Road Trips

[DizzyDale]

Got back a week ago from the MOST disappointing trip i EVER took chasing a car.Left last Friday 6 pm after work,19 hours later i was in Wichita Kansas to see the MOST poorly described vehicle i ever was interested in.All the owner kept telling me was that he sent pics and APPARENTLY they were supposed to tell the WHOLE story.Well we ALL know THE picture story,38 hours on the road,1/2 hour nap[did you ever try and sleep when you wanna tear somebodys head off] on the Missouri-Illinois border on the way home and 9 miles to the gallon towing an EMPTY 24' enclosed trailer.I guess the bottom line is.....how come SOME people have such a hard time tellin the truth.Thanks for letting me vent.diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[Shop Rat]

Diz, We had a similar experience but luckily we didn't have to drive as far and it was an open trailer.

Next time you might want to see if a club member in the area would take a personal look for you first. And maybe even send you some "truthful" photos.

[Bhigdog]

Yup, I once drove 14 hours to see a 57 buick convert. that wasn't even the same color as the pix. Too bad murder isn't legal......Bob

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Well, I just took the time to write a post relateing a couple of similar experiences and giveing some thoughts about this but I spent too long in doing so and my time had ran out when I hit the continue button. ****** that ****** me off. So Diz all I'll say right quick is sorry you drove all that way and got nothing. I've been down that same road and I'm sure a lot of us have. At least you didn't buy it anyway which is very easy to do, start making concessions and stuff like 'well they do make floor pans and body panels and I can probably find a NOS windshield and ..............

Whoa 38 hours with 1/2 hour sleep. That's rough!!! Enclosed trailer eh, must have supposed to have been nice. Care to tell us about it. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Clipper47]

I once drove 900 miles non stop to buy a '29 Packard based on a bunch of photos. Boy was that car a clunker but looked great in the pix. Honestly I think the seller believed he had done a good resto job but I guess he never heard a Packard running because his sounded like every rod and main bearing was loose. Better to lose sleep and drive the distance though than have it shipped sight unseen and find out then what you bought. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Mark Huston]

Dizzy,

I can sympathize with you on a wasted road trip. I do enjoy driving and will take off on a road trip for just about any excuse I can come up with. However, I sure get upset when I feel like a seller is ripping me off ? at my expense in driving cross-country to be fleeced by them. Back about 15 years ago, I arranged to buy a 1929 Studebaker from a seller in Salt Lake City, Utah. After I got off work on a Friday, I left Sacramento pulling an empty car trailer with a roll of cash in my pocket. 650 miles and 12 hours later I was sitting in the seller?s driveway when he woke up Saturday morning ready to load the Studebaker and head back to Sacramento. When the seller fired up the Studebaker it sounded like a thrashing machine and smoked so bad you could have used it for mosquito abatement. Upon closer inspection, I found ? Plexiglas windows, wire wheels off of a Ford, headlights and taillights from an unknown donor, evidence of a front end collision with a bad frame straitening job, and many other problems. I was enraged ? having driven all night without sleep did not help my disposition. The car was totally misrepresented. At the time, I was ready to buy the Studebaker I already had a 1929 Studebaker ? which I had agreed to sell to another collector when I bought this one, so I knew all the questions to ask before agreeing to buy the car based on photographs and telephone conversations. Little did I know the pictures the seller had mailed me were ones taken of the car over 20 years earlier ? before the car accident that it had been involved in ? and the poor quality repairs.

The trip did not turn into a total wash out. Since I did not want to go home to Sacramento with an empty car trailer, I drove from Salt Lake City to Boise, Idaho, picked up a complete engine and transmission, rear end, etc for a 1929 Studebaker. This ended up being one long road trip without any sleep, a lot of gas was used up and a lot of fast food was eaten all for a spare engine for the Studebaker that I already had, for which I ended up keeping for another several years.

