Steve_Mack_CT

Agree with Curti, they will no doubt help someone out. Would help you and supplier to know if they are all the same or different, even if you cannot identify. If it is a lot of the same, it is more likely a common car, perhaps Ford T, for example. If different, you may have some unusual ones in there, however vendor will need to figure that out. I think, for a lot of any type of part that is unidentified but in good condition, I would not expect big dollars. My experience with vendors has been they want to pay less than 50% of retail in the best of circumstances, and 10 - 20 cents on the dollar is likely more realistic. Or you can do the research and sell to the end users yourself, another option. If you sell to a vendor as suggested at least you put a few bucks in pocket, help clear out your dad's stuff a bit and get them back into circulation, I just would not expect big bucks for your find. Try posting an ad up here for the bunch, you may get a bite as a lot of these guys do sell. The HCCA site may be another option for you.

So say the Packard above sells for $19,000 here is my best guess at the situation: Seller is likely somewhat dissapointed and assumes a "soft market" or "no one is interested in these prewar cars anymore" - understandable as he has maintained (presumably) and loved this car for 35 years, and been shoulder to shoulder with pricey Packards at various meets over the years. And paid Packard parts prices to keep the old gal on the road. All understandable but not really market factors, more or less emotional. His optimistic assessment of 8 on a scale of 1 - 10 shows a strong emotional tie, IMHO. In actuality, he sells at market for a lesser model that while perfectly enjoyable as is, needs a significant amount of work to get to #2 condition, and likely that represents investing beyond the value of the car, which may or may not be the buyer's ultimate goal. The seller has put 62,500 or so miles on the car over 35 years and at $19,000 is likely ahead of the game to some degree, or darn close anyway. A new person will enjoy it, and the seller has had 35 years of enjoyment - got to be worth something, right? OR, seller cannot come to terms with a $20K ask/$19K sell. Maybe he thinks the car is worth $40K, and won't take a penny less. It is then worth $40K - to him, even if no one else, another possible outcome. While everyone wants to maximize the dollars they get out of a car when the time comes, I just think keeping things in perspective can help when taking a hard look at what that car is really worth.

Interesting thread. Is there a preferred paint/primer finishing method to prep wood for paint that will ultimately want to match painted sheetmetal - or aluminum actually (repro fenders, hood, etc. new ). This is for the exposed wood "body" & sheetmetal parts to be done in the same color on the '14 Speedster. Or put another way, what recomendations would you guys have for a novice painter in terms of prepping/priming/painting the wood? Looking to acheive some look as Jeff and others note above. Initial plan is to prep/prime/paint wooden components home, I am on the fence on sheetmetal; half of me thinks I am ahead of the game prepping new parts, and I should take a shot at painting them; the other half thinks after investing in the new parts, maybe a pro will be the better pick to ensure the best results. I have seen at least one recent advertisement in HMN indicating lacquer is indeed available - in NJ, I think. I have always heard it is the most forgiving approach for a novice? What is easiest for a novice painter to use? Hopefully not too far afield from the OP questions, and may actually provide him additional info. Any up to date book recomendations would be good also - I painted one body panel over 30 years ago that came out OK but that's it... Thanks

West, my strategy as well!! Picked up the Speedster project recently specifically to do a fair amount of work myself, knowing full well we will be "underwater" when all is said and done; it is for F-U-N - my retirement dollars are invested, this is a hobby... As it will tuck in nicely in the far corner of the garage I also hope to take advantage of the "soft market" and find an unusual 20s - 30s car like the Marmon recently listed in the "buy & sell" forum here, worst case is we pick up another Model A - every collection should have one of those anyway, right?

hmm. pretty tough to add too much here that has not already been addressed either in terms of market trends (Dave Fields is spot on, plus the "market" is so big now it is actually several sub markets, IMO) or the philosophy behind hobby vs. investing (even a 50% loss on a vehicle after 10 years puts one ahead of a golfer, say, assuming both get equal fun out of the hobby for the same period of time). The only thing I will say that may be of value to Nick (who may be posting out of frustration due to low interest so far in some nice cars if these are his for sale - not quite sure from the post..) is not to confuse value with liquidity. The examples he refers to look like nice cars, but the seller needs to do two things, assuming it is not a situation where a quick sale may be necessary for financial reasons. First, understand the market for what you are selling and establish the price point you intend to stick with and second, market the car in various places, knowing it may take a while to find the right buyer. Just as patience helps a buyer get the best deal possible, it works the same on the selling end as well. Quicker sales usually mean a price drop to get there - people often chalk that up to a soft market when in fact for many unusual cars it is a limited market that must be reached to attain the best price.

