smithbrother Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Barney is from Indiana, Frankfort to be exact. He stopped in with his brother a couple years ago, and Sharon and I are meeting him and his wife this week. He is trying to set up a visit to a private local car museum for this Friday. Looking forward to seeing/visiting with him again. I'll take my Buick Bug model for him to see. Barney has posted some very informative Reatta bits of information, I'm sure lots of Reatta owners have benefited from such. Dale in Indy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted September 15, 2017 Author Share Posted September 15, 2017 Wife and I traveled 50 miles north to Frankfort, In. this morning to meet up with Barney, and his bride. They. Live in. Texas, but Frankfort is where they grew up, and many family members now live. We enjoyed a good lunch with them, and I learned all about his car interest. Seems he has owned approx, 20 plus Reatta's, a bunch of. Covairs, plus a few Vettes, Barney is a true car guy, and is very well informed on many auto issues. He had arranged for a private tour of the local Goodwin museum. Very interesting collection of high end cars of the past. So it was a very enjoyable time. Dale in Indy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Wish I were there. How's the farmers ? enough rain this year ? Barney is a walking Reatta encyclopedia :) Mine's been doing well, driving like a new car. I hope your Reatta never breaks down 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Geez Barney- a thread, dedicated to just meeting you I guess you're some kind of Celebrity to some Folks I've appreciated your advice from time to time, and your knowledge base for Reatta is impressive. Thanks to everyone who contributes their stuff here, to help each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Don't get too excited and no need to put meeting me on your bucket list......you would probably be disappointed. I have pictures of Dale and his wife as well as pictures at the Goodwin museum, I will post them here next week when I get home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91vert Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 Ant pic's of the Bug ? Cal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share Posted September 19, 2017 Barney took pictures of me holding the Bug, it really shows the size. i guessing he will post it, maybe. Dale in Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 (edited) Back home in Texas and here are the promised photos of Dale and the Bug. Frankfort is where I was born, went to HS, and lived until the spring of 1965. In the background is the top of the Court House. The Bug model is unbelievable and seeing it in person is necessary to truly appreciate the work and skill that went into the model. After eating on the square, we toured the car collection at the Goodwin funeral home. It is not a large collection but any collection with 2 Duesenbergs, and a Tucker is worth seeing. Not shown on the right of the bronze Cord is the other Duesenberg and a 1948 Plymouth woody wagon, the Plymouth wood bodys were made in Frankfort from 1937 until 1949 when the woodies were no longer made. The black Dueenberg was constructed in the '70's from a picture (in front of the car) , next is a 1940 Cadillac convertible, then 2 Packards with V12 engines. and at the far end not visible is a 1940 LeSalle. Old high wheel bikes hang from the ceiling. Update......forgot about the two Miller Indy race cars on the rack next to the Tucker so I added that photo. Edited September 23, 2017 by Barney Eaton (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Wow, Dale- that car is nice! From you guys calling it a "Bug" I thought it was going to be a VW Beetle So- what is that exactly? Does it run? Steer? Composition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91vert Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Very nice Dale. The attention to detail is amazing. Would that be solid wood or hollow inside ? Cal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Guess someone needs to explain the BUG. In the early days of the auto industry, racing was part of the testing and advertising. Most of the early "racers" were stripped down roadsters. In early 1910 Buick wanted something that would "startle" the competition. Officially they were call Buick 60 Specials and 2 were made. They had a 622 cubic inch 4 cylinder engine, the black thing over the hood was the radiator (note the bullet nose and no opening for cooling air) The bodies were aluminum, the spoke wheels were covered with aluminum discs to cut wind resistance. one reports says they ran 105 mph at Indianapolis They raced for 2 seasons and some of the drivers were Louis Chevrolet, Ray Howard, Bob Burman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 The Buick Bug is a 1/4th scale, 36" long. Barney has the REST OF THE STORY CORRECT. Thanks to the Buick Gallery in Flint for providing me with lots of photo's/measurements. Dave Langdon of this site was my go to person, he did a wonderful job of supplying me with photo's/info. He arranged a private showing of the Bug to me and bride Sharon, for the 'record' Sharon is 77 TODAY. Wonderful person, been my best friend for nearly sixty years. The Bug is wood, I took am old picnic table made with 2 X 8"s, glued five sections together that were 36" long. Carved/shaped the body, then gutted it out to approx. 1/4". Scratch built, no plans, not a kit, no YouTube help, I took the pictures, and measurements and built it. DuPont automotive paints, color sanded to 2000, then two part clear. It won first place in a art show this past June. Approx. 2000 hours, lots of failed pieces, but failure is not a bad thing. The Bug was my 10th. large scale piece. working on two more right now, and a 1946 NOS Buick grill turning it into a giant BOOM BOX. Now if only I could learn how to build a VISOR, right Ben? Dale in Indy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booreatta Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 there is a video of the bug running at Jay Leno garage.it is on you tube.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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