Use of a brass era automobile

[mrcvs]

It was recently asked when I contemplated buying a brass era car at auction what my intended use was for it.

 

What do others use theirs for?

 

It was mentioned going on a tour.  That’s nice if you are retired, it’s hard to plan anything like that, and my wife only has so much time off and might not enjoy such a thing more than a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Plus, you have to have a truck and trailer to haul from your residence to the tour location.  To be honest, I can’t afford that and, if I could, the HOA would view my trailer as an eyesore.

 

What I see using it for is driving to a big car show 8 miles once a year to check out the automobiles others have.  And driving to my trout stream 2 or 3 miles round trip several times a year.  A Sunday afternoon drive possibly including a stop at an American Legion or VFW.

 
How do others use their brass era automobiles?

[Grimy]

Let me try to address the question even though my oldest car is a 1918, outside the brass era and not eligible for HCCA *national* tours.

 

I belong to HCCA national as required to participate in three separate HCCA Regional Groups (RG)/Affiliated Registries.  A key point is that *regional* HCCA activities often allow post-brass but still pre-WW2 vehicles, sometimes in limited numbers so as not to overwhelm the brass car drivers' need for slower tours.  For each event, need for a trailer depends on the capabilities and limitations of your car, and locations of yourself and the start/end points of the event.  There are also separate tours limited to one-cyl, 2-cyl, and smaller 4-cyl cars.  It's a smorgasbord!

 

* Bay Area Horseless Carriage Club (BAHCC), a RG, was founded in 1950 and is based in my local area.  It is the type of club I grew up with 60 years ago:  monthly meetings (some now on Zoom), annual holiday party, July 4 parade with following BBQ at a member's home, monthly half-day hands-on tech sessions at a member's home March-November, monthly one-day tours in the local area March thru November, including a day-after-Thanksgiving Pilgrim's Picnic in which we bring our own TG leftovers plus desserts to share (if inclement weather, we meet at a member's collection). 

 

* South Bay Vintage Touring Club, a RG better known as Nickel Age Touring Club (we had to drop 'nickel' as already taken when signing on with HCCA as national org), which does one annual 3-4-day tour (we used to do two tours per year, but we are suffering from the Aging of the Force).  Some are nearby, some require trailering.

 

* Nickel Era Touring Registry, an "Affiliated Registry" of HCCA, accepts 1932-and-earlier vehicles and has one annual 5-6-day tour in widely dispersed areas (Utah, Idaho, Washington, various locations inside California), and definitely requires trailering.  Our superb 2023 tour in SW Utah had about 34 cars from 1912 thru 1932.

[Larry Schramm]

We are fortunate to have a truck and trailer so we take our brass cars touring regularly.  We scheduled seven tours this summer in different places in the eastern US. Had to replace the tires on one of our cars last year because wore them out.  Replaced a couple of tires on the Buick truck a few years ago because we wore them out, and  tires are no longer a "cheap date" if it ever was. 

 

We have no boats, airplanes, motorcycles, snowmobiles, four wheelers, go to professional sports games, etc.......  Just a few cars as the hobby not including the maintenance on the house.

 

Driving as much as you can is the true enjoyment of owning a Brass era car.  IMO.

Edited April 24 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[DGPoff]

It’s all perspective. I grew up with Model Ts. Did my first tour at 14 and change, Spokane to Nelson BC and back, no trailers (1978.) Now that I’m almost retired (32 days) I have every plan to go out on tour. I’ll find a car that I can drive out west, or trailer to a place and do other parts of the country. I do want a big pre16 car, but have seen this done in a Model T, EMF (10k on one tour) a Winton (32 states, etc. it can be done if you plan and prepare correctly. So perspective. Just drive it.

 

Great history below back to the 70s. I saw these tours as a kid. Want to bring the 70s style touring back! One guys dream is another's nightmare, but I will make it happen for myself.

