avantey

As part of last September's Glidden tour I took the tourists to see Jim Taylor's collection. He was very anxious to be on hand that day and regaled both morning and afternoon groups with stories about every car. Very personable guy and a big supporter of the Saratoga Auto museum too. I too hope he's okay and just shifting gears. Getting to see collections like this (of many different things) is why touring is so much fun. Doors get opened and we get to peek inside worlds we never knew existed before they are gone. Had the same privilege a few years ago when visiting an impressive private Edison collection in Buck's County, Pa while on a BBC brass car tour. A year later it was all auctioned off with most of it going to the Smithsonian.

Makes me feel better I missed it. Was supposed to be me Christmas present, instead we stayed home in SWFL and got married! Much better party, good times with friends and neighbors, probably cheaper too! 😀

Thank you for posting Gary, I am sorry we never got time to talk in person as I wanted to meet you after all your posting here. The Stevens belongs to Mike and Joan Huffman, long time Gliddenites from Michigan and veteran cross country tourists as well. It is 1911 or '13 and was a last minute change out for them. The Reo was also a last minute change where I don't remember the owner. Billy, I am sorry you could not get to see the tour. We did gather every day for lunch with the best sightseeing place being Wednesday at Lake George. The 2022 Glidden will be in Princeton, NJ Sept 25-30 hosted by New Jersey Region, AACA with Vince DeLisi as tour chairman. Thank you for coming, hope you had fun, Bill

Fay Bowens were made in Geneva, NY, the next town over from me. There is a Finger Lakes Boating Museum in Naples , NY that is only about local boat builders and there were quite a few in the FL. They might have some research material on the Fay Bowens that could help.

I have often wondered how many old cars get lost in these fires. Hardly ever see pictures like these posted, thanks. The one thing that impressed me was the trailer under the suburban that looks like the tongue melted and bent under the trailer/load weight. Must be a heart breaking thing to go through, our thoughts go out to all who have suffered with these fires.

One of my most memorable rides was on the 2002 Glidden in Daytona Beach. On the ride home from St. Augustine it was a picture perfect postcard day with the top down on the Model A. Linda, my wife, was next to me with Nathan, Marty Roth's three YO grandson, in the rumble seat, the Atlantic to my left and the warm ocean air in our faces made it just one of those rides to remember. I lost Linda six years ago today so writing this now is both wonderful and difficult but it is still a good memory of a great life I have had in this wonderful hobby.

I like the second story back porch! Takes the usual station wagon's third rear seat to a new level....

$85 WAG!

Red Barchetta- one of my favorite road trip songs! Crank it up, open the windows and drive!! especially when in my red Avanti...... oh wait, it only has the original AM radio. Must be the thought that counts. 😀 Did not know he was a collector either.

I was sent this today and thought it was an interesting invention by our Canadian friends. Never heard of it before- https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-truck-with-a-hinge-in-the-middle-the-willock-swivel-frame/ The Truck With a Hinge In the Middle: The Willock Swivel Frame Posted on June 15, 2021 by MCG For the ultimate in off-road flexibility, in the 1950s a Canadian company offered a conversion for popular trucks that allowed the chassis to pivot in the middle. As any off-road enthusiast will tell you, the trick to negotiating rough terrain with a 4×4 vehicle is keeping all four tires firmly planted on the ground. But naturally, there will be times when the surface becomes so uneven that even this basic task is no longer possible. To address this basic problem in the most direct way possible, in the early ’50s the Willock Truck Equipment Company of Vancouver, British Columbia came up with this solution: the Willock Swivel Frame. This conversion allowed the rear half of the vehicle to rotate on the chassis’ longitudinal axis, keeping all four wheels on earth. The photo above shows the simple yet rugged chassis modification. The frame rails were cut in half just behind the cab and a pair of extremely stout crossmembers were welded to the ends. A set of equally robust steel-backed, bronze bushings formed the chassis pivot, and while the loadings must have been enormous, the setup was quite reliable, reportedly. Willock advertised the conversion for all popular truck makes (see brochure below) but the modification was most popular on the 1946-up Dodge Power Wagon, already one of the most rugged off-road utility vehicles on the market at the time. Accounts vary, but reportedly somewhere between 40 and 100 Power Wagons were equipped with the Willock Swivel, and just as you would expect, the novel setup is highly sought after in the Power Wagon enthusiast community today. Owners report that despite the radical chassis modification, the setup drives just fine at road speeds on pavement. While the articulated chassis never caught on with consumer-sized off-road vehicles, the feature is commonplace in large dump trucks in the construction industry. Lead photo courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum.

