Then and now: where did these prewar cars go?

[StanleyRegister 140]

Heh heh...  There've been lots of people who have built one car, and several people who built multiple cars, but the man from Chambersburg was probably the most prolific.  I'd guess between 50 and 100 cars on the list have histories that start after 1960.

[dibarlaw 1,484]

There is still a machine Shop outside of Chambersburg that make some Stanley parts. I have lived in the area since 1985 and it was very unusual for me to NOT see a Stanley at least once a week in town in the 1980s.

[1937hd45 2,317]

2 hours ago, A. Ballard 35R said:

Of those 800, how many do you think were built in Newton, Ma. versus those made in Chambersburg, Pa. ?

One of my best finds ever was a 30HP Stanley rear axle. I was the first guy to spot the small hand written sign at the Bennington, VT. Swap Meet, back when it was held at the airport. I also had the hundred dollars and paid in full before even seeing it. Some contractor snagged it with a backhoe, rusty but all there hub cap to hub cap. I flipped it to a local Stanley guy who in turn flipped it to the fellow in Chambersburg. Who's Mountain Wagon is it now? We lost three major Stanley owners/restorers in the past 10 years, sure was fun seeing them driving around. 

 

Bob

[gossp 343]

It could be a race car now. 

 

I know of at least one “fake” mountain wagon that made that transformation.

[StanleyRegister 140]

Hmm, is it on the roster?  Here are direct links to a special Mountain Wagon page, and the page with the Vanderbilt Cup racer recreations.  (Again, apologies for how far behind they are.)

 

http://www.stanleyregister.net/MW.html

http://www.stanleyregister.net/VCR.html

 

A lot of Carl's Mountain Wagons and his Vanderbilt cars used 20hp engines.

[1937hd45 2,317]

That Mountain Wagon Registry was a Very Interesting read, any plans to do one on 1909 Fords? 😉

 

 

Bob 

[StanleyRegister 140]

I can hear the mortar rounds exploding around my head already...  😕

[StanleyRegister 140]

Here's a photo of a 1922 Stanley that was taken at one of the Larz Anderson meets.  The quality is very good and belies what I suspect is the age of the photo.  Is there any info around on the attendees of those early meets?  I see a little marker on the ground that maybe indicates the car was in Class 8.

[edinmass 4,381]

That Lars Anderson photo is very early, looks like late 50’ or early 60’s. Just about all the old timers from that era are gone. Fred Roe would have photos and names with each car from back then, he had thousands of photos from thr 30’s to the 80’s that he took around Boston, his files are now in the hands of race maker press.

Edited January 27, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history)

[1937hd45 2,317]

It would be fun to have a stream car, I've always thought it was good luck leaving the church in the back of Bob Mead's 20HP 40 years ago. An early KRIT (Keep Right In Town) Stanley or Loco would be nice. I think I've a total of two later condensing models all the local steam guys thought of them an engine are rear axle donors, is there a good survival rate  on them, are they more complicated than the coffin nose versions? Bob

[gossp 343]

4 hours ago, StanleyRegister said:

Hmm, is it on the roster?  Here are direct links to a special Mountain Wagon page, and the page with the Vanderbilt Cup racer recreations.  (Again, apologies for how far behind they are.)

 

http://www.stanleyregister.net/MW.html

http://www.stanleyregister.net/VCR.html

 

A lot of Carl's Mountain Wagons and his Vanderbilt cars used 20hp engines.

I wouldn’t be able to connect one to the roster, but sure as hell enjoyed taking a look at it!

 

The vehicle I saw may have sported a 20 horse engine. Was being built in the mid 90’s. I was a bit disgusted by the ripped apart mountain wagon to build a “speedster,” as I called it. The response I got was that the mountain wagon was fake and all wrong anyways!  I would have been in my teens at the time, my father was just getting into brass and I was all about steam, so I recall the build. Had to have been in the Midwest because we wouldn’t have traveled too far from Indiana for tours at that time. 

[StanleyRegister 140]

There are lots of condensing Stanleys, and all factory cars, because nobody bothers to fake them.  They don't have the same snap as the non-condensers, and they don't sell for as much, either.  There's a bit more complexity, but not much.  They're still a fine drive when they're in good order.  I bet one earlier respondent spent plenty of time in the back seat of one.  🙂

[StanleyRegister 140]

Thanks gossp, I'll definitely keep an eye out for something that matches this story!

[dibarlaw 1,484]

Looks like this 1913 Buick model 31 was at one of those 1950s meets. 

This is the best resolution I have. 