[alsancle]

I have a pretty good story about me trying to buy a 53 Packard Caribbean out of Hemmings located in dead center moonshine country in Georgia. This was back in 1987. Pictures looked good but before making the drive from Massachusetts figured that I would get someone local to inspect it for me. So I called the chief of police and asked if he could recommend someone reputable to check it out for me. Chief was a great guy and happened to be a car guy himself. Offered to go and inspect it personally. Called me back and raved about how nice the car was. Said I'd have no problem driving it all the way back north. Well, long story short, my dad, my brother (home on 7 days leave from USAF) and a friend did 21 straight hours down, took 15 minutes to look at the car (town was 40 miles down a two lane road from the nearest interstate) and got out of town as fast as possible. Of course the car was a POS and I doubt it would have made it to the end of the driveway, let alone 1500 miles. Ended up the Chief was the brother-in-law of the guy selling it.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. Ended up the Chief was the brother-in-law of the guy selling it. </div></div>

Reckon it'd be kinda hard to find somebody to look at a car fer ya in Jawga if'n ya gotta find somebody that ain't kin..... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[1937hd45]

What was the car Dale? Who is the clown trying to sell it? Back in the early 1970 the hot ticket was a FIRTS CLASS subscription to Hemmings Motor News, it arrived on the 23rd of every month. Scaned through the cars for sale and found a Bebe Peugeot for $1,000. the only chanch i'd ever get to own a car designed by Ettorie Bugatti. Grabed the cash and Dad and I raced to Boston to collect the car. Car was rough, car was not even a Peugeot, it was an Austin 7. seller was clueless, but went on to make a lot of money in the hobby.

[alsancle]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. Ended up the Chief was the brother-in-law of the guy selling it. </div></div>

Reckon it'd be kinda hard to find somebody to look at a car fer ya in Jawga if'n ya gotta find somebody that ain't kin..... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> </div></div>

Hey Lamar - sorry about the "moonshine" crack - I'm still aggravated about this 20 years later! This was actually not a tiny town, I think the population was around 5k - but it really was in the middle of no where.

A.J.

[DizzyDale]

Dear Bob and Lamar,1958 Corvette drag car,as for the guy trying to sell all you have to know he was not worth going to jail for.20 years ago i would be making the call for some bail money.For the first hundred miles home all i could do was think about what a BUFFOON i was for making the trip.Then at some point in time i realized all i wanted was an honest description of the vehicle,i guess its ALL a matter of character and scruples... the seller had neither. diz

[Skydog]

Been on a few of those useless adventures. I am in the Memphis area so if anyone ever needs someone to look in this area I will be glad to save you a trip. Got a 5 meg camera, sees all of the sorid details.

[Paul Dobbin]

That's part of the Hobby. Once I flew from Florida to Maine to see a car that the seller said I would probably be happy just buffing it out. Well there was no more than 6 inches of paint anywhere between the rust holes. The seller and his gang of toothlees thieves, just grinned and said it was a #2 to them.

Later I joined the NSRA and built a street rod. With their membership I get a book called the Fellow Pages. It's a listing of members all across the country who extend a helping hand to fellow Street Rodders in need of help while traveling. It also works for having another set of eyes see the car before making the big trip to be disappointed.

Yes, they could be crooks to, but why would a crook volunteer to be on call? Works great and I think AACA could so the same if we asked the club to sponsor it. Shall We???

[Bhigdog]

I'd be happy to donate my time to help another hobbiest. Make me a charter member....Bob

[R W Burgess]

We already have that Paul. It's a national roster which can be purchased from Hershey for a very small fee.

Wayne

[West Peterson]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We already have that Paul. It's a national roster which can be purchased from Hershey for a very small fee.

Wayne </div></div>

In fact... I used it just a couple of weeks ago for this very purpose. My son found a car on the west side of St. Louis (400 miles away) and we found an AACA member who lived just one mile away. All I asked was that he take a visual inspection of the car on his way home from work one day (I knew the car didn't run). I just wanted another collector's opinion as to the physical condition of the car. Turns out the seller wasn't lying, so my son and I took off on Sunday, returned on Monday.

[Amphicar BUYER]

My 1st Amphicar was in Alabama (which we drove non-stop from Northern Colorado). It was represented as a restorable complete car. The ever so valuable engine cover was so thin that when I tried to pick it up off the ground (where it had spent the last 20+ years) my thumb went through it like a wet paper towel! The car was beyond repair. I bought it anyway. It was a learning experience.

I bought another Amphi out of NJ. It was misrepresented badly. When I asked to see if the horn was under the snow. The guy sent me a pic of the horn stuck in snow to make it appear as it was attached. The photos made it look solid. It was not. I sold the car and delivered it to Kansas City. On the way back from tha trip I found a car in Dodge City that cost me to the dollar the same as I got for the other one. This one was a road-worthy and sea-worthyrust free car.

