oldcarfudd

My four toys were built in 1913, 1912, 1911 and 1907. I'm a 1936 model; I don't remember these cars from my youth, although I'm sometimes asked whether I'm their original owner. My son's toys are 1912 and 1909. He was born in 1964, and he sure wasn't around when his cars were new! I imagine it's frequently true that people are drawn to the cars they remember. But, fortunately, there are enough oddballs like me to keep me from worrying that the cars won't continue to have an active market.

In June, anyone with a really primitive car is going to get a chance to drag-race it against Amish buggies. The joint AACA-HCCA Reliability Tour will be in Lancaster County, PA, in the heart of Amish country. Along with that tour will be a Creepy-Crawly, designed for cars that are so slow they get left behind on the typical 1&2-cylinder tour. We're looking for singles, highwheelers, solid-tired trucks, tiller-steered steamers, that sort of thing. Tours will be 36-41 miles per day. We'll have the same hotel, breakfasts, evening activities, some of the same destinations, a clock museum, a chocolate factory (no, not Hershey), covered bridges, creek fordings, a couple of dirt roads - lots of fun! I've put a full description on the HCCA calendar - I don't know how to post to the AACA calendar. I'm the guy planning the routes. Y'all come! Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

Last year's HCCA National Eastern 1-and 2-cylinder tour was based in Hamilton, NY. One day we visited the museum in Norwich. We averaged 65 miles a day in 5-1/2 days of touring in small pre-1916 cars, and there were serious hills. My 1907 single-cylinder, 10 horsepower Cadillac chugged along just fine. No one got a ticket for obstructing traffic, and there was no need of police escorts. Many drivers honked and waved, using all five fingers or just the thumb. Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown NJ

Gimmick rally. There are general instructions, but some of the specific instructions are written so that, if you overlook some subtlety, you'll go the wrong way. Each of these traps is self-correcting, so everyone gets back on course until the next trap. But you've asked a bunch of questions; some will be answered if you went the right way, and others if you went the wrong way. The smarter person in the car should be the navigator. When a guy says he's smarter than his wife, you say: "Fine. She drives, you navigate." Fun, but a lot of work to set up. I guarantee there will be arguments, both on course and at the end, when the traps are revealed.

Short answer - no. The driveway to my antique car garage is 8 inches of snow on top of solid ice. BUT! For those of you who can't wait until spring, and want to drool a bit, look up the Horseless Carriage Club website, hcca.org. Click on Discussion Forums, the red rectangle at the upper right of the home page. Then go to the tours and swap meets section. I've put up a number of running posts, followed by some pictures, of last week's HCCA convention and tour in Sierra Vista, AZ. Maybe they'll tide you over until the snow melts and the salt washes away. Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

The AACA Reliability Tour happens only every other year. If you can't make this year's, the next is in 2016. But the Hershey Hangover would make a great reason - in case you needed another one! - to bring your Overland to Hershey, since you could tour with it after the show. And there are brass-era HCCA tours all over the country every year, at which you'd be most welcome.

I believe U.S.-built Model Ts had 30x3 on the front and 30x3-1/2 on the rear through 1918, and even later on open cars that were ordered without optional demountable rims. Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

Am I reading this right? Are you contemplating doing this trip with 3 kids, including a 2-year-old, in a Model A?

Please let me point out that there's going to be another Hershey Hangover this year. To encourage more brass-era cars to come to Hershey, the AACA Snappers and HCCA Susquehanna Valley Regional Group jointly sponsor a day and a half of touring right after Hershey for pre-'16 cars. We hole up at a motel about 30 miles from Hershey, check in Saturday afternoon after the show, tour all day Sunday, and tour Monday until just after lunch. We have guest riders from all around the world - Australia, the UK, Canada, New Zealand. Cars need not have been judged, nor even be judge-worthy; just enter as a Do Not Judge if you prefer, and then come driving with us. Rural Pennsylvania roads are great for cars of this vintage. Y'all come! Gil Fitzhugh the Elder, Morristown, NJ

I suggest yo post this request in two additional places: 1. The HCCA website. 2. The early Cadillacs yahoo group. Both of these sites cater more specifically to the people who might know something about your car. Good Luck! (I have an '07 Model K and drive it a lot.)

