Stearns Knight

[Cookie Man]

1928

I am interested in purchasing it.

PM me 

Darryl

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, Cookie Man said:

1928

I am interested in purchasing it.

PM me 

Darryl

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285025558023

[Wk66B]

On 11/26/2016 at 10:39 AM, alsancle said:

I think the gray long wheelbase sedan was back on eBay not too long ago.   Here is the Brunn.

I remember Art & Sarah in this car!

[edinmass]

The Brunn looks a bit different lately. It was put back to factory wheel treatment. I think it looks much better.

 

 

[prewarnut]

   Is this one of those cars that OSHA requires you to remove the radiator mascot in the shop so no one gets hurt?😁

[alsancle]

33 minutes ago, prewarnut said:

   Is this one of those cars that OSHA requires you to remove the radiator mascot in the shop so no one gets hurt?😁

I have a nice new chromed plain cap for my car. The problem is that if I take the knight off, there’s three different guys telling me I have to give it to them. And I don’t know which one to give it to.

[edinmass]

The answer is obvious. Or I’ll make it smoke again. 

[alsancle]

3 hours ago, edinmass said:

The answer is obvious. Or I’ll make it smoke again. 

It would seem obvious, But don’t forget about Mark and Chris.

[John_Mereness]

On 11/12/2022 at 7:48 AM, alsancle said:

I have a nice new chromed plain cap for my car. The problem is that if I take the knight off, there’s three different guys telling me I have to give it to them. And I don’t know which one to give it to.

Leave the Mascot on the car - you are now an official ambassador of Stearns Knight and it requires an ornament to keep the flame going - sorry, just the way these things work. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

[alsancle]

6 hours ago, John_Mereness said:

Leave the Mascot on the car - you are now an official ambassador of Stearns Knight and it requires an ornament to keep the flame going - sorry, just the way these things work. 

John, I think you are right. Goes against my aesthetics,  but it does stand out, and people ask about it.  I’ll leave it on.

[John_Mereness]

5 hours ago, alsancle said:

John, I think you are right. Goes against my aesthetics,  but it does stand out, and people ask about it.  I’ll leave it on.

Good choice !!!

 

 Goal is to get as many out of dusty garages as possible and for you to not be one of the "just the three" people running one around to events.  They are great cars and need to be more popular.  Basically, "Plane Jane" does not cut it. 

 

 

[charlespetty]

From a glass plate negative in my archives.  

[Mark66A]

On 12/23/2022 at 2:19 PM, charlespetty said:

From a glass plate negative in my archives.  

Photo was used in March 22, 1928 issue of Motor age in an article introducing the new "Deluxe Line".

[West Peterson]

On 12/4/2022 at 11:39 AM, John_Mereness said:

Good choice !!!

 

 Goal is to get as many out of dusty garages as possible and for you to not be one of the "just the three" people running one around to events.  They are great cars and need to be more popular.  Basically, "Plane Jane" does not cut it. 

 

 

 

Just an opinion, of course. There are just as many of us who strongly believe that less is so much more.

[John_Mereness]

3 minutes ago, West Peterson said:

 

Just an opinion, of course. There are just as many of us who strongly believe that less is so much more.

  Yes, but the problem is that 99.9% of the Stearns Knight cars have not seen the light of day on a show field (or anywhere in the general public for that matter) in 30 plus years so blending them into the woodwork is just not going to cut the grade at this point.

[John_Mereness]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:19 PM, charlespetty said:

From a glass plate negative in my archives.  

This particular SK was the first 1920's/1930's car my dad looked to purchase in late 1960's/very early 1970's - Dave Bell, the President of the WOKR was one of dad's first employees and was daily driving a 1929 Stearns Knight 6 Cylinder Coupe.

[Mark66A]

The photo of the 1928 Brunn Town Cabriolet proves that more than one were built. Cookie Man's car has 1929 bumpers and a 1929 Sparton horn. The one in the above photo has a 1928 bumper and a 1928 curved Bosh horn (which used a different mount on the headlight bar).  Interesting that these two Brunn bodies used the same door handles while the Brunn now shivering in northern Rhode Island has different handles.

