New Museum in Fairbanks

[jeff_a]

Dear Nancy DeWitt,

As more information becomes available about the <span style="color: #CC0000">Fountainhead Antique Automobile Museum </span>in Alaska, due to open later this year, please keep us informed. I've looked at your website and heard of just a couple of the cars that will be on display -- but it sounds pretty nice.

As for waiting for the temperature to come up 70 degrees to drive one of your autos { re: "1970's Barney Pollard Auctions" thread}, it reminds me of my first job, when I delivered newspapers near Nenana, Alaska. One day it got down to 101 degrees below freezing. Yikes! ----Jeff

[Guest Nancy DeWitt]

Jeff,

I wish it only needed to warm up 70 degrees for comfortably driving some of our old cars! It's -50 F today, with no warming in sight for at least a week. So, an increase of 100 degrees or more is now what we need.

But folks, don't let these frigid temperatures keep you from planning a visit to our new museum after it opens this May. Our summers are lovely here, with 20+ hours of sunlight and temps in the 70s and 80s most days. We have assembled a fabulous collection of more than 60 pre-1936 cars, including many from low-production marques like Compound, Whiting, Rochester, Cartercar, Heine-Velox, Owen Magnetic, Biddle and Argonne. We also have the only Hay & Hotchkiss ever made (from 1898). Several of the cars once resided in Harrah's Museum, and others have belonged to collectors such as J. Parker Wickham, Austie Clark and Carl Schmitt. We feel very fortunate to be the new caretakers of these automobiles.

Presently, we are finishing restoration of several cars, working to make sure they can all be driven, gathering informational materials, searching for manuals and writing up the exhibit signs. I encourage folks to check out the partial list of cars on our web site and to contact me if you have info or manuals for some of the models.

Nancy

[RPrice]

Nancy,

Your new museum sounds great. You are very fortunate to have acquired autos from the Parker Wickham collection. We know, here on Long Island,NY, about Parkers's wonderfully restored cars, many of which are one-of-a-kind. Henry Austin Clark had a terrific museum in Southampton, Long Island many years ago.

Best of luck with your endeavor.

Rog