Thanks gents - several ways to skin a cat it seems! Guy - this one will be full fendered so I am thinking a little bit will do, all good info. Even now it is incredibly light in the back, can't imagine a toolbox/trunk, gas tank and fenders will make too much difference!!

Agree - glad you like them!! Thinking aobut how to drop this car a little bit - but I don't care to cut the chassis. I think a couple of vendors offer a dropped front axle but was thinking about reverse eye main springs also - definately out back (available) and perhaps removing a spring in back, dropped axle up front - that might get me a couple inches in total. It does not seem like shackles to lower the leaf spring out back are available which surprised me a bit? Want to retain a level stance. Thoughts/suggestions? Thanks!

Looking for a clean pair of 1914 CT plates. Buy or trade - I have a few sets of nice CT plates from different years but need these for my speedster. thanks -

Did you check out the Rootlieb catalog or google them? They have a full line - I am thinking they have your tank.

Ed, I have some things still to do on it, we had her running but on a borrowed set of coils & temporary gas tank, engine has been gone through but I need to put a lot of odds and ends together to get her to "cruise around the neighborhood" shape. That is my immediate goal, and you are more than welcome to come on down and give it a go... then the body comes off for paint, and I expect to order the speedster fenders & tank from Rootlieb later this year, I have the hood already and it seems to be high quality. I hope to have a finished car in a couple years, no timeline really. See my thread over in the speedster forum. I have ridden in, but never driven a "T" either. Not sure if you have my number or not but will shoot you a PM with that info - I have a couple leads on "T"s not that they are that hard to find but you might be interested. I PM-ed you my contact info - it is March 18 this deep freeze has to end sometime, let's get together!

We enjoy concours as well as local car shows & regional events and even the occasional cruise night. Each fun in different ways. It is interesting how some concours are growing tremendously - and some, even with good venues like Newport, RI, have not fared so well. A good portion of the Pray collection sold down at Amelia Island, and those were all top quality cars which I helped drive up the auction results. We hoped to get there this year but it is too busy at the office right now, maybe next year...

Wow, between this thread and the Marmon in the buy/sell forum, and I believe another in this month's HMN, a Marmon buyer has some choices. It is interesting how a few different examples pop up at once on a relatively rare marque. Nice find, Sambarn! Did you get a Stutz powered speedster as well? Lucky you...

"When somebody loves you, it's no good unless they love you all the way" Frank Sinatra, who never did anything half way....

Thanks guys - lots of great speedsters on that site for sure. Lots of individuality - I did go through them all, I think, and will be going back... I want to stay period correct but it is cool to look them all over - a great source for stance & fender studies. Here is a thread from the Model T club with a rather large volume of period Speedster pics - not all Model T either: http://www.modelt.org/mtfcivb/showthread.php/16-Authentic-original-speedster-pictures/page12

FWIW I think dealing with regular forum members may not be a 100% guarantee of no nonsense, but it sure has served me well over the years. You may get a lead, potential member willing to check out a car, etc. so a good approach, IMHO. Plus what better group to ask - not every available car is advertised. I did see a nice "A" 28-29 two window sedan locally - like the leatherback below but no leather - in the Worcestor, MA CL @ $10K which I thought was an excellent deal, Rose Beige and Seal Brown, looked ready to roll - I know not a tudor but having had a tudor, I actually think the two window fordor has better lines. In any event, good luck with your search.

Quite the adventure Friday bringing the T Speedster project home, all went smooth until we get to my place, around 150 foot stone driveway with maybe a 10 foot rise in all, but with all the storms I have not had it down to the stones since December. So about 1 - 2 inches of ice, warmed up enough Friday to make it a skating rink! When you get to the top I have lots of space - no problem, right? Well we actually gave up trying to manouver the trailer in place as it kept sliding due to the few inches of slope at the top - finally we unloaded in the street and pulled the T up with my Yukon - but still had to get it into the garage. In all maybe 45 minutes for a 5 minute job... Well no matter what we are in Mid March, this can't last forever!!

