m-mman

They seem very unknowledgeable about it. Seems like “dad” told them nothing about it, they just want to extract the market value. I see this as when someone inherits a coin collection. Most are worthless a few might be priceless….BUT DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT CLEANING THEM because you will devalue them. The carb issue? Either the grandson or neighbor saw a YouTube video where someone starts a long parked car and the star discussed how carbs are always at fault and how difficult they are to fix.

It’s not just a “wooden boat” it is a Gar-wood with the original WWI surplus aircraft engine. Considering the cost of restoration I suspect that the seller will be losing money.

Paint can always be color matched. He was referring to the original color matching rubber floor mat. The rubber hardens and cracks apart like glass. They are not reproduced in all the various colors. The fix is to install carpet which while might be seen as an “upgrade” is a downgrade to originally.

No, the engine is missing a lot of unobtainable parts. I mentioned the carbs (yes there are two) the intakes are not shown, but there are some sort of aluminum manifolds(?) Also what’s missing is a conclusion. Buy it, find the parts, machine it ($$$$$) then what are you going to do with it? If you think about putting it into a V8 car, it will always be a “fake” car. That might have been acceptable in the 50s, but in the 21st century if you really want a Cadillac 12, you buy a real one, or a done one. Perhaps there is an equally abused 12 associated with an existing car that this one could donate to, but it is never going to stand on its own again.

For those folks who have become bored with maintaining a RR Phantom III with solid wood bodywork and want something else to take up their time.

Hummmmm….. don’t see the carburetors……🤔 maybe you can just get some Edlebrock carbs to work?

Don’t bother it’s not in the books. The details and documentation was rooted out at the Ford Archives by my friend Phil Skinner, one of (or the) top Edsel historians in the country. Nobody “killed” the second Continental. The 2 door only high end luxury car was doomed in a market segment where buyers preferred 4 doors. 444 cars produced for its second year. You can’t justify that minuscule production. So Ford wisely decided to apply the name to their new unibody car. Compared to the previous 2 door version it sold very well. Today collectors may prefer the earlier version, the company MUST make a profit, and the 56-7 didn’t. A company must follow the buyers not expect the buyers to take what is offered. That’s what killed the independents. Another example is replacing the slow selling 2 passenger Tbird with the 4 seat 58. Another smart profitable decision

Base model……crank windows. If you really want kids to see a big 50s car you get either a 56 or a 58-60 😉

Edsel didn’t “bring it to market” the 1960 model. It was a contractual obligation. Edsel dealers were signed up with a guarantee that there would be 3 model years of production. (1958+) Internal memos show that Ford had actually decided to drop the Edsel before it was introduced in the fall of 1957. Of course it did collapse during the 58 model year, with many dealers resigning. During the 1959 model year Ford representatives were crisscrossing the country begging dealers to quit. Huge buyouts for their inventory, signs, building improvements etc. “Please just quit already!” But there were a few dealers that were actually profitable and wanted to stay in business. With Ford begging, pleading, threats etc. but they couldn’t get the dealers gone before they had to introduce a 1960 model. So they cobbled one together. Eventually by the fall of 1959 there were no more Edsel dealers and on November 19th production stopped and the announcement was made. If Ford could have gotten away with not having 1959 models they would have.

I suspect that it might be a genuine WWII military ambulance. 🤔 Henney built a few “modular” ambulances for civilian use. This looks like a classic military ambulance interior. Would need better pictures and some research

Correct. Makes me think that the engine might be a 250 six from the 70s.

That ain’t gonna happen for less than $25,000……. That ain’t a Ford V8 under the hood and you can bet it has the Cadillac pot metal disease. I took a 40-50 year parked 1929 and made it operational. Same paint job from the early-mid sixties. Every time I show it….. “When are you going to paint it?”

And if the carburetor cars lasted 10 years then the American fleet was all FI by the turn of the century. That was 25 years ago. 😲 Now to understand why the choke on my Model T is located at the radiator! 😆

Yeah, with all that skill and experience laying around, it should be an easy thing to get up and running…..Just ask Matt. 😉

Nothing in common, besides the running gear. Cadillac wagons were always built as a modified regular Cadillac. Sometimes Sedan de Ville, sometimes the Fleetwood sedan and sometimes a 2 door ElDorado. Look through the Crestline book and you’ll see that there was a Cadillac wagon offered almost every year from the mid fifties through the 80s. Every year some businessman got the idea that the world needed a Cadillac wagon. Where they all got this hairbrained concept is beyond me. “Hey! Let’s get into manufacturing automobiles!” Production always ranged from a few prototypes to maybe a couple of hundred before the doors closed and reality hit. Then somewhere in the other end of the country another poorly thought out business plan and a few more Cadillac wagons were constructed. Sure they are RARE and unique and interesting and attract attention (some are nice looking, some are hideous) but none of them have or will ever achieve the value of the 59-60 El Dorado. Similar to the H&E Lincoln’s discussion they are cars that sellers always want a lot of money for and people want to see, but they aren’t digging into their pockets pulling out cash to get one. Yes they were expensive and yes some were connected with celebrities but if the best thing that you can say about a car was that it was owned by a celebrity then it isn’t much of a car.

