Modeleh

I would stay away from the turbo Corvairs and the multiple carburetor models. Too finicky and not many people are going to know what they need to run right. I would recommend something more conventional than a Corvair. The early Ford Falcons and Mercury Comets were well built, simple and conventional powertrains that still today are very easy to get parts for and any mechanically minded person will be able to maintain and repair. I also suggest these cars because they are relatively small compared to some other collector cars so they’re easy to park and operate on a daily basis. If someone bumps into you and you need paint and body repair you’re better off with a simple car than something with lots of trim and chrome that could take a long time to find good replacement parts for. The early 60s cars still have some interesting designs yet have 12 volt electrical with long lasting plastic coated wiring. If you are considering a 50s car, many were 6 volt with cloth covered wiring which by now is in a state of degradation and can cause big problems. There’s a lot of build quality considerations to make when deciding which old car will be right for you. These old cars can develop into bad nightmares for the wrong owners or if you choose wisely they can bring you a state of happiness that only a true car person can understand.

That’s the 66-A body style, the prototype was made for General Electric to display refrigerators at a convention. Then they decided to offer them to the public but only sold around 300. They are just a regular 82B cab with smooth box panels riveted on. Not a one piece stamping like the utes and later Rancheros that used station wagon quarter panels.

Early McLaughlins are pretty rare in any form. This is a 1913 Roadster that was owned by Port Alberni’s first mayor. It is cared for by the Alberni Heritage Equipment club.

Of course I will endorse the sentiments of those that have suggested the Model A, but I do agree that Dodge made a very fine automobile. A marque not mentioned yet that I feel doesn’t get the recognition is Nash. I think you get a pretty good bang for the buck there, they were a well made car in many ways ahead of the Fords but they just don’t command the same prices because the hot rod crowd has driven up the value of 30s Ford bodies.

I think what some of us are defining as regrets here are being confused with wistful memories of days gone by through rose coloured glasses. What I mean by that is I have often thought it would be nice to have back the first car I ever owned or one similar to it, a 67 Mercury Cougar. Well a couple months ago my old car turned up on Craigslist at a reasonable price and looked like the condition it was in was savable, but still would be another project. I pondered back and forth “do I need it?” I think my wife thought I should just go bring it home and friends told her it would be a nice Christmas gift. Here I was, at the moment some of us dream about, the chance to get my old car back and I just couldn’t justify it because I have now built up a small collection of vehicles which most would agree are more desirable than the Cougar, and the project I’m focusing on now is a Model A coupe which was my fathers first car. And there poses another question, would you rather have your father’s first car or your own? So to me these car collecting decisions aren’t really regrets, a regret is watching your Falcon Convertible reverse itself down the driveway with the door open after it fell out of Park, and watching the door buckle back against the fender. But that’s another story... Happy New Year everyone!

These guys might be a day late to the Bronco party. Ford is going to be unveiling the 2020 Bronco in a month or so. If they’re priced at 30-40g and are more comfortable with more features people expect now, it’s going to be a tough sell for a reproduction early Bronco at over 100g. It could also burst the bubble on the current crazy overvalued early Bronco market.

The cost of shipping definitely adds considerable anxiety to my enjoyment of improving my old cars. I’m sure the majority of us here have several old cars, and if they get used regularly then each one is going to require a replacement part or two at some point. I’m also in Canada and have been stung by UPS and their highway robbery. I will not purchase anything from any vendor who won’t deviate from using UPS. Several years ago I bought a radiator out of California never specified with the vendor not to ship by UPS and when it arrived to my house in a brown UPS truck I knew I was in for it. I had to pay $94 on the spot for him to release the parcel to me. A month later I get an invoice from UPS saying that I owed them $89 for the radiator they delivered a month earlier and charged me $94 for. So I called up their phone number and voiced my concerns to someone they said they were going to talk to their manager about it and call me back. I never heard back from them and never sent in the $89 and haven’t heard a peep from them now going on 5 years and never used them since. Now I’m just a backyarder and don’t order a lot of stuff so it’s easy to keep track of my orders, but what about a small business that makes many orders a month and they get another bill from these bandits on something they’ve already paid for? I’m sure lots of times, the administrators just pay the bill again and these UPS crooks get a double payment. They clearly just fabricate the brokerage charges because in my example they came up with two different prices and you would have thought the second one would be more due to tacked on “interest”. The Canadian government lets UPS operate like this and blatantly rip off countless consumers each year on unsubstantiated brokerage costs. It’s absolutely criminal.

Looks like the guy on the motorcycle is checking out the brand new 57 Ford. I can’t see any other 57 models in the photo but it appears the car on the other side of the bike is a 56 Merc. Or maybe the guy on the bike doesn’t notice the new Ford for what’s on the other side of it!

My great grandfather worked at the McLaughlin plant in 1914. May have even had a hand in your car, who knows. The thing that bothers me most is that when push came to shove during WW2, it was the manufacturing plants in North America that retooled to build what was required at the time to defend our freedom. Without manufacturing plants, what are we going to do the next time the chips are down?

If you get snow in your area you’re better off with a round top tent, they are more money but a stronger design and more or less self sheds the snow off, then it piles up along sides and helps to further strengthen it up and hold it down. There’s always gonna be that one blustery storm that hits in the middle of the night that could turn the whole thing into a pile of junk and damage what’s inside. Even with the best ones you’re rolling the dice.

