Walt G

The art of design in architecture - masonry, shingles, huge support arches out of timber , no alloy siding or plastic vynil, nor window frames or doors of the same "modern" material. as the song title says "Those were the days" . Sure much of the buildings weren't efficient like they are today , but neither were the cars. If alterations were made to buildings/structures they tried to be designed in harmony with the rest of the existing structure, not just fill or fit a purpose. Yes, I am a preservationist regarding structures as well - not opposed to changes but again to keep the integrity and harmony of design. That is why over 25 years ago I wrote a law to keep that integrity for buildings and homes here in the village where my family has resided for 100 years.

this is just so interesting and educational, sets us all up for What NOT to do and what SHOULD be done and how as well. THANK YOU Your photos are excellent as well.

What Ed says it fact, the whole truth. Many collectors do not take in the economic, social and political history of an era when looking at the cars we now preserve and wonder "what happen, why this or that?" I wear two hats - car historian and state /local historian so research and write about the broader picture of what was taking place. Some friends say I think out of the box - way out. The great depression started with the stock market crash in late 1929 - BUT most businesses did not feel that affect until late in 1930 or early 1931 - sales kept declining and the car companies thought they would pick up again - NOT. Going back earlier - WWI happened, the production of vehicles in Europe dropped due to "war work" in factories, but the USA didn't get into the "Great War' until it was going on for years. The USA vehicle companies made a fortune on truck sales - Packard especially as they had a direct train route from Detroit to NY City and a major dealership network in Manhattan - PLUS the deep port of NY along the west side of Manhattan ( Hudson River) could accommodate steam ships to transport the USA made vehicles to Europe. All pieces of the bigger/whole history puzzle. Once taken into account or known about it all makes sense.

JOIN A LOCAL AACA region. there will be people there to give you advice as to who can help at a reasonable cost of things you can't do or want to possibly learn to do. It will make the process so much easier to accept and you will see progress made. PROGRESS is important - it gives you inspiration and hope knowing that the car will be closer to being back on the road the way your brother wanted them to be. Decide what ones appeal to you the most- styling wise. Older cars may be easier and simpler mechanically to get back on the road in working condition. PATIENCE is what you need most of . Start to work on one - don't try to get them all working at once. Frustration will set in as will lack of funds . Keep us informed of how you are doing.

Also mention you location - even if just by state ( California - north, or south, or Texas, or Illinois etc. are you in the USA? ) that will give a person who may be possibly interested information as to shipping which can cost a lot of $. Help us help you.

Guess I need to jump back in here since I have been absent with a contribution for a while. To much going on writing a flock of stories and trying to answer people or add to friends contributions here. This is a Mercedes 6 litre Imperial limousine as it states at the bottom edge of the image. Hibbard & Darrin body designed and built in Paris by two Americans - or as the British call them "Yanks". that front wind shield was a bronze casting!! with the glass in brass frames. I will guess and say it is approximately from 1928-30 era. note the oval rear window. thanks to all for your ongoing enthusiasm. the number of views tells me that there is a great interest in vehicles of the pre WWII era.

I have said this before and will state again, Craig at mobileparts has learned his information from his family going back at least two generations. I was buying from his grandfather's store when i was working on my first old car in 1964 , was happy then am happy now. Everyone at that time who had an old car on western long island in Nassau and Queens county knew his grandad's place of business and the friendly guys behind the counter. He is "one of us". Walt

All good advice, I do use cotton rags but not in a huge quantity, so the light cotton rags about 12 inches square are used mostly and the larger towel type I have several bags of as well. Most all I buy at Hershey at the AACA October Fall meet. So much available there in supplies, from great drill bits, rags, sandpaper of all variety in quantity that is so much cheaper then buying in a store or on line. The sellers at Hershey in the flea market are just so convenient ( of course you have to be there - another excuse to be there each year!!!) and a once a year or every other year purchase is just what I need/require. Tax is built into the price by the seller and no shipping since you are there.