I bought another Amphicar from Cleveland last summer. I knew there were some extra parts included, When I got there to inspect the car I found there was a pickup truck load of parts, a large collection of dealer documentation and a VERY rare set of factory tools! I Was beside myself with joy! Not only that, but this car has a cool history. It was on stage with the Beatles August 14, 1966. This was to be the second to last live concert the Beatles ever did because of fans rushing the stage. Sometimes it does work out better that you hope for.

[DizzyDale]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We already have that Paul. It's a national roster which can be purchased from Hershey for a very small fee.

Wayne </div></div>Dear Wayne,I did exactly that with a 41 Zephyr coupe a while back.Had a guy in the V-8 club who by the way owns a number of hi point cars take a look at a car on the West coast.He said it was the real deal and i bought it.I could have cried when it came off the carrier in New York.I guess there is no rule regarding this matter,ALL you can do is TRUST the seller and take the trip for your own piece of mind.I am in the process of selling my 39 Zephyr coupe to a man and his son from California sight UNSEEN.I GUARANTEE you they will not be disappointed!!!!.diz

[West Peterson]

On one such wasted trip where the owner lied about the car's condition, I decided that since I had wasted so much time getting to his junk pile, I'd have to waste a little of his time as well, so I took the car out for a liesurely and spirited drive (he allowed me to take it by myself). I didn't abuse it, just used it. I then got back and asked a lot of questions, had him put the top up, down, show me paperwork, etc. Then just walked away and said I wasn't interested.

[Terry Bond]

A while back when I was looking for a GTO, I responded to a newspaper ad and drove 400 miles to look at a car that sounded good in the ad and in a phone conversation. It was described as an all original 1966, gold paint with gold bucket seat interior, console, 4 speed, original motor, 56k miles on it, rally wheels, custom sport steering wheel and rally pac instruments. A second owner car ready to drive and enjoy. Only trouble was when the garage door opened, I was shown a well optioned 1966 LeMans! It was nice, and bone stock, but wasn't a GTO. When I asked the owner about that the response was "well, we always called it "the Goat!"

Terry

[Restorer32]

Not all road trips turn out badly. I was telephoned by a lady offering to sell me an old car trunk in excellent shape at a very reasonable price. She said it had a tag on it reading "Oakland". At the price she was asking I figured even an Oakland trunk was a good buy so I drove the 50 or so miles to look at it. She met me at the door and immediately began apologizing for luring me there under false pretenses. She had looked closer and realized that the "Oakland" she saw was actually just on the attached shipping label while the trunk itself in fact had a blue emblem reading PACKARD. She offered it to me at half price since it wasn't really the Oakland trunk she had promised. I told her that I would gladly pay her full asking price. I know, 50 miles doesn't really qualify as a road trip but good story in any case.

[Restorer32]

Ahhh...memories. My brother almost headed out on a road trip to look at a Ferrari that one of Mom's elderly friends had told her was stored in her shed. Further questioning revealed that is was a Volare.

[R W Burgess]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="font-weight: bold">was a Volare!!!!???? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /></span> </div></div> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That's like the "box" it came in!?? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[Mike Cullen]

I drove 4+ hours with an illegal trailer and a marginal clutch to look at a 58 Ford pickup that supposedly belonged to a guy's grandfather, but had been stored in the barn since he quit working the farm in the early 60s. Well, it wasn't in the barn, it was behind it, shoved up against a manure pile. all the trim had been removed, engine and transmission was gone. This was upstate New York, so ice and snow had been falling off the barn for 20+ years mashing the truck, the ammonia from the chit pile rotted the truck almost totally away half way up the doors. It wasn't even worth hauling away for salvage. It was a real shame, the truck had been air conditioned at one time, there was evidence that it had one of the Ford Factory rootop truck AC units at one time. As I was walking away in disgust, the guy offered me the hubcaps from it which were in the barn.... For $50. I didn't even respond, I just got back into my truck and drove away, being careful to not leave tire trenches too deeply in his yard.

There is a flip side, I went with a buddy to look at what was described as "an MG, one of those little ones, it doesn't run but my son spent a lot of money on it" My buddy bought it for $150. Once we were out of sight, a sheet metal screw to hold the electric fuel pump down and to give it a ground cured the no-run problem. a little oil in the carb plungers and a jump fired it up for the drive home. It was not the usual MGB or Midget. It was a MG-C-GT. That car was a little rocket! We kept it as the spare car around the house for anyone to use for a couple of years then sold it for $2500.

