The phone rang... and then the next car adventure starts

[edinmass]

The White - white color- town car is registered as a 1915, but it’s a mid year 16, and probably a family prototype as it has a two plug head, and a battery and mag ignition. Nice car that is currently running. Here is a photo. The yellow car is a 1917, currently still in the museum. It’s a shorter wheelbase than my car....124 VS 139. It too was a White family car...........notice the headlights......a sure giveaway MOST of the time is the lights and splash aprons. There are a few small 1916 4-45 cars with the 1917 style lights........but the different chassis can be determined by splash aprons.....it’s all confusing to people who haven’t studied it.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[padgett]

Love the horn but where is the bulb, is it electric ?

[edinmass]

Yes, the White car is 18 volts, the yellow car is 12 volt.

[Dave Henderson]

9 hours ago, padgett said:

Love the horn but where is the bulb, is it electric ?

It's a boa constrictor horn, blown by squeezing a rubber bulb.

[padgett]

Is what I thunk but where is the bulb ?

[edinmass]

Well....it was a shxt week.......but things got better this afternoon. I was gifted this neat item.......which I was desperately looking for. Now we can get along ten times easier..........and much faster. Never thought I would own a 105 year old tap and die set for the crazy USS thread the White car uses. Look closely at where the set came from.........one of the “Three P’s“! 

[edinmass]

A local photographer fell in love with the White, and wants to do a shoot with the car. He took a few photos today, and I must admit......he is talented.

[SC38dls]

Car looks great but I think you need a better looking model next to it! 

[edinmass]

2 minutes ago, SC38DLS said:

Car looks great but I think you need a better looking model next to it! 

We sacrifice looks for mechanical talent..........it’s a good trade off when driving a 104 year old car. Sorry about the face, but at least I have a good personality!

[RossWalkup]

Padgett the bulb for the serpent horn is probably on the floor to push with your foot that was where the bulb was for the horn on my 1910 White steamer

[edinmass]

UPDATE:

 

 

A forum member drove ten hours today to come and see the White tomorrow. We shall get his driving impressions after breakfast........👍

[padgett]

Hopefully the scare that keeps me in my home will be over soon. Think 2020 will be best in hindsight.

[edinmass]

Guess who is driving?

Edited November 14, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

I warned you about inexperienced drivers now you’ve gone an flipped the great white!  

[Ozstatman]

2 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

I warned you about inexperienced drivers now you’ve gone an flipped the great white!  

Speaking of flipping, even from this part of the world this is hard to view. Hope this is better.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Ozstatman (see edit history)

[edinmass]

All right boys, you can see who’s driving to my left. Can anybody identify him. He’s a regular here. 

[edinmass]

We did about 35 miles today. Visited two collections. And we took the 1929 Stearns Knight out for a drive also. 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

All right boys, you can see who’s driving to my left. Can anybody identify him. He’s a regular here. 

Richard Gere?

 

[edinmass]

25 minutes ago, John Bloom said:

Richard Gere?

 

 Nope.........he is known to most members here, and is known to drive a handful of pre 1930 cars........among them are a handful of Oldsmobile’s. 

[edinmass]

We went through eight gallons of gas.
 

Edited November 14, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Doozer]

David Coco ?

[edinmass]

No......not Trimacar..............but your getting close. 

[SC38dls]

Well at least we know it’s not Bob Hope or Elmer Fudd. Otherwise totally in the dark. 
LOL

 

[Terry Harper]

Ed, I was thinking on the top... 

I was reading about antique aircraft restorations - particularly WW1 were the fabric had deteriorated badly but they wanted to stabilize it

and preserve it. One technique was carefully applying new fabric to the underside to reinforce the existing fabric with its markings and patina.

I wonder if something similar could be done with the top on the White?

 

I am sure you have a plan. Glad to see it out and about!

[edinmass]

It’s first private show today. An interesting assortment of real car people who decided that they had to get a car out after nine months of staring at the walls. It was a good time. 

