rusty12

I would need a magneto that is Dual and Clockwise. Thanks.

Nice lights!

It sold for about 10,000.00. Seems like a good deal for a HCCA car.

I need a Bosch ZR4 magneto. I have the switch, but no magneto because it "disappeared" when I sent it to a rebuilder. How much is a good, rebuildable, selling for now days? Anyone has one for sale? Thanks.

Didn't all cars run when they were parked? How could they have been parked if they weren't driven into that position??!!! Now, after they sat in the parked position for a year, or five years, or fifty years....that's another story.

Those are FABULOUS!

As an interesting side note, a friend just received a contract from RM/Sotheby's regarding consigning a car to an upcoming auction. In the contract-to paraphrase- was a statement that saidRM will be issuing a IRS form (1099? I think? ) for all sellers at the end of the year. This means RM is reporting all sales to the IRS. If RM is doing this, I assume all the companies are doing this as well. Based on that, Barrett, Mecum, and everyone else must be playing it pretty legal nowadays. They can't post a car being sold for 500K if they are only paying the seller 250K. Barrett can't be posting 200+ million dollars in sales if they are reporting numbers to the government that are significantly less than that. I was at Scottsdale Barrett Jackson. I really didn't see anything amiss other than people had lots of money to spend on cars. It was a good day for the sellers and the auction company-and for the buyers that got something they wanted. Barrett builds an incredible platform to market cars. Mecum and Barrett spend WAY WAY WAY more money to produce an auction than the "boutique" companies do. Barret and Mecum don't just sell cars-they market them and have created an automotive lifestyle that their clients support. The other auctions companies do not do this. Big difference. You get what you pay for. A few years ago, RM was doing 80 to 100 million at their Scottsdale auction and Barret was barely doing a 100 million.. This year RM did about 43 million and Barrett did over 200 million. Like I said, a big difference between marketing and selling and creating a market and following a market. Leaders lead, followers fall behind.

Was "New" 16 there?

I'm confused. As a seller on Ebay, does this mean I can no longer accept payments via PayPal? If I can no longer accept PayPal payments, does this mean the only payment option is a transfer into my bank account? As a buyer on Ebay, does this mean I can no longer pay via PayPal? If I can't pay through PayPal, how do I pay? I don't use Ebay that much anymore, so I am not up to speed on what is going on.

Jeff-I just noticed the third picture you posted. It looks like the negative got reversed when it was printed. According to the radiator script, the car is a rare left hand drive "kciuB" and not a Buick!!! Looks like your family really enjoyed this car.

Jeff- Those are great photos. It must be nice to have photo album with cars owned by your relatives. All of my photo albums have nothing but the relatives pictured in them. Then again, none of my relatives ever owned good cars. Looks like the 1910 Buick was a very complete and solid car when your grandfather found it in the 1930s/40s. Doesn't look like "floor sweepings" to me at all! Those photos and your story certainly add a lot of credibility to the car and its past. I am sure a lot of the Model 16 Buicks that exist today started out as lesser cars than your grandfather's. Back in the early days of the old car hobby it was very typical to date things with an earlier date. I guess in the 1930s or 1940s or even in the 1950s and 1960s, having a car with a "1909" date made it seem like it was a whole lot older than a "1910" date. I guess back then, being older meant it was worth more? It was typical back then to see 1910'ish high wheeler cars, like Sears or Holsman, dated as 1901s etc. If you read old, "old car" periodicals, books and magazines, you see a lot of cars that are pre-dated earlier than their actual date.

