George Cole

Beautiful Florida winter morning yesterday, on our way from Cocoa Beach to the Melbourne Winternationals. It was about 72 degrees with a light ocean breeze...perfect winter weather. The 19-mile drive across 2 rivers from the barrier island to the mainland took about 30 minutes in my 'new' 1947/1948 Jaguar Mark IV. It was a trial-by-fire maiden voyage...the first time we've driven it on a street or highway since bringing it home 3 weeks ago.

Obviously with so many questions being posted regarding judging classes, others besides me are confused about the seemingly endless number of entry classes. After going through the list several times, I decided I didn't want my recently purchased 1947/1948 Jaguar Mark IV to be judged at the Melbourne Winternationals show. (I felt I didn't need judges telling me the headlight lenses were mis-matched, or it has an incorrect air cleaner, or the paint is chipped, or whatever else that I already know.) However, even for display, it appeared I had to chose an entry category, so I selected one at random. Surprise, surprise, surprise...when I checked into the show, I found a 'First Junior' windshield placard and a judging form in my packet. I put a large sign on the windshield, 'DISPLAY ONLY, NOT FOR JUDGING." Low and behold, when the team of judges arrived, against my objections, they insisted the car had to be judged as it was on their sheet. One of them insisted I open the hood, which I hadn't planned to do, as he immediately told me I was missing an exhaust manifold stud...which I already knew. So they judged it and placed a 'JUDGED' sticker on my placard. I have no idea of the outcome, and really don't care, other than perhaps now being stuck in whatever category they judged my car in, and no longer being considered for a 'First Junior' category...IF I decide in the future i want it judged. The confusion and confrontation left a bad taste in my mouth and makes me question whether I'll enter any more AACA shows.

Hey Frank, yes, I understand. But the bidding process was slow and seemingly strained to get to $18k. The auctioneer was pushing hard to get the last couple of grand, so it appeared it might not go much higher had I been in the mix. Then again, you never know.

It was driven across the blocks, not pushed. And not smoking.

Here's the 1930 Pierce Arrow which was driven across the blocks for $18k plus fees...only a grand above the reserve. Even with what looks like an incorrect interior, it should have been worth twice that. This is the one my wife was pissed about me not bidding on.

I was just getting ready to dig the picture out when I saw it posted. Thanks Mike. Neat car, but the wooden contraption on the back completely ruins it. McFarlan never made a boat tail...much less a wooden one that looks like a boat. They would have been better off mounting one of the wrecker frames advertised here in the Forum Parts. Now that would have been neat and period correct for CCCA.

Here's some more pictures of it. It was a very nice, clean looking car. The owner is in a couple of the pictures. He said it hadn't been started yet that day (Thursday,) but it fired right up without hesitation and quickly settled down to a smooth idle. He's still sitting on a high bid of $40k, but if he's true to his word, he's going to let it go. He told me he's not hauling it back to St. Louis.

There was originally a nice looking 1931 Packard Phaeton on the schedule for today, but it was withdrawn a couple of days ago.

Hammer prices seem to be much more realistic today...maybe because the rain has kept some away and dampened spirits. The only Full Classic I was preregistered to bid on today (as a phone bidder,) was a 1931 Packard Light Eight, and it's been withdrawn.