[Ron Green]

Here is a truck story (attached). The seller said it has been setting for years and the old owner has been missing for quite a while. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[R W Burgess]

That's it!

Honey, when I die, I want to behind the wheel of my truck!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

PS, I guess she forgot to bury him in it! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

[Dynaflash8]

Some years ago, there was a '39 Buick convertible sedan advertised in New England (Mass. I think), so I called the guy and asked him about the car. I asked him about RUST. "No rust, he said". Well two friends of mine, Bill and Hank (we all lived in Maryland then) wanted to go to Connecticut to see a pair of 41 Buick convertibles. They said I could go along and we'd go a little further to see the '39. So we drove all that way and arrived at a gas station in the middle of the night where the guy said the '39 was. I went over to the car and just went to open the trunklid, which was locked. As I pulled on the handle, the whole back end of the car pulled with it. NO RUST? The back end was so rusted it wasn't enven connect to the chassis. I never called the guy, or stayed to meet him. We got back into the car and drove back to Conn. to see the '41 convertibles. That's another story. the "good" car had to be towed, (Bill bought it for $450 and never did restore it...sold it to somebody else after a number of years) and the parts car was so good my friend (Hank) drove it back to Baltimore. Going through NY city the left front tire went flat. Hank was down on his knees with his back to the road, changing the tire, when a police car pulled slowly and silently up behind him. It had a speaker on the right front fender and the policeman said in a booming voice through the speaker, "Do you need any help?" Hank jumped upright, hitting his head on the fender. Once he resumed his composure, Hank answer the policeman, "no thank you, I'm fine" and the police car drove off. Hank later said, "I thought it was God talking to me!"

[Guest imported_Dwight V.]

I've got a few... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The first was the '66 Ford pickup I went to see in way-South Carolina (I'm in PA). Middle of August and hotter than blazes. My wife went with me as I figured I'd be driving it home. We even took the two dogs with us to save on a kennel, which meant leaving the a/c on in the car non-stop and staying in pet friendly motels. Anyway, the truck wasn't exactly what I was looking for but I had talked myself into it not having found much else I liked. The photos were actually very good, sent via computer. The seller was patient and, actually, pretty honest. The problem was that it was painted white...while it wasn't rusted, which was my main concern, it was dented all to heck and showed evidence of bodywork EVERYWHERE. The automatic colum shifter was broken off, so you needed two hands to engage gear. The suspension bushings were, well, GONE and the tires were so bald I knew they wouldn't make it 100 miles. That's what I get for not asking about such things and only focusing on rust, figuring if it ain't rusty how bad can it be? Passed on that one, and the wife wasn't even mad at me. She just said "If it isn't right, don't buy it". She is a wise woman.

Prior to that I had found a truck in Virginia that sounded perfect, but when the long awaited photos arrived, all I got were two very blurry Polaroids that showed what looked like a pickup parked in a carport. Maybe. I think. I didn't even bother calling that idiot back.

Then, again based on photos, drove to Long Island to buy a Innocenti Mini Cooper. Cash in pocket, wife in tow, tools for any problems in the car. The paint was shot (not 'presentable'), some of the rare interior parts were missing and it didn't run particularly well. There were a lot of red flags looking at some of the prior repairs the owner had allegedly paid $4000 to have done over the years. I wanted that car bad, even as screwed up as it was, and offered $500 less than his asking price just to make myself feel better. He refused! I left it there. Wound up buying an Austin Mini for less money that was twice as nice not long after that. Another good decision.

I did finally score my pickup in North Carolina from a seller that not only sent me photos but took a video of the truck and showed close up all the areas of concern. Even got to hear it run. That truck was mine the minute I saw it in his driveway upon arrival. Best of all, it was the least expensive truck I looked at.

I sold my 1970 Fiat 124 Spider, my first restoration, over the internet to a lady from North Dakota. She wanted to drive it home, which I talked her out of thankfully. Instead, she showed up with her husband and a borrowed car trailer. Looked it over a bit and then handed me the money. Didn't want to drive it. Didn't even hear it run until I drove it on the trailer. I was in disbelief. Guess they were happy with it as I never heard about it after they left!

I like the road trips, but you sure can't be too careful. If I'd do it again, I highly recommend the video method...it showed detail that none of the photos every would have.

