0 On the Road for a Bus and a Buick

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

I recently took a quick trip to the Las Vegas area to scope out a few vehicles. After grabbing a rental car at the Vegas airport I headed for Sun City, Arizona, to check out this 1931 Buick Series 90 roadster.

You can see that it's a very nice car. I looked it over thoroughly and took it for a drive around the area. The detail throughout looks correct and very nicely done, and the car would be a nice addition to anyone's collection. We decided it wasn't a perfect fit for our museum, so watch for it to show up in a future auction.

While in Sun City, I had the opportunity to meet a few other collectors and see their toys. I had a good time, but my trip was too rushed. This area has a lot of other automotive treasures that I would like to see when I have more time in the future. Maybe then my camera battery will not fail me, like the darn thing did on this trip.

One of the main reasons for my trip was to check out the collection from Jim Rogers' Sunbelt Classic and Antique Auto Museum being sold by Mecum Auctions. I had never heard of Jim Rogers and his collection of more than 230 cars. His museum in Las Vegas was not open to the general public, but he did allow events to be held there.

The collection's 1926 REO Speedwagon bus was of interest to us, as we would love to transport visitors around Wedgewood Resort in a neat old bus or coach during the summer. The REO was a nice, older restoration that had deteriorated over the last 25 years or so. Much of the exterior had suffered from the dry climate, which caused the wood to crack and delaminate. The bus would require major wood work and a new paint job to make it presentable for a few more years.

It doesn't appear the bus windows were made of safety glass, so that's something else we would have had to replace to make it a passenger vehicle.

The engine compartment looked very tired, as if nothing had run for a least 25 years. The water pump was about half made up of JB Weld to seal the corrosion of the housing and tubing. I had no way to know if anything worked, or when the engine had last run. None of the cars at the auction were started, only parked with photos displayed on a screen. The REO sold for more than twice what I thought it was worth for its condition, and hopefully its new owner will give it the TLC it needs. Someday we will find the right bus for our use.

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. 

Detail: On the Road for a Bus and a Buick

0 Our Year in Review

by Nancy DeWitt
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

What a year! Each one just gets better and better, and 2013 was full of accomplishments. Most notably, we had our best year ever for attendance and gift shop sales. Based on direct feedback and on-line comments, our visitors were very pleased with their museum experience. In fact, their reviews on TripAdvisor earned us the top ranking for Fairbanks attractions for the second year in a row! It's never too late to submit your review, which you can do by clicking on this link.

Other highlights from 2013 include:

• We hosted a number of school field trips at the museum and offered rides in the Snow Flyer to almost 50 children during Tired Iron week.

• Historic fashion consultant Abigail Cucolo joined our staff for several months and accomplished a whirlwind of projects. She led fashion tours, wrote blog posts, organized our storage room, cataloged over 700 items into a database, repaired garments, and added over 30 new outfits to the galleries. She also curated our "Beauty and the Bird" exhibit and created several new displays, including ones on undergarments, Fortuny gowns, and WAVES uniforms.

• Our docents continued to provide valuable support, from educating visitors and providing security during private receptions, to dusting cars and helping Willy with innumerable repair projects in the shop.

• We worked hard to improve the visitor experience and began offering free audio tours with admission. One guest wrote of the audio tour: "Very good and really adds to the experience."

• We acquired J. Parker Wickham's library and now have a wonderful collection of resources for research.

• We participated in the Vernon L. Nash Antique Car Club annual show, Golden Days Show and Shine, and a fairly soggy Golden Days Parade. We were delighted to be selected to carry the winner of the Miss World Eskimo Indian Olympics pageant and her court in our 1919 Pierce-Arrow.

• We added a number of videos to our YouTube channel, which receives about 2,500 views a week.

• We had five articles published in national magazines, including The Bulb Horn, Horseless Carriage Gazette, Air-Cooled News, and The Classic Car. The museum was also featured in articles in Alaska Magazine, The Ruralite, and Old Cars Weekly.

• Our historian attended the National Association of Automobile Museum's annual conference in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was elected to the NAAM board of directors.

• Our manager attended a number of national and regional events, including the Chickasha and Bakersfield Swap Meets, the Scottsdale auctions, and the Hershey Swap Meet.

• With the help of some great volunteers, we got one of Fairbanks's first Dodge automobiles running again and helped drive it to Valdez to commemorate the first automobile trip to the coast. The story is posted here.

• In July we hosted a full house for a presentation about the 1908 Great Race by Jeff Mahl, great grandson of the winning car's driver, George Schuster. He gave a fabulous program and we thank everyone who came (and NAPA for sponsoring the event!).

• We added three automobiles to the Fountainhead Collection, including a 1902 Knox, 1906 Pope-Toledo, and 1910 Schacht. The Pope-Toledo won several awards before we shipped it north, including First in Class (Antiques) at the Kirkland Concours d'Elegance, and Third in Class (A-1 Antiques) and the Ansel Adams Special Award at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

• The majority of the museum automobiles got a tune-up and some road time this year. Here are a few out getting some exercise--can you identify them all?

Thank you all for another great year!

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. All guests receive half-price admission to the museum!

Detail: Our Year in Review

0 Our Pope-Toledo Wins!

 by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

A few weeks ago my lovely wife and I headed south for the U.S. Bank Kirkland Concours d'Elegance in Washington state. We arrived in Seattle to a very wet and rainy Thursday evening, and while driving out to Monroe we encountered one of the hardest rains I have seen in many years. The water was nearly a half-inch deep on 405, and the wipers on the rental car could hardly keep up. We were also treated to a very bright and noisy show with lightning that lit up the entire area. Definitely not the kind of weather for taking out a 107-year-old automobile!

We spent Friday and Saturday at Murray Motor Car getting our 1906 Pope-Toledo Type XII touring car cleaned up and ready for the show. This included oiling the clutch and taking the big car for a test drive to make sure everything was working properly following its trip to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August. Once everything checked out, we loaded the car for its trip to the LeMay Museum for Sunday's show.

The day started out a little on the cool side, but the fog burned off and turned into a great day for a show--not too hot, but still plenty warm. The Pope-Toledo certainly generated a lot of interest among the show visitors. There were some other beautiful cars in the Antiques Class, including a 1914 Lozier and 1910 Buick. Tough competition!

It was very exciting when we learned we had won the First in Class award for Pre-War Antiques. This speaks highly of the fine work done by Al and Paul Murray (pictured with me at left, along with Paul's son) and their crew. They are now getting the car ready to ship north to Fairbanks later this month.

As you can see, the Pope-Toledo has some very curvy lines. This style of body is known as "Roi-des-Belges," which translates as "King of the Belgians." It was the mistress of King Leopold II of Belgium who suggested he have a car designed with seats that resembled her richly upholstered armchairs. The bulging, tulip-shaped seats and graceful, inswept waist of the Roi-des-Belges body caused a sensation when it was unveiled on a Panhard et Levassor in 1902.

The Roi-des-Belges body, also known as a tulip phaeton, remained popular for several years. It was used on several American cars and was carried by two of the first automobiles in Fairbanks--a 1906 Pope-Toledo identical to ours, and a 1908 White Model K steam car. You need to come see it in person to realize how elegant it is.

I want to send out a big thank you to my wonderful wife, Wilma, for accompanying me to these events, dressing the part, and spending the entire day visiting with folks. It always helps to have a pretty lady with the car, but this year we were blessed to have two of them! Many thanks to Marlene for also joining us, dressed in her pretty finery. 


Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying at one of the Fountainhead Hotels. All guests receive half-price admission to the museum!

Detail: Our Pope-Toledo Wins!