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Mark66A (see edit history)

[alsancle]

2 hours ago, Mark66A said:

The photo of the 1928 Brunn Town Cabriolet proves that more than one were built. Cookie Man's car has 1929 bumpers and a 1929 Sparton horn. The one in the above photo has a 1928 bumper and a 1928 curved Bosh horn (which used a different mount on the headlight bar).  Interesting that these two Brunn bodies used the same door handles while the Brunn now shivering in northern Rhode Island has different handles.

 

 

The garage is at least 55 degrees.   I started it today and was shocked how easy it was given it has sat for a couple of months.   Almost like a mechanical genius sorted it.

[edinmass]

 

🤔Wouldn’t have expected anything less. 
 

Remind me to send you the final bill………….

Edited January 2, 2023 by edinmass (see edit history)

[alsancle]

2 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 

🤔Wouldn’t have expected anything less. 
 

Remind me to send you the final bill………….

 

Who are you?

[edinmass]

1 minute ago, alsancle said:

 

Who are you?

The guy you owe seven grand…….plus late fees. I do take used car trades as payment……must be pre war. How about that Cord you have that doesn’t move? We can call it even. Phil and I will have if fixed in 24 hours. Only because we need sleep……otherwise it would be 12.

[alsancle]

[charlespetty]

6 hours ago, alsancle said:

According to my notes in my copy of the 1986 Harrah's auction catalog this Stearns-Knight sold for $35,000.  I distinctly remember that the poor tow car couldn't pull it up the ramp to the auction platform it was so heavy.

[alsancle]

Just now, charlespetty said:

According to my notes in my copy of the 1986 Harrah's auction catalog this Stearns-Knight sold for $35,000.  I distinctly remember that the poor tow car couldn't pull it up the ramp to the auction platform it was so heavy.

 

A lot of money in 1986.

[Cookie Man]

In the December 1928 issue of Autobody it mentions that this body style was being built for each of the four salons held that year. On my car the Brunn body tag indicates body # 1. The chassis number on my car is the lowest number listed in the WOKR directory for J chassis. I would guess that mine was updated for the 1929 salon which in the catalogue a rendering of the car was advertised. So perhaps mine was the first of four built in 1928 and used the following year with no others built.

[alsancle]

I think mine is body number four.  My guess is that there are 4 total bodies of all styles. I don’t think they made four of each style.

[Cookie Man]

Here is the mention of your car in the article. Is your design number the same?

[John_Mereness]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:35 PM, alsancle said:

 

A lot of money in 1986.

It was apparently a lot of money in the late 1960's/early 1970's too

[edinmass]

 

1986, and the engine has an “internal noise”……..and it sells for 35K! Interesting mental illness! 35 years later I wonder if the noise is any better? And they ARE heavy…….

[Cookie Man]

Very quiet now. Total rebuild 2002.

[edinmass]

Twenty years ago……doesn’t seem that long ago.

[Mark66A]

Here are some ramblings and observations of the F. B. Stearns Company’s last few years of existence.

 

Ownership of Stearns changed in December 1925 when it was purchased by J.N. Willys. His intent was to add a high-end car to the Willys Overland company; however, he did not integrate the companies. F.B. Stearns had resigned from the Stearns company in 1917 due to serious health issues. Following that event, Stearns was run by “bankers” who focused on generating dividends with little thought to the product offerings. As a result, by the 1925 to ’26 era they were offering a confusing array of models – the B (Big four) 4 cyl followed by the models C, S, and D – all 6-cylinder cars varying slightly in displacement or design. The new management ordered changes. New model F (6 cylinder) and G (8 cylinder) went into development and all the existing models were dropped by the end of ’26. The F was dropped prior to the end of ’28 in favor of adopting the successful Willys Knight Great Six chassis and drive train fitted with series coachwork. These were offered as the M – 125” WB and the N – 136” WB. Their appearance was of a slightly shrunk H or J car.  The G car was essentially the F car fitted with the eight engines which had a few issues. The H and J cars had a completely redesigned heavier chassis and updated coachwork. Production was never large at Stearns. Total production of all models: in ’25 was 1,931, in ’26 - 2,128, in ‘27 - 822, in ’28 - 985 and in ’29 - 2,283. The eight-cylinder production between ’27 through ’29 was: G 640, H (137” WB) 371 and J (145” WB) 509.  J.N. Willys sold all his shares in F.B. Stearns Company in mid-1929 and sailed for Europe to assume his role as an ambassador. Some references indicate he took with him his Stearns All Weather Town Cabriolet by Brunn.   On December 20, 1929, the shareholders voted to close the company – some believe the vote was influenced by the loss of the backing of J.N. Willys as well as a dire financial situation.

