Chris Bamford Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Photo is me pulling into the garage this evening after a 10 mile run in the 1912 KisselKar 4-50. -9C/16F. Average 40 mph, touched 60, in and out of a deep river valley, four lanes all the way, light traffic, only two traffic lights and one yield sign. All this within 10 minutes of the centre of a 1,000,000 population metropolitan centre. Ain't life grand sometimes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter J.Heizmann Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Great photo and inspiration, Chris...thanks for posting it.Regards, Peter J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
52deluxe Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 your braver than me, currently here its -17F and with the windchill its -37F. we are going to have a warm spell tomarrow 10F so i might turn on the heater in the garage and dream about going for a drive. quite a car you have there i dont think i have ever seen a kisselkar before. do you have some specs?tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 hi Chris,is that with one wheel brake?also, Do you know Murry King of Kustom King? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Chris,Go for it. Folks around here looked at us a little funny Christmas day when we had our Overland out. See attachment. It was a bit chilly, but we had a great time.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hello Tom, yes it is quite a car. Four cylinders, 373 in3, nominal 50hp, and lots of torque. 37" tires and a factory overdrive 4th give a top end of 60 mph at 1650 rpm. And we haven't met the hill that's got the best of us.It's a recreation of Edmonton Fire Chief Tommy Lauder's factory one-off 1912 KisselKar chief's car. Same year, chassis and running gear, different serial#. Kissels were made in Hartford, WI from 1906 to 1931. It's estimated that some 100-150 survive from a total production of around 30,000.As a open four-seater with removable windshield it's the perfect car for me - kind of a high-performance family speedster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6219_Rules Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Beautiful car, Mr. Binger. Thank you for posting it.I get odd looks every now and then from driving my '47 up into the mountains, but most of the time its all thumbs up and smiles. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />That is the real joy in this hobby for me at any rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Randall ~ Judy and I rode in Dan's Overland with he and his wife Judy in the Cheyenne Christmas parade. A couple of racoon coats and it was quite pleasant.Back in 1979 I bought a 1924 Buick touring in Des Miones, IA and went out from Baltimore to check it out in early January. My buddy Al Edmond [like me, an AACA has been]took it out for a test run and decided to visit some of our car friends around town. We ended up driving the entire day and the temperature started at -8 and never got above 0. I still have the Buick, but I'm afraid those sub zero driving days are behind me. Now Dan, being much younger and better padded than than I am, does this winter driving stuff all the time. hvs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R W Burgess Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Hi Chris, You're my kind of man...old car, drives fast. I apreciate the photo. How about sending us one with outdoors in the light. And Dan, didn't know you had that AACA winner in your stable. It's a good looker. You guys sure are tempting me. I asked Howard for a picture of his Buick, you know the one you offered to sell me Howard? I'll bet you guys I won't be able to wangle a good price out of Howard, he's kind of tight, you know. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Wayne ~ It's off the market. I decided it was too nice to sell and with too much future touring potential to part with it. That is the same car Al and I drove around Des Moines. The term is financially conservative, Wayne. Tight has other meanings in my lexacon.We do pretty good out here for a bunch of cowpersons [the term cowboy has been banned for transmission out of the Wyoming/Montana area, as not being PC elsewhere]. Dan doesn't have a stable. He has a garage, as he is into horseless carriages, not horses and carriages. He has a garage full of good stuff, honest to God old cars, and at least 3 Grand National Award winners among the bunch. .It's 55 degrees out here right now, so maybe it's time to drive an old car. Old brass era car that is. hvs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R W Burgess Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Don't you love it when us whipper snappers get straightened out by the "old" guys. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And 55 Degrees?? Where was that, in the house by the fireplace? It was 12F here in Virginia this morning, or at least that's what somebody said. It's Saturday, I get one day in the house during the winter. Strange weather, to say the least. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 55 degrees in the driveway where I was washing my car. ~ hvs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ex98thdrill Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 12 degrees?? I'll trade with you. I'm up playing at Fort Drum at a blistering -22 degrees. Last week we had record breaking temps, and this week we broke the record the other way. On New Year's day I took my Harley for a spin and today, you'd be lucky enough to get your helmet on without getting fristbite. So Wayne, y'all enjoy that there heatwave that you're having Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Hi Wayne - here's that outdoor daylite pic. This was taken in 2001, shortly after the gold leaf work, at our local historic park, Fort Edmonton. One of the other volunteers gives dozens of rides on summer Sundays while I play with and drive the park's '13 IHC high-wheeler and '13 Commer 5-ton.Like I said, ain't life grand sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R W Burgess Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 ALL RIGHT, Chris! What a ride..60 miles an hour? Must feel like 160 with all that air blowing around you. Thanks, Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Chris,That is one fine car. I am glad to see vehicles like that being driven and not just polished for the show field. Those who don't drive these great vehicles are missing most of the fun. The sounds are another thing they miss, wouldn't you say?Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Howard,You should have been in my part of town - - -it was 59 degrees over here. You didn't need the coats you were talking about todat -see attatchmentHoward also has a garage full of the good stuff with national tags on them. He also has in door plumbing in his garage, that should count for something, wouldn't you say?Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Since my beloved KisselKar is enjoying its 15 minutes of fame, here's one more pic, this one the day we drug it home in June of '93 (Hi honey - look at our new car!) Everything under the hood was intact, other than the waterpump which the farmer soon found, but even the rear springs and most of the brake hardware disappeared decades earlier when the car was tractorized. Looking carefully, one can see the shifter of a rear transmission... after tossing the springs, brakes, and driveshaft, he added a Willys transmision behind the factory unit, moved up the rear end to suit, and U-bolted the axle to the frame.Story goes they used it for rock picking. Put in low-low, idle across the fields, toss rocks into a crude box on the frame, get to the edge of the field, toss 'em out. Repeat as necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_MrEarl Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Chris,Just to let you know I have taken your before and after photos and added them to the wall of others that I look at every once in a while when I am feeling defeated over restoring my old Buicks. Awesome!!! Thanks for the inspiration.Maybe I won't sell my Roadmasters after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 holy bat crap, Batman...!How your brought that back from a rolling scrape wagon to it's present condition is unbelivible!My question is, did you see if for the first time and fall in love with it and had a vision of what you wanted to turn it into, or did in sit around for a few years before it found some fenders and worked out a plan?that is a knoble effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Hello Lamar & Tommy, thanks for your kind words.I knew this car was special when I first saw it, and planned to build a speedster, having done a '24 T speedster the year before. I figured two years oughta do it for the Kissel.In connecting with other Kissel owners we met Vic Groah of Tulare, CA who had the only other known-at-the-time 50hp 1912 KisselKar. His beautiful and extensively-toured car is the sporty "semi-touring" five passenger model, which I then decided to replicate. Vic very kindly gave me the wheel of his Kissel on that and subsequent visits, and the thrill of driving his wonderful car helped keep me going when the restoration seemed hopeless.Four years of mechanical restoration yielded a running chassis with rudimentary creature comforts (photo). Few people remember now that Kissel were industry leaders in the use of school bus seats for testing chassis. There was no odometer at that point, but we must have done 1000+ miles that summer, including a few local meets.That same year, I learned that our city once had a 1912 4-50 Kissel chief's car on the fleet. With my passion for speedsters and fear of complicated bodies, it was love at first sight.Over time we dug up a half-dozen photos and one tiny factory side-view drawing. My friend Jerry de Jong built the body from scratch, and the car was more-or-less finished by summer of 2001. Futher works in progress are a touring trunk and rack on the back, and a period carriage top - removeable, just like the windshield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Chris,I kind of know what you went throught with that restoration. My 22 Buick was also converted into a piece of farm equipment. Here is the before picture. The body had been cut off an was in the farmers dump. We spent half a day going throught the dump to find parts. I will post an after picture in the next post.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Chris,Here is what we ended up with.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Hi Dan, great pic, looking forward to the after shot. Don'tcha just love before pictures? While detail shots before and during a restoration are essential and they're always pretty after, a classic before picture showing the whole car at its worst pushes my buttons best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bamford Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Hi Dan, that's a fine looking car. Nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Chris, Dan, Thank you for the "Before" and "After" photos, this was a common feature in club magazines back in the 1960's. I never get tired looking at this stuff, very inspiring. Years ago I got to drive a 1914 Kissel, they are great car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6219_Rules Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Howard ~ I'll bet that was quite a scene, you and your friends tooling around in sub-zero temps in a classic Buick! Marvelous. Did the Buick have heat or was that a later development? I know virtually nothing about the Brass Era cars so any information you can impart, this whipper snapper would be eternally grateful. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />Wayne, Got your newsletter and you deserve all the awards and kudos coming your way, my friend! An excellent paper indeed. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphicar BUYER Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">you and your friends tooling around in sub-zero temps in a classic ...</div></div> Randall,Here are some pics from last winter up at Carter lake. Surrounded by ice (Check out the rear view) Lucky the Amphicar has a "Heater". Weird Harold (Amphicar I am finishing) goes to Florida in 2 weeks! It will be a fun trip, not to mention the change in temps from below zero here to 70's in Florida ... ahhhh! I am looking at another Amphicar back east, should be a great project to do. Perfect timing with the recent layoff I was caught up in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Williams Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Hi D Binger,Do you still use the same trailer, now that your car is restored? It looks like a real dandy!!!!Myron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 That was a real fine piece of equipment. We have a better one now. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 That pic just reminded me of something. Like I forgot to do something or put something away. Ummmm can't remeber. Oh well off to the store in my truck ...walking outside... Oh now I remember! Took the truck for a tune up, forgot I left the buick outside and it snowed last night! WHOOPS! SEE ATTACHMENT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 It's great to see how much love someone has in this hobbie to bring back to life a car of that condition. Great work Bamford! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_oldmitchell Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 All fellow old car lovers, or is that fellow lovers of old cars, I would like to mention that our local HCCA is having a weeklong tour down here in the sunny South in July. Go to romearounddixie.com for more info. We would love to see you here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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