john2dameron

I saw the Rolls-Royce horse and the LaSalle horse both at Winchester, VA. My photo file lists the 1931 LaSalle horse car at Winchester, VA, May 8, 1999 and the 1927 Rolls-Royce at Winchester, VA May 8 2004. I think I spoke to Mr. Markey at one of those shows about the cars.

Futurecarowner, I like the advice Rusty gave you. I also like what 1937hd45 said. There's been too many cars made to settle for one you hate the looks of. Don't forget the pickup trucks. You might find a pickup on someone's farm that has recently been taken out of service and just needs a good cleaning and polishing. They have their own allure. I wouldn't buy anything that had been doctored up. Buy it like it was made and if you want to change the color or wheels or anything that would be up to you. I have a friend who's son bought a '66 Buick Wildcat 4 door hardtop when he was about 14. By the time he turned 16 and got his license it was ready to show. A 4-door hardtop would not be my choice of a car but I have to admit it has been years since I've seen another Buick 4-door hardtop. Stay in touch with us and let us know what you do. Also where you live. One of us geezers might offer to take you with us to a car show or too. Best wishes.

I have to say that with the tendency to burn out rod bearings that Chevrolet's engineering was not only not superior to that of Ford and Plymouth; it was not only equal. When I was growing up Chevrolet engines with thrown rods were pretty common. It happened to me and it also happened to my dad and he was a 45 mph driver. He bought a '41 Chevrolet coupe like the one pictured and it had a hole in the side of the block about the size of my hand.

I think the '56-57 Mark II is about the most pleasing proportioned automobile ever built and it also proves that if an automobile is well designed it does not need chrome down the sides of it. The only thing that even comes close to it is the '57-58 Chrysler 300.

And if you believe what you see at car shows, all Chevrolet Novas and Chevelles built after 1967 were SS models.

I saw that at Gettysburg. I thought the guy had been hired to remove seaweed from the lake. LOL

My mom used to tell a story (a true story, according to her, and I have no reason to doubt it) about a country neighbor that went to Richmond, VA, maybe about 1920 or so, to visit some cousins who had relocated there earlier. The waiter was taking their orders and they ordered steak, rare. He had no idea what rare meant but he didn't want to be different so he ordered his "rare." When it was brought to him, he informed the waiter, "See by dogs, you can take mine back and rare it over."

It means I haven't seen one for twenty-five years. Exceedingly rare means I have never seen one. I guess that could be interpreted "Rare to Me."

I think the correct name for your car must be Convertible deVille. Coupe deVille was not a convertible. I had a '65 Convertible deVille back in its day. The only fuel pump problem I had was it was leaking oil. The Cadillac tried to find the source of the leak without success. Finally someone told me I had a burst diaphragm. Got a fuel pump at NAPA for about $7.00 (try that today) and replaced it and the leak was cured. Never had such a problem with any other auto.

Your Buick reminds me of what I always thought was a more affluent cousin but he didn't spend a lot of money on cars so I guess that was why he always seemed well off. He did spend money on firearms, fireworks, and fishing trips. The first car I remember him having was a '50 Chevrolet. He traded it for a baby blue '54 Buick Special 4-door. Traded the Buick for a copper and white '60 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan. The last time I saw him was in '66 or '67 at his mom's funeral and I think he was still driving the '60 Impala. I never saw him again after his mom was buried.

I spent some time on /Google and verified that GM had a plant in Biel, Switzerland but it doesn't indicate that they ever assembled Cadillacs there although they did assemble Chevrolets.

A few months ago I had a doctor appointment. Got to a traffic light but the line of traffic I was in was not moving. Finally I got close enough to realize a huge line of farm tractors were going thru the light and a deputy sheriff was holding traffic for them. Got thru the light and had to follow them for about 4 miles. Needless to say, after a forty minute delay I was late for my appointment. Never did find out what was going on but I decided a bunch of farm boys decided to have a parade.

Allstate tires, Kenmore appliances, and probably everything else Sears sold were manufactured for them under contracts. They put out a specification list for so many tires and the low bidder, Goodyear, Goodrich, Firestone, or who ever made the tires. A few months later they'd contract for another lot and another might get the bid. I ran some Sears tires but could never get much mileage from them. I punctured an almost new tire and took it back to get it plugged and they would not plug it but sent me to a local service station to get it plugged at their expense. Said they weren't allowed to plug tires. They also sold Michelin radials and I bought several sets for a '68 Chrysler I bought new. That car was death on tires and front end alignments did not help. I think it was caused by the torsion bars getting out of adjustment. Every time I had the front end aligned they'd adjust the torsion bars.