Who's rebuilding the airplane whose horizontal stabilizer is hung on the wall? And what is it?

My '12 Buick was done a year ago with Kevlar. I've driven the car over 1,400 miles in the past 12 months. The clutch works beautifully - OK, OK, beautifully for a cone clutch! - and I've had no problems at all. My son has an '09 E-M-F with a leather clutch, and his works very well, too. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

McLaughlin Buick, which was in many years similar mechanically to the U.S. Buick but typically with more upscale bodywork. Fords built in Canada differed in details from their U.S. counterparts. For example, because Model Ts could be exported without exorbitant duties to commonwealth countries from Canada but not from the U.S., they were built with front doors on both sides to accommodate left-or right-hand drive. Tudhope was an E-M-F built under license. REOs were built in Canada, but I don't know how they differed. Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

Hi, Larry! June 15-21 in Willow Street, PA, about 8 miles south of Lancaster in the heart of Amish country. Registration forms aren't final yet, but should be on the AACA and HCCA websites shortly after the first of the year. Hope you can come! Gil Fitzhugh

Independents??? In the Nineteen-Os, they were ALL independent!

Besides, Franklin had OHV 2 years before the first Buick was built. But I'm a Buick fan, too; I have a 1912 Model 35 and used to have a 1906 Model F, both with OHV.

I think the intent of the school exercise was to research orphans.

The earliest REOs were one- or two-cylinder cars. The engines were under the seat, and they were hand cranked from the side of the car. Final drive was by chain, like a motorcycle. They were quite powerful for their time (1904-1910) and are popular now with collectors. There are a lot of them on one-and two-cylinder tours, and the two-cylinder REOs are fast enough to run well even on the tours for big brass-era cars.

From a 77-year-old perspective, I want to thank Classic50s for that excellent post. Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

Do you have a dependable, but VERY slow, pre-1916 car? A highwheeler? A three-wheeler? A solid-tired truck? A single-cylinder? A tiller-steered steamer? A tiller-steered ANYTHING? Do you avoid driving it even on one-and two-cylinder tours, because the routes are too long and too hilly, and the big twins leave you far behind? If so, here is a special invitation, just for you. WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A CREEPY-CRAWLY! The 2014 joint AACA/HCCA Reliability Tour for pre-1916 cars is going to offer an alternate set of routes. Every day, there will be a route of 40 miles or less, on lightly-traveled, scenic back roads, to an interesting destination. There will be some hills, but no mountains. There will be one day with some dirt roads and three creek fordings. There will be covered bridges. There will be an Amish upholstery shop, an Amish lunch, and lots of Amish buggies (you might even be able to pass one!) There will be time for shopping. There will be a clock museum, a pretzel factory, and a chocolate factory. We might even find you some ice cream! We will share the host hotel with the big-car folks. We will have the same breakfasts, dinners, gas-light parade and evening entertainment. On two days we will have the same pre-paid lunch, although we will get to and from it by a much shorter and easier (but just as scenic) route. So we will enjoy the camaraderie of drivers of faster and slower cars from both national clubs, whether we drive a Stutz on a long route or a Sears on a short route. Is this a tour for a car you can’t count on? No. It’s a Reliability Tour. Whether you drive a 1901 Locomobile or a 1914 Locomobile, the tour’s no fun if the car won’t run. This is a tour for cars that can go anywhere a good, stock Model T can go, but at maybe half the speed. You can have a fun day and still be home for a nap, a shower, and a drink before dinner, even if you never get over 17 miles an hour. I’m posting this on the websites of both clubs. I’ll be happy to answer questions here on the website, or by private message, but I hope we can stimulate interest from each other from an open discussion. If this works, there could be more tours like it in future years. That’s up to you. Remember – If your car could do it new, your car can do it now! Gil Fitzhugh the Elder, Morristown, NJ