There’s a power steering option under that hood! First year available, 1954 parts only. That might be worth the price of the car.

Sounds like good stuff, but you will likely find more responses if you scroll down and list what you have in the For Sale (parts) area.

I like 58-60 Lincolns. In 1979 I traded a 1958 Cadillac convertible for two 59 Lincoln convertibles. Keeping the silver/red convertible selling the copper convertible and ended up with a free car. I moved it around from storage to storage and eventually totally dismantled it when I got my “car house”. Then it sat in pieces for 30+ years. Wife died, nothing to do, meaning that I had run out of excuses to assemble it again, as I now had both time and money. So I did. $25,000(?) to assemble it? Who keeps track? 58-60 Lincoln it was a difficult job! Probably why I put it off for 30 years. BUT I also wanted an H&E car and had been chasing them for the last 30 years also. Never having the three elements of car, money and location line up enough to make a deal. The last month of assembling the convertible up pops a 59 H&E sedan in San Diego (2 hour drive) advertised in Craigslist and Hemmings for $12,000. Looked really good in photos (old, needs work but not messed with). I could drive it home! There it was! Everything was lining up. Just what I wanted! Then I stopped and thought……do I really need two of these Lincolns? I was exhausted after assembling the convertible and not in the mood to do another, so I dropped it. I knew that if I didn’t get the San Diego car to fulfill my dream then I would never go back again. Time and space, I kept my convertible and passed on the sedan…… I still have a collection of rare H&E dealer and factory promotional items, but a real car? No, I have moved on.

That’s it. On these cars the story is always: It’s rare, I want to see it, but for what you are asking, I’ll buy something else.

No. That is a 1965 and up style. More than valve covers the intake is different. In 65+ they removed the oil filler from the intake and put it in the valve cover. To make changes between old and new requires both valve covers and intake manifold. Which screams “I installed a used engine”

Very nice, but it won its awards in the late 90s and wouldn’t score that high today. The trunk lining is disgusting (from a 100 point perspective). RARE, to be sure, but they are asking top convertible money for what is a 4 door sedan. This is one of those cars that people look at and talk about but they aren’t clamoring to buy.

The FIRST thing that you do when buying or selling any collectible, (coins, stamps, beanie babies) is to completely and accurately identify what it is and what it isn’t. Without knowing exactly what it is, there is no way to accurately determine a value.

Restoration of it would leave you with a small fortune, but you would have to start with a very large fortune first. Then you would have a car that might be interesting to ride around in, but isn’t that fun to drive. I had trouble understanding these formal cars until I compared them to clothing. Which is more expensive and prestigious when new; a tailored tuxedo or designer sports wear? Then in a used environment (thrift store?) which is more valuable, more usable, more FUN? Even if it is custom tailored, formal clothing is constricting and imposes an expected behavior on the wearer (user). Formal clothes just don’t exude a comfortable carefree, let your hair down, relaxing feeling. I know that you are attracted to these formal cars, and I am(?) was(?) too. I currently have a 58 Imperial (Ghia) in my barn awaiting restoration. I have had it for about 30 years and have yet to really start on it. In the meantime I bought a 1971 Cadillac 75 (non divided) to “enjoy”. I fantasized about taking all my friends out and having 7 passengers in it. After 4 years of ownership I only ever carried 2 additional people in the backseat, which I never experienced because nobody would drive me around in it. I eventually sold it because it was a pain to move in and out of the barn and it was not easily parked and it was even tough to go through a Mc Donald’s drive through. My suggestion to you is to buy yourself a 1970s Cadillac 75. Nice ones can be had inexpensively. Much cheaper than a convertible. Then you can experience a formal car for yourself and not break the bank.

I know little about locksmithing, but I took the combination switch (ignition) for my 1926 Lincoln into a local shop and they had a blank and quickly cut a key based on the code numbers. After 100 years everything else has gone obsolete, how lock and key information has remained consistent and available is surprising. I guess locks don’t change much? Perhaps automotive locks have remained consistent and live on today into current padlocks? Or door knobs? 🤔

Dwell, when operating I suspect that it SHOULD stay exactly the same through all RPM ranges. Of course in the real world it doesn’t. Worn bushings, advance devices that pull inconsistently, etc will cause some drift. But how much is too much? I have seen 15+ degrees of dwell change when increasing engine speed and of course the engine ran poorly. I have regularly seen 2-5 degrees of dwell change and the car ran fine. When this happens , I typically set the points to come into spec with increasing speed, even if that means it’s a little off at idle. Are there any hard and fast specifications about how much is too much? I have never seen it written anywhere.