My '01 F250 7.3L diesel is one of the best things I ever got. Just came back from Tenn up I-81 running 68 mph at 2000 rpm, a great comfort zone for this truck. It just rolls along, hills don't phase it, doesn't care about the trailer weight and a pleasure to drive. I also locked it up twice, once on the way down by Carlisle when traffic suddenly went from mild brake to full on stop and near Hagerstown on the way north when a TT pulled out of the uphill slow lane to let another TT out on an exit. Both times I appreciated the extra braking capacity on the F250, everything locked and stopped straight and quickly. Very important to check trailer brakes every morning too. I also check the trailer hubs and straps at each stop.

Try R&Jl Fasteners, Macedon, NY http://www.rjlautofasteners.com/contact.html manufacturer and dealer of many clips

Not sure it matters but Brett, one of the owners, and a very knowledgeable hands on guy passed away earlier this year. I do not know the status of the business or of any changes but Brett was integral to the great work I always have gotten there.

Hi Gary, Paul and all, Like Bob I am still moving forward with planning for the Glidden in September. There is risk of course but it takes a good amount of time to find and lock things in, arrange all the contracts and plan the week. It is not feasible to wait until the last minute for an organizer to wait until the last minute. In fact when I decided to redo the tour this year I had already lost one banquet venue I wanted as it had been taken for 2021. We can only hope at this point that things will be better by September and keep trying. I did not give in last year until the end of June when things became impossible to overcome. Hang in there Bob! You seem tp have a better path forward with a smaller tour, my logistics are kind of frightening at times! Bill

Rod Serling is buried in Interlaken, NY, about 20 miles away. There was a family lakeside home there on Cayuga where he spent summers both as a youth and adult.

Happy and healthy New Year to all! Let's hope we can get our hobby back to life and on track! I know Pam and I can't wait to tour again!

I was just telling my girlfriend about this thread so I asked her about her test. Got an answer I never knew possible, she rented a cab to take her test! Then the car died sideways in the street when she attempted an illegal U turn after the officer said to go back to the start point. The officer drove her back and she still passed! She's a pretty good driver now but can't drive clutch so she doesn't touch the old cars!

Another good search engine that works without a lot of baggage is 'Dogpile'. It is a metasearch engine so it compiles results from everywhere including Google and Yahoo among many. Seems very fast and useful but I moved over to Firefox a while ago and just got in that habit.

Thank you Larry and Jim, You have reinforced all the bad I have ever (and only) heard about dollies. I do tow with my own open and closed trailers so the Ford is not an issue. This case is for a one way transport so I can bring a new trailer home on the return. The trailer rental is about 3X the dolly price with UH but I may reconsider. I would be much more comfortable with a trailer even though it is not mine. Thank you both for your thoughts, Bill

So we have a new adventure and looking for some advice. We are about to do a seasonal move and need to move three vehicles part of the way with two drivers. My idea is to rent a tow dolly one way for that part of the trip. I have never used a dolly but heard lots of stories over the years. Many include damage from the car moving on the dolly , especially when turning and the dolly fenders hitting the car fenders. I would tow with my F250 PS diesel pulling a small car on the dolly. The trip will be about 650 miles in one day with about half on interstates, the rest on local roads (2 and 4 lane). What do I need to know? Will my straps work for tie down or should I use over the tire straps? Are the straps all that holds the car in place? What about taillights on the towed vehicle? Do the magnetic type come with the dolly? What else do I not know? Thanks for all the help. Bill

Not a bad deal on the boxes- buy that setup and get a free mechanic with them! Congrats Ed!

Congrats Marty! Spent many enjoyable hours talking to you on tour so maybe 6K is a little low? Or maybe you are just getting started! Bill

My father was a B-17 navigator in the war. Based out of England he flew many missions over Europe. I have his bomber jacket with bomb graphics that count about thirty missions. Six are red for missions over Germany. Born in 1922, he was in his early twenties when he served.

Stutzl6- As the tour director for the 75th Revival Glidden I would love to have you bring that camper to Saratoga!! Very cool and very unique piece of history! Bill

Like Greenie I stopped by the flea market last Monday on the way to the Museum as part of the Hangover. Was a really wet, cold day so we went modern and the pic is of my car on my Chocolate field spot. Coker would be in the background, the crowd was REALLY light, sales were slooow but parking on my spot was really easy! Can't wait for 2021!!