John_Mereness

Correct, spark control (so you can retard spark upon starting) and hand throttle so you can control the acceleration off the steering wheel.

I recently looked at an unrestored Pierce Arrow Sedan in base model equipment - wood wheels, rear mount spare, and ... needing totally done, but as nice a car as you would ever want to find to restore (super straight and seemingly decent wood all be it a few points were questionable) and the problem is the work it requires would cost 3 to 4 times the value of the car upon compilation (or you would have to personally have all the skills needed from paint to upholstery to engine rebuilding matched to the other option of doing really marginal end product work and being happy with the sub-par work).

That being said, the last 30's car I restored had a 35K chrome bill, a 25K interior and top bill, and ... - and I can tell you of people who paid less and got very nice work and I can tell you people that paid 4 times more and I can put a magnifying glass to the work. The cost of materials is far from cheap and that does effect value and ...

Ed's comments sums this up nicely. I have a set of 4 extra long tie downs and wrap them around rim/tire and padlocked the ends OR I put 5ish lbs in them and then take them to a truck shop to inflate in their cage. Regarding a broken rim like on the Duesenberg, it was a smart move to just call it a day and deal with the problem on nice solid ground with the proper tools (ie Ed is correct in that this wheel you want to be nowhere around matched to you would not want to deflate the tire without the car properly jacked up first to relieve any weight off). I might have even been more cautious than an ice pick (some time ago I bought a 10" or so long value removal tool) and definitely would be working from the backside. Paul Fitzpatrick sums this up nicely too (Paul helped me with countless advice and projects when doing the 30 Franklin 147 Dietrich Speedster Convertible Sedan and was very use to him via Franklin Treks) !

I have a great admiration for those with passion to restore things and end up backwards in the cost, but realistically I prefer not to work all day to earn an income to purposely loose that money.

www.restorationstuff.com (among all the other companies listed already).

Clark Gable Duesenberg J560 - a fun period photo

Try like Bob Drake Ford or some of the other Ford Places - I bought something that looked close via one of the Ford websites (but it has been years).

Notice the repair of the windshield with another windshield installed over top The only problems with the sedans like this are that they are stick built and you end up rewooding or partially rewooding a car no matter what the unrestored condition.

This is pretty horrific by the way (aka how people get hurt and killed) !

It's a vent

When someone says slant back it can actually be a very attractive cutting edge for the time car OR IT CAN BE A "D" BACK SEDAN that is better than boxcar school of design, but just about as common and attractive as Boxcars.

Sweet Coupe !

By the way, you do not need to find the perfect Franklin =just find one that floats your boat and you can start doing club activities with - and then if another Franklin "finds" you then there is a great club publication and of course the website to move the prior along. And, if you do a little sweat equity in any car you will be able to get your money back out. I have known many a person who wanted a 30's Franklin to find they really wanted a brass era Franklin and visa versa.

The 4 speed may have been a delivery issue as well via volume needed to manufacture cost effectively - I am not sure who else used them, though I only know of Stutz (so by the time they became popular they also were made in pretty limited number and the Warner may have just been the way to go thereafter).

A solid product pre-restoration - the kind of car you want as a base product prior to restoration (something overlooked by many in hobby or history gets lost over time re: as to how important the base product is).

A Silver Shadow is pictured - seemingly innocent cars that are ravenous for pocket change and actually all your money for that matter. A 36 may or may not be any better - just depends.

Sidenote as to Concours: Volunteer running the second oldest Concours d'elegance in the United States, I will tell you no easy task (we are a Not-for-Profit Corporation with employees, staggering bills, a Village of Sponsors, a City of Volunteers, and the list goes on and on).

By the way, the fabulous future of the hobby may not be here yet - someone(s) perhaps may be re-writing the book from days gone by. Also, Concours events and museums have replaced the local grocery store parking lot car show to go see pre-war cars and ....

There was a lot to be said for the late 1970's (and to some degree the early 1980s) - I was attending events regularly with my parents and other family and the rows of pre-war and especially brass era cars was pretty phenomenal. I think you have somewhat of a cycle now - as the older people stopped bringing older cars out (they are hard to drive matched to ...) the new younger people that have them now are using/enjoying them in different way - as they really do not want to be the one ducks. In many places they have specialized car shows and fun activities for pre-war cars (matched to climates) and it is still impressive what you see out and about.

I saw some CCCA comments: As with any club, social organization, business, your neighbors, or what have you - there will be things that you like and things that you do not like, but most people find their niche. Also, the publications are very nice, the Grand Classics events are awesome, and ... Also, there are some of us that grew up with CCCA cars and perhaps our priorities are different as we would have nothing else in the garage. The CCCA tailors to cars that were higher end to begin with and often the cost of the car is higher end too (aka the cars are far from free priced and even when you look at age old prices you may say "that was free," but in reality it was still a chunk of change compared to daily living expenses and ... There are very affordable cars in pretty much any bracket (obviously, the lower the price the more work needed or I saw a very nice 1931 Cadillac V-12 Sedan sell for 26K roughly at Mecum last week and it is already registered with RM with a 40K to 50 car estimated price (but someone else could have stuck their paddle up at Mecum and had a great car for the rest of their life), Pierce Arrow's, Lincoln's, and Franklin's tend to be a good value and for some time now, 40's Packard's, Cadillac's, and Lincolns are a good value too (plus incredible road cars when properly sorted), and there have been some reasonable priced off brand cars and sedans recently. Convertibles of course tend to be more, but they also cost more in every other era of car since 1900's to today and pretty much any brand too.

Best riding early 30's car and earlier too - EVER

That is a super body style and looks equally to be a nice 1925. The modern electrical wire you see running around is just too small a gauge for ignition - you need something pretty beefy to move power around in this car (I want to say I use 8 gauge). You will have two wheel rear brakes and a transmission handbrake too (or you have a handbrake on the rear wheels and a footbrake on the driveshaft - I do not recall - but either way perfectly suitable to driving at 45-50mph. Yes, 25 was a split year between horsecollar and more traditional grill.