jrbartlett

We had a brand new 1966 Riviera back in the day. It routinely got 13 MPG on the road, running premium. Best I ever got was driving at night (65 MPH speed limit), on a slight downhill run from West Texas to Central Texas, and feathering the throttle a little on purpose, just to see what it would do. It was 15 MPG on that tank.

We restored the car in 1964 when I was 16 years old. My brother and I did much of the hand labor, but my father was the one with the mechanical knowledge and served as the parts chaser, so I am afraid I can't help you on specifics. But I do recall that the brakes were pretty standard, other than not being self-adjusting. A lot of brakes from that era used eccentric adjusters on each brake shoe -- an off-center threaded post with a nut to secure it once you had adjusted it so that the shoe just contacted the drum. The Desoto may have been like that. I just don't remember. I can tell you that it was a nice driving and handling car for the era -- lightweight and responsive. Top speed was about 65 MPH. Very smooth-running engine.

We had one of these Desoto roadsters back in the 1960s, with a very low-mile chassis. We restored the brakes and they were excellent, given they were hydraulic and the car was light weight.

My bet would be that most 745 roadsters are real. Which would not the case for a boat-tail. As for this LeBaron, maybe it's a one-of-one?

Does the Ford transmission incorporate machine learning?

Ed -- Did you have any problems with the new Ford constantly hunting for the right gear? I've read about it in reviews and heard about it from the owner of a new truck. Also, I agree with you on the inherent danger in towing. I've personally never had a serious problem, but I've had to dodge potential problems caused by others. I had a semi trailer sling a tread just seconds after I'd pulled alongside to pass (on a freeway), a few seconds earlier and I'd have gotten that tread through my windshield. I've blown a dozen or more trailer tires, but never a tow vehicle tire. I was once passed by a pickup truck that got a couple hundred feet in front of me and then blew a tire and lost control, swerving to the right and off the road. Had that happened 10 seconds earlier, it would have taken me out as well. Keep in mind when towing that you've got up to 20,000 or so pounds in motion at high speed while surrounded by other vehicles and inattentive drivers that can do almost anything, plus poorly maintained roads and debris on those roads. On tie-downs, a couple decades ago I met an engineer who had designed and manufactured trailers before deciding he couldn't make money at it. He'd done strain analyses of strapping methods and recommended straight front and back strapping, because cross-strapping actually increased the strain on the straps, to the point that you could exceed the capacity of the straps in a hard stop or wreck. Also, I've always recognized the risk of a broken cross strap allowing the remaining strap to move a car sideways. By the way, we knew a guy back in the 1970s who was towing a '24 Cadillac on an open trailer when someone pulled into his lane, causing a head-on collision. The tie-down straps broke and the Caddy ended up on top of the tow vehicle, a then-modern Cadillac car. Amazingly, the driver and his wife survived. As for my trailer height question, I don't envision the car tires bouncing off the trailer floor. The risk to the top is caused by the natural suspension movement of the car itself as the trailer bounces, unless you also tie down the frame (besides tying down the axles).

I think Hugh's cars are 1924s. Don't know the serial numbers. I've only driven the '25 a half-mile or so, but can say that it steers far easier than my '19, with a much easier clutch. I've been occupied with other tasks.

Highly interested. I plan on bringing my 1919 Locomobile Sportif from Texas.

How much clearance is needed between the top of a car and the trailer ceiling? Specifically, I'm talking about an 80-inch-tall Locomobile Sportif top. Thanks.

Had a great time and looking forward to Princeton next year.

30 years ago my brother was contacted by a business associate in another state whose family included an elderly man who owned a Gullwing that was no longer running and sitting in a garage. The acquaintance was curious about the value, and we immediately expressed interest in buying the car. But once they checked into the value themselves, the opportunity quickly faded away. Another time, we heard an "if only we had known" story. A neighbor reported that the couple across the street sold their house. The moving van showed up and everything was emptied out of the house. Then the couple, who had been highly reclusive, went into a back-yard garage and after a few hours of work fired up two cars that had never been visible before -- XKE Jags, a convertible and coupe "his and her" cars painted identically. The cars had been sitting in there quite a while, but no one knew about them. They were loaded onto a trailer and everyone departed.

I saw some Duesenbergs on tour with the ACD Club a couple years ago that had removable hard-plastic liners inserted under the fenders. It was a really neat job and unfortunately I never had an opportunity to ask how the liners were formed or of what materials.