[Ivan Saxton]

I have recently made two good road trips, which has not exactly yielded a complete car; but we still have enough of something that is rare here from which we can rebuild one by making what we lack.

The first trip was relatively short, around 650 miles there and back. I brought home the chassis frame, good front fenders and valances, steering box, pattern of the muffler hanging from the muffler brackets, G-Piel muffler cutout, and most of the engine and gearbox which had been stripped by the kids after their father had used the front and rear axles for trailers in the 1940's. They had tried to dismantle the engine with a hammer, but it is still recoverable. I'll get Stirling to attach photo of the 1921 Templar where it lay. The reason the car is recoverable is that it was in what we call the Mallee district of northern inland Victoria, which has sandy soil and low rainfall. I dismantled the remains and loaded the chassis on top over the cabin of Honourable Oriental 1981 Toyota ute, and everything else in the back. Believe it or not, it turned out I was there on a wet day, and I had done enough to decide to leave the rear axle where it was safe on the property of a friend about 5 miles away. This axle is about the right weight, and has the exact wheels that were used on Templar, so it is about 98% probability it is the one off the car.

So far, so good. A couple of days later I was telling a friend in Northern New South Wales about this car which I had just gathered as a project for Stirling; being something that I had not had obsessional grip on for decades. He said "I know a man with a good Templar engine and gearbox. He advertised it for sale quite a while ago. Now, where is my book; ----- 'T'---... Ring him tonight". So I did. While I was describing to Lloyd what Stirling had he started to interlace the conversation with description of what he had. He had enquiries over the years, but it almost seemed that he preferred it should go to someone who had some hope of putting a car back together with it. He obtained it mounted in a spare 4cyl Willys Knight chassis which came with a Willys Kinight he had bought. Well that re-directed the discussion into the problems and idiosynchracies of sleeve valve engines. Some years ago I did some engine rebuilding work for a man here with two different size W-K sixes; and by rebuilding the worn junk-head rings with metal- sprayed coating of molybdenum and grinding them to size on a mandrel so the end gap was spec in the refinished sleeves, I taught them to give up smoking. Lloyd had made new cast iron junk rings for people, out of cast iron. Well, I said "How do we make a deal?" He said "Money is OK": so we agreed on his price and worked out a time when I could get away and that suited him.

Well, I could not get away until I had finished some minor maintenance on the ute and loaded some parts for the friend in Northern NSW, but before I did the last of that I had to help my autistic son Rhett pack for a weekend camp, cook some little cakes for him to share with the others going to the camp on the bus I had to take him to catch. Then I had to finalise arrangements for someone who owed me a favour to collect him from the bus after the camp and deliver him home to Stirling's supervision. So I left pretty late; but about 10 miles from home the police had my whole side of the freeway blocked. They were up to no good, of course, and I suppose that was reasonable. If someone is no good they are supposed to be up to it. First there was a girl with a breathalyser, who seemed satisfied with my lung capacity. She was nice and quite chatty, so I thanked her for keeping me safe from drunks on the road. Next station was a gent who checked licence, ownership, address, roadworthiness, unpaid fines, et cetera. I have never seen more police in one spot, and the media later reported that they had an excellent hunting session. Well, it was after 11pm before I got past that, and I had already planned to sleep uncomfotably in the Toyota Motel, which I had to do about two and a half hours later. After an hour and a half of recovery and discomfort in the parking area of a service centre I continued. I was actually quite pleased when the freeway turned into a two-lane highway. The semi's and B doubles going interstate travel at their own speed, while I prefer ot keep very much on the speed limits, so as they closed in behind, when the road was clear I would give two flashes on the right turn indicator and pull as far over to the left as possible, then flick my headlights up and down to indicate when to pull back into the lane. The acknowledgement is two left indicator flashes, two right, then two left. It is amazing how this minimal exchange of courtesy prevents boredom and monotony on a long trip.

