wayne sheldon

About half of that "woodwork" looks like the pattern pieces I sometimes make out of scraps and junk wood to adjust sizing and fitting before making the permanent piece out of good wood (that is the way to do it when you do not have decent pattern pieces to begin with). The finish of the top wood isn't even that good! And I thought I did fast, cheap and dirty work?

Were the Michelin Discs different or the same as the standard Budd disc wheels? I think I have a set of 23" Budd disc wheels. Actually, they belong to my son.

Great ad! The car looks to me like a Locomobile of that era. The hood and cowl reminds me of one Jack Passey had about fifty years ago.

A nicely restored Sears! The green car on the Sear's left appears to be a 1928/'29 Model A Ford roadster. The red car to the Sears' right in some photos is a circa 1910/'11 Maxwell two cylinder (probably model AA or AB). Another early red car in other photos is circa 1908 single cylinder Reo. The Sears' identification plate on the front of the car claims it as a model K, which would make the Sears a 1910 or later model. The display sign also calls the car a model K, and appears to date it as 1910. I love the Sears high wheel cars! I have always wanted one. Got really close to buying one once.

I love that 1908 La Buire! (C'est magnifique!) A marque that I am not familiar with. Very interesting. Also the other earlier cars , mostly 1920s Citroens and the Renault are to me of particular interest. That aside, I do really enjoy seeing so very many postwar European cars that we see so rarely see over here. Truly fascinating. I always enjoy and look forward to your lengthy postings of car shows in your part of the world! Merci Beaucoup

Yeah! And what a great bunch of cars you found today! Thank you.

More likely a 1910. Officially, production began late in 1908 as a 1909 model year. That first year had only a basic model, which this car could be? For 1910, Sears added a line of models ranging from a very basic fenderless carriage, on up to a large wheel pneumatic tire model, and two longer wheelbase models (I almost bought one of those about twenty-five years ago, the fellow accepted my offer, then died two days later before I could take the cash to him!). Production was low for 1909, they built a lot of cars in 1910 and 1911. Sears' accountants found out that they had lost money on every car they sold, so the company cut back production for 1912, and the catalog had only a single page devoted to the cars. They had had about six to eight pages devoted to the cars in 1910 and 1911. Sears sold the designs and tooling to manufacture them to another small company which continued to manufacture and sell the cars in small numbers as the "Lincoln" until about 1915.

NOT a 1913! Maybe a 1915 or 1916 that has had earlier gas and oil lamps put on it. Or could even be a later car with the 1915/'16 radiator hood and fenders to make it look earlier. Also, a typical touring car. Not a Victoria of any sort. But it probably does have three doors as most USA built Ford touring cars had from 1912 through 1925.

I have been waiting for this first post of the new Cadillac on this iconic "Great Day for a car ride" thread! A great car for a pleasant ride any day!

"Change is the only constant in the Universe", Heraclitus, circa 500 BC. However, not all change is good. A people that do not appreciate their past are destined to lose all the good that came from it. Change should be embraced. We cannot stop it, but we can chose better paths over ones that would be worse. The truth about our past should be taken and kept in its whole, not painted in rosy colors to deny its realities.

And another one bites the dust! Sad, really. It is one thing to modern/customize a really common car, or a mostly empty shell of a car. But something this rare and nearly complete should be admired and appreciated for its historic value. But such is the way of the universe.

In the case of Knights, that can be very risky. If it has in fact only been a few (very few!) years since it was in good running condition and driven regularly? The odds are pretty good that it could be running and driven in a weekend. But just where is that magic danger time? Poppet valve engines can often sit for decades and fire up with little risk. Okay, so a valve or two get stuck open, and you have to pull the head to free it up. No serious damage done however. Sleeve valve engines can become stuck for a variety of reasons or conditions in only a couple years time. And once the sleeves become gummy or slow moving, one must be very careful about getting everything loosened up, oiled and moving freely before attempting to start the engine. The sleeves are cast iron, and raised and lowered by a long miniature crankshaft and small connecting rods. If the oil has been contaminated, or moisture gotten inside, the sleeves can become gummy and may move slowly, enough so to make one think the engine can be run. However, if started before it is ready, the sleeves may not move fast enough to actually run, and can result in breaking one or more sleeves where the little connecting rods are attached. I have not done much work on them myself, however a longtime very good friend has rebuilt a couple of them, and I have seen the inside up close. They are not hard to work on. Just different, and different enough that one should join WOKR and connect with people experienced in them before getting into too much trouble. I would be concerned about the spark plugs having been removed. Was oil put inside? Might be okay, if the oil didn't drain away and then dry out? If water got inside? Oil or no oil could be very serious!