I can't comment on whether kids are turned on to newer antique cars. But I have brass era cars, and I guarantee kids are turned on to them. A couple of weeks ago our town put on a bluegrass party in a beautiful field. The occasion was the retirement of the loan the town had taken, several years before, to buy the field as permanent open land. There was a huge turnout, short speeches, good music, pony rides for kids. I drove over in my 1912 Buick, and was invited to park in the VIP area - because of the car, not because I have any clout in town. When I saw the pony rides, I drove over to where kids were waiting, and asked if anyone wanted a ride. There was initial reluctance - kids have, with good reason, been taught not to ride with strangers - but I talked to a couple of the waiting parents, and they let their kids ride. For the next two hours there was a serious line of kids, and a few parents, getting rides in my Buick. I drove in a big loop over the slightly bumpy grass field, doing a couple of S-turns so the kids got a thrill. They thought we were flying, although I doubt I ever got over 15 miles an hour. The pony rides were almost forgotten. On Fathers Day, the town of Summit set aside three parking lots for a car show put on by Cars and Croissants, a group of mostly high-end modern cars, heavy emphasis on Italian, but anything interesting is welcome. I chugged over in a single-cylinder Cadillac. It drew some attention, especially whenever I cranked it up. One man asked if I'd mind if he took a picture of his little boy standing in front of the car. I said: "I absolutely would mind! I insist that you take his picture sitting behind the wheel!" The guy's jaw dropped. I helped the kid get up to the seat, let him blow the bulb horn and get his picture taken. When he got down, another child was looking longingly at the car, so I helped him get up into it, too. Pretty soon there was a line. Everyone was polite and appreciative. I didn't see any kids invited to sit in the matching Turbo-Bentley convertibles parked side by side, or the Ferrari Enzo, or - - - . I wonder which cars those kids remembered the next day, and told their mothers and teachers and friends about. These kids are our future. Nurture them! Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

This is a fascinating thread. I've read a lot of thoughtful opinions, and haven't read a "wrong" one yet. Some posters don't do what I would do, but they do what THEY would do, and that's just fine. One thing I haven't read yet, so I have an excuse to pipe up. This hobby is as much about people as about cars. You will meet a lot of car people at car shows, and some will become friends. You will meet a lot of car people on car tours - usually different people, because their emphasis is on a different aspect of the hobby - and some of them will become friends, too. You will have many brief encounters with people who aren't car people - those who come to shows to ooh and ahh, those who ask you questions at red lights or Dairy Queen parking lots, those who give you a honk and a thumbs-up when they pass you on the road. You are already meeting people, and making friends, electronically through this forum. Unless you're a hermit - and you don't sound like a hermit! - these personal relationships will enhance your enjoyment of your beautiful truck more than just polishing it, or just driving it, or just collecting trophies with it. Some of these people will become like family. But picking the kinds of things you do with your truck will help you pick the kinds of family members you want. Best wishes for many years of pleasure from your fine restoration! Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

I have a friend who, after many years of living in New York City, moved back to the suburbs and bought the first and only car she ever had. It's a white '85 Oldsmobile named Snowball, bought new. She has it gone over every year. It has (I think) less than 60,000 miles on it. At my suggestion, she took it to a Cars and Croissants gathering last Sunday. This is mostly new Ferraris and similar high-end exotica, but anything interesting is welcome (I drove my 1912 Buick). Her Oldsmobile was very well received.

Unfold it? Ah, so. Oh, WOW! Spectacular!

Mine came today. It's a great read. (So what else is new?) But why is there a big sheet of glossy white paper, with nothing printed on it, glued into the article about that spectacular Packard?