Walt G

When I had Doug Seybold go thru my 1940 Buick Roadmaster model 71-C conv sedan in 2004 after I bought it , I wanted radials put on it which he did. They are made by Daytona and look great . they are excellent tires and give a great ride to a 49,000 mile orignal car that had a cosmetic restoration in 1972. On my 1936 Packard model 1401 standard Eight club sedan I have Lester bias ply tires and they are wonderful as well. Both cars steer, ride, and drive with no effort ( until you are going really slow and have little space to maneuver and 'armstrong ' effort comes into play).

I totally agree with what my friend Matt Harwood says, well stated! also with what motoring icons has stated "enjoy it while you can". Life is short , sometimes much shorter then you can ever imagine, this comes from personal experience. If you have enough $ to live reasonably comfortably the roof over your head doesn't leak, there is food on the table, and your property taxes are paid, then you have earned the right ot have a bit of fun while still vertical. John S in Penna. - if more of us who own pre war cars take them to club events and cruise nights it may inspire others who own vehicles of similar vintage to take their cars out and leave the post wars cars you mention home once and a while. Also give someone who only owns a 1950s to 70s car a ride in your prewar machine, or at least let them sit in it.. Most never have had the experience and I am sure would have a much greater appreciation for the older machinery if they did.

I had NOS turn signals made in 1923 never opened in original package last year , sold all I had; will have the last 10 there this year. Also great pressed steel pre war toys, a large tin plate French JEP Alfa Romeo clockwork race car, automobilia, Franklin showroom poster (se Franklin section post) Budd Body Company photographs mounted on linen from the 1920s of the factory machinery, some minty early 1950s promo models (Pontiac, Henry J, Ford, Plymouth) . I have attended since 1965, missing about 4 years total due to job commitments, There is nothing else like Hershey. Arriving tuesday afternoon. Red Field North RNG 10 & 11. Opposite Powers Gaskets , who also have petrolania and toys . Want to buy Autobody magazine from 1921 thru 1931 to further my research and articles for CCCA and Hemmings Classic Car.

Matt has the best advice, I use the same products he does. The discoloration of the whilewalls is nothing new, 35 - 40 years ago a friend put a set of whitewalls on his 1929 Franklin town sedan and refered to them as Lester tires offerening " brown and blackwalls ". Everyone has an opinion as to what works for them so far as the choice for black or white wall. Look at period phtographs and decide, easier then buying a set of ties for mega $ and then decideing you should have gone with the other choice. I like whitewalls - on some cars, depends upon the fender style . Not everything should have whitewalls nor should everything have blackwalls.

I agree with the oil cloth comment (think about the old style yellow rain coats kids used to wear, similar material) this could be easily stiched and a car name or logo silk screened on.

I have sold my Franklin and Franklin parts so am moving on. I have a black & white 1930 Franklin showroom poster that shows Charles Lindbergh in his 1930 series 14 Dietrich convertible speedster as well as his 1928 series 12b sport sedan at Roosevelt Field. Poster has folds and some light creases as it was sent to the dealer in an envelope, but was never put on display, size is approximately 25 x 38 inches. The poster came from the estate of a former Franklin dealer in Ct. . I bought it 40 years ago from Bob Feeley of Ct. You can see it in the north part of the Red Field spaces RNG 10 & 11. Price is $1,850.00

I agree with West, a lot of collectors want to "personalize" their cars and then wind up adding to much. Step plates need to be attached by drilling holes to mount them securely. I have always been extremely reluctant to drill holes to mount any accessory on any car , bolt on something - o.k. , you're not making a hole. But everyone has their opiion as to what looks good for them.

I have a 1933 Chrysler Royal 8 model CT convertible coupe for sale. It was restored by Stan Marcum of Syracuse ,N.Y. (well known for his enthusiasm and collection of 1933 Chrysler products) It took a senior award at Hershey in 1980 and a grand national award in 1985, has been driven a total of 9,000 miles since the restoration was finished in 1980. Car is still in amazing condition, condition 8 1/2 or 9 out of 10. I bought it in 2000 from Stan when our son was little, and now he no longer fits in the rumble seat! It has sidemounts, metal tire covers, and the optional "red head" (a real one not just red paint) plus the vacuum clutch is all present and working if you want it to - I didn't use it. Look at the Sept-October issue of the Antique Automobile for a photo ad. Car is on long island, N.Y.

