0 On the Road: Scottsdale and Escondido

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

I just returned from another trip, which started in sunny, warm Scottsdale, Arizona. My wife, Wilma, and I arrived on Saturday afternoon after traveling all night. Facing a two-hour time adjustment, we went to bed early so we wouldn't be too groggy the next day.

On Sunday morning we headed for the 2nd annual Arizona Concours d' Elegance at the Biltmore Hotel. They have a great setting for a show--a little small, but very friendly and pleasant. We met several people there, including Dennis Wise, the founder of Fountainhead Development. Dennis was showing his 1937 Packard, which ended up winning third in class in the American Open Classic group. This was the first time Dennis had entered a car in a Concours d'Elegance, and he was delighted with his award.

We got to meet novelist Clive Cussler, who was at the Concours with his 1918 Pierce-Arrow. We really enjoyed visiting with him and his wife.

Early Monday morning we headed for Escondido in Southern California to visit Allen Schmidt's Horseless Carriage Restoration and check on our projects. While there I got a chance to drive our air-cooled, single-cylinder 1902 Knox runabout. It will be a great little car to tour in around Fairbanks when it gets here. The Knox is ready to ship, but we'll have to wait for warmer weather before we can put it on a truck to Alaska. I spent Tuesday in Allen's shop working on our American Underslung projects, but will leave that for another blog post.

We headed back to Arizona on Wednesday morning so we could take in the Scottsdale auctions. First up was Bonham's. The only car that interested us was a nice 1934 Lincoln KB Victoria. It went for $410,000, which I thought was a little high for that particular car. There weren't any early brass cars in the auctions, so we didn't buy anything new for the museum. But, we got a chance to visit with a lot of folks and see some really great cars. I still have trouble, though, knowing that someone bid $155,000 for a 1960 Fiat Jolly!

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: On the Road: Scottsdale and Escondido

0 On the Road: Southern California

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

When January arrives in Fairbanks, it's a good idea to take a little time and head for some sunshine to enjoy. So, last month Wilma and I left town on the good old red-eye flight to San Diego for a few days of rest and relaxation, and to check on some cars we have at Allan Schmidt's Horseless Carriage Restoration shop in Escondido. We spent a couple days visiting my nephew and touring a few museums (auto related). Unbelievably, it snowed a little in San Diego.

We spent some time with Allan and his wife, Beth, and did a little touring with a 1927 Pierce-Arrow limo (above right). We drove to a resort that was rather nice, and being rebuilt after the fires of 2007.  This copper piece of art there was rather impressive to see and obviously took a lot of work to put together.


We also joined the local Horseless Carriage club for a tour with a 1908 Great Western touring car that Allan was working on for one of his customers. This car had just returned from a 2600-mile cross-country tour in Australia, and was brought in to the shop to get it ready for another overseas tour. It is a rather large 2-cylinder mid-engine car that runs rather well, and like all old cars, can and will make you spend a few moments tinkering on it, just to keep you up to speed.

While heading to the tour, the timer decided to part company with the attaching point, thus rendering us sitting in the middle of the intersection. We quickly figured out what was wrong and made a phone call to get some wrenches to make the repairs, and were soon on the road again.

At right are some of the cars that showed up for the tour.  We met a great bunch of folks and enjoyed good food, followed by a show of sheep and cattle dog competition.

Notice that all the folks are dressed in their winter coats, as it was rather cool for that area. The night before it got down to 19° F in the valley where we ended the tour, and for them that is downright cold. It did get up in the high 50s by the end of the day, which wasn't too bad for us northern folks.

Oh, yea, I almost forgot--I was working as well, and did get a few pictures of our American Underslung  in the current stage of restoration at Allan's. That's another story to follow.

Detail: On the Road: Southern California

0 Presidential Wheels

by Nancy DeWitt

With the country's attention focused on the upcoming presidential election, I couldn't help but think about the evolution of official presidential vehicles over the past century. The current presidential car, known as Cadillac One and The Beast, is a highly customized, armored limousine built by Chevrolet and badged as a Cadillac. For security reasons, the doors are 8 inches thick, the windows are made from bulletproof, 5-inch thick glass and the entire car is sealed against biochemical attacks.

1907 Model G White Steamer

President Taft's 40-hp, 7-passenger
Model M White Steamer

Cadillac One is a far cry from the presidential carriages and open cars of the early 1900s. William McKinley was the first president to ride in an automobile, a Locomobile steam carriage driven by F.O. Stanley in November of 1899. Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to take a public automobile ride when he rode in a Columbia electric car in a 1902 parade. Although he preferred horses and always rode in carriages for state business, Roosevelt also rode in two White steam cars the Secret Service had borrowed from the Army in 1907. Perhaps one of these was a White Model G like the one in our collection?

William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's successor, was the first president to use automobiles exclusively for transport. After convincing Congress to allocate $12,000 for a White House automobile fleet, he purchased a 1909 White Model M steamer (identical to the sixth automobile to arrive in Fairbanks) as his first official car. Taft also bought two Pierce-Arrows and a Baker electric, and then converted the White House stable into a four-car garage. Taft and his White steamer are featured in this year's White House Christmas Ornament.

Photo courtesy of Candy Waugaman

Taft's successor, Woodrow Wilson, was also a fan of Pierce-Arrows, no doubt appreciating the smooth ride of these big, powerful cars. Our museum has two Pierce-Arrows that were built during Wilson's term (1913-1921), including a huge 1917 Model 66 A-4. Warren Harding was the first president to ride to his inauguration in car (a Packard Twin-Six) and unlike his predecessors, he knew how to drive an automobile. Harding rode in at least one Packard during his 1923 Alaska visit, including the 7-passenger touring car in Juneau pictured here.