 

https://www.pathfinderstranscon.com/

 

 

[PFindlay]

49 minutes ago, DGPoff said:

Now that I’m almost retired (32 days) I have every plan to go out on tour.

Don, since you'll be retired, how about joining us for our annual tour in Grand Forks, BC, June 17 - 20?  We'd love to have you join us - 23 cars registered, all but two are brass-era.   Besides a good contingent of Model Ts, we have Columbia, Ford Model K, Chalmers, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, and TWO Canadian Russell-Knight cars (something you will not see anywhere else in the world.)

 

Four days of great drives and interesting stops, HCCA style. 

 

To answer the question of the original post - drive the car and show in whatever way works for you.  I prefer the tours but I've also taken a brass-era car (or motorcycle) to the neighbourhood cruise-in, car shows (I'm not a fan but the cars get a LOT of attention), parades, and other nearby events.   I've also had them in TV  shows or movies.

 

In the last week I've driven my 1915 Russell to visit friends on Saturday, lunch on Sunday, band practice on Monday, the gas station on Wednesday ($$$) and will be in the annual Little League opening day parade on Saturday, probably in the rain.  

 

Peter Findlay, 

President, HCCA Vancouver Regional Group

[DGPoff]

53 minutes ago, PFindlay said:

Don, since you'll be retired, how about joining us for our annual tour in Grand Forks, BC, June 17 - 20?  We'd love to have you join us - 23 cars registered, all but two are brass-era.   Besides a good contingent of Model Ts, we have Columbia, Ford Model K, Chalmers, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, and TWO Canadian Russell-Knight cars (something you will not see anywhere else in the world.)

 

Four days of great drives and interesting stops, HCCA style. 

 

To answer the question of the original post - drive the car and show in whatever way works for you.  I prefer the tours but I've also taken a brass-era car (or motorcycle) to the neighbourhood cruise-in, car shows (I'm not a fan but the cars get a LOT of attention), parades, and other nearby events.   I've also had them in TV  shows or movies.

 

In the last week I've driven my 1915 Russell to visit friends on Saturday, lunch on Sunday, band practice on Monday, the gas station on Wednesday ($$$) and will be in the annual Little League opening day parade on Saturday, probably in the rain.  

 

Peter Findlay, 

President, HCCA Vancouver Regional Group

I would love to tour with my BC friends. Thank you for the invite. Working on finding car, I should be good to go later this year.

love touring in BC. Brings back great memories.

 

i also love doing local stuff in my T. Great conversations, rides, and education with younger folks. I am excited for the future of brass car touring.

 

Thanks Peter!

Edited April 25 by DGPoff (see edit history)

[DGPoff]

If I can, I might just drive modern up to say hello!

 

Thanks again for the kind offer!

[PFindlay]

13 minutes ago, DGPoff said:

If I can, I might just drive modern up to say hello!

On Tuesday June 18 we'll be having a lunch stop in Republic, WA.  That would be the closest place for you to find us.  Shouldn't be too hard to find us.

[JV Puleo]

I think it largely depends on where you live...

I do not have either a truck or a trailer and I've no particular interest in "touring" in a group and there are no local car shows I'd bother to go to. My car is for my own amusement. Where I live I've no problem driving it on the public roads as long as I avoid rush hour on the main roads. At some point I plan to go on one of my "adventures"...(I've done this before) where I set a destination quite some distance away and plot a course that will take me via secondary roads for two or three days or maybe even much longer. The idea is to get there and back by myself. This probably puts me on the eccentric end of an eccentric hobby.

[Roger Garnett]

If you don't have the ability to get to national tours, regional groups are here too! Find your own region close to home, or some other members near you. In the Finger Lakes region, we run 1 and 2 day tours on weekends, in various parts of New York State. Drive your car! 

[mrcvs]

57 minutes ago, JV Puleo said:

I think it largely depends on where you live...