No. Standard bidder fee: $200. Gold level bidder fee: $500. The bidder fee was a one-time fee for the entire auction. Buyer's commission: 10% on site bidder, or 12% telephone or on-line bidder. Plus 7.5% FL & Osceola County tax. And there may be a title fee as well. The minimum buyer commission was $1k for a car, $500 for a motorcycle. Hammer prices for some of the Chevelles, 442s, GTOs, Camaros, Mustangs, etc., were insanely high...probably directly proportional to alcohol intake. (There was a bar in the auction hall.) However, there were several deals to be had on CCCA Full Classics, including a very nice looking, running, and driving 1930 Pierce-Arrow which went for $18k. (My wife was pissed at me for not bidding on it.) Also a 1931 Lincoln dual-windshield touring car with poorly done interior which was driven across the block for $32k, a 1930 Lincoln 4-passenger coupe which barely met reserve for $42k, a 1925 Rolls Royce Shooting Brake which looked okay for $22k, a 1919 Baker electric which also barely met reserve for $50k, and a 1917 McFarlan boat tail roadster, (with a rear body section which looked like it had been made from a wooden boat,) for $17k. All prices are excluding commissions and fees. There was an especially nice and quite rare 1929 Franklin Victoria Brougham with bidding stalled at $40k. The Franklin had been professionally restored for $142k in 2006 and all receipts and restoration photos came with the car. The owner said he'd put 1.5 miles on it since it had been restored. He started it and it seemed to run fine. I asked him what his reserve was and he said it didn't matter, as he will sell the car for whatever it is bid to by the end of the auction on Sunday. And yes...thousands of people elbow-to-elbow on the floor in the auction hall, having to scream in each other's faces to be heard over the deafening, amplified sound of the auctioneer. Even though there were signs at the door restricting entrance to bidders only, I saw non-bidders enter without being challenged. There was a separate section of bleachers in the hall for the non-bidders although there weren't a lot of people sitting there. It was fairly easy to keep others at a double-arm's length in the tents while looking at the cars, but not so in the auction hall. Besides my wife and I, there were barely a handful of people wearing masks. Although all pictures were provided by the sellers, Mecum has them locked on their site to prevent copying. I was able to do screen shots and then save them for my own reference, but won't post them here due to potential copywrite infringement. I took a few pictures of cars I was interested in while there. Although lighting was not good, here's a sample. 1929 Franklin, 1930 Lincoln Coupe, 1931 Packard shovelnose sedan, 1933 Hudson Essex Terraplane rumble seat roadster, and a gorgeous 1929 Essex boat tail, rumble seat, roadster which crossed the block for $135k.

Steve, I'm sure your above response touched on a very sore point with some of us. Why are non-members allowed to post in the Discussion Forums? It seems like one should have to 'ante-up, for that privilege. Perhaps restricting non-members from posting would cut down on some of the negative comments which at times seems to go unchecked. Count me as another who renewed using the online store. Thanks for the support and good work you and your staff do for us paying members. Regards, George

Zoning officials have flexed their muscles and thumped their chests once again. This time they forced the removal of vintage display cars which were used to attract attention and advertise the Orlando Dezerland Action Park and Auto Museum. The cars lined the entrance driveway as shown below. The Gestapo demanded they be removed as even though they were clearly part of the overall display, they were inoperative and unlicensed. Those cars have now been removed and put into storage and the spaces they occupied sits bare. Sad and disappointing.

PM sent.

GM gifted a new 1962 Corvette to Alan Shephard after his first space flight. That gave central FL Chevy dealer Jim Rathmann, (winner of the 1960 Indy 500,) the idea to lease Vettes to astronauts for $1 per year, each...which he did for many years. The astronauts typically kept the Vettes for several years before returning them to Rathmann and getting a new one. Sadly, documentation was not kept on most of the astronaut cars once they were returned from lease, and they were sold as used cars. Most likely many of them have not survived and have not been documented. Neil Armstrong had this 1967 Vette on a Rathmann lease when he became the first man to walk on the Moon. He kept it for several more years, then returned it for a newer model. A NASA employee bought it from the dealer, along with paperwork which identified it as Armstrong's car. It was rode hard and put away wet far too many times, before being retired to a basement garage until it surfaced in 2012. A couple of members from the local Corvette club confirmed its authenticity. It was bid to $250k on ebay, but did not meet an undisclosed reserve. It eventually did sell and the new owner restored it in 2015. It has been displayed at multiple car shows here for the past several years. There are quite a few on-line articles about it. It is believed Mr. Armstrong had several other Rathmann-leased Vettes but as far as I know, this is the only one with provenance which has survived.