About every 200 miles or so I had to stop and replenish the diesel. I was carrying several cans so I was able to minimize the cost by avoiding the most expensive fill-up points. The little 2.4 turbo diesel consistently returned about 35 miles per gallon irrespective of load. By daylight I was well up into the Riverina sheep country of western NSW. You have to watch out for grasshoppers. The roos are the worst safety risk to themselves about dusk and dawn, when the half light and strong headlights seem to upset their judgement as pedestrians. Their acceleration out of nowhere if they decide to come in from the side is astonishing, and they really can make a mess of your vehicle if you hit them. By contrast the unattended sheep or cattle on the roads are really very professional. They have strange customs and laws on unattended livestock on roads up north. You just see a big yellow sign propped against a guide post that says "AHEAD" above black silhouettes of a cow and a sheep. In Victoria the law was reformed many years ago; but in NSW and Qld it seems that it is still based on the precedent of a case following a collision in 1942 after dark on an English country lane between an elderly cyclist and an elderly horse, neither of them equiped with lights or horn. A lot of these roads have very wide easements, because they are historically "Stock Routes". Drovers would tend large mobs of sheep or cattle; and whereas originally the intent was to provide transort to market; it is now more often to graze the "Long Paddock", that is to provide feed for stock in times of scarcity.

When I reached the town of Forbes, there was a sign for a free tea or coffe stop for travellers, so I participated, donated, and lingered for a chat. Then we spotted an old car which I could not immediately identify, which had turned into a nearby motel. So I wandered in to find out what was happening. It was a steam car gathering!!! There were two 1920's Stanleys, three earlier coffin-nose ones which were quite big cars, I think a White, and a Doble with an English gent sitting on the running board who said that a New Zealand Doble owner who I have not seen for 30 years was coming. This was just early arrivals and not a full muster. There was also a ring-in, a Speed-Six Bentley. Most of the people seemed to be from Sydney.

A little distance past the town of Gilgandra, I pulled up quickly in a rest stop, because there was a very nice 3 litre Bentley there. The owner was trying to locate the source of a loud noise which was intermittent. He came from about 100 miles away. When he decided to keep moving I said I would follow behind him in case he had real trouble and needed help. Half a mile further the noise had become really bad so he pulled into a side road and I stopped beside him. After a bit of fruitless listening and fiddling he pulled the rear cover off the generator. Now the generator of a genuine Bentley is mounted on the passengers' side of the aluminium firewall. It also serves as the car heater!. Well I soon spotted that the armature was turning in the seized rear bearing. So we had to disconnect the drive shaft from the back of the camshaft. He had to meet his wife in the next town, and still had plenty of time to get home without the generator before they turned out the lights. So I tagged along behind again, and watched the interesting bit. Now 3 litre Bentleys go quite well, even though the performance is not in the same league as the Roamer-Duesenberg. The road to Coonabarabran is reasonably steep, and the only place you can reasonably overtake someone is on the periodic overtaking lane sections. I let four modern cars past me as I had done with the trucks. The fourth was an MGA, which sounded nice and was obviously going somewhere in a hurry. Not one of them had enough poke to get past the Bentley in the overtaking lanes on the hills!!!!!!!

I was glad to unload the Marmon 78 rear axle I had picked up for John Ryder some months ago, to have a meal and a talk with him, and a decent night's sleep. Next morning John showed me his several acres of car stuff. You name it: There was a lot that I was not familiar with. It is just as well he gathered what he has, because the scrap collectors have been souring everywhere for the Chinese without knowledge or repect for historical value. And the car collectors are starting to "feed" off each other. Many of the dealers are very devious thieves. One camped to sleep outside his property, then in the dead of night sneaked in through the fence with a torch and relieved him of parts that he had noted earlier. It is very hard to apprehend and prove theft in such a case. There was also a rabid T-Ford fanatic who is so weird that he has every year of T-model who was trusted to look around John's shed alone. Everything he fancied he dropped out the corner of a back window onto the ground. He ate his tea, slept in his bed, then woke and left early after loading the parts from behind the locked shed. One thing lost was the irreplaceable oil pump from John's Maroubra Speedway racing T model.

About midday I set off for Stanthorpe and the Templar engine. When I reached the Queensland border I turned east along a secondary highway. I later discovered that I had missed a turn. The road suddenly deteriorated into an unsealed surface where it crossed a shire boundary, and became progressively worse. There was a sign that it was impassable in the wet (which fortunately it was not), and a couple of dry watercourses had concrete causeways beside collapsed bridges. Quotation from C J Dennis' famous poem "The Great Australian Adjective"----- 'Said 'e "Well spare me ------ days, the ------ government's ------ways is screamin' ------ funny." That is a very easy poem to memorise, because one word is such a high percentage of it. The road turned into more or less a bush track, then swept around in a wide arc to the south, before fortunately making a junction with the road I should have been on. A couple of miles back I identified an abandonned chassis frame and good front fenders of about a 1918 Buick which was litter on the road reserve. John is going to secure and rescue it; because they were a car not to be scorned, and it may be a start for someone the gather the essentials to rebuild one.