I do not have either a truck or a trailer and I've no particular interest in "touring" in a group and there are no local car shows I'd bother to go to. My car is for my own amusement. Where I live I've no problem driving it on the public roads as long as I avoid rush hour on the main roads. At some point I plan to go on one of my "adventures"...(I've done this before) where I set a destination quite some distance away and plot a course that will take me via secondary roads for two or three days or maybe even much longer. The idea is to get there and back by myself. This probably puts me on the eccentric end of an eccentric hobby.

That exactly describes my usage—for my own amusement.  Drive back roads and enjoy.

 

I would only attend a local car show in it because it’s local.  Just walk around a bit and see what other early cars show up.

 

While the tours seem neat in that, again, you can see what other early automobiles are out there, they are too distant, they require a great expenditure of time and money, and, admittedly, to drive for several days is not of interest to me.  I drive to the beach a few times a year because my wife and I enjoy that.  It’s 162 miles.  The time it takes to drive that is about as much as I wish to drive at any given time.  I realize that a brass era automobile would cover less distance in the same amount of time, but it’s the time driving that’s a factor.

 

I have never been a fan of long drives with regards to time and distance and longer trips usually result in a headache.

[ABear]

On 4/25/2024 at 8:02 AM, mrcvs said:

That exactly describes my usage—for my own amusement.  Drive back roads and enjoy.

 

I would only attend a local car show in it because it’s local.  Just walk around a bit and see what other early cars show up.

I own a single yr digit single cylinder car, don't drive it much on even "back roads", just to slow and under powered, not to mention worn out and highly unreliable engine.. Even the "backroads" in my area are paved, been that way for 20+ yrs since oiling roads was banned.. So, way too many folks speeding like no body's business on my local roads.

 

Single and even two cylinder cars can limit what you can do due to lack of speed so driving on roads can be tricky at times.

 

No real judged car shows here, but we do have a lot of "Car Cruises" which are pretty much "bring what you got" type of thing that was often a Friday or Saturday night thing when I was younger. But now is often a half to full day event which often brings in folks from even out of state.. From I dragged it out of a river to full blown over restored and anything in between, these are a blast once you show up and start talking to people.

 

Have drove ours in some local parades, that has been fun but the local parades feature a pretty steep hill to go down.. Kind of sketchy keeping our car from going to fast as the brakes are insufficient making the need to stand on the brake pedal to be the item of the day..

 

I will say those our local car cruises I have met a lot of very nice "car enthusiasts"  , they have even helped push my stubborn car across the cruise lots to my trailer when it decided that it no longer wanted to participate in the cruise and not start..

 

If you do get an early Brass car, drive and enjoy it whenever you can..

 

My Dad gifted mine to me and told me to enjoy my families "toy". Learn the history of your vehicle, the manufacturer and even early automobiles in general and then stand near your car and engage/talk to people, early cars look vastly different to young people who have never been exposed to them.. They tend to be inquisitive and exited when they see something that is not modern.

 

There is no rules to early car ownership other than the ones you make for yourself, take in a drive or take in a cruise, it is up to you on your comfort level with the car.

 

We typically try to get 4-5 car cruises in for the Summer when weather permits and we do trailer it. Only have a open flat bed trailer which also limits how far and what roads we travel due to the car having rather fragile parts that are easily damaged.. Got caught out in a massive thunderstorm on one cruise, had to tarp the car but once we got home the 120+ yr old leather fenders were just hanging on.. Destroyed them.. They were pretty well shot before the rain.. Me and my Wife figured out how to make new leather covers..

[Larry Schramm]

8 hours ago, ABear said:

I own a single yr digit single cylinder car, don't drive it much on even "back roads", just to slow and under powered, not to mention worn out and highly unreliable engine.. Even the "backroads" in my area are paved, been that way for 20+ yrs since oiling roads was banned.. So, way too many folks speeding like no body's business on my local roads.

 

My Dad gifted mine to me and told me to enjoy my families "toy". Learn the history of your vehicle, the manufacturer and even early automobiles in general and then stand near your car and engage/talk to people, early cars look vastly different to young people who have never been exposed to them.. They tend to be inquisitive and exited when they see something that is not modern.