Here are the options I see with this car: You could restore it back to its original body configuration. By doing this, you'll need to build a whole new body-flawless, smooth, with all newly machined hardware. Then you need to make new fenders that are as flawless and smooth as the new body. Oh, the old radiator looks like junk compared to the new bodyy and fenders so a new radiator will be made that is as flawless and smooth as the new body and fenders. And you'll have to get all the other brass things probably made new or restored to the point there is nothing original left in them. Then you'll need to top it off with one of those paint jobs that everyone is doing to show quality brass cars now days that makes them look like Franklin Mint models instead of automobiles. And don't forget to get the matt finish, glove leather interior that is overly diamond tufted and looks like it came from a new Chinese made sofa. When you are done doing all this, you'll have a brass car with new coachwork and new everything else that will blend in nicely with all the other comparable brass cars with new coachwork and everything else that you see everywhere you go. Most people would have all this done at a professional shop which will cost them a few hundred thousand bucks. They also won't get to see the car for a few years-or longer-while its sits in the shop in pieces. You can show the car in AACA and other concours and be inline with all the other die-cast model-looking brass cars with coachwork that is newer than most people's underwear and take home a 15.00 trophy. And since it is a Buick-and not a Simplex or Pierce or Stanley-people are going to walk right by it in favor of the bigger, newly constructed cars. Yawn, yawn, yawn, boring, boring, boring, yawn, yawn yawn. Or, you could mechanically service this car and get it running reliably. Do what it needs to make it tour-able and road-able. If you think about it, based on Jeff's information, this car has been in its current configuration longer than it existed in its original configuration. If this car was used in amateur, fairground races at some point, restoring the car will totally loose this neat part of its history. Also, the body configuration that this car has is good looking and is certainly period appropriate-even though it is not factory Buick. Just removing that black windshield might change its appearance dramatically. This car with its current body has great speedster proportions. I think this car is steeped in neat folklore and history as it sits. If were restored to current day standards, it would all be lost. Why would anyone think of restoring this car? Showing up anywhere with this car in its current configuration is going to attract a crowd. I have a "beater" looking, medium size brass Buick and it really attracts a crowd-especially when you open the hood and they see all those rockers moving up and down. And it is tons of fun to drive. It will be interesting to see what happens with this car. Will it reappear a few years from now at Hershey getting judged for its First Junior, Senior, etc and look nothing like it does now? Or will it be driven hard- like its supposed to-in its current speedster configuration on a dirty, dusty road with other brass cars in its rear view mirror? I know how well my 201 CID Buick runs and I can't imagine what it would be like if it had this 318 CID engine-that is a HUGE difference in size. I think this car might go down as the Best Brass Bargain of 2020. In the case of this car, the phrase "drive it like you stole it" will need to be changed to "drive it BECAUSE you stole it". Good luck and congratulations to the new owner-whatever he or she decides to do, they are off to a good start.

Here is another photo. The is the engine from the ex-Jim Hearn Buick Model 16 (photo from the Bonham's catalog). It definitely bears a closer resemblance to the Mecum car than it does the 1911 Model 38. On this photo, you can see the location of the fan mount as well as what the original water pump would look like.

I have been thinking about the engine in the Mecum car. I am not so sure it is incorrect. A friend had a 1911 Model 38 and I have photos of it. I have compared the two engines. On his 1911, the fan assembly is attached by an A-frame style bracket that attaches to the timing gear section of the crankcase. There are no bosses or mounting surfaces on the cylinder jug for the fan-the front of the1911 cylinder is smooth where it faces the radiator. Also, his fan is driven from a pulley that is part of the drive that turns the magneto and the water pump. On the Mecum Auction Buick, it clearly has the Model 16 style fan mounting pad cast into the front of the cylinder and there is no fan belt pulley on the magneto drive, which assumes there would be one on the crankshaft. ( It is interesting that Jeff A. remembers this car with no fan and it still missing) I wonder if the Mecum car does have a Model 16 engine, but with its water pump removed from the crankcase and another pump fitted in its current location? This would make sense given the known problems of the typical Model 16/17 crankcase mounted water pumps. The flywheel on the Model 38, since it is a multiple disc clutch, is totally different than the one on this Model 16 which I believe is correct for a Model 16. The next iteration of this 318 CID engine was in the 1912 Model 43s. However, the cylinders are shaped completely different and the spark plugs have a recessed mounting hole and mount at a 45 degree angle. So, this is definitely not a Model 43 engine. I have attached photos of the 1911 Model 38 (blue) and the Mecum Model 16 engines. I believe the engine number of 9864 provided by Jeff indicates it to be a very late 1910 Model 16 since the 1910 Model 16/17 numbers ran from 2518 to 10879 according to my book. The 1911 Model 38s had a completely different engine number range. The Mecum auction car also has what appears to be the1910 style Model 16/17 radiator. I am starting to think the Mecum car does have a correct Model 16 engine that was updated or upgraded over the years. Based on the appearance and condition, these changes look to have been done a long, long time ago. For what it is worth, I think the Mecum Auction car is a 1910 Model 16. As Trimacar pointed out, the body has certainly been modified ( but I think looks great-especially since it was obviously done a long time ago based on Jeff's old photos of the car). I think the Buick script gas tank is off a 1912-1913 Buick. The steering wheel is certainly incorrect as is the vacuum tank and the later ( Rayfield? ) carburetor and homemade intake manifold. I would probably remove the 1920s windshield and black truck sidelights which I think would improve its appearance dramatically. But, heck, I think this is still a great looking car- with LOTS of potential.

Yup, compared to the Model T that sold a few lots later, that Buick was a definitely a bargain! A great looking 318 CID speedster. The history provided by Jeff A. certainly adds some great background to it's story.