C Carl

Please do yourself a great favor and enjoy Hershey to the max. When you get back , the most efficient means forward , which will give you maximum peace of mind (life is too short) , is to hire a land use attorney. Not just ANY , but the smartest , most resourceful in your region. When situations reach this level of complexity , I believe YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. If you do otherwise and fail , you will kick yourself wherever it is you kick yourself when you do something dumb. I am not an attorney , but many friends come to me when they need one. I use them ALL the time , and have an impressive , successful referral network. Unfortunately , In this case I think I am too far away (Washington State) , to help. Do you have a friend who can recommend the best ? Someone reading this ? Otherwise , what is that pizza place near Hershey ? I can't remember the name. Have you seen me walking the fields with fore and aft pizza boxes displaying a multi-colored wish list ? If space on your pizza box is not yet full : "WANT TO BUY : THE VERY BEST LAND USE ATTORNEY IN/(NEAR) _____________" Hopefully you have a network which will allow you to discard the box without your calligraphy. But I expect if your predicament is not "topic A" , it will not be much lower than "topic C" at Hershey. Just try to enjoy this annual party. Put it in the hands of a "Hired Gun". Courage ! - Carl

Can and should rebuild. Lares Corporation in Minnesota does this well. larescorp.com or 800-555-0767 Dan was/is (?) the AACA contact guy. He used to be fairly active on the forum , occasionally checks in with an invite. I haven't talked to him in a couple years. Lares is a pretty big operation , maybe Dan moved on up. Gus , please let us know how you get on. Good luck , and drive the old thing slowly. - also kinda old , Carl

Yes , indeed ! I love wire wheels ! I love disc wheels ! I love wood spoke wheels ! I love 'em all ! You might have seen this pic , but maybe you might enjoy it ! I was holding my breath , hoping you would "love her as she is". Everyone who has been here a while knows this is a set of "touring wheels" I had respoked for long distance cross country driving on my '27 Cad. Hand pinstriped exactly duplicating the 'stripes on the original wheels which are painted : solid , presentable , and being preserved. Those stout short spokes on your wheels have a very formidable appearance , as wood spoke wheels of the '30s do. I saw a pic in some book of a 1930 V16 Cadillac 7 passenger touring on wood artillerys. Car was black , stout spoked wheels varnished. EXTREMELY rare on such a car. The appearance was almost overwhelming. That is the "Sixteen" I want when I grow up and get a good paying job. Yeah , but I have been drooling on the shadows of V16 Cads since I was a toddler. Just after gas rationing was lifted after WWII , rich folk brought their expensive cars out from the basement garages of their dwellings to again bask in the peaceful light of day. I wish you could have seen them in the parking lot of Morton's in Chicago. Didn't last too long. I remember when the '49 Cads came out. So modern ! Ya just gotta have the latest new thing. Then as now. But I thought this might give you an idea. I also enjoy seeing your skills unfold. Great work , very cool drop top ! Thanks very much for sharing. - Carl

Huh ! I just re-read my posting , edited by turning an incomplete phrase into an intelligible "one or two". In the re-reading , came upon an opening for someone far more gifted than myself. "Dan Fan Club" might cleverly incorporate some aspect of the "Amarillo fan incident". I'm not good at puns , but I sure know some of you are. In any case , if this silly conjecture goes no further , I certainly hope Dan WILL ! - Carl

Sunday finds me speculating , theoretically of course , as to the political affiliation of Joshua. ---------------- But I am not sure which of the 4 topics touched on in my well received last posting drew such complimentary friendship. I am sure further appreciation of Dan's work is forthcoming trom us all , so I am safe in reiterating my position in the "Dan Fan Club"! In case approval was due to the distillation curves , enjoy these : from "Marks..........." , 3rd Ed. , 1930. Read the description and explanation of the dip in fuel volatility which occurred late teens through '20s. Explains the massive heat supplied to carbs and intake of the period necessary to promote proper combustion. That heat now is highly detrimental to proper performance. Therefore , all reasonable (I suppose UNreasonable too , if that is your inclination and ability) , effort to reduce intake temp now , in the light of modern high volatility fuel , will pay dividends in drivability. If you have not done so yet in cars of the period , please consider. If my recently rekindled road reminiscences have been of some value , let me draw on one or two more later. I enjoy rendering unto The Lord when I am so called. Today , this Sunday , I am drawn to Moses , and his Right Hand Man. When I again return , perhaps inspired , Ephraim may well be a stop on the road. - Carl N.B. : Moderators , please regard the above as secular. No religious or political motivations were intended , nor should they be inferred. I am simply taking an opportunity to double up on the friends I have made. - Thank you , CC

