Bryan G

Are those cork clutches much trouble to have redone? Good thing it's on the wrong coast.

Perhaps helpful to those outside looking in: consider a title as the equivalent to the deed to a property. Most real estate is worth more than most cars, but of course I could show you some parcels that wouldn't sell for the cost of a wrecked Daewoo. If you lose a title, you can typically get a new copy very easily from the DMV. Just some paperwork and a small fee. But, if you aren't the guy on the title? It ain't your car, is it? You can try selling the Brooklyn Bridge, too. "Here's the bill of sale, no problem to get it squared away down to the clerk's office. Nice doin' business with you!" I passed on the last missing-title car I stumbled upon. I'm sure, with enough trouble, it could be done. But how much effort would you put into a 63 Lark sedan with a stuck engine and tired paint?

It serves a general purpose?

Most important, I think, is to get beyond carburetors. I've found them very reliable on older vehicles but not once emissions became a thing. That said, I've known some 80s GM pickups with carbs that were very close to fuel injection for ease of starting and drivability. I'm on my third Dakota. The first was from their premier year, '87. I really liked that truck, and would probably buy it back if it turned up for sale, but it sure wasn't reliable. Constant carb and electrical problems. Next was a '96 which was a vast improvement, and ranks as one of my favorite vehicles of all time. Now I have an '09 which, in some ways, I don't care for as much but it's been as reliable as anything I've ever owned. And: very easy to work on. It seems as though they designed it to snap-together easy at the factory. It's mostly my wife that drives this truck, though. Since I work from home these days, I don't have anyplace I need to go daily. Which is why you can usually finding me piloting a 74 year old Chrysler to the store.

We had a '52 Ford sedan abandoned at our shop. I got a photocopy of the title and found it still registered to the original owner, not the person who brought it to us. If this happened today I would have done a mechanic's lien and fix the car up, but in the mid-90s I just sold it for parts to a guy who raced in some series that ran flathead V8's. About 10 years later I got a call from a guy who had bought it and was looking for a title. He was very insistent, almost to the point of being impolite, but there really wasn't much else I could tell him. I've always wondered if he got it back on the road. I sold an old Impala that I'd owned for decades. It changed hands again fairly quickly and that guy called me, mostly fishing to find out what I'd sold it for. I was able to trace my current car back to the guy who bought it in 1993. I have the name of the guy he bought it from, still alive, in his 90s, but I've been unable to find a good address. I thought I found his son but there was no reply to the letter I mailed. I should probably try again...I'm not sure how else I'd ever get that next chapter figured out.

Kaisers seem to represent one of the better bargains for collectors on a budget. You'll do an awful lot of head-turning for your money.

I'd have no qualms driving my '49 New Yorker almost anywhere. I feel comfortable with knowing how everything works, and what it would take to at least limp it home. I've probably driven it 4 hours or more in the last week. Sorted? I replaced the generator temporarily with a 6v+ground alternator while I was having the old unit rebuilt. The generator and a NOS regulator have been sitting here for over a year, waiting for me to install. The alternator just works to well. An elbow that fits atop the water pump cracked when I was installing it. The repro replacements I bought were terrible, so I patched the crack with JB Weld. and slathered Flex Paste on the outside. It's ugly; might seep a pint of coolant per year. It has several small oil leaks. I suspect the rear main may be the worst, but haven't dared to investigate. I just keep adding oil. I like to tinker on old radios and have pulled this one about 8 times. Still not working right. The fuel gauge needle jumps a bit, and the speedometer reads high. The inside turn signal indicator stopped working when I switched to an electronic flasher. The clock light is intermittent. The leather is in poor shape. The heat riser is stuck. What a rolling wreck! People keep stopping me, wanting to take pictures of my car. They aren't laughing. Lots of patina. Not afraid of dirt roads or a little rain. Always starts. Sorted enough for me. Will have to invest in tires soon...

Recently I was reading Tom McCahill's test of "my car", a '49 Chrysler flathead straight eight. He ran it foot-to-the-floor on the highway and got up to, as I recall, 96. I fully believe the larger Packard engine could beat 100. Engine was stuck when I got mine. I did a ring & valve job in my driveway. A great learning experience. And there really wasn't too much they could have done to make an engine easier to work on.

I'm in my early fifties now; I own a '49, and from this point forward my interest is likely to be limited to cars of the 30's and 40's. This may be my last post-war purchase. I have a bunch of Marketplace ads saved right now, but they're still too expensive for my taste. I can afford them, but I know whatever I buy will be a "driver". Yes, there are guys and gals younger than I who could become owners of automobiles of this era, but like me they're looking for value. Can you drive it, or is it made just to trailer from place to place and gawk at? Do they have to take out a loan to buy it? My annual bonus was enough to buy the car I'm driving now. The "kids" aren't afraid of dirty hands or three-on-the-tree; but why would a 40 year old with a couple kids spend $30k to turn half their garage into a one-car museum?