 

Where are you located and what car do you have?  If you want to have a great time, bring your car to the Old Car Festival in Greenfield Village the weekend after Labor Day.  Registration starts about June 1 and it fills up fairly early. 

 

If you want to try a tour, the Lansing-Dearborn tour the Th & Fri before the event takes place and is tailored for 1 & 2 cylinder vehicles and has a lot of support if anything happens.  Contact me for the tour registration information.

 

Watch the video on the Old Car Festival below.  The guy in the old International tank truck is my friend John who owns the truck.

 

https://www.thehenryford.org/current-events/calendar/old-car-festival/

[ABear]

Thanks for the invite, will have to decline.

 

That's about 14hrs one way trip for me with hauling a trailer and I only have an open trailer which isn't good for the car taking long trips at highway speeds.

 

We do local short trips typically 10-15 miles and keep the towing speed to under 55..

[cxgvd]

Last week of August there is a five day one cylinder tour around Princeton, NJ hosted by the Curved Dash Olds group, but now open to any single.   I have to contact info.   Gary

[Buzz68]

Owned several brass era cars model Ts metz several buicks reps ect

No truck trailer and realy don't have money nor time to do big  tours 

I pretty much use them for weekend trips to do nessisary shopping or go get an ice cream and sometimes do the occasional show brass or even Nickel era cars rare around here

[ABear]

17 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

Where are you located and what car do you have?

Fair enough, you do deserve some answers.

 

North Western PA.

 

Hopefully the following doesn't derail the intent of the thread so here it goes..

 

As far as the car goes, well, it is a very long complicated story along with family issues/complications over the last 13 yrs that has made me hesitate to post much about it. Was a "gentleman's agreement" between My Dad and myself that was ruined by some family that felt I stole it because they were not included in the decision, that one person ruined for all family members and my Dad decided to give me full reigns to do what I wish with it.

 

I have intentionally kept a low Internet presence in an attempt to reduce friction with family members, hasn't worked, but it might be time to rip the bandaid off and let folks see more about it.

 

We do have a website setup for the car along with Youtube, Facebook and Instagram accounts, My Daughter took the reins to setup these accounts and website for some of her College courses. She did the write ups, photos and video, she deserves credit for the work she has done and tried to balance it with family issues in mind.

 

Website can be found here HERE

 

YouTube link HERE

 

Facebook link HERE

 

Instagram link HERE

 

I hope to have my Daughter post some more video that I have assembled on some replacement parts I have made.

[Larry Schramm]

Cool car.  You are close enough to come to the Old Car Festival in Sept.  I would highly recommend that you come and bring your car.  You would REALLY like the OCF event.

 

You stated in one of your videos that you only drove the car 7 MPH.  What is the top speed of the car?   The tour is timed to accommodate about 25 MPH cars. If you come, we would like to have you on the two day tour. 

 

There are some experts in that era cars that will be able to help you if you run into trouble.   PM me if you are interested.

 

Edited April 28 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[ABear]

Unfortunately we already have plans for Sept that takes us out of town visiting distant Cousins during that time frame.

 

Yeah, it would be a highlight for sure, just quite a distance and cost involved, once you hang a trailer behind a vehicle the cost of fuel goes up by a factor of three.

 

Would also require purchasing an enclosed trailer, hauling that distance on a open trailer is not a wise idea, too fragile for the winds. Those enclosed trailers don't come cheap anymore and my parking space that is easy access is a bit limited. Already have a travel trailer plus open trailer, adding a closed trailer to the mix isn't in the cards.

 

My Dad claimed 20 MPH, but I suspect that was down hill with hurricane force winds to the back of the vehicle 🤣

 

We have done 7 MPH but, I think one of the issues I have is the bands on the second gear drum are worn out and slipping, so second gear doesn't do much. Fortunately, my Dad had a huge roll of band material he gave me.. He didn't warn me about second gear but did mention the brake drum needed relined.. So, still have some sorting to do with the transmission.