Thanks Baron. I need my son to help me with a gmail problem on my phone but in the meantime here is one pic, taken prior to bringing it home. Note the buckets, which we did not choose, we ended up with the firetruck seat instead. She sure looks interesting sitting next to the '89 MB 560SL! Our immediate focus will be picking up a lot of small items - for example we used a borrowed set of coils last week to start the engine, etc. and setting up the dash area. As noted above riide height and seat placement will need to be ironed out. We know this will be a full fendered car with splash pans, but I am not sure about straight or curved speedster fenders or a set of stock fenders which with the brass or "square" style T don't look all that bad either. Each changes the look of the car and I sort of need to land on that at the same time as choosing ride height. When things warm up I will be taking off the wooden body and priming it to put some protection on it - not sure if we will put color coat on or not but I suppose it makes sense to remove it one time rather than twice.. And so on...

Mark, great back story. What a bonus having access to factory prints. Maybe not a Mercer but quite a special car in its own right. Pretty interesting that Stutz & Mercer generally get the credit as the first "sports or muscle" type cars but it does make one wonder how many other producers built speedsters. While not really in the same class, the T Torpedos were pretty sporty if not sporting. Please keep us posted on your progress!

Actually I am surprised this has not yet sold & would be in my garage if I could do the deal or convince Mrs. Mack to part with the SL (not happening..). I guess having looked at it no less than 10 times I might not be alone here. This car is a great example of why one should judge on the model itself not era, no style excuses needed here, IMHO. A great chance to obtain an important car and while it likely needs soup to nuts, it would be pretty rewarding I think to bring it back. Good luck to the seller - hope he is ok with our going a bit OT here...

Nice project, 79Speedster! where did you find that trunk? Looks like a nice unit, and fits the overall porportions of your car. What are the rough dimensions for that? Did you do the sheetmetal fab? Very nice lines - hope you post pics of the progress.

Hi all. Well after following some of these great projects for some time I finally decided to get going and pursue a Speedster. We tossed around something unusual and were following up on some larger chassis but decided to go with the tried and true Model T for the first build. Pictures coming but we finalized a deal last week on a '14 T Speedster project. I think a good start. The chassis is largely done. The stock engine and transmission have been overhauled, and the front end has been rebuilt. We started her up on Friday in mid - 20 degree weather, after over a year she fired right up and runs nicely on the mag. The seller has a nice collection of Model T cars and noted this was the coldest time he ever started a "T". The car also has the Rootlieb floor kit and hood, with oversize white tires on a really sound set of wooden wheels and a sort of unusual two place single seat that appears to have come out of an early firetruck. Plans include adding the full fender Rootlieb kit, likely going yellow with red upholstery, and about a million details including dropping it a couple inches as it is now stock height, and maybe laying the steering wheel back a bit once we finalize seat placement, etc. Of course we will have to add some interest under the hood but still learning about period speed parts for the "T", so nothing in particular in the plan yet. While not the most exotic project, it is actually kind of cool to be able to personalize it a bit. Looking forward to contributing to the Speedster section!

I think based on how the question was posed, the Cord is a tough one to beat and would be my choice as well. Some notable alternatives above, though. Another runner up could be the first Lincoln Continental. Assuming the OP is not talking about CCCA only Full Classics (see CCCA below for explanation, Heavybond if interested) and is using the term classic car generically, here are a couple of thoughts outside the Classic Era (1925 - 1948) - Brass Era - the Stutz Bearcat - Loud, sporty and hardly utilitarian. Arguably the first musclecar, and all American. Swinging 60s - The 64 & 1/2 Ford Mustang. Yes, common garden but when introduced they were wildly popular bringing European sports car flavor to America, and could be optioned out from a basic 6 cylinder AT to a loaded luxury/sports/GT type car. Generally recognized as starting the "pony car" genre.

ugh!! Just read this ad and did not initially see that it was from June of last year. We are looking for a prewar project and spent last weekend with a feloow liquidating some early Ford stuff - but an open Packard project that is a lot of the way there for under $20 grand?? Heart rate rising a little, hmm, I have not committed to anything yet, and I can call Guy I suppose in a little bit... Reading on and see it is long gone.. "oh sh**, what can you do..." Congrats to the fellow who landed this one, seems like a square deal all around!

Weighing in as I can proudly take credit for suggesting the Speedster section in this forum (I like to think I had a couple good ideas for the forum - glad to see this one took off!!) - my reasons were two fold: 1) To provide an outlet to a topic that was generating strong interest every time an individual posting went up in the General section 2) for selfish reasons - to learn about an area of interest to me. I do recognize there is a line of sorts between a Speedster and a Hot Rod, although most of what I have seen I would catagorize in the Speedster category... Now thinking of taking the plunge! I hope people enjoy it overall...

Hi Ernest. Email sent let's discuss. Thanks,