History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

Jim, great piece! And it's a treat to get a look at the famous Pierce V-12! It has always been
amazing to ME that Seagrave kept improving this engine for another 30 years! I think the
displacement had grown to about 906-CID by 1969 or '70 when they finally switched to
diesel. Seagrave had been the sole hold-out among fire-equipment companies still running
gasoline engines!

(Incidentally, I understand that distributor caps are not repro'd for these, SO they are very
hard to come by. )

 

There is a Pierce Arrow 12 Distributor Cap on a popular auction site right now.

 

I was parked next to that Pierce at a show a number of years back. Beautiful car.

Here is a copule of pictures I thought you guys would enjoy. This was taken by my dad in 1965. It shows a picture of one of the original 4 dual carb supercharged Duesenberg engines. The car had just been brought back from South America where it was raced. The second picture is about a year later during restoration.

 

Jim, is it eBay? Did they say if it was unused NOS?

 

AJ, yes indeedy! How often to people get to see a little of the INNER
workings of such a '30s HI-PO engine??? Awesome! Thanks.

 

What a work of art, I would have that in my living room!

 

Yes and it doesn't say. Look under pierce-parts-store

 

That's the guy that is building my Stutz engine. Very reputable.

 

Locomobile.

http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/RightBrain2112/1900_1930.html

 

Funny that we just roundtabled the Marion auto make a few days ago, and I just ran across this old Marion ad on a thread by HAMBer Mart, whom most of you probably remember. I found the ad kind of charming AND informative, in period context. I'm thinking the RELIABLE mill the gent quoted by Marion here probably had under his hood was a 20-plus-horse Rutenber L-head 212-CID six-cylinder. Rutenbers were very good engines and were used in a BUNCH of assembled cars and trucks, incidentally. Did you notice that the guy was TICKLED with an average of 13 mpg???

 

The Marquette was the "companion car" built and sold by Buick for the 1930 model year. It went on sale June 1, 1929. Many early Marquettes were registered as 29's and selling along side the late 1929 Buicks in showrooms. Even with the market crash of 1929, the Marquette had a fairly strong US production run of 35,007 cars and chassis being produced plus a commonly missed additional 3,117 cars and chassis produced in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and 301 Cars produced in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada for a grand total of 38,425. Not to bad for a one year "failure"! Unfortunately for the Marquette, it's sales cut into the Oldsmobile market share rather than the Nash, Dodge or DeSoto sales, for which it was targeted. With the end of the 1930 model year the Marquette name faded from existence. The model planned as the 1931 Marquette Eight became the Buick Series 50. Many of the early 1931 Series 50 Buicks carried over a large number of the 1930 Marquette components.

More pics here! http://munitechmotorcars.com/29~Marquette/Page.html

 

Here's one that I think would probably be
safe to bet money on it being an extinct
marque, with no known survivors - the
'American Junior' of 1918! I suppose
technically, it's not a "real"car , although
the ad suggests that it be used as one
- ie - for making deliveries and such and
even for driving Dad to and from work!

Mart3406
==========================

 

How about a 1914 Norwalk built in Martinsburg, West Virginia? Did anyone guess there were no known Norwalk survivors? It looks like there is at least one left. I like the push button transmission.
I took these photos at an antique car show at Sully Plantation in Chantilly, Virginia last summer.

 

WOW Jim68cuda !

Martinsburg, WV now has the only known surviving 1914 Norwalk Underslung Six car. And, it was built right here in Martinsburg!

The generosity of individuals and businesses have allowed us to bring this beauty home; but, we have a long way to go to get it paid for. Your donations and assistance are truly appreciated.

We are also looking for any images or literature about the Norwalk that we may not currently have.

http://www.norwalkmotorcar.com/

 

The 1914 Norwalk Underslung Six

The 1914 Norwalk Underslung Six
By Pam Cook
In 1909, a man named Arthur Skadden started a small motor vehicle manufacturing company in Norwalk, Ohio which produced a 22 hp gasoline powered vehicle known as the Auto-Bug. This small motorized buggy had some unique features for its era such as rack and pinion steering and a tilt steering wheel. By 1911 Skadden phased out the Auto-Bug and replaced it with an actual motor car named after the town it was created in, Norwalk, Ohio.
Through stock holder bickering and other troubles, Skadden went into bankruptcy and his company was bought out by the Model Engine Company which was his largest creditor, on the condition that investors in Martinsburg, West Virginia, who were already lined up and in place would immediately buy the company and all its remaining inventory from Model Engine, which is precisely what happened.
By November 1911, the factory was moved to Martinsburg and production again was started shortly thereafter. By 1912, Skadden had created a vehicle with an underslung chassis based on what he had seen coming from the American Underslung motor car. This type of vehicle was different in the aspect that the frame of the car was placed underneath the axle and suspension, thus creating a lower center of gravity which improved safety and performance. It was built with large 40 inch wheels to compensate for the low slung suspension, and this created a better ride over rough country roads.
The underslung design carried through for 1913, and in one instance a retired county judge in Pennsylvania, along with his family, were driving in a blinding rain storm with the side curtains on the car in the closed position. They crossed a railroad track and were broadsided by a freight train loaded with coke cars. The Norwalk was shoved down the tracks, hit a signal pole and spun around – however the car never flipped over and the passengers survived.
Norwalk took advantage of this incident and used it heavily the following year in their advertising campaign to state that the Norwalk was the safest car available. In 1914, the company created their best car ever, the only underslung car with a six cylinder engine available to the public. This car came with massive inline six Continental engine with dual ignition, 12 spark plugs a distributor and magneto. One option available was an electric push button transmission that worked off a system of solenoids and magnets to shift the car.
The Friends of the Norwalk Foundation in Martinsburg, WV was formed to purchase the only Norwalk survivor known to exist from this long defunct company, which closed its doors permanently in 1922. The car was located in Longmont, Colorado and the foundation purchased it for $300,000 in order to have it returned to Martinsburg as part of their cultural and industrial history.