Nope! Closer to one for each day of the year. Last check they were on their way to 200 different ones in FL. Huge money maker for the state.

PM sent.

My 63 Vette coupe has worn the same 'tramp stamp' for over 25 years....LKT SPLT.

This was the first thread opened in the Museum forum it was opened in March. I posted several pictures above, including of the only remaining 1904 Simplicity which George Albright donated to the museum. Thanks again George.

It would be a shame to part it out. Even needing complete floors, it seems like it would be worth the effort and expense to save it, as a really decent driver.

The Canadian-U.S. border is scheduled to reopen on 9 August. With the auction closing on 24 July, there would be no way for U.S. residents to preview. Terms state 'miscellaneous items' must be removed within 7 days (i.e., 31 July)....again, an issue fur us Yanks as the border does not open for another 10 days after that date. If they were smart, knowing the border was scheduled to reopen soon, they'd delay the auction to take advantage of additional potential bidders/buyers. But that hasn't happened. https://www.ktoo.org/2021/07/19/canada-announces-border-to-open-aug-9-for-vaccinated-americans/

The CL ad has been deleted, so it most likely sold.

What are you planning to do today? How about changing the plugs in a 48 cylinder Kawasaki motorcycle. Actually, there's 49 plugs as there's a separate 75cc pony engine to start the 4.2 liter main engine. Kinda tough to trace an intermittent miss. Owned by Roger Dudding in the UK.

Bob, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

A new museum just opened in Clearwater Florida called the Collections on Palmetto. It's the personal collection of Marvin Feldman. He has 24 cars on display, along with about a dozen steam, traction, and hit-and-miss engines. Public access is by reservation only, but very easy to do from their website. Marvin gave my group of 3 a personal 2-hour tour of his cars. Other than his brother, sister-in-law, and niece, (who all work with him maintaining the museum,) we were the only ones there at the time. He was extremely knowledgeable of each car. He said he still does maintenance on them all with his grandson. They were behind ropes, but only to keep kids from climbing all over them when school groups came through. He took ropes down as we walked through. He had one car (1917 Dodge touring car,) set up as a car for kids to sit in for pictures, etc. He said practically all are operable and he drives them as much as possible. About 3/4 of the cars are Brass era. With one exception (1952 Allard,) the remainder are pre-war, with the newest being a 1927 Pierce Arrow and a 1928 Aherns fire engine. Six of the cars were steam powered along with a lone electric-powered Pope-Waverly. His 2014 Lamborghini was parked in with the collection as well, although he said that was only for protection from the non-hurricane which passed through several days ago. He opened the museum to encourage school groups and tours to learn about the development of the automotive industry. Here's what was on display: 1886 Benz Motor Wagon (repro), 1901 Curved Dash Olds, 1902 Locomobile Stanhope B, 1904 Cadillac Model B, 1904 Pope Waverly Electric, 1906 Winton Model K, 1906 White Steamer, 1907 Northern, 1908 Schacht High Wheeler, 1908 Locomobile Model E, 1909 Stanley Steamer Model 70, 1910 Stanley Steamer Model 85, 1911 White (gasoline powered), 1913 Stanley Steamer Model 64, 1913 Cole Roadster, 1913 Pierce Arrow, 1914 Ford Model T, 1914 Fiat, 1915 Peerless, 1917 Dodge touring car, 1918 Creators Popcorn Wagon (steam powered), 1925 Stanley Steamer sedan, 1927 Pierce Arrow, 1928 Ahrens Pumper fire engine, 1952 Allard J2-X. Even though it was almost a 3 hour drive each way, it was well worth it, and we intend to return with others as opportunities arise. I would strongly recommend anyone near or visiting the Tampa area to make a reservation and plan on spending a couple of hours there...and at $10 admission (free for Veterans, half-price for senior and kids,) even the most miserly should be able to afford it. https://collectiononpalmetto.com/