 

Engine reliability has been another ongoing issue, my Cousins mentioned that my Uncle had to drive behind the car when my Grand dad decided to take it for a drive as it would just randomly shut down and strand him..

 

The engine reliability has been a real problem, last year was planning to take the car to a local event nearby... Ran well enough to load on the trailer. Got to the event and nope, not going to run.. The rings are worn out enough to oil foul the plug in a few minutes with the right temperatures, sometimes they just stick and with atmospheric intake valve not enough vacuum is created to get sufficient air/fuel charge..

 

Back yrs ago, I had the head off to replace a seeping head gasket, had a friend over who owns a bunch of hit and miss oilwell engines for some advice.. He asked if I was going to pull the piston.. Yeah, I should have listened to that hint.. But, I was trying to not dive that far in as that would most likely lead to boring the cylinder, new piston and rings as I suspect the cylinder is rather egged out.. Pretty much everything on that engine will have to be custom made. No makers marks, part numbers, dates, nothing.. Best my Dad could recollect he was told that  the engine was shipped via rail from Wisconsin..

 

Doing this on a shoestring budget and repairing only what must be repaired, just not interested in spending all of my retirement funds on a full on professional restoration of a toy.

 

But, Thank You for the invitation!

[cxgvd]

I suggest you look into having the car, Riker, transported with a responsible carrier to the Old Car Festival.  At the OCF you can drive through the village safely at 7 MPH and you would have the respect the car and story deserves.

 

It may seem expensive, but consider you are doing it once and a professional driver has the proper training and equipment.  You do not need to own a truck and trailer.  Another thought, find space in some other hobbyist trailer, the car is small and light and trailers are very large today.  In my group of friends we haul two one cylinder cars in one trailer long distances all the time.  For instance, my '05 Cadillac is going to the New Brighton to New London tour in Minnesota in another's trailer and my wife are driving our motorhome and making a two week holiday out of the trip.

 

Hope you can work it out, see you in Michigan,  Gary

[ABear]

2 hours ago, cxgvd said:

I suggest you look into having the car, Riker, transported with a responsible carrier to the Old Car Festival. 

If it was a plentiful "Model T", trusting others to transport would not be much of a concern.

 

However, when you are dealing with something that basically, there is no other "copies" available then the realization becomes the only one that can be trusted to do the job is the owner..

 

It is one of six of that early brand know to exist, one of two of that body style to exist, one of one with that body style and year known to exist and the only one that was converted to gas back in those days known to exist. Ironically, THF DID own the earlier "twin" to ours but they never displayed it and sold it off..

 

It does have significant early automobile history but also has significant family sentimental value and ties and even local history that can not be replaced if lost, stolen or significantly damaged.

 

I really do appreciate the invitations and encouragements to participate but at this time it isn't something I can do. Maybe at a later time, but not now, further down the road it may become a consideration. Until then, folks can see our curiosity virtually through our website and media presence. I am working to encourage my Daughter to add more details to the website and more video.

 

Keep in mind very few cars like this held in private hands ever see the light of day or out in the public, we are working to allow folks to see a glimpse of automotive history and our ownership.

 

We are also planning to attend a few of the bigger local car cruises this summer as weather and the car (it is rather cranky 😧 at times) permits. When it gets closer to those events and we are able to attend I can post the dates and everyone is welcome to show up..

[Jim Mead]

That’s a very sensible plan…..

[Larry Schramm]

Being in Western PA, you could just drive up for the day and see the festival on Saturday.  Then you could get a flavor of the experience. 

[ABear]

My Wife and I have talked about making a trip to see THF and the village in the past, so anything is possible.

 

But over time, reality sets in eventually that I have grown tired of traveling for hrs at a time, mostly since I spent a lot of commuting time back and forth for my job. Because of that we generally take one long trip a yr to camp and visit with my relatives quite a few states away (11 hrs each way hauling a travel trailer).