 

great posts about the Norwalk. A twin ignition six before Nash, and a push button trans before Chrysler, very cool.

 

The single-survivor Norwalk was thoroughly covered a few months ago on this thread.

However, the enthusiasm is nice.

 

Heres the link to the original Norwalk posting. I had missed it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397594&highlight=norwalk&page=199

 

Hey, don't get me wrong, guys. I too like to revisit make we already covered when there's osmething new to add. All the pix, plus HJManiac's material, I don;t think were offered previously. So, s'ALL good!

 

FRP - (Finlay Roberson Porter )- Built cars 1914-1918.








Thanks: http://www.american-automobiles.com/F.R.Porter.html




http://hobbygroup.aceboard.com/254956-5862-7194-0-1914-Series-Keldgord.htm

"Finlay Robertson Porter, a native of Lowell, Ohio, served as chief engineer at the Mercer Company from 1910 to 1915 and was a designer of the Mercer Raceabout, one of the fastest and most desired automobiles in the United States during its heyday.Porter was mostly self-educated having left school at age 11 and then immersing himself in mail order courses in mechanical engineering. His first job, before going with Mercer, was general manager of the Empire Brass Works in East Stroudsburg. Pennsylvania.While with Empire Brass, Porter along with Charles C. Worthington, a noted pump maker, designed a steam automobile. However, when the boiler exploded whenever the auto stopped, he turned to Mercer and gasoline engines.Porter became increasingly well known in automotive circles, especially after having designed the powerful T-head engine for Mercer in 1910 but like many engineers of the time, he dreamed of manufacturing his own automobile. A major falling out with Mercer over the Company’s switch to an L-head engine led to Porter’s resignation and the decision to strike out on his own. Using his initials to name his new creation, the F.R.B. was born.His first automobiles were race cars powered by Knight engines; three of which were built to compete in the 1914 Indianapolis 500. The racers developed engine problems and never made the starting line but that experience led Porter to develop and build his own engine, a brilliant single-overhead-camshaft four that produced some 100 hp and could propel his autos to road speeds well in excess of 80 mph.Three different models of the F.R.P. were produced, the Model A Raceabout on a 110” wheel base, the Model B Runabout on a 130” wheel base, and the extraordinary Model C seven passenger Touring car that could deliver 12 mpg and cruise at 80 all day long. Wanting to better Mercer, Porter spared no expense in the quality of materials used to build his automobiles or in the time consuming attention to detail that went into every car. It is no wonder that his autos were priced at $5,000.00 - making them one of America's most expensive automobiles. Sadly, Porter’s masterpieces were not commercially successful and with the advent of World War I, the F.R.P. factory closed and was taken over by the government. His parts, plans, and drawings were sold to the American & British Manufacturing Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut."


http://www.prewarcar.com/prewar-my-prewarcar/spot-a-pre-war-car/1915-f-r-p-touring-013818.html






http://hobbygroup.aceboard.com/254956-5862-6830-0-1914-Keldgord.htm


More photos, etc.:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/events/eventVehicle.aspx?carID=19653&eventID=784&catID=2594

 

That costly FRP (on any wheelbase) had to be something special. 6.75-inch stroke valve-in-head fours of 454-CID? Wow. And, love or hate the styling, it surely was BOLD, eh?

BTW, would somebody educate me? I have always wondered what the OFFICIAL name for this type of TOP was.

 

Old Car Dictionary​

Landau lan dau, n. (from Landau, German town where made).<o></o>
1. A four-wheeled covered carriage with the top in two sections, either of which can be lowered independently.<o></o>
2. A former style of automobile with a somewhat similar top.<o></o>
EN: Landau, as we know it, can refer to a body style with non-functional "Landau Irons" on the rear roof quarter, such as a fancy hearse; or a horse-drawn carriage. They appeared as an "S" shape, in the diagonal.<o></o>
Landaulet, landaulette lan dau let, lan dau lette, n.<o></o>
1. A small landau or one with only one seat.<o></o>
2. Same as landau, n.<o></o>
EN: This term is more widely known in the hobby and refers to an all-weather limousine style. They had a division window, open chauffeur's and passenger's compartment (either full or partial), or open passenger's compartment only. Sometimes the only open section in the passenger's compartment was over the rear seating area. The chauffeur's compartment usually had a sliding or soft top which snapped into place. The passenger compartment top was folding, like a baby carriage. Landaulets are usually individual custom. (The terms Landau and Landaulet, when applied to automobiles, are interchangeable.)<o></o>
</o>

 

So the car shown is JUST ONE type of landau, right? I'd always imagined this had a more specific name, but I guess only the general term.

Thanks, HJ!

 

Congratulations Mr. Fire. You are correct. I figured you'd find the answer.

Today's Quiz is; The first speedometer was introduced in 1901. What were they called and what make of car were they installed in?

 

That would be the 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout. Olds brought some innovative tech first during it's long history.

 

That's the make but there was a name for the Speedometer too. It was called; The (what?) Speedometer?

 

1934 Buick 66C Convertible Coupe: One of only 253 ever produced and rumored to be one of just 8 known to exist.

Here's Number 2 of eight;

http://www.collectioncar.com/detailed.php?ad=4275&category_id=1

1934 Buick's seem to have very low production figures;

http://www.autogallery.org.ru/bui1934.htm

 

found out about the extinct mysterious Model T engine modified to a V8 in 1917, was discussed in HAMB here.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230258

 

I think its called simply "The Mechanical Speedometer"
Never heard any special name before.