[auburnseeker]

28 minutes ago, edinmass said:

after nine months of staring at the walls.

Wait wasn't it just suppose to be a 2 week pause? 😏

[SC38dls]

No it was supposed to just disappear!  
 

ps. If moderators want to remove this post that’s ok by me if the previous one goes too! 

Edited November 15, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[Doozer]

Dang, that White is HUGE !!! 

[edinmass]

12 minutes ago, Doozer said:

Dang, that White is HUGE !!! 

 

Tell all the ladies........Ed’s junk in HUGE!👍

[edinmass]

Fun day at the private show.......the Polo Club field was a swamp......so they moved the show to a private residence.......the kind that Bill Gates would own if you get what I mean. Owner was great, and it was a fantastic private event with about 100 cars..........interesting crowd from famous rap stars and LeMans winners to every day car guys. We managed a special award with the White.........which was a ton of fun, and lots of positive comments from people. Unfortunately Phil with the hands like George the Animal Steel was felling much better but the doctors wouldn’t let him out yet............so, Phil........this one is for you!👍

[edinmass]

UPDATE:

 

 

The special visitor from up North was David C. just not the famous or infamous David Coco, it was David C ........AKA as the Nickelroadster! 👍

 

Thanks for a fun weekend David. It turns out we have several mutual friends in Georgia. He’s on his way up north now, after having his first old car fix this year. He also got a chance to drive “The Great White!”.

Edited November 16, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[trimacar]

Whew, thanks for clarifying...for a moment I thought I’d done something and forgot doing it...the OTHER David C.

 

Wait, infamous?!?!

[trimacar]

I called Ed and told him about the car.  He researched it, and realized it was special.  He called me back within a few hours. I’d seen the car in person so knew it was a solid find.  Asking price was fair and selling price was excellent, fellow just wanted a good home for it.  Seller was as appreciative of me finding a good home for it as Ed was appreciative of acquiring it.

 

As Ed has stated, sometimes cars find you and it’s fate. Maybe not mysterious, but serendipitous....

[edinmass]

Ben.......what told me it was a great car? An assortment of fifty years of collecting experiance including.............

 

 

Dave C telling me he thought it was "neat" and "might clean up and drive."

 

I have known Dave well for a long time, and we understand cars and collecting at the same level.........sort of two people who think as one. This was 50 percent of the decision.

 

I have known and driven White steam cars forty five years ago. I knew the brand and how fantastic their engineering was, none better, and I expected that it would still apply, it did. 10 percent.

 

I figured out quickly it has a 37 x 5 wheel size...........big boy toy! 20 percent. At this point....I was going to make an offer.

 

Quick research on everything I could fins in half and hour...not much to find or see........... 5 percent.

 

Willing to take a gamble......in this hobby...NOTHING VENTURED - NOTHING GAINED. I was willing to take a loss on the car if it was a disaster, or a toilet. 15 percent.

 

So in the total view of 100 percent, you can see my thought process. David has owned 200 pre war cars.........and his word that it was interesting perked me up fast. When I got the photos, even though they were poorly done, you could imeatatly tell it was with taking a shot at it. Remember........any car that has not run in fifty or more years MUST BE EXPECTED TO NEED A TOTAL ENGINE JOB. I was expecting a car that needed 50k of my out of pocket expenses.........IE- Rebuild the engine, install a new radiator, ect, ect, ect. In the old car hobby, if you don't gamble you will never end up with interesting cars........unless you have a limitless budget. Among the "great collector crowd of fine automobiles they have a saying........pull the trigger...."

Edited November 16, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[edinmass]

ALSO- Most people here watch American Pickers....which is how shall we say......scripted and fiction. But you can learn a few things from them.........Mike has a common saying that he not only preaches, but actually does. It is:

 

 

If I see something I have never seen before, I buy it. That is GREAT ADVICE when you have a lifetime of experience in the field of antiques of all types. I had learned this lesson from a coin dealer as a very young man.......and it ALWAYS paid back very well. You can overpay for a rare and terriffic item.....as the true hard core collector of the interesting and obscure. On certain items, you can buy them at retail.....and still and make a good profit, when you have the inside line on the collector base. 