A proper thread count would also help. Radiator caps in those years used several common and a few uncommon sizes and thread counts. Are you wanting strictly a Cadillac factory cap? Or maybe some era correct after-market one? They were available in so very many styles from very plain to extremely fancy! I believe the Cadillac factory one was rather plain, however I do not know exactly what it looked like. They would have used one of the larger Motometers, and the Motometer should have the Cadillac emblem facing forward. As a side-note, a lot of people today get it wrong! Hundreds of photos can be found on the internet with Motometers mounted backwards, or even assembled totally wrong. The thermometer is supposed to be facing back to be seen by the driver sitting behind the steering wheel!

If I recall correctly, the "MW" and "MA" models for International came out for the 1912 model year. The MA was a continuation of the earlier air cooled IHC "Auto Wagons", whereas the "MW" was the new water cooled version. At a quick glance, the two models looked very much alike with the air cooled version having a fake radiator in front of the small hood. The engine was actually under the body behind the driver's seat. The typical flare-sided factory body had lower sides than does this vehicle. However, IHC did also offer more commercial type bodies, I do not know if this might be one of those or an after-market body built for a specific purpose. This may actually be the factory flare sided body the the flare sides removed and replaced with an upper enclosure? The new typical MW and MA models were largely unchanged through 1912 and 1913 model years. "Officially", for 1914, they stopped marketing them as "automobiles" designed for rural use as a crossover commercial and personal vehicle, and began marketing them as light trucks. Although the removeable rear seat was still offered as an option as a "Sunday-go-to-meeting" seat. The 1914 "truck" with the optional seat was basically the same as the 1913 Auto-Wagon. By then, IHC was building more conventional trucks in larger sizes. For 1915, IHC made what amounted to the last production high wheel model automobiles, similar to this model sold as a light truck, with smaller size high wheels or more typical solid truck or pneumatic tires. The fellow in the photo is standing exactly where nothing can be seen of the radiator. And the engine isn't showing underneath, so I cannot tell if it is a MA or MW. The IHC Auto Wagons (sometimes also referred to as Motor-Wagons) are very popular with the one and two cylinder crowd of the HCCA and other Brass and Gas groups. The MW and MA models are usually the most common of the high wheel automobiles on one and two cylinder tours. So common in automotive history, there are often exceptions to the rule! Who actually manufactured the last production high wheel automobile? Could be debated for days! A "Lincoln" automobile took over the Sears' design when Sears dropped the idea in 1912. They continued to build and market the "Lincoln" automobile in small numbers through 1915. And there were a few others. The March-April 1963 issue of the "Antique Automobile" is a "Special High Wheel Issue". It gives a good overview of several of the high wheel automobiles built from Holsman's in 1902 through most known marques to 1912. Like all overviews, the article is short on details, however three pages are devoted to IHC. I like the issue so much I have a couple extra copies I keep out of the main AA bookshelves for ready reference.

I see that now you have changed your avatar from the 1940 Chevrolet to the new Cadillac! I have been looking forward to that ever since you announced that you had made the deal. Don't get me wrong. Although I often comment that cars of the 1930s are a bit too modern to really interest me? My parent's family car when I was born was a 1941 Chevrolet, and I remember the car very well. I have fond memories of the car, as well as us going to the drive in movies back in the 1950s. My little brother and I hiding behind the front seat with Vincent Price up on the big screen in "The Pit and the Pendulum". So, while I do have some fondness for Chevrolet cars of the late 1930s and early 1940s? That Cadillac is a big step up! I hope you have and enjoy both cars (as well as your 1950s Packard!) for a very long time!

Reported on the MTFCA forum that this wonderful real deal sold for $24K. Chris Martin, the author of the book on the Montier Ford racing cars, was not the buyer, but did post the update on the car having sold. I haven't yet heard who did buy the car. I hope they appreciate its special place in the history of era speedsters and racing cars (this one is both, a speedster and a true racing car). This car needs an appropriate amount of restoration/preservation, and should then be driven and shown often. For any wanting to see a few comments about the car and sale; https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42790

You are more of an optimist than I am!

Same question, same serial number, good answers, two days ago. What am I missing?

Drum Bob, I always find it enjoyable to read similar stories of legends and unanswered histories in other areas of collecting or quests for knowledge! Very interesting.

I should probably stay out of this discussion, because "Hotrods" are not my "thing". However, as a longtime fan of the much earlier "speedster" era, I do appreciate the early "hotrods" for their place in automotive history. That looks like a really nice early version hotrod, if so and as such, it should be worthy of serious preservation. Perhaps those carburetors should stay on the car? The Winfield downdraft carburetors were among the first and best early downdraft carburetors, hitting the market in 1929. They were manufactured in a large variety of models for quite a few years and remained popular for years after they quit making them. Value depends on many factors, model, condition, matched set? Motoringicons knows his stuff about these. So I suspect his evaluation is pretty right.

Wonderful!