I was introduced to Pre Kleano 30 years ago when I was working with a long time body man when we were painting my 41 Packard woody and 31 Franklin victoria. It's good stuff. If you need to use a scraper, get some tongue depressors and trim with scissors to shape, wood won't gouge the paint surface like a metal putty knife or scraper will. Another good cleaner for surfaces that may be dirty from years of accumulated gunk in the air that you don't want to ruin the painted surface (works on collectible automobilia stuff too like lithographed signs, cans etc) is waterless hand cleaner - but make sure to get the kid that has no grit/pumice in it!

My prayers to you both for a full and quick recovery. I have lap belts in two of my pre war cars, don't use them most of the time, I will from now on!

A good friend of mine is restoring a 1931 Peerless custom 8. The parking lights he had were only in fair condition and the pot metal bases were badly pitted. He saw a pair listed on e bay and asked me to look at them since I have been around pre war orphan cars a lot longer then he has. I looked at them, saw the demensions given and looked at a pair of 1932 Frankiln Airman series 16A parking lights I had on the shelf. They are the exact same lamp. I gave him the pair I had with the payment being I get a ride in the car when it is back on the road. This is just a heads up for you Peerless owners to look at other orphan cars to see if they too used similar equipment. Good hunting fellas.

I can agree with my friend Matt Harwood. I too do not really like car shows, and I especially do not like the competition of judging etc. the fun is in the journey getting there and coming home behind the wheel of an old car. To pay $15 or more to attend a car show so you can have the possibility of winning a plastic trophy that says it was donated by Joe's Brake Service and Sushi restaurant just isn't my kind of fun. I'd rather put the $15 towards paying for some more gasoline to put in the tank and thus be able to drive the car more. My preference in recent years is for local cruise nights that take place in the middle of the week, I own only stock pre war cars, but of course the majority of the cruise night attendees are in post war, modified, street rods etc. They don't ask me why I don't subfame my 36 Packard club sedan or 40 Buick conv sedan , but want to see the engine because they don't see striaght eights that often and ask a lot of intellegent questions too . Many are amazed that I drive it at night still on a 6 volt system; that system has worked well since new so why "upgrade it"? My point is that if those of us out there who own pre war cars drive them and answer questions from those that don't perhaps we may get more people interested to want to buy a pre war car. My cars are good "15 footers" paint isn't perfect but everyone has their own personal reasons for owning a car, those of us with prewar machinery need to get it out there for people to see and perhaps inspire others to own vehicles of similar vintage.

Bill, I have a lot of copies of correspondence that was written in the early 1970's by John Dobben who was the head of Judkins shop. This correspondence was to a fellow restoring an early Judkins Packard coupe , and was the basis of an article I wrote on Judkins for Hemmings Classic Car magazine. Although Dobben didn't get specific for the Style 213A two window Berline , from what I read of his notes (which due to space limitations not all that was mentioned there could fit into the article in HCC) my educated guesstimate from 45+ years of research into custom coachwork would say that the figure of 72 - 2 window bodies being estimated as being produced is very accurate. Judkins did a huge volume of coachwork on the Lincoln chassis. Dobben stated he did not like the individual body built to order "one of a kind" as he said they lost money on everyone that came through the shop, in fact he would suggest that that particular customer go down the road to the Merrimac Body Co. for an individual custom so that they (Judkins) could get on with the volume (say 50 or more) production for a particular car manufacturer. This isn't an exact answer to your question, but hope it helps some. Cheers.

Thanks Graham Man , I appreciate you mentioning my column.

The other speedster is owned by Billy Vaccaro of New Jersey, read the whole history of this particular car in a recent issue of the CCCA magazine that I wrote for him. Billy used this car for years in VSCCA events in the Northeast. It has to be one of the most authentically restored speedsters in existence, original colors , no extra lights etc. Wonderful car to behold.

