John_Mereness Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 On 2/9/2019 at 5:01 PM, alsancle said: Don't forget 50% of all cars restored in the 80s was red. Try selling one of those these days. Unfinished projects are almost impossible to sell. Bill will eventually sell this one because Reo Royale Convertibles are made of unobtainium. This was a nice but older restoration that brought 280k not too long ago. I actually like the look of this all be it photographically the red in the belt trim is a little too orange and if looks same way in person I might respray it to same silver/grey (I also would probably not have trimmed the top in grey, but looks ok enough). I particularly like that the tire cover face plate matches the body. I have never been a fan of grey leather and certainly never a fan of black leather (looks great in a little English sports car, but turns into a cave in a late 20's-30's car, all be it better in roadsters/tourings as less dark). I see the AACA badge over the license plate so even if older restored it still is a well done car. Sidenote: I spent many many evenings and weekends fixing stuff on the Packard Twelve Dual Cowl (pre-its current restoration) you see in the photos - it was in an estate tied to a bankruptcy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Interesting Thread: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 This is the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Ogstedt Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 On 9/23/2015 at 2:04 PM, alsancle said: Here is a period picture of a sedan in Europe. Note the trafficators and modified headlights. Does anyone know this car. It has been in Sweden from 1932 to about 10—15 years ago. The picture is from 1968 at a car show. I have been told that the car now is in the Chicago area. If someone recognizes it and know we’re it is to day I would be glad. The color picture is from abut the same time the black/white is older, maybe 30-ties . //Henrik, Sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) On 2/9/2019 at 6:48 AM, alsancle said: I think the location is a big problem. There is no easy way to get to south east Idaho. A solid 4 hour drive from Salt Lake. After you get to Salt Lake. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/reo/royale/2173933.html To get to see the car, fly into Jackson, WY, which has commercial jet service. From there to Driggs, ID it's 33 miles -- from the airport: 42 miles/58 minutes(according to Google Maps). The downside is you have some white-knuckle driving going over 8,400' Teton Pass. It's a paved state highway -- but you need to know a little about mountain driving.The upside is the outrageous scenery, and other attractions in the Tetons. Edited March 28, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) On April 13th & 14th, cars from the J & R Vintage Auto Museum will be auctioned in Peoria, Arizona at a Silver Auction. A couple of Buicks, a couple of Packards, a Marmon, and some others. There was a Reo Royale in this Rio Rancho, NM collection, but perhaps it sold sometime earlier(not among the 15 or 20 cars illustrated on the auction site). Maybe someone here knows. Kind of an unusual color combination: Edited March 19, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 On 3/19/2019 at 2:54 PM, jeff_a said: Kind of an unusual color combination: Yes, kind of. Easy fix though - the blue hood doors are awkward and/or the black trim around the hood doors is awkward and the radiator shutters are awkward too. The blue wheels look fine and perhaps a blue pinstripe on the car to match would be nice. And, needs spare tire covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 On 3/23/2019 at 3:54 PM, John_Mereness said: Yes, kind of. Easy fix though - the blue hood doors are awkward and/or the black trim around the hood doors is awkward and the radiator shutters are awkward too. The blue wheels look fine and perhaps a blue pinstripe on the car to match would be nice. And, needs spare tire covers. Fix the hoods and make the wheels fender color with black walls and you have something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 6 hours ago, alsancle said: Fix the hoods and make the wheels fender color with black walls and you have something. A darker wheel would be nice too (that being said though, my rule is usually the lighter the wheel the better it looks with blackwalls and the darker the wheel the more generally it looks better with DOUBLE WHITEWALLS (a Photoshop project to figure out best route though). As mentioned, always grief getting "top dollar" without a discount selling cars that look "1970's." