down! Most people here, born and raised where it snows every year, and most of them cannot handle driving in any amount of snow. Full disclosure, one time, we ended up with about two feet of snow on our private road neighborhood that doesn't get plowed. I was basically stuck at home for two days. If I had put the chains on, I am sure I could have gotten out. But I really didn't need to go anywhere.