In Canada, November 11th is known as Rememberance Day. The Veterans who enlisted for all allied nations are certainly at the forefront of our mind today for the great sacrifices they made to provide the freedom we all enjoy today to live a lifestyle of our choice, many here who enjoy the preservation of old vehicles and machines. I just wanted to also note and thank all the men and women who weren’t technically veterans but did their part to ensure the allied forces were supported. The factory workers, the farmers and fishermen, the loggers and construction workers who might never have been on the front lines but did what was needed of them by their country when it needed them the most. I had my grandfathers roadster out today, thought a great reason to get it out for some exercise. He was 15 in 1941 and didn’t enlist, but he got a job working on the Alcan Highway which was completed in ‘42 to link Alaska by road to British Columbia and therefore the lower 48 states. He told me he learned how to oxy acetylene weld while working on the highway job, a skill he used later in the 60s when he restored the roadster. It was finished in 1967 and today turned 3195 miles since restoration.

All that effort to create the look of a toy in full scale and they forgot about the red band tires! ?

Interesting story. There have been comments made regarding why someone would create a forged registration in 1955? Is it possible that the 1955 dated document was actually forged in 1985, which by this time the car had more historical significance and value? Possibly it was a trick that a well connected collector car dealer had used successfully in the past to import vehicles that had no paperwork.

Great idea. As long as the fan is on it’s own dedicated circuit and the fan doesn’t give up the ghost overnight. What a disaster it would be to have inflation problems during painting or drying processes. Anyone who’s painted before knows that no matter how prepared you think you are, there’s often something unforeseen that comes up during spraying and you end up scrambling trying to keep the job from going sideways.

Thanks Peter. Beautiful car. I had thought Vern’s car wasn’t a sleeve valve engine but couldn’t recall for sure. I was fortunate to get a ride in it from Vern. Yes it will be great to see them both together. Cheers

Is this the same 1910 Russell from the Wellburn collection? Or were there both Russells and Russell Knights made at the same time?

I agree the JBL flip is a great little speaker for the price, my wife has one and always brings it in the old cars. Just to add a point that it does have an input jack so if you have an older MP3 player or iPod you can still use them. Apparently you can pair two of the flips together wirelessly but we’ve found that one does a fine job of covering up road noise with music.

Long shot here but since we’re on the topic of Victoria cars, is there anyone out there that remembers a 62 Lincoln Convertible in town. Originally White with beige interior then painted light green metallic. Supposedly it was bought new by an NHL hockey player but the guy I bought the car from 9 years ago didn’t have much history on it. I’m not even sure if it was sold new in Victoria or not but would love to hear from someone who remembers the car.

I had the great fortune of working with Vern when we replaced the engine in the Stanley about 8 years ago. He was a walking encyclopedia of history on so many topics from early automobiles to logging (Wellburn Timber bought the first Stihl chainsaw used on the BC coast in 1938). I really miss hearing Vern’s stories at the local events, he was quite a guy and a great ambassador to the hobby, giving countless people rides in the Stanley, getting their first “bite” by the steam bug. Glad the car went to a home where it’s used and loved as much as Vern did. It’s a very special car.

Vancouver Island has an abundance of collector cars and Victoria has always had a reputation for uncovering some low mileage gems that have been tucked away for years. One of BC’s pioneer car collectors lived in Victoria, Phil Foster who ran Speedway Motors on Douglas. In the 50s he saved a great deal of significant local cars that survive today after he took ill and the collection was sold to Gerry and Vern Wellburn of Duncan BC. The collection was broken up eventually but many of the vehicles are still around Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Some of the vehicles from the Foster/Wellburn collection that are still around are 1899 Locomobile 1902 Holley 1907 Ford Model N 1910 Russell 1911 Stanley (owned by the Butchart family) 1912 Detroit Electric (which was stored in the basement of the Empress Hotel for decades until the 50s) 1912 Ford Model T (on display in the BC Provincial Museum) 1913 American Lafrance (the oldest known fire truck in unrestored running condition)

I have nothing but praise for the pertronix units and have one in each of my 60s Fords, one of them has been installed for over 10 years now. I think your problem could be a vacuum leak or too high of a float level causing dripping from the discharge boosters. Is it also hard starting after sitting for a few minutes after shutdown? Once warmed up, a 60s Ford in good tune should fire up after sitting for a half hour without having to touch the throttle. Run the car then shut it off and remove air cleaner lid and look down primary barrels with a flashlight to check for fuel dripping. This will indicate a high float level and cause poor atomization and stumbling.

Not to take anything away from George Shuster and his team but it’s a known fact that they stopped in Buffalo to change the front axle to a different design so it wouldn’t drag so much snow. They were also permitted to travel through some railroad tunnels owned by American railroads but the foreign cars were not granted permission and had to go the hard way. National pride for all teams was huge at the time and there were acts of sabotage against the teams by proud patriots. One team discovered nails had been thrown into their gearbox through the oil fill hole when their car was unattended. All three cars that completed were winners. But it was the men who coaxed them around the world and they were the real stars. All that being said, the Thomas was a very fine car and I think the best made car did indeed come in first.

Great pictures! Emilio Sartori pictured in the Fiat was one of the drivers of the Zust in the 1908 Great Race.

Interesting how the marine gear is driven off the front of the 430. The engine is backwards to how it would typically be mounted. Must have a unique intake manifold to angle the carburetor on the opposite angle to the automotive application. What a great boat!