Hi , Marty amd all kerosene "drinkers" out there. Enhanced vapor lock resistance comes not from octane properties , but because the boiling point of kerosene is WAY higher than gasoline. Take a look at the distillation curves. This from "Marks' Mechanical Engineers' Handbook" , 6th Ed. 1958. This is not the first time I have posted these curves. God willing , I expect it will not be the last. Dan , as long as I am here , I would like to thank you again for the ride. You are a wonderful photojournalist , and very generous for taking the time to share. I spend hours totally absorbed in your wonderful gift to us stirring up memories of long road trips going back to the '40s and '50s with mom and dad. '39 Pont' after the War , (I am very lucky to have/still have a good memory for the earliest years of my life - can't remember what it is I have to do today) , then a brand spanking new '50 Willys Jeep station wagon. Mom pulled the kids out of school in Feb. '52 and we went car camping from Chicago down through the Old South to stay on Sanibel Island , Fla. for a month. No causeway back then , had to take a little ferry. Camped at "Jack's Place". Anyone remember ? '54 through Mexico all the way to Acapulco. Boeing needed my dad , so in '55 drove to our new home , Seattle , by way of Salt Lake and S.F. Great fun floating in the 'Lake ! Road trips ! The passion of my life. Hey Dan , some of your pics are so perfectly framed , with your Bu' and no visual cues that the pic is not ancient , I wonder if they would pass if printed in black and white ? Anyway , I have been on parts of 66 , wishing I could do the whole road. Now it's too late , but I feel in an important way that I am doing it right now with you ! Wonderful ! - Carl

I spoke with JC (who speaks English very well) , this evening. He says a photo he has shows a '26 has a different tag than on our '27s. Can anyone confirm ? Carl

Hi , Bill , and all. I seldom get involved in other people's cars which I can not buy. Honestly , from reading first posting , one gets the impression that this car may be priced WAY under market. Just thinking someone might be naive , calling to give friendly advice. Just as Bill says , Kevin is a kind gentle man , who is not a car guy , but creates a more negative image. So I did a rough word count on relevant postings , not counting this rant , and we are at aprox. 300 words in 1 1/2 days. The condition might be vaguely bracketed now , but is EXTREMELY non-specific. Shows the importance of pics , and probably indicates that a picture is worth MORE than the proverbial 1000 words. (Unless Matt writes the words. You know how descriptive he is. But there is only one Matt). Hey , Matt ! Where are you ? I know , Hershey coming up. Not any time to spare. Wish I could go again. A guy posted several months ago on CLC website looking for help evaluating a 1929 Cadillac touring. I held fire , and read a number of stabs in the dark. It added up to absurd , meaningless noise , hardly worth calling speculation , hardly worth posting. Needed pics. My guess from all available info at the time , would have been $7000 - $55,000. Whaaaa ??? Hope that helps , friend. Yuck ! Just ONE lousy LOW RES pic would have helped. Previously someone wanted help with a '37 Cad 2 door sedan. A COUPLE low res pics. A few more followed. Showed a previously well kept car , pushed outside , and seriously degraded by tarps without ventilation. Trapped water seriously damaged the paint. Long term condensation seriously damaged the interior. We all have seen/heard this too many times. Seller thinks of the car as it HAD been. Hey ! Just patina ! Ain't that , don't that , ain't patina IN these days ? Huh ? Patina my left little finger ! PATINA ? Dats not patina daddoo , DATS DAMAGE ! Serious expensive damage ! Got it ? Well then , GET IT ! Whew ! Enough. Everyone gets the point. I read this through , and thought about just deleting it , but I'll just simply add a disclaimer : No offense intended to ANYONE. Waiting on pics : ragged , old , heavily patinized , non-photogenic C Carl

No John , seriously. I called Kevin , as it seemed too good to be true. Too cheap , obviously. I'm not in the market , but you know. Too curious. That is the story , but just parts if running well ? Wasn't someone looking for a 90 trans ? I can't specifically remember. But in any case , as we all know , accurate descriptions avoid disappointment. OTOH , knowing this there could still be a lot there for the money. - Carl

I'm telling you dear brother , IMHO they are just looking at this as the last opportunity to bleed you a bit. Figure a clever , very modest way to throw them a bone. Sometimes it needn't even be monetary. Just let them affix , if not a gold star to their resume , a silver one. That way they can declare victory and............... I don't really know how it is in what is left of the woods in your neck , but when I sit down with them around here , it is usually give them SOMETHING. Cordially and humbly if you can muster up such a disguise. Been there , done that. Anyone in 'seekers vicinity that can pass judgement on my speculation ? - Carl

