oldcarfudd

The HCCA website shows a 1927 Franklin open touring car for sale in Missouri for $30,000. I know nothing about the car or the seller, or whether the price is negotiable. From the pictures, it seems to be a nice looking car.

It's a touring car if it has a full back seat. If it only seats two people inside, and possibly two more in an external rumble seat, it's a roadster.

The Model T Ford Club of America has a VERY active website, mtfca.com Also, that club is having its annual week-long convention in Sierra Vista, AZ in February. There will be plenty of people to give you advice, and possibly a ride or even a driving lesson. Model Ts are a hoot to drive, and there are members who tour thousands of miles a year in them.

It appears that the large gentleman is sitting in the right-side passenger's seat, and reaching over to the wheel with his left hand. It also appears that there's no way he could sit in the left seat without the wheel making a sizable indentation in his ample abdomen.

I see some signs that don’t look like French. Is Provençal still spoken here?

Different rear fender. Also, that bright line around the radiator suggests it's a Stearns.

My first wife, Helen, came from Alice Springs, Australia. She had learned to drive on her dad’s Aussie-built Chevrolet, automatic, RHD, in the desert. I brought her to an apartment in downtown Newark, NJ, from which I walked to work at Prudential Insurance, and let her drive my car, a ‘61 stick-shift VW. There was a learning curve. A year later, we bought a house in the suburbs, and Helen would drive me to the train in the bug. One day it snowed. Over a foot. I considered myself a pretty good snow driver, but Helen had never seen the stuff, so I took her out for a lesson. She did quite well, but then asked what would happen if she drifted into a snowbank. I said you just rock back and forth and drive out, and proceeded to demonstrate. I drove into a snowbank, and rocked. And rocked. And rocked. About a half hour later, I finally got the car out of the snowbank. And for the rest of our marriage, I heard: “And this is how you get out of a snowbank” whenever I did, or proposed doing, something stupid. The following year I got transferred to Minneapolis; after six years we both got to be pretty good at driving on snow. My next transfer was to Houston. Talk about culture shock! By then my commuter car was a ’66 Datsun 1600 roadster, a softer-riding cheap knockoff of an MGB but without the joy of Lucas electrics. Our family car and two antiques took up the whole garage, so the Datsun sat outside with the top down and a tonneau cover. One morning I awoke to about five inches of wet, gloppy snow that was continuing to come down; it was the first measurable snowstorm in Houston in 12 years. I was damned if I was going to stand out in that stuff putting my top up, so I donned a 1905 buffalo overcoat I’d bought some time back at a Minnesota farm sale. I zipped open the driver’s side of the tonneau cover and drove to work. My beard was reddish-brown in those days, the coat was about the same color and had lapels that came up around my ears, and my hair was white as it has always been, so I must have looked like a yeti driving a bright red open sports car in a snowstorm. I may have caused a dozen accidents as the Houstonians, totally unaccustomed to snow, stared at this apparition instead of looking where they were going.

I live in a small private community of what was once weekend and summer houses. We have a lake and 95 houses on small lots, surrounded by a very wealthy area with 3-acre zoning. Last spring a neighbor's boy was playing in the woods about 50 feet behind his back yard, and found this. We decided it was probably from a '20s Chev.

Zimm63 - Custom fitted to the car, or to the target?

It’s not just beaters or common, easy-to-fix cars that ought to be driven. Last April, the Horseless Carriage Club’s annual meeting, including a national tour, took place in Yosemite National Park. Tracy Lesher, editor of the Horseless Carriage Gazette, wrote about the tour and took lots of pictures. At one point, a 1910 Buick, 1910 Parry, 1914 Ford and 1908 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost went bushwhacking. The picture and quotation are from the July-August Gazette, with Tracy’s permission. “Instead of taking the civilized paved road back to Route 41, we took the road less traveled - - - through what could be described as a wide mountain trail more than an unpaved road. We hesitated at first trying to figure out if this was going to be worthwhile. It didn’t take too long to come to a decision. We were not turning back. This thrilling adventure involved a waterfall, fording a stream, mud so deep our tires on the T spun in a few spots, downed branches and potholes bigger than anything I had ever seen in Pennsylvania. The nimble Model T flexed as it moved through the mud. It was a blast to look over my shoulder and see the Rolls-Royce stealthily maneuver through the terrain. John and Denise Dolan aren’t afraid of a little mud. At the end of our off-roading trip there was a lot of cheering.” Yeah, they should be driven. Gil Fitzhugh the Elder

This is just about the last of our foliage. It's not until now that we've had decent color and a good day for pictures.

I sort of like this photo. I sold the car several years ago.

Yeah, it has to run!