When I crossed the NSW border into Queensland I drove through Texas. Texas, Qeensland is a little town one end of an interesting direct road to Stanthorpe, and with a big road sign warning travellers that the speed limits are 10 Ethnic Velocity Units lower than those in NSW, and with a big picture of a rabbit warning of a 30,000 dollar fine for keeping one. Last time John Ryder drove through Texas a rabbit was contentedly showing its contempt by grazing beneath the sign! Rabbits are an ecological disaster that were imported as food for the foxes that were an ecological disaster when imported as sport for the landed gentry. All through that country you see remnants of another ecological disaster. The prickly pear cactus was a garden escapee which overran huge areas of NSW and Qld so thoroughly that it was useless for any purpose. The importation of the Cactoblastus cactorm beetle was propably the first successful biological contol of a weed or pest, and beetle and cactus survive in small numbers in equilibrium.

I reached Lloyd and Pam's house in perfect time for tea as invited. When I happened to mention that my autistic son was away at camp, Pam mentioned a concern with a young boy with Asperger's syndrome. I said that I am Asperger's syndrome, which I have only recently come to understand, and I am quite happy to talk about it: I reckon it took me well over an hour to empty that plate. Now understanding the characteristics, I suspect that a very significant number of the most important pioneers of the automotive industry may have been advantaged by Asperger's. It can be a bit difficult to compensate for the social gaps that are a characteristic, particularly if your lack understanding of the problem you have. Lloyd does some beautiful machining work for cars. He is restoring his own little OHC MG, and has made his own Rootes blower. They built their own house, but it would have cost them 37,000 dollars to get the electricity connected. So they installed a 24 volt solar power system with a bank of 200 amp hour batteries and a 50 cycle inverter. The only fuss is the inductive load of the refrigerator starting up. That is a very civilised way to avoid corporate extortion. In the morning we loaded the Templar engine, and I drove back to John Ryder's place.

On the way back, some miles north of Narromine, I saw a man gathering piles of rubbush along the side of the road. I commented to the girl on the supermarket check-out, and she said "Oh yes, that is Trevor; everybody knows him". Apparently he has taken clearing litter as his mission in life, and he is happy with his own company and happy to live under the stars. The road litter, the unfortunate legacy of generations of motorists and drovers is unbelievable. An army would take a century to remove it all from all the inland roads of NSW and Qld.

The gearbox of the Templar is very similar to those of John Ryder's Pan American and another car. I have the task of making copies of the top for the two he is lacking. He also loaded the 1921 low-radiator Dodge 4 engine into my ute. Glenn, the man who has the Templar rear axle for us has a 1921 Dodge which has always been in his family but for 18 months of its existence. He did not have a correct engine. I have stripped this one down and have a set of quality sleeves pulled out ready to sleeve and bore it for him. You can still pass favours around.

There is one unexpected disappointment about Stirling's Templar. When I rang up to see if we could examine Ron Wylie's car to measure and copy, I learned that not only had he been so inadvertantly inconsiderate as to die, but the car has been sold to America. The car is definitely buildable, but that would have made it easier. Who knows what may turn up. If you really want a particular car you get the first piece you can to start. The rest just seems to come. The chassis frame is the most important thing that you cannot do without. If anyone chances to know of a stray radiator that is top of the wish list.

It was a fairly long trip, such as I have not done for a long time. I suppose I drove around 2600 miles all up. I hope my description is not excessive, and I hope I have not many typographical errors. It may just give you a little knowledge of this country. Regards, Ivan

[Ivan Saxton]

More pictures...

[Ivan Saxton]

More pictures....

[Ivan Saxton]

More pictures.....

[Ivan Saxton]

Last picture...

[R W Burgess]

Excellant reading material Ivan. Your writing never bores me. As far as those engine parts(? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />), I can see where you're more serious about saving the antiques of the world than I am. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Wayne

[jaxops]

Beauty Mr. Earl!!

[DizzyDale]

Just got back from Hickory,North Carolina.Made a deal on a 67 Nova,YES.... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />HONEST <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> people do exist.diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[R W Burgess]

Pictures!!!

We need pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Wayne