It was cut into a farm truck to get past gas rationing in WWII. - Carl

Thanks , John for the "image enhancement" ! A brand spankin' new '06 SL600 ! "It shooda been ME, drivin' that......." But yeah , those 2nd series SL500s are among the finest cars ever built. Probably the biggest bargain for the buck on wheels today. Just bottomed out on the price curve , gonna head up. Potentially up , and up , and up , and up. They are starting to differentiate , with the still very good ones , and the ones headed to the recycle heap. Look at other SLs. And compare what an R129 is. Andrew Noakes (do you have his definitive book on SLs ?) , justifiably calls them "The Quantum Leap". A 190SL ? Huh ? Come on. No offense to anyone , but back to back , ignoring monetary factors , an R129 SL500 , particularly 2nd or 3rd series vs. a puny (again , no offense) 190SL ? With a swing axle ? Yeah , they are cute , O.K. , but I am sure you have days you have NO CHOICE : you just HAVE to drive your SL500 , right ? Now , are you hip to '07 and '08 E550s ? If God condemned me to an eternity in just one of my cars , that would be it. Still depreciating , get one now anyway. They are pretty rare cars , but you can still find a very low mileage one , in house maintained , some still on extended warranty. Take THAT for a daily driver ! Also , do you want to talk about cheap , simple , jaw dropping handling enhancement on your FWD Eldo ? Those big things are an astonishingly sophisticated platform capable of handling beyond the ability of , say 1 in 5000 to drive them. But you have to get rid of the whitewalls. Starting to sound like a rant. - Carl

And sometimes , "X" , when those "parachutes" are deployed , there can be aspects of "rats leaving a sinking ship" , if I can mix metaphors. - Carl

Speaking of golden parachutes , this is a golden opportunity to throw out an automotive anchor line for a moment. John , that mental image of the armed guard protecting the new M-B on layoff day begs clarification for a guy who has a couple 'Benzes laced in with his Cadillacs : So about what year was that new beauty ? Being a car guy , do you recall the model ? E class with a potent V8 ? Big S class ? Nice new R129 if late 90s - early 2000s , which might even have been a big bad V-12 SL600? I do mean this semi-seriously as momentary distraction from the gruesome reality of the decline of our fair country. It doesn't take long to kick something apart , but to rebuild something is another matter. Remember as a kid listening to the old folk talking about the "good old days" ? Now we are them doing that too. But this time it's for real. - Carl

This is what happens when conditions are created that nurture a systemic "race to the bottom". - Carl

A long time ago I learned how to do land development in King County , Western Washington. And why not to. 10 years + , one moratorium after another , paying interest on the loans. As each supervisor I finally satisfied moved up to the next bureaucratic rung , along came their replacement , yet one more who figured it was their duty to carve out a pound of my flesh to enhance their resume. At last the current moratorium was lifted coinciding with all other concerns being satisfied. Needing naught but a signature of the supervisor who told me that now HE was moving on up. New sup' spied the bridge on my property crossing Jenkins Creek , which had been serving the existing house since 1936. Now no one had said word one in all 10 years about that bridge. Jenkins Creek roughly paralleled a frontage road maybe 100' away through the woods. Frontage road defined my Western property line and ran parallel to a major 4 lane highway. Creative new sup' says "yep , yer good to go. Just take out the bridge and I'll sign off !". My land use attorney figured that would take another couple years , what with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upstream and downstream studies concerning the removal of a stable hydrological element of about 1/2 century duration. Realistic estimate factoring all estimated costs would have taken at least another 1/4 megabuck out of old CC's lonely pocket. Could be even worse if misfortune slapped one or more moratorium on me as time ticked by. Who knows what the NEXT yet sup' could conjure up to move the goalposts out of my reach again ! Go on this way forever ? 1/4 ? 1/3 ? More yet ? 1/2 ? Middle aged Cadillac driver and amateur land developer was not happy ! WHAT TO DO ???? Heavy gravel trucks went back and forth on the frontage road. Loaded at a quarry less than 1/2 mile away. A big pit quarry. Probably could see it from the Moon ! From the Moon ? Hmmmm.............. Bought an aerial pic of the area. (No Gargle Earth back then). Showed the whole scene with proportion of all elements. Enormous scar. Huge highway. Little creek. Humble bridge. Super Lady was delicately brought to realize Jenkins Creek was not a National Park environment . She somehow bought the argument that maybe the bridge could be removed concurrently with environmental restoration of the whole neighborhood , including filling and erasing that crater ! She musta got up on the right side of the bed that day ! Whew ! Said she would agree to leaving the bridge if we did not use it. Had to re-engineer access to the house. Cost me one lot , but I grabbed that supervisors signature along with my hat ! You don't even have to pay for a pic these days. It is merely a graphic which might just give a new perspective and catch 'em looking. Probably depends on which side of the bed they get up on. Good luck , brother. If you have a temper , don't show it there ! - Carl