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 Compare this 8-35 sedan with the nice blue one for sale in Europe. I’m thinking this one is a 30-35k car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 On 3/26/2019 at 7:11 PM, alsancle said: Compare this 8-35 sedan with the nice blue one for sale in Europe. I’m thinking this one is a 30-35k car. I get the impression that the car is not part of the auction and/or perhaps was just on loan for display at the museum and for sale (aka page you found this on is not currently visible). https://www.silverauctionsaz.com/j-r-collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 (edited) News travels slow -- but I got the August Hemmings yesterday and see there's a Silver Auctions January Arizona sales report and it's pictured. Same colors. The writer, Jeff Koch, said it suffered from mismatched hubcaps and the wooden running boards needing stain. "Otherwise, this REO -- chock full of design elements that predated the era of streamlining -- presented elegantly in white, blue and navy." "...we'd wager $42,000 is an inexpensive way into owning a CCCA Full Classic." John, this Royale was one of several that sold pre-auction after the museum founder died{oddly enough .. re-sold at another Silver Auction 2 months before this one}. It looked like the JR Vintage Auto Museum was about half fairly static museum displays, and half Great Race entries that are really flogged on those cross-country time/speed/distance rallies where they cover the cars with stickers and install rally speedometers & clocks. Couple of gratuitous shots of The Great Race: ......1917 Peerless Mod. 56 V-Type Eight in its 22nd running of the event ...nice Auburn 851, I believe ................a 1927 Peerless Mod. 6-60 in the The 2018 Hemmings Motor News Great Race Edited July 5, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 I just noticed that the other day Jeff. Yeah, news doesn't travel very fast, does it? 42k seems a tad high but what do I know? The nicest sedan in the world (kind of) sold for over 100k a few years ago. Possible to change the wheel color and tires and it might not look so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 Here are some pictures of what had to be the largest gathering of Royale's in one place since the factory was making them. A friend of mine pulled it all together down in Texas over the weekend. I wish I could have been there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 (edited) West was nice enough to send this along from today's St John's concours. I believe the ribbon means 2nd in class. Edited July 28, 2019 by alsancle (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 Another angle I got from the son who showed the car for his dad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 That ribbon is not a class award, it’s a special award. See photo of the Pierce from the same show, with a special award ribbon on it. Too many shows ago for me to remember what it was for........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K8096 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Look closely at the tires of the victoria coupe just posted. The tires size in the sidemounts is smaller than what's on the ground. It's quite noticable when you look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 On 7/28/2019 at 7:56 PM, edinmass said: That ribbon is not a class award, it’s a special award. See photo of the Pierce from the same show, with a special award ribbon on it. Too many shows ago for me to remember what it was for........ Always liked the color - and Firestones and metal sidemount tire covers really completed look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 (edited) Interestingly the car was the Chicago Auto Show Car. It came with wire wheels and covers. When being restored in the 90’s the owner didn’t like them so he traded the wires and covers for steel artillery wheels........it was a nightmare to replace them. We ended up chroming the wheels as they didn’t look good in paint.(we tried one to see how it looked.) The car would win just about every trophy in the short time we had it. Put thousands of miles on it also. I sure miss the car, but you can’t keep them all. Each one of our cars usually ends up with a nickname, this one was “the trophy machine”. We were remembering it over dinner just the other night........OK, back to REO’s, or AJ won’t buy me dinner Thursday night at Pebble Beach next month! Edited July 30, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 23 hours ago, K8096 said: Look closely at the tires of the victoria coupe just posted. The tires size in the sidemounts is smaller than what's on the ground. It's quite noticable when you look at it. A typical issue with sidemounts. Today's tires, even the period correct reproductions are usually too big for the wheel wells. The Royale should have 650-18 tires. Btw, Ed, keep your Pierce Arrow stuff over in the Pierce thread! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) On 7/30/2019 at 8:59 PM, alsancle said: A typical issue with sidemounts. Today's tires, even the period correct reproductions are usually too big for the wheel wells. The Royale should have 650-18 tires. Btw, Ed, keep your Pierce Arrow stuff over in the Pierce thread! Yep, often the case via such as the Royale Opera Coupe is that tires are not very true in size and causes all hell to break loose when trying to fit metal spare tire covers and get wheel hubs and ... in the proper place to align with the brackets. Sometimes you can work around and some times you just need smaller tires in the wells (and sometimes a little larger tire generally looks better if you can pull it off). When Charles Koch and I restored the 1931 Auburn Phaeton, I believe we actually reworked the sidemount tire fender wells to get a little larger tire on the car (Bedford Double Whites as well) - really changes car's looks for the better too (of course that was in the mid 1980's too). Edited August 3, 2019 by John_Mereness (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 (edited) Aj, putting a photo of a Pierce sure adds class and sophistication to a REO thread......I’m sure you agree. 😎 PS - It was related.....the gold ribbon was on both cars. Edited July 31, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 Here is a RHD Royale for sale in New Zeland. You can PM me for the email of the seller. 1931 Reo Royale Sedan 35N Series The Reo brand of prestige automobiles was founded by R.E. Olds and was exported to several countries including New Zealand. This model is now quite rare in NZ and needs a new caretaker. It has been in our family for the past 50 years during which time it has been driven and stored undercover. The REO engine was very popular and later used in commercial vehicles. It is a straight eight cylinder,5861 cc with 125bhp. It runs well and has done 68,000 miles. Recent work includes a new mechanical fuel pump, reconditioned carburettor, new spark leads and spark plugs. The brakes are hydraulic and have recently been overhauled. The tyres are in good condition with 2 spares. The electrics are still 6 volt and the battery is new. The body was designed by Murray Corp and is in good original condition. There is some wear on the fabric in places. Very little superficial rust is evident. The paint is original with a couple of chips. Minor work required on the lights. A handbook, spare head gasket and luggage trunk are included. Registration is on hold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 That’s a big beast.......and I like it! 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Doesn't have the traditional Royale radiator shell. Not sure if that is an export thing or a modification that happened over time. Also, it has the long wheelbase, but the hoods from the short wheelbase car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 The radiator shell and hood look to be from a 1931 REO Flying Cloud Model 30, which because those also shared the 358 ci straight eight would be long enough. Perhaps an export detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted August 30, 2019 Author Share Posted August 30, 2019 See attached picture of what I believe is the San Fransico Auto Show, circa 1931. Note the two different types of sidemount covers. The Victoria with wood wheels has what we consider the factory covers, but the coupe in the background and the sedan behind it have a different type of cover. 100% paint, with a trim ring around the top and side cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stvaughn Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, alsancle said: See attached picture of what I believe is the San Fransico Auto Show, circa 1931. Note the two different types of sidemount covers. The Victoria with wood wheels has what we consider the factory covers, but the coupe in the background and the sedan behind it have a different type of cover. 100% paint, with a trim ring around the top and side cover. Not trying to intrude on a Royale thread but: I have a set of the covers like what’s on that coupe that came with my 1933 REO Model S Elite Coupe. They seem to be sized for a 6:00-17 tire. The sidewall cover fits the 17” wheel fine but the O.D. Is to large for a 5:25-5:50 tire and the outer cover is a really tight fit on a 6:50-17 tire. I don’t know if they are factory or aftermarket and I don’t know what size tires the 33 Model S came with but the 6:50-17 tire just barely fits in the fender well while the 5:25-5:50 looks way to small. Edited August 30, 2019 by stvaughn Add (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted August 30, 2019 Author Share Posted August 30, 2019 Post a picture if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stvaughn Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 One of the outer bands is missing the SS trim and both of the sidewall trims are missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stvaughn Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 Mounted on 6:50-17 tire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Mereness Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Reproduction tires can be a bear to fit under original covers. I have at times had to buy multiple sizes and brands to attempt to get something that works - kind of expensive and time consuming. I did learn a little trick - you can take a grinder and knock off the very edges of the tire tread and the metal covers often fit much better. And, rarely do I find a cover that will fit on a fully inflated tire. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Every John said is true. Usually the tires are under inflated or not inflated at all and the grinder trick helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 I traveled from Boston to Driggs Idaho to to check this car out. It will soon have a new top on it. One of about 9 known Reo Royale Convertible coupes. I've bought a car from this seller in the past and he's a good, honest guy. The price is very reasonable and he is willing to listen to partial trades. PM me if you want more info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 Here is an updated description on the convertible coupe. He is asking 110 or best offer. 1932 REO Royale, 8-35 Convertible Coupe, Jade Mist/Elk Green. My father acquired this “one of fifty” rare convertibles in 1997 after locating it in Seattle. He was able to verify the unique serial numbers and provenance (old registrations, history and pics) to ensure its authenticity. He immediately began the restoration and removed the fenders and body. While he was doing cleaning and reassembly on the chassis in his shop, he had the body work completed to strip and paint it the original jade mist/elk green. The car is now finished in a beautiful and correct two- tone green, light and dark. He put years of time and effort into getting this car “correct”, collecting parts and having things chromed. The original top was missing and some wood work and original sections of the metal panels around the beltline for the convertible had been damaged, so he had metal fabricated and welded into place, deleting some of the original wooden structures to make it solid and last forever. He knew these modified areas would not be visible once the top was installed. However, he never completed final assembly or the convertible top, but believed he had all the necessary parts. Since his passing 10 years ago, I have relocated the car to my shop in Idaho and for the past 5 years have been carefully fitting and attaching the remaining parts he collected. I have installed a new wiring harness (from Harness Unlimited) and routed wires to nearly all components, except some dash lights/etc. The engine starts and runs, sounds smooth, but hasn’t been fine-tuned yet. I have driven it around the block and it seems to drive and operate properly. I am uncertain of any internal work he may have done to the engine, tranny or rear end, but do know it has all new brakes and can see evidence of new seals in the rear end. He had many spare engines, transmissions and rear ends, so I firmly believe he knew these components were all in good operable condition. Most recently, I assembled and fitted the top bows which he had fabricated from identical components off his 1931 “plum car”. The convertible top assembly now folds up and down and I have temporarily tacked an older canvas top into place (also rom the plum car), which can be used as a good template to fabricate and install a completely new canvas top. There are only a few other items that are missing to complete the restoration: Cigar lighter insert, passenger door lock, right side parking light lens and cover, and 2 round chrome fasteners on the top landaus. 1932 REO Royale 8-35 Convertible Coupe Jade Mist/Elk Green Serial No. - 35N8119 (renumbered from 35N2692 at the factory) Engine No. N5053 Body No. – plate missing Frame No. – 35N 3004 Dietrich No. – 5155 plate missing History: In 1931 -1932 REO had 50 REO Royale convertible coupes hand built by Dietrich. At this time, only 9 are known to survive. Final Inspection June 15, 1932 Originally shipped to R.E. Puckett Car Acct, Portland OR, June 1932 1932 Sold to Bohoskey Sheep Company, North Portland Stockyards, Portland OR Robert L. Huff (OR) - 19?? - 1967 Wally Stirling (OR) – 1967 – 1997 John Barker (SC) – 1997 - present Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted September 6, 2019 Author Share Posted September 6, 2019 This is an very original convertible coupe that just privately changed hands. I like the blackwalls and suggested to Bill that they might look good on his car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 (edited) Are the green car and the unrestored blue car on the same chassis? It's probably the photos, but the green car looks considerably longer. I also think the whitewalls work well on the green car because of the dark wheels. I'd keep 'em! Edited September 6, 2019 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted September 6, 2019 Author Share Posted September 6, 2019 The two cars are identical except for paint and tire color. They are both 135" wheelbases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 The green car would be soo much more attractive if you chromed the lock rings and put black tires on it. I would also put a dark green top on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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