The Southern Ontario Regional Group of HCCA is sponsoring a pre-'16 tour from Kingston, ON July 21-26. That group and the North Jersey Regional Group have a long-standing affinity, and have one joint tour a year. This year it's in Canada. If you want to see brass-era cars in Ontario, that's the place to be. I don't know what the schedule of events is, but the Canadians often have a show for part of one day. I will have been to the Model T Ford Club International's tour in Prince Edward Island the prior week with my Model T, and will trailer directly from there to Kingston. My trailer is long enough for two cars; I'll probably bring something to Kingston along with the T, and alternate the cars on alternate days. I haven't yet decided what the second car will be; probably a one-lung Cadillac (southern Ontario touring is benign for slow cars) or a small Stanley (which I bought in Ontario and would be taking back for a visit). Gil Fitzhugh the Elder, Morristown, NJ

Greg, Over the past few years I’ve posted several brass-era tour reports to the Horseless Carriage Club website. They usually get a lot of viewings, but very few comments (there is no LIKE button on that website). From time to time, someone meets me for the first time at a tour or show, recognizes my name, and mentions that he has enjoyed my posts. Other than that, I don’t hear much. But I enjoy doing it, and probably will continue. Don’t get discouraged; people like reading these stories. I enjoyed reading yours; thank you for writing it. Gil Fitzhugh the Elder Morristown, NJ

1910-11 REO

I wrote a report on the Hangover for the HCCA website. Here's the link: https://hcca.org/BOARDS/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1135&sid=ce1abbf99eb7ec155495b6cec219822e

Is that Gordon Bird's car?

1969, helping a friend salvage a 1923 Packard out of an old moonshine still - some crocks, instructions on making sour mash, and half a pack of Wings cigarettes.

I think he did it so he could run the car on unrationed kerosene during the war.

Ask Auburn Heights Preserve. Tom Marshall's father was a Stanley dealer, and became a Packard dealer after Stanley folded. I believe he converted a Packard to steam using Stanley parts. Tom, the son, lives at Auburn Heights and is mentally very sharp despite being in his 90s. He can no doubt tell you all about it.

Retirement day is when you can walk into the boss's office and say: "You want me to do WHAT by WHEN?" My last day of work, almost 27 years ago, was on a Friday. Someone in the office asked me what was the first thing I would do the next day. I said I didn't know, but that I DID know what I was going to do at 6 o'clock Monday morning. "What?" "ROLL OVER!" All the best.! Gil Fitzhugh the Elder

If you're tired of obsessing over the point that will be deducted for wrong hose clamps - - - If sitting at a show all day answering silly questions is losing its appeal - - - If you're debating putting a bigger engine and disk brakes in your car to make it drivable - - - Take a look at this posting from today's Model T website. If I didn't live in New Jersey, my T would be on this tour. By Gary Giarratano-Arvada, CO on Sunday, September 30, 2018 - 02:50 am: The Mile High Chapter is having a fall tour to the Spanish Peaks area in Southern Colorado next weekend. We can accommodate a few more cars if anyone is interested. Rooms are still available at the Cuchara Inn for $106 per night 719-742-3685. We will be traveling from Cuchara, Colorado on Highway 12 (The Highway of Legends) a designated Scenic Byway, to Trinidad, CO on Saturday Oct. 6th. On Oct. 7th we will travel from Cuchara, CO over 11,248 ft. Cordova Pass to Aguilar, CO and the Ludlow Massacre Memorial, (Colorado National Guard slaughtered five striking miners, two women and 11 children). We will travel back through coal mining ruins on dirt back roads. About 50 miles dirt and 50 miles paved. On Oct. 8th we will travel from Cuchara, CO to La Veta, CO and visit the Francisco Museum, the oldest original US fort in Colorado. Then it is on to some abandoned coal fields with remnants of buildings, a cemetery and gun turrets on the hillsides where the mine guards kept watch on the striking miners. We will then have a picnic at Uptop. Uptop is an old train depot at the top of the old La Veta Pass. Uptop made history in 1877 when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad crossed the Rocky Mountains for the first time over Veta Pass. At the time it was the worlds highest railroad. We will then drive back to Cuchara to load the cars. All meals and expenses are on your own except the picnic on Oct. 8th. I will need to collect $20 per person for the lunch and porta potty. For questions call me at 720-215-8238

I once had a 1916 Briscoe 8-38 that had an ohv Ferro V-8 engine.

I expect to show a 1912 Model 35. Not for judging. It took a senior about 5 years ago, and I've driven the bejabbers out of it ever since. (And it shows!) I'll also drive it on the Hangover on Sunday and Monday, unless I get daring and drive my one-cylinder Cadillac instead. Gil Fitzhugh the Elder