A. Ballard 35R

Back of photo says Pope & Columbia Before 1896

Found this ad from May 1917 pasted in one of my father's old scrapbooks and thought it might be of interest. I'm sure Ed already has it but it depicts a pretty sporty body style.

Joe, if I did a fraction of what you have done this year it would be amazing. Don't sell yourself short-you have done some magnificent work !

If that is worth anything near $300, I have a small fortune tied up in copies going back to 1899. According to my friends in the automotive literature business, the market for paper material has dropped dramatically.

On the early end of your range of years, the 1905 Packard meets your criteria. One of the very few 4 cylinder American cars made in 1905 and had a transaxle, transverse front spring spring, distributor, with models ranging up to $4,600. Having driven one of these many hundreds of miles I can attest to their incredible reliability and ability to cruise effortlessly at 50 mph.

Matt, why do you think you should be paid for your knowledge of Corvettes, transportation costs, new parts, shop time, normal profit margin, and other expenses? Don't you abide by the "everyone gets a trophy" philosophy? Go for it and ask market value for the car in the present condition after all the work you did.

Another group of Whites.

Interesting viewpoint since I got the impression that both men individually took credit for the choice of cars. Your point about Monty Roberts being vilified is very true; however, there is no question in my mind that Shuster accomplished a monumental feat. I have pictures of Roberts in Paris at the conclusion of the race in a Thomas accompanied by Houpt.

Interesting that there are conflicting reports about who and why the '07 model was chosen. Monty Roberts specifically states that he chose the car due to his prior experience racing it. There is a newspaper clipping saying that E.R. Thomas himself picked the car. Since Roberts was the official factory designated driver I would tend to believe his account.

Put all plugs in and then remove one at a time to test individual cylinders.

Ed, I have several sets plus miscellaneous thread gauges. I don't think the BluePoint metric one is of much use to you but the Craftsman set has a 26. There are also a number of S. W. Card, Mansfield, Mass gauges with everything but a 26. In addition there are many taps and dies. Are there any of them you need to replace the broken ones you have? PM me your address and I'll send the Craftsman set off to you.

The 1912 Mercer catalog describes the series C and D motors (4 3/8 inches bore and a 5" stroke) as having a rated HP of 32.4 at 1700 rpm's and an actual dynamometer rating of 58 hp at 1700 rpm's..."is required before leaving the factory". Under Specifications the rpm range is 200-2200. The 2200 figure is known to be much lower than actually achieved when racing.

I just did what you suggested and found a gap of 4 years. Where did they go?

Steamers are about the easiest cars to drive and a lot of fun. People are amazed at the simplicity of driving them. Only have to learn that you open the throttle in spurts and never leave it open very long. Other than that learn to watch the water gauge, especially on a non condensing steamer. Just several weeks ago a local well known Stanley collector had a fairly new boiler scorched by a seemingly knowledgeable steam person.

Walt, the name of Miles Coverdale occurred to me also but I didn't know how many Bugattis he had owned. As you know, his 1911 Mercer Toy Tonneau was owned by one of your illustrious neighbors - the iracsible Warren Kraft.

Many years ago I acquired Bob Laurens' large collection of memoribillia he had gathered over many years. Bob was an AACA officer in the late 1940's and participated in many National Meets and Gldden Tours. Among his many friends was Montague Roberts (AACA Honorary Member) who was a race driver for Thomas and a protege of Harry Houpt. I have the original paper signed by Roberts of a talk he gave at the February 18, 1950 AACA Annual Meeting in which he describes his involvement in the NY to Paris race. In the describes how he selected the 1907 car since it was one in which he "....... had won many events with this car in 1907 ......I knew the car and had a lot of confidence in it." The speech goes on to describe in detail the race from NY City to Cheyenne, Wyoming where Shuster took over. Towards the end of the talk Roberts makes some interesting comments such as "There has been some controversy as to whether or not the car now owned by H. A. Clark, Jr. and now on display in the Museum at Southhampton, Long Island, is the original Thomas car. I personally feel it is; however the fact that it is can be proven, I think." I have a picture of the car on display in 1948 with Montague behind the wheel. The car is in atrocious condition and it is no wonder that it was difficult to determine whether it was the famous car. Hopefully I can attach it to this post.

Where are cars located?

For a good idea of the Doble, look at Jay Leno's video on the Howard Hughes car that was in the Nethercutt collection and have fun learning about Leno's description of the previous "restoration".

You raise an interesting point. For many people the significance of "the last built" would depend on the particular car, such as the last Model T Ford or the last Model J Duesenberg. The Packard you mention would probably qualify since there is a large Packard following whereas the Kaiser Manhattan would not have as large a following. Also, there is a difference between rarity (the Galaxy 500) and the last one produced.

I don't know how many MM's there are left but the White roster keepers would know.

I happen to think that the Doble is one of America's most sophisticated cars ever made. To get a sense of the engineering involved, look at Leno's outstanding video about his Howard Hughes Doble. I love the casual asides about the previous owner's restoration which resulted in a car that didn't run very well. Jay has also done a remarkable job of acquiring a stable of Whites but I don't know if he has gotten a big MM 40 hp that he desires.

Having grown up with steamers I always had a huge respect for naphtha that was used in the pilot on a Stanley and the main fuel on a Locomobile. I never considered steam to be "scary" but simply a great power source that could be controlled by understanding how to use it. Naphtha is extremly volatile and could be very scary if handled improperly, IMHO.

Perhaps you are thinking of Art Twohy.