neil morse

This looks like a nice car at a fair price. But looking at this '47 really emphasizes just how revolutionary the step-down Hudsons were compared to what had gone before!

New Seat Fabric Finally Arrives! A banner day at Morse Garage today as the fabric I ordered last September (!) from SMS to recover the front seat finally arrived! I had decided last fall that I had to do something about the front seat that has the typical problem of being worn through on the driver's side, both the upper and lower cushion. The seats and door panels of my car had been redone by a previous owner. (The headliner and windcord on the doors appear to be original.) I don't know how closely the seat fabric matched to the original Bedford cord offered by Buick, but it certainly looks "correct." Other than being a bit worn and faded, the back seat and armrests are in fine shape with no rips or tears, so my plan (consistent with goal of achieving presentable "driver" quality) was to try to match the fabric so I could get away with only having to do the front seat. I cut a swatch of fabric off the underside of the front seat and sent it to SMS in Oregon. They said they would have to have it custom-woven, but that they could match it for $149 a yard, which I thought was very reasonable. I took the car to an upholstery shop and got a estimate for the job and determined that they would need 3-and-a-half yards. (They will also fix the springs which have become a bit "relaxed" on the driver's side.) I ordered the fabric from SMS, which they said would take around three months to manufacture. That, of course, turned out to be overly optimistic, and I went through some frustration with the delays. However, I am very pleased with the result. This photo shows the new bolt of fabric and the swatch cut from under the bottom seat cushion laid out on the existing seat. Here's a close up. You can see that SMS did a great job of matching the new fabric to the swatch of the original. The color is almost a perfect match, and aside from the darker stripes being a bit closer together, it's the same. So my plan is to continue to drive and enjoy the car over the summer season and then take the seat cushions to the upholstery shop in the fall. I'm really looking forward to the day when I can ride around with no more blankets on the front seat!

I'm very familiar with this car. The seller (Nick) is a well-known collector in San Francisco who parks a lot of cars on the street. A lot of us are accustomed to slowing down when we pass his house to see what's new! 😄

Felicitations! What a wonderful story! I was never worried that the Buick would be in trouble on the way to the show because it looked like it had a police escort. 😁

I don't know what, if any, differences there are between 1940 and 1941, but the radio on my '41 is supported by two "hangers" that attach to the inner structure of the dash, one on either side of the radio. On mine, there are threaded studs on each side of the radio case that fit into "hooks" on the hangers. I have posted below the only two photos that I have that might be helpful to you, but I can crawl under there and take some additional ones if they would be helpful. This photo shows the "hanger" on the passenger side in place under the dash -- you can see the speaker grill to the right in the photo. This photo shows the same piece after it was removed from the car and cleaned up. This photo shows the whole hanger, including the "hook" on the bottom that the stud on the side of the radio case fits into. Yours might be slightly different, but my guess is that it's very similar. I think you need to find someone with a parts car that had a radio to get the brackets you need. Hope that helps.

This looks like a fun entry-level car for someone who wants to get into the hobby that you could just drive and enjoy.

Bon jour, Sebastien: It' so great to see what are doing with the '41. I get such a positive response from driving my '41 around San Francisco, I can only imagine what it's like for you to drive one around France!

So sad. 😪

Wow, this looks like a very good deal at that price!

Hi Dan: I don't want to anticipate problems that you're not already having, but I wanted to make sure that you had seen this thread about my problems with the Y-pipe that I got from Waldron. It all worked out in the end, but I had to get a second down pipe from Waldron because the first one would not seal in the slip joint.

My '41 has the same trunk lock. I have been told that it is quite easy to modify it so that the key can be removed when the latch is in the unlocked position, but I haven't tried to do it. On my car, there is only one key for all purposes. I think that was standard for '41, I don't know about other years.

I'm not good at estimating crowds, but I would guess there were somewhere between 90 and 120 cars at the event.

Now for the most obscure attendee at Friendship Day 2023 -- I will post the pics first before I identify it in case anyone wants to try to guess what it is. (I had never heard of this car before.) Ok, give up? It's a 1953 IFA F9 -- "a compact saloon manufactured under the auspices of the Russian and East German states between 1949 or 1950 and 1956" that was "built at Zwickau at the plant previously owned by Auto Union," according to Wikipedia. When I first saw it from a distance, I immediately thought "DKW," which is not surprising because apparently "the body closely followed the design of the DKW F9, a prototype with which Auto Union would have replaced the F8 on the Zwickau production lines earlier, had the war not intervened." It's powered by a three-cylinder, two-stroke 910cc water-cooled engine. Note that the radiator is behind the engine so that the air can be conveniently pre-heated on its way to the radiator! Also note in the first engine compartment photo that the fuel tank is right in front of the driver, and in order to fill the tank you had to employ a convenient zig-zag shaped funnel which presumably was stored in the trunk. I really wanted to talk to the owner of this car and see it run, but despite circling back to this car several times during the meet, I missed him. And the next time I looked, it was gone. Maybe next year.

Friendship Day 2023 An indication of how quiet this thread has been -- it was already time for Friendship Day again and I've hardly posted anything since the last one! This year's meet was great as usual -- really my favorite old car event of the year because it's so friendly and informal and there's always something new and interesting to see. Here are some pics of the event (and I've saved the most unusual car for the end). My Super (which has mercifully needed very little work in the past year) A very interesting car, built in Detroit for the European export market. The owner found it in France. It's called a "Chrysler Junior," but is basically a '36 Plymouth. It has French Marchal headlights, which were required in France. Dash of the "Chrysler Junior" Very nice '48 Chrysler Town & Country convertible. This was a fresh restoration and was exquisitely done. '51 Hudson Commodore 8 sedan '53 Cadillac Coupe de Ville '60 Studebaker Lark convertible '58 Edsel Citation convertible

I'm pretty sure that compound carburation was standard in both 41 and 42.

What did they say was the reason that you needed a new one? Is it possible that it can be repaired? Maybe you should get a second opinion. Just sayin'.

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mr10/the-milton-robson-collection/lots/r124-1957-desoto-adventurer/192398

Oh dear, where do I start? The upholstery genius has pretty much ruined this car, I'm afraid. But the suicide doors are "cool, cool, cool!" Price is idiotic, but that's probably what you have to pay to have your interior ruined by a genius!

Rita Hayworth and Elizabeth Taylor!

You can't go wrong with a '41! Ask me how I know. 😄

What a handsome car! Good luck with the sale.

My guess is that they are all the same. There's also one on the back of the front seat in sedans, and it's the same as the ones on the doors. Skip Boyer makes reproductions of the plastic pieces, by the way.

Not to be too "picky," but that's not a brake light lens on the '41. It's merely decorative, no lights. But you are correct that the missing "C" is an easy fix. Reproduction letters are readily available. This looks like a nice car -- possibly priced on the high side for a Special.

Great idea! I was thinking Dremel, but I couldn't figure out how you would reach it. I predict total success!

According to the ad, it's got a 3 cylinder engine! 🤥