When I was a kid in high school, and just getting into this hobby, somewhat over fifty years ago, I subscribed to Hemmings Motor News magazine, which in those days was about the size of a "Reader's Digest" if you are old enough to remember those (from about thirty years ago?). In study hall, I would read it from cover to cover almost every month! I was also reading almost every book on antique automobiles and automotive history that I could get my hands onto. So, even then, I was somewhat familiar with the Tucker and its history. One of the things that struck me then was how many Tucker parts were for sale! Several collectors had gotten ahold of a bunch of the leftover Tucker parts and were trying to make a few bucks selling them off to people with dreams of building one. Legend has it that the engine was used for some early helicopters? I won't claim to know about that, but I do know that a bunch of those engines were floating around the country, some still in their factory crates! I actually saw a couple of them myself at a couple of shows, "Tucker" name on the engines and all! Occasionally, at major swap meets, one could see doors and hoods, sometimes a grill or other distinctive pieces, being offered or just displayed. Clearly, that stuff was out there. Slowly, that stuff seemed to quietly drift away. I always figured a few people thought they could collect enough pieces to assemble another car. When this car first showed up about a decade or so ago, I figured that it was likely assembled from some hidden collection of some real pieces along with deep pockets fabricating whatever else they needed. I don't wish to disparage the man too much. Preston Tucker was a brilliant engineer, with an eye to the future. He was also a huckster, a bit of a conman, and often putting together shaky deals. I "believe" he was truly hoping to throw the automotive industry on its ear with his groundbreaking designs. But even with government grants and loans, use of aircraft manufacturing plants left empty by the end of the war, he couldn't quite pull that rabbit out of his hat. I suspect that he ordered a lot of pieces to construct not just the first fifty cars, but a good start on the next fifty. How many pieces are still out there? We'll probably never know. While a few pieces might make a nice addition to display in a private collection? I do hope nobody else foolishly tries to build another one.

And he thinks it is 32 feet long! Sorry, couldn't resist. (An abbreviation of a year, the apostrophe goes BEFORE the number!)

You know, I love this hobby. The best, and maybe only thing I did good for me was get into this hobby and play with the historic cars I feel such a connection to. Once in a while, not often, I get this notion that "maybe I have been in this too long?" First opening this thread two days ago was one such moment. First, for me. the Tucker is way too modern to really interest me. However, I do appreciate the history even into the modern eras. And the Tucker, no matter how bad they really were (and forty years ago I did know the owner of one, and on a couple occasions even saw it being driven!), was a significant footnote in automotive history. The man was interesting (some worthwhile reading?). The car was an overhyped flop, and a flop for good reasons. Anyhow, two nights ago, I peruse the forum "Not Mine" list (a part of my nightly routine), and see the "Tucker-Auction" listing. I am curious, so I click in, and in less than a full second I see the first photo and utter the words aloud "Oh not that stupid thing again!" I can appreciate some "fantasy creations", cars that "should have been". I even have considered building one a few times (a certain 1912 model T body style that I have most of the parts for comes to mind?). I think mm-man is correct, that had the "builder" been upfront and honest from the beginning, instead of lying about it, that the car would get some respect today. Even then, I doubt seriously that they would get even half what they are asking for it. Even people that can afford it want to be liked. And given the car's sordid past, nobody today is going to be liked for having it or showing up anywhere with it.

Not sure I feel like sharing this one or not. Most of the collector cars I have sold were because I needed to for family reasons. There have been way too many of them over too many years, way too many I regret having sold. I scrimped and saved, bought sold and restored my way up again and again. One car, I did buy, restore, sell and later bought again. The 1925 Studebaker coach, a longtime good friend had bought, and began a restoration of the solid original car which was not quite good enough to preserve as truly original. About halfway through the restoration, he found another car he really wanted to have. He and his wife talked it over and decided if he could quickly sell the Studebaker coach they could make the deal on the other car. As I happened to be close at hand, and knowing his reputation for doing things right, I quickly agreed to buy the Studebaker in its half-done state. I then sold the 1929 Reo I had had since high school to pay for professional paint job just as he had been planning to do, and finished the body and fender repairs and preparation myself. He had already done the nickel plating and new whitewall tires, I discovered that one rear wheel was damaged, and had a professional wheelwright re-wood it. I finished some mechanical repairs and interior repairs. When done, I drove the car on a lot of local tours, including a few of a couple hundred miles. When my then girlfriend and I got married, we used the Studebaker as our getaway car from the reception. About a year later, an unexpected hospitalization hit us with a significant bill. Doing what I knew was the right thing, I sold the Studebaker to a good friend in order to pay that and a few other unexpected expenses. And so it began. I had bought the Studebaker in the early 1970s, sold it about 1979. Always regretted having sold it. But about fifteen years later, things were better, I had had a couple other nice antique automobiles which I was driving and enjoying, but heard my old Studebaker coach was coming up for sale soon. It had been owned and enjoyed by a couple different owners, and the price was reasonable. So, I managed to buy it back! Sadly, it didn't last long. Another unexpected medical issue hit us and again, the Studebaker coach was sold. Unfortunately, it wasn't the only one destined to go away for the good of the family. But it is the one that I did have to sell twice. Shortly after I had bought it back.