 

I retired early partly due to the commute, partly due to ignorant and aggressive drivers, partly due to my own health issues and partly due to inept new management causing more stress on my health issues..

 

Told the Wife a few yrs ago, not sure how long I am going to feel like making the trip to see my relatives..

[rprice76]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:53 PM, mrcvs said:

It was recently asked when I contemplated buying a brass era car at auction what my intended use was for it.

 

What do others use theirs for?

 

It was mentioned going on a tour.  That’s nice if you are retired, it’s hard to plan anything like that, and my wife only has so much time off and might not enjoy such a thing more than a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Plus, you have to have a truck and trailer to haul from your residence to the tour location.  To be honest, I can’t afford that and, if I could, the HOA would view my trailer as an eyesore.

 

What I see using it for is driving to a big car show 8 miles once a year to check out the automobiles others have.  And driving to my trout stream 2 or 3 miles round trip several times a year.  A Sunday afternoon drive possibly including a stop at an American Legion or VFW.

 
How do others use their brass era automobiles?

Owning an old car can be an interesting experience.  It's important to share interestes, and if not sharing the interest at least supporting the person in their interest.  Perhaps your wife will come around?  Is she into fashion?  Have you shown her the neat clothing you can get?

 

https://www.historicalemporium.com/

 

That being said...

 

I don't have a truck or trailer ATM.  I mean, we DO have a truck, but a 2005 Ford Ranger 2.3l 4 cylinder is NOT going to pull an enclosed trailer of any kind.  So...that may be a ways off for me to own.  When looking at houses to buy, when owning any old cars steer clear of HOAs.  As a kid our neighborhood had an HOA and most people were OK with my dad's old cars, but some werent.  He had to build an enclosed LARGE garage to hold them and 'hide' the parts pile in the back under bushes where no one could see it.  Not really great and he couldn't wait for the HOA to disband (which it did in the 90's).  My current house is about as old at my Model T (1917) and has a nice three car detateced 1917 garage.  Kinda cool to keep the old cars in an old garage.

 

What do I use these cars for?  Trips to the ice cream store or the local park.  Sometimes to go pick up lunch or tool around.  I live in Baltimore and this city is lousy with little 2 lane roads with 25mph limits so I have plenty of places to tool around in.  Eventually I'll get a truck and trailer that I'll park behind the garage in the alley - but that'll be a year or two away.

 

Mostly I just enjoy tinkering on my T (and will do so with my 'new' Maxwell) and going on short trips.  Definitely lowered the blood pressure and gets me outside on nice days!

[gossp]

@mrcvs

I am a brass era car guy still in the raising children and working all but two weeks a year stage of life.  When do I use my brass era car… whenever I can!  I don’t particularly like car shows, because the cars are not nearly as fun when stagnant. I take it to the store, I take it out to dinner, I take my daughter to the ice cream stand more often than a responsible parent would buy their child ice cream… but sometimes the desire to go on an old car ride with her means I need a destination that peaks her interest. I take a lot of backroad cruises just for fun. Actually… from the time of spring commissioning to fall decommissioning… I use an old car for 90% of my driving and modern cars sit unless: high speed, long distance on a timeframe, bad weather, or sketchy parking. 
 

I will admit I have always had access to a trailer (my father is an old car guy) so one was available if needed… but I don’t  do anything with it that an AAA membership couldn’t cover. 
 

I primarily run around in a 1915 dodge brothers, which is about as capable and reliable as you can get in the brass era, but intend to treat my 1910 Maxwell the same way (perhaps with some brass lamps left in the garage). 
 

Just get one and go have fun. Buy the most mechanically sound and well sorted car you can get. Projects are no fun if you are not a retired guy with an abundance of free time, not to mention the financial aspects of… an expensive good car is way cheaper than making a good car out of a cheap bad car.