Hopefully I'll see him on the Glidden.

Slowest old car -- not mine but I had to drive it across town for the owner -- was a 1922 Star touring. The engine was screaming at 30 MPH so just to be safe I slowed down to 22-25. An elderly friend recalled that "Stars really climbed hills good." I think the rear end ratio was something like 5 1/2 to 1. Slowest modern car was a '66 Volkswagon Beatle. It would run 72 wide open, not optimum living in Texas with a 70 MPH statewide speed limit. If you came to a steep hill you'd better get as far right as possible to let everyone else pass. Also, a good gust of wind would blow the car sideways a half-lane-width, which made for a lot of white-knuckle driving. Hated that car with a passion. It was totally worn out and falling apart at 50,000 miles, despite regular maintenance. Non-favorite features -- having to manually adjust the brakes as well as the valves every 3,000 miles, plus a heater that could not be regulated between the choices of freezing or alternatively burning all the skin off your ankles..

Keiser -- My grandfather had the identical '55 Royal Lancer, in that color combination. That car had the quietest engine I've ever encountered; at idle in drive you literally could not hear the engine from inside the car. The car survived until the late 1970s in Houston, Texas, but we lost track of it after that. As for wildest breakdown, I was driving a box van down the road when the steering wheel fell off and onto my lap. I had to quickly pick it up and stick it back on the shaft to regain control. Thankfully there was no one coming at me.

My '25 Sportif is serial number 19323. It's last on the Locomobile Society list, but that list is 30 years old. Does anyone have a car with a higher number? I've read of Model 48's being available into 1927/1928. Is that accurate?

The black & white photo shows my 1925 Locomobile Sportif when I first saw it in 1963 or 1964 when on an antique car tour in Waco, Texas, and then the color photo shows it in 2021 after I had succeeded in tracking it down and buying it.

Agreed. Thanks.

What car is this? Thanks. What car is this? Thanks.

A friend with '57 Chevy fuelie problems is seeking someone in the Houston, Texas area to do some work. Is there anyone in the area with this expertise?

I second the need to check the master cylinder piston depth and pushrod length. I ran into that back in 1972 on a 1966 Riviera that we had bought new. I had to replace the vacuum booster, and the pushrod wasn't out far enough. The pedal went way down before the brakes engaged, but when they did they were over-boosted and would nearly lock up the wheels, no matter how carefully you feathered pushing the pedal. I removed the master cylinder, turned out the pushrod a couple of turns, and both the low pedal and over-boost were cured. I later ran across the same problem with a 1990 Mercury Sable wagon.

Before leaving the area, see the Dougherty Museum just a few miles north of Boulder, and the Forney Museum in Denver. Both are very worthwhile, and the latter contains Amelia Earhart's "Yellow Peril" Kissel speedster as well as one of the gigantic "Big Boy" steam locomotives. In addition you can drive I-70 for less than an hour west of Denver and get a good taste of the Rocky Mountains, and stop in Idaho Springs and find good restaurants and bars along a pedestrian mall. Or drive westbound from Boulder up Boulder Canyon for spectacular scenery, and in 45 minutes reach Nederland with it's own restaurants and bars. Boulder also has a restaurant row downtown along a pedestrian mall that's well worth a stroll. I've been to Boulder/Denver twice in the last couple months. And for an off-the-wall visit, see the Lee Maxwell Washing Machine Museum in Eaton, Colorado, an hour northeast of Boulder. It's surprisingly interesting, and situated out on the peaceful prairie. As for alternative routes back, people also rave about the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, Nebraska. Among the best museums I've ever visited is the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, and since you're from Pennsylvania, the National Clock Museum in Columbia. I've seen all these places as part of past Glidden Tours for pre-1942 cars.

You guys be sure to read the comments via the funeral home link in the message at the top of this thread. He truly sounds like one of a kind, and a pillar of the community.

I currently have a '29 Packard Super 8 roadster, plus we had a '29 Club Sedan in the 1960s, and offhand I can't remember anything made of pot metal on those cars.

He's right about the pot metal. We had a '30 LaSalle when I was a kid, a 7-passenger touring that was sold in 1972. There was pot metal everywhere, some of it bad. Just thinking of it now, 60 years later, it must really be in awful shape.