It is interesting to read what John and Terry have stated. For decades i had a friend in England that would attend all the auto jumbles ( flea markets) there and in Europe,(especially France) as well as "car boot sales" the local monthly or weekend flea markets . I was introduced to my friend via the English automobile author Michael Sedgwick ( both Mike and I were active in SAH) and the fellow he introduced me to as the go to guy for neat car stuff really knew what he was looking at. His business was a 6 time a year 1,200 item printed auction catalog of automotive items, mostly paper and photographs but also mascots, toys, etc. I sent him things to auction for me, and told him I didn't want the payment after the auction sent to me but to deposit in an account for me n England. This way when I bid on something in his catalog or he found something for me in his searches he had the ready funds to buy it. It worked well for many many years and I was introduced to much material I never knew existed - sales catalogs on American cars printed and designed and published in Europe, mascots, toys etc. I did visit England on a regular basis in the summer when single and he and his wife and I would attend antique shows, auctions etc. as they liked similar era things. I managed to get over a period of years a full run of the French magazine OMNIA from 1920 thru the end in 1932, auto show issues of L'Illustration etc. A full run of the Bentley publication On the Road, many RR Bulletins and mascots etc. We all can recall moments of joy in our pursuit of object of the past .

Terry my friend , well stated. We can't be at a great swap meet every weekend all year long. Many of the long time/term swap meets I used to attend are no longer nor are the vendors/sellers that I knew by name and they knew mine (and what they had for sale that I wanted) The Hershey event is about the only car show swap meet I have never missed , the cost for the week is taken into account but is also a great bonding time with me and my son who joins me and to see friends world wide, near and far is priceless. In fact the 2023 event was one of the best for me to acquire two fairly major amounts of things I haven't seen since first attending in 1965. New friends are made in person and are only seen once a year but stay in contact the rest of the year at the tap of a button on a key board. It is all good. Walt

Great to see the "period" b & w photos compared with the actual car today. Current photos with no comparison of the same car "in the era" are perhaps best posted in another thread/topic so we can stay focused? thank you.

very interesting to see in a period photo "in place" most of the microphones were connected to a wire cord to convey the commands on where to proceed. thank you.

I agree. Online looking and possibly buying is "ok" at best for me; recently in the past year or so, I have made some trades with fellow collectors and that is very satisfying. The fun is in the search is an old adage but is so true, and every time you look at one of the "treasures" you have it reminds you of the way it was acquired. Thank you Terry for your comments, all good - very very good. Long ago you had to rely on your own research and friends for information - the internet has made that somewhat easier but now has also developed a personality type that if they want knowledge they have to have it instantly and if they know you have it demand that you share that. Like it is owed to them for some reason. To much button push personality or should I state poisonality. There are still collectors that are really "investors" in objects /automobilia , I could never be that way. I wish all of you the best of luck to find that one ( or many) object(s) that just makes your day, week, month and year....................

Yes, Franklin model G ( smallest engine size) 4 cylinder. Owned by the Harrah collection when photographed. Bill Harrah found the car in an advertisement in a San Francisco Newspaper on the Sunday used car for sale section. He bought and restored it and brought it to the Franklin Club annual meet they call a Trek and I rode around with him in it all weekend on tours. Very slow as that body and plate glass windows are very very heavy. We had it out on a tour just after it had rained and was humid, windows started to fog up from the bottom up on the inside due to the humidity he and I got a chuckle about that as we rode along his comment was " hope we get to where we are headed before we loose vision. " . Great car, great friend and the original color - dark blue - was outstandingly beautiful.

thanks to all for the comments , a real learning experience for me personally as I am mostly a pre WWII era guy.

Or looks like one, so more information from you is needed, as mentioned this is for stock equipped cars not modifieds, street rods etc. they have their own web sites.

I really enjoyed writing the Coachworklines column for the CCCA magazine, did so for decades , starting when Bev Kimes was Editor, and was a member for over 40 years- I got along well with all of the Editors after her as well . That all ended due to the attitude and lack of respect of the then President of that club .

Craig only lives about 3 miles from me, GREAT STUFF and his family has been selling parts since before WWII! I used to buy parts from his grand dad in the 1960s. Excellent quality stuff.

