West Peterson

It's a shame about the baby-shit brown color they added. It looked soooo much better as a one-color car.

As I walked through the "French tent", actually all five tents, this is the car that I would have wanted to take home.

Hmmmm..... if you replace the wood, that really affects the value negatively.... or so I've been told.

It's already been done.

Well.... I was one of the editors. All I can say is that sometimes mistakes happen. It's been so long ago that I do not remember any of the logistics in regard to how that story was sent, who knew who, or anything like that, but I do know that there was absolutely no controversy about it at the time we printed it, nor was there any backlash at the time.

Not in my opinion. It'd look longer without the fence posts.

Yes, but actually, Ford called them "Trim and Color" cars. Many, if not most of them, fell into obscurity and without any fan-fare. They were actual production cars with fancy trim and color, so they could, and would be sold to customers. Once "used up," they were neglected and sent to the back of the property or to a junk yard. The "color and trim" cars were way overshadowed by the true concept cars. In 1955, Ford's Futura was gaining all the publicity. No one bothered turning around to photograph a regular production car with unique color and upholstery.

Doesn't look nearly as bad of a wreck as what happened to the convertible sedan that sold at Pebble last year. In that case, the accident greatly affected the value of the car. That said, the phaeton is soooo much more rare than the convertible sedan, and this one not needing much more than a fender and possibly a little suspension work, it's value is probably not affected at all.

Nice to see it without the trunk on it. Nothing spoils the lines of a prewar car as much as a trunk on the luggage rack. Good for touring, but when you get home, unpack and put the trunk away.

The first two here are from 1932 in Detroit. The third is from 1935 in D.C.

Since there are no skeletons in the closet of this one, I'm going to agree with you. No body, engine or chassis swap. A complete "numbers matching" car.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1897886/cruising-detroit-river-gar-wood-triple-cockpit-runabout/

I heard him speak at a local CCCA dinner, but I did not speak to him directly.

So far, the fenders have just been cut back to the original metal. The beed around the edge has not yet been added.

If you're coming down I-85, don't forget to stop at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, just a couple miles off the freeway and just 25 miles north of Concord. I highly recommend it.

Photos? Never heard of a Dietrich-style top. Can your customer expand on what he means?

The same photo is one that appeared in our July/August issue of Antique Automobile, with the full story on the car.

My winter beater while in college was the 2-door version of this car, with the concave rear window. Driving down the freeway during hard snow falls, that rear window would completely fill up with snow. Poor design in that regard, but it looked really cool. The 400cid V-8 sucked a lot of gas.

From what I've learned, the Corvette turbine-style hub caps are slightly different than the regular Chevy hub caps, that appear to look identical. I have a couple in my garage. Absolutely love the looks of them. I probably will not be putting them on my Camaro, so if anyone is looking for a couple to complete a set, let me know.

European car enthusiasts with any dignity scoffed at the idea of putting on white sidewall tires. Strictly an American "thing."

Only in America. Europeans had better taste.

I'm pretty sure the mirror in the photo is NOT authentic. So, if you're looking for just something to use, than whatever you can find that works for you is what you need to look for. If you want something authentic, you need to look into sidemount mirrors.

Canadian law, perhaps?

Well.... that's cool. Don't see Dianas too often.

Depends on how you drive, I guess. I have absolutely no problems driving my old cars in today's traffic. If you're well aware of the car's capabilities (or lack thereof), there is no problem. Drive accordingly. Also, adding disc brakes to an old prewar car will add no more stopping power unless you also add radial tires. I wouldn't do either modification to any of my cars. Like a couple of others have said, if I wanted to drive a car that felt new, I'd drive a new car. Busy heavy traffic in an old car does not scare me in the least bit. However, it is my opinion if you are afraid of driving in heavy busy traffic, you shouldn't.