A. Ballard 35R

According to the Twin Six experts such as Messrs. Brodes, Schaevitz, Martin, and the late brad Skinner, there were very 1915 twins since the production of engines went to the Russians and others for WWI military uses. Check www.packardsonline.com and you will see the surviving first series cars listed. As explained to me years ago when I raised this question with Brad Skinner and was told that I could probably find a 1915 casting date on some part but mine was clearly a 1916 model. Anyway congratulations on your acquisition Scott. Whose car do you have and does the roster keeper know that you are the current owner?

Great cars, owned one which I used to drive 150 miles round trip to Hershey for annual Fall Meet. West is absolutely right about not being eligible on HCCA tours. About those brakes - typical two wheel brakes for cars of the era and especially dicey on wet roads since they can lock up the wheels and send you in a new direction.

As great a car as the 300SL is, I would have to put an SSKL right up there with it, both more iconic than the 540K, IMHO.

Boat gas in New Hampshire does include the highway tax. A form must be submitted to Concord along with receipts in order to obtain a refund.

As a past owner of three Willys Overland Jeepsters plus my father bought one new in 1950 I am quite familiar with these cars. We had a huge amount of factory literature including a four inch hard bound Service Manual which stated that production ended in August of 1950. In keeping with Willys policy, at the end of the year letters would be sent out to dealers saying to mark any unsold inventory to the next model year. Strictly speaking there were no 1951's but the unsold cars were licensed as such. The '48 and '49 models came with a flat head four or six, frequently with overdrive. The fours were the exact same engines that were in the original military Jeeps - very rugged and nearly indestructible. The F-Head four was available in 1950, usually with OD and I think were rated at 72 HP. As a teenager with a new license in 1954 I drove the car thousands of miles - many unmercifully. Although only a three speed column shift, it was possible to get into OD second if you got to 28 MPH and let up on the gas. I have subsequently wondered why the long stroke engine didn't blow up at such high RPM's.

Don't the original catalogs or ALAM books show the weight?

The information contained in NTX5467's post is very disturbing assuming that they are even partially correct. I find it difficult to make comments without starting a major big government political discussion, which is not the purpose of the thread.

My previous comment concerning the inaccuracy of the website is based on what is shown in SW Florida. What is shown for the Sarasota area, for example, is very incorrect.

That list is virtually useless it has so many errors.

Thanks for the response, Steve. I realize that the question is a bit academic but Roger seemed to think it is very obvious. I appreciate your interpretation that NOS parts do not disqualify a car from HPOF.

Still awaiting response from HPOF judge Roger Irland regarding the subject.

Perhaps not the rarest but extremely rare - !915 FRP at Seal Cove, 9 built and 1 survivor.

" It's either original, or it's not, right?" Roger Irland Chair HPOF Team This statement depends on how you define "original". I have a 1963 car that I bought new and since I knew that I would be keeping it I purchased many new parts from dealers while parts were available. For example, I have a complete set of new hubcaps that are still in the wrapping that they were in when purchased. If I put these on the car would they be considered original or not? If you take a a very narrow view (see discussion of this point in Dr. Simeone's book) they would not be considered original since they were not on the car when purchased; however, these are correct original hubcaps for the car. If a damaged or rusty bumper is replaced by an excellent bumper taken off a parts car is it original or not? What is original?

Looks like it would fit a Triumph, TR2, TR3 and possibly TR4.

You Pennsylvania guys are pretty sharp!

Somewhat off topic, but David, you really should venture forth and head north for the NE B&G tour (assuming you have not already been on them) - with or without one of your brass cars . I have not been on one for many years but they are great tours with wonderful people who car less about shows but who love to tour.

There are numerous Matheson photos from the Bob Laurens collection on David Greenlees www.theoldmotor.com.

According to correspondence and a picture from Bob Laurens' files, this Oklahoma car was reconstructed from the remains of a chassis found in the desert. The Matheson big fours were magnificent high end cars that did well in competitive events such as Giants Despair and road races.

Westyn, the Matheson referred to above now in the Nethercutt collection was first restored by Bob Laurens of Wayne, PA. who did a huge amount of research on the company and the Matheson brothers, Frank and Charles. I acquired Bob's material many years ago and there are letters and pictures of Matheson employees, perhaps your grandfather is one of them. to the best of my knowledge, the Nethercutt Silent Six is among the few survivors. there is the made up car in OK and another is being made up from an engine that was on display at the Ford museum, I believe. Send me a PM if I can be of further assistance.

Do you mean a mirror to read the water level gauge for the boiler or a true rearview mirror? The latter, as you probably are aware, were not standard or even available as an after market product.

Craig, you are correct. Many earlier collectors in the WWII days considered a survivor as a reasonably original car that survived the scrap drives. Some of these collectors were more interested in originality as opposed to a complete restoration. Fortunately, AACA decided many years ago to recognize cars that were original and instituted the HPOF class, which has evolved into probably the best description of original cars. Survivors are as you described them whereas HPOF does a great job of defining originality. My roster keeper friends spend hours reading 100 hundred year old vehicle registration records published by states and when they find chassis/engine numbers of cars that exist today they are called SURVIVORS. The Gold Standard seems to be a Corvette thing and is fine for their purposes but has little relevance for the rest of the hobby. As has been noted in previous posts, many of the Corvette people march to a different drummer, so to speak. It is interesting that many of these people incorrectly think that the Vette was the first American sports car. These comments are for the purpose of clarification but will undoubtedly be construed differently and will be attacked.

Suggest you give Joe or Harvey Slifert a call at Slifert Motor Works in Wayne, Pa. They do excellent work (especially mechanical) and used to do all the work on Jose DePedroso's SS Mercedes before it went to California. They are very honest and will tell you exactly what they can do.

Bill, the Mercer catalogs that I have for that era do not show weights, even the Series 5 Instruction & Care manual fails to list a weight. The 1925 edition of the Branham Automobile Reference Book shows the shipping weight as 3,900 for the Sporting and 4,000 for the Touring. My 1921 annual issue of the MoTor is buried but the AACA Library might be able to help.

Apparently a 100+ year old car that has original components but has been restored once or more times is not a survivor. Seems strange. Why does a survivor have to be unrestored? Any car that lasted in its original configuration through through the scrap drives of WWI and WWII sounds like a survivor to me.

BugGreg, if you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest you contact Chris Ritter at the AACA Library.