My first car was a 67 Impala. It was a rust bucket Dad bought it in 86 and patched it up. I never garaged it, and had to patch it up every 5 years even though I avoided winter driving. Fast forward to about 10 years ago. The fuel pump in my beater pickup went up, around this time of year. I drove the Impala for much of that winter as the car was already starting to pop-out all over anyway. It sure did accelerate the rust. Yes, I felt a bit guilty, but the truth was it really didn't diminish the value any when I sold it a year or two later. I briefly owned a 50 Cadillac with the rare "Flintstones" floor pan option, plus other fancy features like essentially no upholstery and a steering wheel that was basically nothing but the steel rim. The guy I sold it to never did anything with it. I've daydreamt of buying it back, throwing on some Pep Boys seat covers and a late model steering wheel, sorting out the mechanics, and greeting the season with the coolest old beater around!

I ran the family business, which was an old-fashioned "soup-to-nuts" body shop. Pretty much, if it would fit in the door, we'd work on it. (And some things that wouldn't fit!) We always had at least one restoration project. I tried very hard to never get overwhelmed with them. Every single time one came in, like clockwork, we got busy with insurance work. There were times when I had a list of 10-15 people who wanted to bring some old car or truck in, and when it came time to call I might skip around. Why deal with a Chevelle that was pulled out of a swamp when I can do a straightforward refinish on a solid tri-five from out west? I had some customers with large collections, and a dealer who sold lots of old Corvettes, and they were my favorite kind of restoration customer. We both knew what to expect from each other. The worst were the guys who said they weren't in a hurry, then hassled you constantly. I recall someone dropping off a car in April and needing it back for a wedding in October. We weren't prepared to start when he dropped it, and I told him that, with assurances that we'd have it ready. He left his enclosed trailer so we could store it when it wasn't being worked on. After our first week's worth of work (around the first of June) he just came by one night and took the car/trailer. Never heard from him again. Never paid for the work I did. Stupid me. Quite a lot of folks have no idea just how poor a condition their car is in. Just because you can buy every part for that mobile out of a catalog, doesn't mean you should. Yes, we could build you a '66 Mustang. Why not just buy one pre-assembled? Be a lot easier, lot cheaper!

I like the special joy of opening the mailbox to see what came, so I don't look at the USPS photos until AFTER my mail came It has come in handy on vacation.

DuPont spun off their automotive paint division 10 or 12 years ago. It's now called Axalta. I used to own a shop and use their product, which I was quite happy with. I don't know about now, but when I last used it (decade ago) their top warranty was lifetime, with 10 years being on a lesser product. To be valid the shop has to use only Axalta products including all primers and sealers, basecoat and clearcoat, and everything has to be done by the book. Assuming that, yes, I have seen these pay off. I always had a good relationship with the local jobber and the manufacturer's rep and when I had a problem they were generally good at making it right. There will likely be a clause about maintenance. You can't just sit it outside in the weather for 10 years and never wash or wax it. Bird droppings can be enemy number one, and don't count on those being covered all the time. Ditto stone chips.

I haven't seen one up close. To me, they look ungainly and impractical. I expect the dashboard must rival the GM "dustbuster" minivans for useless space. Do they have cameras/video screens to make up for the near-zero rear visibility? Body damage is gonna be fun! The panel gaps are consistent with the first Tesla cars. On all these counts, I could be all wet, but this is how I see it.

I collect old radios and have made inserts for several home sets. On one, similar to this (but rectangular) I found some paper that was about the same beige/tan color and printed on that. It can be time consuming, but each time I was finished I was very happy with the results.

How would you rank those cars, in order of build quality and driving pleasure? I've loved everything Nash since I first read about them as a kid in the 80s. I don't dislike the exterior styling of the bathtub models, but I'm not crazy about the dashboard (which is mostly what the owner sees!) and the form above function of those front wheels bothers me. I find more to love with the late 30s-40's models, but wouldn't refuse the right deal on one of these.

I'm a big fan of the Lark, and may own one someday. Might Studebaker have sold more overdrives than anyone else? Sadly, that OHV six doesn't have a great reputation. I'd have to hold out for an eight. I do like this color.

I've seen a photo floating around the net from some distant country where a bicycle was rigged up to the pulley with a belt. During a blizzard in the 90s, nobody could buy gas but I remembered a little country store that still had a pump like 60flattop pictured, but only for kerosene. Kept us in heat, anyway.

First time I've ever seen a bug shield on one of these. These cars seem to have a high survival rate, perhaps because nobody could afford the gas to drive them very far?

Those cars were in production a long, long time (until 1996) with only minor changes. The supply/demand tilt doesn't look great to me. Many potential buyers may choose to go with one of the newer cars for reliability sake. I will say, earlier models don't seem to show up much anymore. I'm just not sure where the market is.

A guy I know put his on Marketplace for something like $60. Gone in an hour!

Hard to grab a solid pre-war car for under $5k. Were it local to me, I'd be doing some serious thinking.

You would not be the first guy to show up at his door someday to find the place boarded-up, the bays inside empty, and nobody around who can tell you where your car went. My father once rented a building to a rather sketchy "restorer". One day I went by to try and collect the rent and I found everything of value long gone, just a bunch of junk left behind. A friend called me frantic soon after, wanting to know if I had any idea where the guy went as he had their first car, halfway through restoration. I don't know if they ever found it, or him. Of course, I don't think that's the case here...the gentleman just may never quite get finished before he is.

I spotted a late 70s Toyota camper on the road last week. Every time I do, I think of how hard each of those cylinders was having to work A decent number seemed to have survived, so I guess they do okay.

Makes me think of a bottle fly. For the right price I'd learn to live with it. I've seen worse, but I do think a body would tire of looking at all that green pretty quick.