It seems to have lived in Michigan for some years then to retirement in Florida that back north to Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania.

 

When I tried to buy it from the original restorer/owner's step son in 2015.

         

I later saw it at the flea market at Hershey 2016. The indication was that it was sold and going to England.

[StanleyRegister 140]

Earlier than the Stanley photo?  Less ivy on the upper left of the building?

[twin6 389]

Here's another silent film courtesy of the AACA library, loaded with interesting vehicles, people and even the flea market from an AACA meet in Gettysburg, 1964.  Great "then and now" fodder.

[edinmass 4,381]

Great film, I think some of the same swap meet parts on the table were at the Hershey Fall Meet this year! Lots of things change, while others remain the same. It's sad the steam cars are such a rare sight today, back in the 60's and 70's we expected to see a few at every decent local show. 

[8E45E 697]

Nice, sharp imagery in that film!

 

Its interesting to see the number of young families who appear to be the owners of these cars seen in the film.  I don't think the ratio of young families owning cars like that are nowhere near as high today.

 

Craig

[Taylormade 576]

While certainly not anywhere near the quality or rarity of most of the cars on this thread, my 1932 Dodge Brothers DL sedan has a rather interesting story in the "where did they go" category.  In 1965, I bought this car while a sophomore at Syracuse University.  The picture below is the day I purchased it.  It was owned by one of the professors at the school and came out of Maryland.

 

 

Back then it was just an old car, 33 years old, but even then, prewar cars were a bit unusual and it always attracted a certain amount of attention around the campus.  I always thought it was a particularly nice looking car, even though the Dodge Brothers eights had a slightly longer hood.  Sadly, in 1967 I was forced to sell my beloved old heap and a fellow fraternity brother, Phil Kennedy, took possession of my car.  Here's a photo Phil (now Editor of the Dodge Brothers Club Magazine) took soon after he acquired it.  Not bad for a mid-priced car.

 

 

After college, I lost track of Phil and my old car, often wondering if it had survived, who now owned it and where it was.  I bought and restored other cars, but the Dodge was always in the back of my mind.  Then, while reconnecting with another fraternity brother a few years ago, Phil's name came up and the discussion came around to the old Dodge.  He said Phil still owned the car!  I was stunned.  In, fact, it could be seen in his driveway in the then current Goggle Earth photo of Phil's house.  I managed to contact Phil and discovered the car had been slumbering in his grandmother's (now his) garage since 1970.  He had since purchased another very original DL and told me he wasn't up for restoring my/his car - would I be interested in buying it back!  I flew to Connecticut and laid eyes on my first car after 44 years.  There it was, in the garage, just waiting for me.

 

 

I'm almost done restoring her and hope to have her back on the road this summer.

 

 

 

 

[Ozstatman 283]

Great story! 👍

[8E45E 697]

I love full-closure stories like this with a great ending.

 

Craig

[Linus Tremaine 61]

1930  lincoln shown in 1935 in front of Crumwold hall in Hyde Park NY, Again in 1952 after serving as a fleet vehicle on a ranch in Dubois, wyoming and being retired and again today. 

[1937hd45 2,317]

^^^^ Nice looking Lincoln, just add gas & oil. Bob 

[automuseum 22]

Great provenance...

Thought you would enjoy seeing these photos of the three owners of the 1917 Crane-Simplex at the Seal Cove Auto Museum.

1. The car parked in the portico of Tor Court, the home of its original owner Evaline Kimball Salisbury.

2. The car with its second owner Pauline Snook, on tour in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

3. The car as it looks today since its acquisition by its third owner *Richard C. Paine Jr., for his Seal Cove Auto Museum.

* Richard C. Paine Jr. Automobile Charitable Trust.

 

The Crane-Simplex is in original, unrestored, condition with the initials E.K.S. (Evaline Kimball Salisbury) still visible on the back doors.

Crane Model 5, serial number 2308, 46 HP. Coachwork by C.P. Kimball.

[twin6 389]

On 1/29/2019 at 11:54 AM, Taylormade said:

While certainly not anywhere near the quality or rarity of most of the cars on this thread, my 1932 Dodge Brothers DL sedan has a rather interesting story in the "where did they go" category. 

 

Thank you for sharing this.  While I can't speak for others, the value of the story transcends the value of the car.  Especially when the span of time in the "then and now" is decades and there's a happy ending.  The make of car isn't necessarily what makes the story interesting, so I hope others will share some of theirs.  I doubt anyone will identify this humble T, but I'd venture a guess the current owner would not turn down this snapshot if someone could identify the car as theirs.  It's a part of that car's history.