You need to have some color chips of the era, ACME chips are larger about 2 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. Acme had the name of the car and year on the back the color was used by and the mixing formula - now obsolete. I have about 400+ of these all different - no I can not lend out sorry. Even scanning the chips on a artist preferred copier does not totally render exactly the same color as on the chip - my scanner is what the School of Visual Arts in NY City uses. If you are painting the car what kind of paint are you using ? modern base coat clear coat, lacquer, acrylic lacquer, enamel, acrylic enamel? Give us some clue please. If you are using lacquer then go to an automotive paint supplier that sells paints to auto body shops and can order or mix a color for you. European car colors of the early 1970s like Jaguar , Mercedes Benz etc can have color chips of non metallic colors that are almost a exact match to period color. The color may have to be imported - I would suggest a stock color readily available not having to be mixed. It may have to be imported - Belco is a British lacquer that I used in 1972 to paint a Franklin I had - exact match on the two blue shades on the car originally. Most all cars had black painted fenders, very rare when new to have two shades of a color on the car - one on the fenders and belt moldings and one on the body. that is mostly a post war collector choice. I have studied color for decades, taught art for 35+ years and collected period material on pre WWII era cars since 1964 and have based my collection of period material on that. DO NOT look at color samples under fluorescent lights! use natural light only, fluorescent lights will wash the color out you are looking at and you will not see a true color. It is worth paying for a quart of a color you like then painting a masonite panel with it that you have primed and sanded to get a better view of exactly what you will then be spending hundreds of $ on to buy gallons of.

It would be nice for you to give us an update on to what you may have done to your family Plymouth . it has been nearly a year.

I completely agree with this. The internet is great but I get weary of looking at a screen. I also look at books for their art - how the photos or images are worked, what the font size is of the headings, type face. all that other stuff that most take for granted but some artistic type notice and never talk about. I study/take extra time to look at how period sales material was created, done, the level of and size of the color images if used - are there tipped in plates? how many, what is the binding like. Yes "still crazy after all these years".............

There are quite a few of us who have collections of collections and some of us who focus on one type of collection. It is great to have a well researched source to go to , to view not only what we want information on but a history of that that is based on solid facts. One of the best if not the best website I have found is organized by a friend of mine ( and friend of Terry Bond as well) who is an AACA member who resides in England. Mike Shears has used his son Murray's collection to document car badges and emblems. This can be found at http://www.americanautoemblems.com To make sure you understand what I am referring to I am posting a photo of some of the emblems in my own collection to give you an idea of what all of this is about. SO much more at the site i mentioned of Murray's badges. Go look, well organized and you can click on a name of a particular make to go to that instantly! this includes the emblems on the radiator shells, center of hubcaps, located on trunk racks etc. We all owe Mike and Murray a great deal of thanks for their sharing the collection as well as the well researched information about all of them.

This is just GREAT! Give some direction to all of us as to how you would like us to contribute if we can and not see a lot of duplication . Give us some direction. I think there are a number of people who have collections of collections , What would you like us to do? How should we proceed ? Seeing rare caps are neat but so are collections/examples of certain makes of cars. Can someone post a photo of say all the screw on hubcaps that were used by Plymouth from 1928 thru 1931? ( or did they have screw on hubcaps in 1931) Thanks for doing this. Walt

Join the Buick Club of America. They have an excellent monthly color magazine and are very very detailed in the articles and stories as well as information. they have club members who act as advisors on certain years and models. It will be the best money you will ever spend to belong to a car club besides AACA. Do you own any other old cars or is this your first one? There are a number of long time collectors in England who own American cars who can direct you to people there to assist in mechanical repairs, understanding of functions etc. Hershey is 9 months away , it would be worth the trip to attend as by then you will have become more familiar with the car you have and can make some connections here with other people who possibly have a similar car. JOIN THE BUICK CLUB OF AMERICA,

Gary, that looks really really great ! thanks for sharing. Everyone thinks Boyce when they think motor meters but there were others as well and many not marked with the manufacturers name nor location they were made. There were some really interesting detailed motor meters made with the viewing glass hidden at the back part and the casting very highly detailed figures.