 

PS- Never buy a car to flip if you can't live with the car forever..........you may or may not ever get an out on any car, at any price. Buy what you like.......you will never take a hit.

Edited November 16, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[padgett]

In this hobby, a lot depends on your skill set and ability to fabricate, everyone has different skills. For instance my eyes cannot get near a welder but understand suspensions, things like kingpin angle and ackerman are second nature. Further nearly everything in modern electronics can be reduced to relay logic and table lookups. Couple of decades ago people who could reprogram a ECM/PCM were common. BCMs not so. Forums existed. Today this seems to be a lost art but for me GM cars of the ALDL era come under the heading of fun.

 

This is why am taking advantage of the really prices earlier this year for an Allante specifically the '89 (hardtop, larger engine, no airbag). I didn't think any American two-seater halo car was less appreciated than the Reatta. Was rong. Major issues for most are the complex electronics. No Big.

 

Point is we all have different strengths and abilities, many gathered over years of experience. These abilities, interests, and tools tend to cluster over different periods of cars. True, these interests are also quite catholic for many, thank to this thread I now know more about White automobiles than before, another thread for the Thomas. Did get my start with mags of the '50s and books mostly by Floyd Clymer so knew the names but not much about them.

 

Do appreciate this forum for all it teaches me. Thank you.

 

[58L-Y8]

19 hours ago, trimacar said:

"I called Ed and told him about the car.  He researched it, and realized it was special." 

David, You just said the secret woid!  An ordinary thing, found around any library...

 

Wonder if there is a Groucho Marx emoji?

Edited November 16, 2020 by 58L-Y8
wonder if there is a Groucho Marx emoji? (see edit history)

[Walt G]

I  completely agree - DO YOUR RESEARCH.  Before the fact but also as well after the fact. Don't be shy of asking somewhat bizarre questions or requests! People may think you are crazy BUT there are a lot of us who have been doing this Look, see, find etc form some years. I have a tendency to think out of the box  as an artist and look at things from a different perspective , being a historian and writer just multiplies that . I recall asking a good friend who lived near Philadelphia if he could go to a cemetery to see if he could find the grave or more information on a designer that had passed away 50 years prior as it would answer a lot of questions about the fellows family back in the late 1920s when he passed away. My friend ( Charlie Betts) did that and it cleared up or confirmed a lot of things for me to tell the story of artist/designer J. Frank deCausse.  Charlie had no qualms about doing that for me and commented at the time " you do have a unique way of doing and approaching  research". 😔 My comment back was " And yes, I have a lot of tolerant friends too!".

[Matt Harwood]

I tell people all the time that cars are very bad investments but they are also low risk purchases. It's rare to lose 100% on any car--they all have some value unless you've completely misjudged the situation. Guys quibble over single-digit percentages to avoid getting "taken" but the truth is even a bad car will repay you a good chunk of your up-front costs if/when you dump it. Hell, it's rare to lose 20% on an old car unless you're bankrolling a restoration.

 

If you have an interest in something, no matter how obscure, I always say to go for it. Worst case it's not right for you, but you can still eject and get most of your money back.

 

How many other hobbies will do that for you?

[edinmass]

UPDATE:

 

 

It was a great weekend with Dave C of Georgia here.......and then things keep getting better. Below is a letter hand delivered to me today at the shop. The gentleman who wrote it first saw the White in the early 70's.......and the rest of the history is fascinating. Since the owner of the car for 68 years married a much younger lady, she is still with us......and I have reached out to her. Hopefully she responds, and has more information and photos. The gentleman who wrote the letter was a true car guy, we hit it off immediately , and he has owned a beautiful White also. Along with a BUNCH of great stuff. Seems everyone involved with the White had great taste in cars.......enjoy the read.......its terrific.

Edited November 17, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)