Len , I hope you are advertising in other places. I keep reading that AACA forums is a weak place to sell. It happens , but since health is the/an issue , exposure is very important. We have been warned against any "on line brokers". My heart goes out to everyone who has to make this decision. I have made a difficult choice as a result of health problems in old age. I guess we are lucky we have things to sell. The very LAST things to go will be my '20s Cadillacs , as long as I can still drive them. - Carl

"My" 1930 Mercedes Benz SS38/250 factory bodied touring (phaeton) WAY too nice to restore : $4700 (a steal) early '60s. Still cryin' , Carl

In checking some notes I wrote , there may be some annecdotal evidence to the contrary : Clara Austin recorded a tune called "Clara's Boogie" in 1952 in 'Frisco with the Turk Murphy* band. Might be right. But I am a city slicker , so consulted with a country gal , my own Sandy. She was raised on the family Hereford bull ranch out of LaGrande , Oregon , inherited since homestead , HH is the brand. Stock in trade is bull , and the genes they carry. She says the young 'uns are as horney as a teenage lad , and appreciate affection where they find it. - Carl * I just realized I better get some relevant automotive content in here. I had a paper route which had a couple cool Jags living across the street from each other. Dr. Karl May had a black XK150 , S , I think , leather upholstry of indertiminant gender origen. Bob Clark had a white SS100 , red hides , bull ? cow ? Bob's son Maury possessed Turk Murphy's two tone blue Rolls-Royce. Early '30s ? I say "possessed Turk Murphy's" because there was some complexity or reason for Turk to RE possess it. I was very impressed with it , and then it was gone. A reference was made to this less than genteel relationship in Road and Track later when it was the monthly classic. What did they call it ? Salon ? Would have been very late '50s , maybe 1960 or so. Oh , yeah , it had an abundance of high quality leather too.

Still a bit of courage now. I just drove it in my Mercedes Benz E550. Even with that thing , stayed right on or under slow posted speed limit. Do not exceed posted limit for any reason. But it is very scenic , so why would you do otherwise ? One of those great roads you want to savor. Stop and "smell the flowers". Even doubled back to take an "encore" for a couple sections. Each direction has its delights. Safe , happy cruising , all. - Carl

Wow ! Thank you , Barry and congratulations for first place first time out. Perfect colors , pinstriping , wheels and tires. Stately and elegant , in a word : exquisite ! Don't be shy once you get the spares mounted up ! - Carl

Thanks. P.M. sent. Good luck at Hershey ! - Carl

Wow ! , Dan , I am sure I speak for every one of us in saying this is a superb travelogue ! I always quickly turn to your adventure , and am richly rewarded. As you may remember , I am a bit of a lone wolf old car cruiser , too. If only I had the organization skills and talent to have produced a work like this. You and Andy , (1913 36 model 17 in the UK under Chalmers) , put us right there riding shotgun with you ! Safe and sound travels , thank you very much for sharing , you two ! - Carl

Vincent tells me he is still enjoying the hunt. I hope he is successful , and keeps us in the loop. As I say , some of us can only hunt vicariously at this advanced stage of life. C.A. : have you got around to "castrating" that "oven" out of your intake ? Should give you noticeably better performance. All : What do you do about dropping intake temps on your late 'teens - early '30s cars ? As you know fuel of that period contained significant amounts of very high B.P. components. Kerosene stuff , whose distillation curves show why extreme intake heating was needed to vaporize the foul fluid. Distillation curves of the period show high B.P. components do not even START to fraction off until wellhead or cracked gasoline was FINISHED vaporizing ! Modern gasoline has none of that , therefore heat is a contra-indicated Rx. That should be a subject for another thread. At least this gives a bump for Vincent in hopes re-vitalization ends up producing ! Maybe Hershey ! Have a great , hopefully dry time , wish I could be there with you ! - Carl

Did this car sell ? (Bump anyway) - Carl