 

You may have wondered how Stearns, under its new management, could develop the new eight engine so quickly.  Having studied the Stearns and Willys companies in minute detail, Art Aseltine told me that he was convinced the Willys Knight Great Six engine and the Stearns Knight Deluxe Eight were the result of design work by Pete Sterling. Sterling had been the chief engineer at Stearns practically from the beginning. He left Stearns sometime after F.B Stearns departure and attempted to start his own company – the Sterling Knight. Due to difficult post WW-I economics, his attempt failed and in 1925 the Sterling Knight company assets were sold at auction. I have seen one reference indicating that J.N. Willys purchased at least some of the Sterling Knight assets. Let’s call that a rumor until I can again locate the reference.  If that is accurate, it puts some meat on the bones of Art’s theory.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Mark66A (see edit history)

[Mark66A]

Brunn bodied cars - Speculation

In 1984 in Grosse Pointe Woods. MI David R. Crippen interviewed Gordon Buehrig as part of a series of “interviews with automotive and industrial designers that have influenced the course of the industry.” I obtained a copy of the transcription of the (35 page) interview. In this interview Buehrig discusses the process a body company would go through to build a car after the drawings were completed. He said” we would actually build a sample body framework directly off the body draft. And when that was finished, it would be put together just the way a finished a body would be put together except that we: would not use any glue. We'd put the screws in and screw the whole thing together, and then that was a final checkout for the body framework. After that was done, the body framework parts were all given names and part numbers. The body then was disassembled, and each part was marked with its part number and was shellacked and put in the tool room. That was our tooling…..”  The tooling was used to make enough parts for the entire order. Those parts were stored and eventually assembled as final orders were received. Several pages later Buehrig discusses his time at Duesenberg and noted that when a new body was designed they would order up to ten from the coachwork supplier. The coachwork firm would use their “tooling” to cut out framework parts for the entire order and put them in storage. When a body was needed they would retrieve the wooden parts and assemble the framework for that body. It is inferred that the car company had paid for the framework parts for the complete order.

In the case of Stearns, their data book and pricing documents described two Brunn bodies. An “All Weather Cabriolet” and an “All Weather Town Brougham” both by Brunn. The two Brunn offerings were listed as being on the 145” J chassis. The “Victoria” body (A.J.’s) is not listed in these documents. Based on the general body building information from Buehrig and on the two Brunn bodies being listed in Stearns advertising documents, I would not hesitate to assume that at least several of those bodies were built. Regarding the Victoria, I have to assume that wood would have been cut for five bodies. The chassis number of A.J.s Victoria is very near the end of our records. That, the precarious financial condition of Stearns in late ’29 and no evidence of another, would support one car…. But nobody knows!

Edited January 17, 2023 by Mark66A (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

At the Tampa auto museum. An interesting place.  I went to see the two Owen Magnetic cars they have but they were off display today. They apologized profusely to me.  I enjoyed the museum.  A European flavor is well represented.  This 1913 Stearns Knight SK6 was a formidable and handsome ride. 

 

[alsancle]

On 1/28/2023 at 4:18 PM, John Bloom said:

At the Tampa auto museum. An interesting place.  I went to see the two Owen Magnetic cars they have but they were off display today. They apologized profusely to me.  I enjoyed the museum.  A European flavor is well represented.  This 1913 Stearns Knight SK6 was a formidable and handsome ride.

 

It is the only known example of this model.  It sat in a very nice private museum next to my car for a number of years.

[Peterwoyen]

It is a beautiful car.  I believe it was restored by Art Aseltine, Forbestown, CA

[alsancle]

15 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

It is a beautiful car.  I believe it was restored by Art Aseltine, Forbestown, CA

Yes. I believe Art bought it out of Harrahs.

[Peterwoyen]

Just now, alsancle said:

Yes. I believe Art bought it out of Harrahs.

That sounds right.  Art owned it, restored it and then sold it I think.  I believe he owned the big maroon one of Pat Barnes in the AACA museum as well.  

[John Bloom]

The car had such a big elegant presence about it. It looked pretty fresh, when was the restoration done?  Perhaps the in-house crew at the Tampa auto museum has freshened it up.

[alsancle]

From 1978 talking about Art buying the car.