I just attended the CCCA annual meeting in Savannah that was organized by CCCA President Dave Johnson and Christine Snyder. What an absolutely amazing good time. There were about 45 or so cars and much to my surprise and delight most were all restored in authentic period color schemes for paint, interior and tops. It made the cars looks so "right". The Peterson clan was out in force and patriarch Don had his beautiful model 734 Packard speedster there for all to enjoy looking over. What a swell group of people to visit with and the sites we saw in the historic town of Savannah were just excellent. One of the highlights was the railway museum with all the brick buildings , round house etc. One afternoon CCCA Director Steve Babinsky of NJ gave a technical talk on how to tune your distributor; and brought (at his expense) all that distance a Sun machine along with a 1931 Cadilloac V12 engine and trans. (all 1.200 lbs of it ) mounted neatly on a stand and running so he could demonstrate how to set up the points in the distributor , not only on the machine but also with just a screw driver and a test light. He had 50 people looking on and explained in easy to understand basic terms what and how to do the job. One of the many personal highlights for me was riding around with Dave Kane in his 1937 Packard V12 Rollston bodied convertible victoria , Dave and I grew up in the same town (I still reside in) and went to high school together. Going down the road in the middle of the night in the dark in a pre war custom bodied Packard has to be one of life's great pleasures . Among the spectacular cars there out for the first time on the East coast was my dear friends Howard and Roz Kroplick's 1937 Chrysler Imperial C-15 town car by LeBaron that was ordered new by Walter P. Chrysler for his wife Della. This car is Streamline Deco styling at its zenith . CCCA is what you want it to be, caravans, Grand Classics, regional get togethers or way cool events like the Annual meeting in Savannah.

I don't own a real Graham car but do own a couple of 1933 pressed steel toy Graham sedans made by the Corcoran Mfg. Co. of Washington, Indiana; these say Cor Cor on the wheels. Cor Cor also made Chrysler and De Soto airflow sedans in 1934. My question is does anyone have any good clear photos of these Cor Cor Graham toy sedans when new? I have found a few printed in magazines of the era but they are very grainy . I would be happy to pay for a good 8 x 10 print of a period photo of them. Did the car company issue any information/literature on the toys when new?

The car in the picture I believe was here on long island for many many years, in Cedarhurst, N.Y. It was a 90 series , 7 passenger sedan. An all original car that had been stored in a concrete block garage (prior to the owner who had it when this photo was taken) in Queens , N.Y. It was a very straight solid car with surface rust on the hood, rear fenders and splash pan over the gas tank. Original cloth interior was good , but due to damp storage may not have lasted to long once the car was put in regular use. Plating was good but the radiator shell needed to be replated as it was peeling. The car was sold, and I believe is no longer in the USA.

Roslyn Motors was only in business for a few years , approximately 1926-28, but they had three locations , the other two were in Southampton, N.Y. and Flushing , N.Y. all on long island. their Roslyn, N.Y. location was the main dealer and their by line was "at the clock tower" as they built a very nice looking showroom in English tudor style opposite a historic clock tower. Both the clock tower and the building still exist and look as they did when new. Roslyn Motors advertised frequently in color in the souvenir programs that were issued for the cuctom body salons held in the Hotel Commodore in Manhattan which was on 42nd Street just east of the Grand Central Terminal. Donald Trump bought the Hotel Commodore and as he did with other old buildings "modernized" the facade and destroyed the integrity of the appearance of the fine old building.

Back in the 1970s there used to be a pre 1942 car meet run by the Fairfield County Region HCCA in Ridgefield ,Ct. every September. It saw a huge turnout of all sorts of odd ball cars, and Peter Helck often drove down from his home in his Old 16 Locomobile racer. . (this eventually evolved into a HCCA/AACA region and moved around a bit, last I heard was a 1958 and earlier meet in Redding, Ct) One car that I was so impressed with was a Reo Royale 3 window coupe, all black with plated wheels. A stunning car, I have not seen since that time. I believe the car was owned by a gentleman of Italian decent, can't recall his name, but he resided in Ct. The Reo Royale is one of the most beautiful cars ever made, someplace I have a separate sales folder that Reo issued on the long wheelbase sedan.