The most believable story I have heard on the '53 Studebaker is that Robert Bourke (I hope I spelled that right) did the design but he was working for Loewy and Loewy took the credit.

Yes, the 9N came out in '39 and had a 3 speed transmission and a top speed of about 6 mph. The 2N came out in '42 and I have been told that the reason for it was rubber was scarce and the 2N came from the factory with steel wheels and no tires but it seems impossible to find one that way today as they seem to have all gotten fitted with rubber tires after the war. Then the 8N came out in '48 and had a 4-speed transmission which made it faster. We had an 8N and I soon learned that you could kick it out of gear going down hill and pick up quite a bit of speed. My older brother tried that one day pulling a trailer and jackknifed the trailer and lost his load. I wished the 8N had power steering. I would be disking crop land and make a turn at the end of the field and if it dropped into a furrow the wheel would whip around and make you thumb feel like it had broken if you had it wrapped around the wheel. Lesson #2 was Don't wrap your thumb down in side the steering wheel.

Not much picture but I think '53 Mercury.

West, I think you are right. In fact I feel so strongly that you are right that I started to make the same answer earlier.

Thanks for writing. I was still a teenager when I realized any time I was around anyone welding I was going to get sick. At first I blamed the gas they welded with. Then I realized that electric welding also made me sick. I then decided that metal products burning makes me sick. I had a friend who would gladly have hired me to help in his body shop but after coning home with sick headaches every day I knew it would not work. Of course what it did to me was no where near as bad as what you've been through but we never know what will affect us. I still have to avoid people wearing colognes, aftershaves, and perfumes or I get sick.

Thanks a lot Carl.

I would say a one word description is gaudy or awful or distasteful. Who wants a car that any of those?

Perhaps it knows which way is forward but doesn't care.

You guys are stirring up memories. In 1964 I joined a rural volunteer fire department/rescue squad. Virginia state troopers were still running red emergency lights instead of blue ones. We mounted blue ones on our private vehicles. I used a pair of lights of about 5" diameter mounted behind the grille. I bought a new '65 Impala SS conv. I discovered it made quite a show at night if I raised the trunk lid when I parked on the side of the road. With the park lights lit approaching drivers saw red lights behind the car, red lights on top of the car visible from the front and back and two flashing blue lights behind the grille. Then the state police adopted blue lights and we could no longer use them so we had to replace the blue lens in our lights with red lens. January of 1968 I ordered a new Chrysler convertible. The dealer told me it would come with shoulder belts because the new safety regulations required them. I asked him where they would be mounted. He did not know. When the car arrived there were no shoulder belts. The regulation did not apply to convertibles. The Chrysler had a 440 V-8 that had a habit of quitting when you'd go to pull out from a traffic light or stop sign. I took it to the shop and they put a de-acceleration valve on the side of the carburetor. I left the shop headed home and stopped beside a small airport to look at an airplane. I pulled out and nailed the Chrysler and it took off. When I let up on the gas it kept accelerating. At 115 mph I had the presence of mind to turn the ignition off. Back to the shop I went and they did some adjusting on the de-acceleration valve. That still did not cure the stalling problem but finally I found a mechanic that did.

Anytime I go to a car show I try to find out where the oldest cars there are located and start out looking at these cars. I went to a show held on the grounds of a Junior College in Asheville, NC in 2006. When I entered the show grounds there were the oldest cars and as I made my way around the college campus the cars got newer and newer. This was the neatest layout I have come across at a show.

I don't know. One of the cars was a 1938 Cadillac Series 60 Special.

Thank you, Trimacar. I am glad to learn that. I guess that is the only photo I have of an Autocar automobile although I have lots of Autocar truck photos. I was told at Disney World (Epcot Center) that it was a Cadillac. Got to editing some old photo albums recently I realized, Hey, that is not a Cadillac. All Cadillacs had steering wheels. Since it was in a GM Exhibit I was sure it had to be a GM car but realized today it is not GM. Thanks again. I was at Winchester May 7th but did not see anything I recognized as being any of yours.