DLynskey

I love all the photos and try to include the basic information with those I post. It does take a lot of time. You have to download each photo individually, can't do them as a group. The gallery offers the same "Reply" capability as the forum. if you are looking at a photo and have any additional information on a car you can post it for everyone's edification. The info in the replies is searchable if you include in your criteria to search "Posts". In other words if I "reply" that a vehicle is a 1927 Whatevermobile truck anyone searching for "1927", "Whatevermobile" or "Truck" will find it if they check the "Search Posts" box. This could turn into something like the "What is it?" forum, one of my favorites. Every time you click on a photo that is unidentified if you know what the vehicle is, enter the info under "reply". Don

Haven't seen it. I'll have to ty to find it. If it's about old cars I'll watch it if only to add to my aggravation level. I even recorded the B-J auction so I can fast-forward through it and look at the few antiques/true classics they show. Don

...and be sure to post pictures. We'd love to see it. Don

As 28 CHRYSLER said wood is the biggest watch-out. Like most cars of this era the body stucture is wood with metal stretched over it. If the wood is deteriorated you'd better brush up on your woodworking skills. Mechanically they were pretty bullet-proof and surviving running gears are fairly common as antique cars go. The 4-cylinder Chrysler was basically a Maxwell in Chrysler trim and mechanically had little in common with the "real" Chryslers, the 6-cylinder models. (Don't flame me, Chrysler 52 lovers! It's a fact. I loved the 52 I used to have. It was a good, dependable car but outdated even in it's day). Many mechanical parts are interchangeable with the later Maxwells and the 1929 Plymouth which replaced the "52". Interesting facts: The 1928 Chrysler "52" was available with either 2-wheel mechanical brakes or 4-wheel hydraulic brakes. Most I've seen had the 2-wheel brakes when even Ford and Chevy had gone to 4-wheel brakes. The Chrysler 52 had a "thermo-syphon" cooling system like the Model T which used convection currents instead of a water pump for cooling. Old-fashioned but it worked fine on the one I had. It also used fabric universal joints on the drive shaft. The generator was mounted between the engine and the radiator to help fill up the space under the hood; the fan was on the front of the generator. An interesting car but not one that will be comfortable in modern traffic. Common enough that parts are available (not like a Ford or Chevy -- you'll have to hunt.) Go for it. Don

There's a '36 Packard on EBay right now with the original "mole hair" interior. I wonder how many of the little critters gave up their lives for this automobile? And just think of the effort required to sew all the tiny pelts together. No wonder Packards were so expensive. Don

The 5-passenger car would have seating for two in the front, three in the back seat. The 7-passenger would have two folding jump seats between the front and rear seats. Don

More Photos. Hope you enjoy them. "Illinois" Auto, ca. 1911, built in Galesburg, IL: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Large Oldsmobile: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Early service truck, 1920 photo: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Very early Franklin, 1907 photo: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Velie (?) Town Car, 1913 photo: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer 1910 Buick: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Many more in the archive. Don

From the amount of wear and tear on the truck it was probably several years old at the time the picture was taken. So 1953 or later could be correct for the date of the photo. Don

For a large collection of old midwestern photos browse the collection above: Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive Search for autos, cars, fire engines, etc. to narrow it down, but you'll find interesting pictures of farms, businesses, stores, and mostly portraits. Many of them are from the Oscar Grossheim collection belonging to the Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa. Grossheim was a prolific professional photographer in the early 20th century and the Musser library has 55,000 original glass plate negatives of which several thousand have been printed and a portion of those digitalized and on the UMV website. When I lived in Muscatine I spent a number of hours going through the prints and they are of a very high quality. Check out photos of the following rare cars: Littlemac, a Bantam-sized car and the Frederickson, both built in Muscatine: CONTENTdm Collection : Search Results Gale, built in Galesburg, IL: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer Mora: CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer and one of my favorites, a new Franklin? CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer I hope these links work. If not the site is easy to search. Don

The 1928 Chrysler 52 I once owned used a vacuum generated off the oil pump to pull fuel into the vacuum tank. The beauty of the setup is that if the oil pump quits the fuel soon runs out and the engine stops. Don

Two weeks ago they were Bradfield cabs. http://forums.aaca.org/f170/taxi-id-circa-1929-a-292852.html Couldn't resist. db34, Keep the photos coming. You have a great collection. When you run out of unidentified cars post the ones you can identify. We'd love to see them, too. Don

1909 Austin "6" engine. Don

Correct. I'll post an engine photo when I return home Sunday or Monday. Don

Photo of a 1909 Austin. Hershey 2008. Don

A Thunderbird. I've seen these kits advertised in the magazines but have never seen one in person. A neat car. Should be a good driver and a real attention getter. Don

I would check the easy things first. Could be a loose/corroded electrical connection, possibly ground wire. Those old 6-volt starters took a lot of current. Could be a connection just good enough to turn the engine without the plugs but not to overcome the compression with the plugs in place. I hope that's it -- a cheap problem to fix. Don

1935Packard, you're a wonder worker. One of the websites says there are three in existence. Another says five, yet you show photos of seven. It's interesting the liberties taken in some of the paint jobs. Sidemount covers and headlights body color on some, the same color as the fenders on others. Don

Ask about it on the Vintage Chevrolet Club forum: VCCA Chat - Forums powered by UBB.threads™ It could be several years older than 1925. I don't know much about the older ones, but someone on the VCCA forum will. Don

Definitely earlier than 1927. Probably earlier than 1926. 1926 Chevys had a bar between the headlights which this one appears to lack -- hard to tell for sure. Don

W_Higgins, I'd love to see some more pictures of the one you sent home last week. Looks like an amazing restoration. Buchans Bread, It should be easy to find a compete running gear relatively cheap and in relatively good shape on EBay. These old Chevies were tough mechanically but the wood-framed bodies didn't last long. Old Chevy truck chassis' are plentiful in farm country. This one should be a fairly straight forward restoration for a good woodworker and will be a truly unique and interesting vehicle. Don

That's a lot like my garage except my garage only has one car and it's not a luxury car and not new. Don

Thye owner went to great pains to keep the engine warm, but the poor chauffeur had to sit out in the cold. Don

Caspin65, I usually attend Charlotte Autofair also and would love to see your car. The Autofair has many non-judged displays from marque and other clubs as well as the inside "featured car" displays. I'm sure there would be a place for your car. Could you show it unjudged in the AACA show? I'm sure someone could answer that. Don

Brian, I'm responding not because I know the answer but because you deserve a reply. I think the reason nobody has answered is because there really isn't any way in the U.S. to trace a car. Each state has its own unique registration system and whether it's due to privacy concerns (ususally the stated reason) or ineptitude (more likely) few if any states will help you. A search of this forum will find several strings on this topic. In Alabama the first digit or two indicate the county of registration. "31" is Etowah County around Gadsden, Alabama. You might post your question on the Buick forum below with something like "Red '65 Lesabre from Gadsden, AL" in the title. It's a very active forum, maybe someone will recognize it. It sounds like you have a couple of nice cars. Good luck. Don

You're right, Dave, that strictly speaking it is a coupe. A cabriolet is normally a convertible which this is not. However, Chevy bought out this model which they called a "Sport Cabriolet" in late 1927. The "Sport Cabriolet" had a lower top than the coupe and the top looked like it should fold (in 1928 it did fold) It had a swing open windshield, a soft rear window like a convertible and a rumble seat which the "Coupe" lacked. Inside the top bows were exposed in the "Cabriolet" to resemble a convertible whereas the coupe had a normal full headliner. The "Sport Cabriolet is actually a lot rarer and more desirable than the more common "Coupe". Don