The CCCA is a lot more then just about the Grand Classic meets, Caravans etc. Think of the publications which everyone gets to enjoy even if you own no classic at all. Think of the cost to buy a car magazine off the news stand - this can be $5 and up, most of the time near $9.00. In that magazine you will get a wide variety of articles on cars but none focus totally on the 1948 and earlier luxury cars which for most of us is what we like, and which is why we belong to CCCA. You get 4 full color magazines and 8 thick Bulletins per year, all on the era and cars we favor. Tell me that isn't worth $5 each for the content? That leaves $10 for everything else. The current Editor is doing all he can to provide excellent publications BUT and Editor is supposed to edit material that people send in, not research and write the whole magazine. Have you ever sent in a story about one of your cars? or a report of one of the CCCA events you attended? Yes, Beverly did indeed try hard to give an even coverage of all people and aspects, but it was a struggle for her, I know first hand as we lived a half hour away from each other; and yes I have contributed - a column on Coachwork. This will be my 30th straight year of regular contributions to CCCA publications. I agree with Al, it is a disservice to the many volunteers who work hard to put on events, send in information to the publications, serve on the Technical committee etc to allow them comments go by without making everyone aware of what you do get from

Roslyn Motors advertised heavily in the souvenir catalog for the New York custom body salons held at the Hotel Commodore in Manhattan. They were not in business long (approximately from 1927 to 1930) and the English Tudor styled showroom they built for their dealership in Roslyn still stands in excellent condition but is now a boutique. That building is directly opposite a historic clock tower at the center of the village of Roslyn in the historic district. Roslyn Motors also had branches in Southampton and Flushing, N.Y. also on long island.

I echo Chuck Conrad and Jon Lee's comments. I installed seat belts in my 31 Franklin with Derham body 10 years ago. It has 3/4 inch marine plywood floor boards, that I used 1/4 inch steel plates, 3" x 3" , on either side of the floor board and a 3/4 inch bolt to fasten the seat belt end to. The floor boards are screwed in place to the 3 to 4 inch ash sills of the body. On my other cars (33 Chrysler, 37 Packard, 40 Buick) they go into steel body frame members. If the tragedy in Michigan serves as a wake up call to all of you who were eventually going to get around to putting seat belts in but never did, DO IT NOW! Twenty years ago or more a Dr. friend servived a t bone crash in his 32 Franklin sedan , that rolled the car over twice, he had installed a lap seat belt, and it saved his life. He walked away from the crash unhurt, the car was totaled. We are still going to car meets together in fact went to one yesterday together. If he hadn't installed that seat belt he wouldn't be here today. Better safe then having your name in the CCCA Bulletin - in the obituary!

I find the discussion regarding the Buick Roadmaster series most interesting. I have viewed the report on the 1936 thru 1939 Roadmasters done by the Classification Committee and their reasons why the Roadmaster was denied full classic status. Some points (mostly about cost)were well made, but I do not understand why the report did not include the 1940 and 1941 Roadmaster cars as well. The 1940 Limited 80 series in all respects was a 1939 Roadmaster with a facelift, even used the same series number. The "new" Roadmaster in 1940 became the series 70, these used the new 'torpedo' "c" body shell. As far as I know the chrome trim for the 1940 (41 too?) Buick is the same for all series (grilles,parking lights ,headlamp rims etc except the side pulls to open the hood which had the model name) the engine in the Roadmaster in 1940/41 was the same as the full classic 90 series (and 80 series) Limited, and as far as I know at least on the open Roadmasters the body is the same as the full classic Cadillac. More full classic "bits" then not. Despite the price, the 1936 thru 1941 Roadmasters need reconsideration even if this was only done a few years ago. I can well understand the caution the Classfication Committee wants to take in recognizing any series of cars as Full Classics, they have a great responsibility, and have done a WONDERFUL job so far. It is indeed not an easy one. There was a great flurry of comment when the model 62 Cadillacs were deemed full classic status, many thinking this should not have been done. I was not one of these, the addition of these cars has not diminished the CCCA's integrity in any way.

I have used the 'soffener' made by Colorplus of Milford,Pa. on the original leather in the front of my 37 packard limousine and it worked very well. Scott, you know my car as it was owned by the late Charlie Nash for many years.