Cadillacs were a favorite among several presidents, including Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt. President Herbert Hoover bought a 1932 Cadillac 452-B V16 Imperial Limousine just before losing his reelection battle in 1932. It is identical to the one on display in our museum; in fact, for many years some thought that ours was the former Hoover V16 Cadillac. Many presidents purchased their official cars, and Hoover kept his limo when he left office. For security reasons, presidential cars today are completely destroyed when they are replaced. Fortunately, many of the earlier limos are on display in museums.

Detail: Presidential Wheels

0 Busy Times

by Derik Price

Sorry our post this week is a little late.  We're half way through the summer season already and it has been a blur at the Museum.  It's fair to say we've exercised more cars this summer than I can remember.  Willy even had to write a list on the shop blackboard to keep track.  (So far) they include - '05 Olds, '04 Buckmobile, '14 Woods, '12 Premier 4-40, '14 Grant, '09 Hudson, '29 Model A, '25 Stutz, '08 Brush, '09 Olds, '04 Rambler, '11 Oakland, '12 Premier 6-60, '13 Argo, '23 Ford, '03 Columbia, '99 Hertel, '10 Whiting, '10 Stanley, '20 Argonne, '28 Pierce-Arrow, '33 Hupmobile, '34 American Austin, '32 Cadi, '09 IHC, '06 Cadi, '11 Ford, '27 Stutz, plus today and tomorrow the '14 Moline-Knight and the '18 Stutz. Wow!  30 cars out and running in the last 2 months.  It's been tough to keep up with Willy - he and the crew have just been 'cranking' them out.  :-)   I've had the opportunity to shoot LOTS of video this summer and we have been posting new clips each week or so to our YouTube Channel so do check it out.



After the long winters here we sometime forget - there is just nothing that brightens up your day like the sparkle of brass in the summer sun.

So thanks again Willy, Ethan, Steve and the whole docent crew for working so hard to get the cars exercised in our very short summer season.

Derik

Detail: Busy Times

0 Premier: The 4th "P"

by Nancy DeWitt

Many antique automobile enthusiasts are familiar with "The Three P's" of fine motoring: Packard, Peerless and Pierce-Arrow. We are fortunate to have fine examples of all three marques in our museum. We also have a "4th P" whose name overtakes my brain whenever I try to to list these three prestigious makes--Premier. Although Premier was probably never a real serious competitor against these three giants, its quality, power and handsome lines were certainly on par with them.

We presently have two Premiers in our collection, a 1912 Model 6-60 roadster (above right) and a 1912 Model 4-40 7-passenger touring car. Willy and his crew tuned up the 4-40 last week, and I was fortunate to take a spin in this huge machine. She has a very smooth ride compared to some of our other Brass Era cars. I was riding in high style in the roomy passenger compartment, which is decked out with a diamond-tufted rear seat, jump seats and a brass robe rail and footrest.

In 1912 buyers could choose between six body styles, ranging from a 2-passenger roadster to a 7-passenger limousine. The 40 hp models were powered by a 4-cylinder T-head engine that displaced 334 cubic inches. 

Early on, Premier established a reputation for superlative performance and by 1910 had completed three Glidden Tours with a perfect score, a very impressive achievement. The following year, 12 Premiers carrying 40 men, women and children completed the grueling, 4,731-mile Ocean-to-Ocean tour from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Los Angeles, California in 45 days. The only damage sustained was three broken springs, a testament to Premier's superb reliability.

While we won't be putting our Premiers through such a punishing test, you can watch for us cruising around Fairbanks in one of these impressive automobiles. Click here to watch a video of the big 6-60 roadster and here for a video about its unique air-start system.

Detail: Premier: The 4th "P"

0 Barn Finds at the Gilmore

by Nancy DeWitt

I recently toured the Gilmore Car Museum near Kalamazoo, Michigan. This place should be on every car lover's bucket list! The Gilmore is actually a collection of several museums, including the original Donald S. and  Genevieve Gilmore collection. Most, like the Classic Car Club of America Museum and Pierce-Arrow Museum, are located in historic or replica barns spread out on a beautiful 90-acre campus.

The Gilmore's centerpiece is the new 45,000 square-foot Automotive Heritage Center, which houses a theater, six exhibit galleries, gift shop and a fantastic library. After touring that I wandered over to the Campania Barn (pictured above), where I found this "Waltz Blue" 1948 Tucker sedan. It's the lowest original mileage Tucker automobile in existence, with less than 50 miles on the odometer.

While most of the cars on display look like they just rolled off the showroom floor, there are some interesting unrestored vehicles as well. This very rare 1924 Barley 5-passenger touring remains in its original, unrestored condition. Only two Barleys (sisters to the Roamer automobile) are known to survive, and both are at the Gilmore. The one pictured here may not be flashy, but it represents an important part of Michigan's automotive heritage.

My favorite exhibit was in the G Barn, where the John Stegeman Pedal Car Collection resides. Here I found the 1930 Rolls Royce Phantom II Sedanca DeVille used in the 1967 movie "The Gnome-Mobile." Donald Gilmore and Walt Disney were close friends, which explains how the Gnome-Mobile's back seat became the only movie set located outside of the Disney Corporation. The public isn't allowed inside the Gnome-Mobile, but after a generous helping of pixie dust several participants attending the National Association of Automobile Museums conference were given a ride. Many thanks to the Gilmore's Director, Michael Spezia, for the tour of the museums, shop, archives and storage area. In case you can't tell from the photo, I had a blast!

Detail: Barn Finds at the Gilmore