Tarbuster, yer Trad Car is ready for pickup!

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Messages 1 - 44 of total 44 in this topic
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 10, 2013 - 11:33am PT
Since we've definitively determined that it's all about style and I believe
I detected no small amount of envy in relation to Warren Harding's XK120 Jag
I've taken it upon myself to ask my friend Kyle to part with one of his babies.
I assured him that it was going to a gud home and that you wouldn't park
it too close to any campfire, let alone the Camp 4 parking lot, period.
We went for a little Trad pimp ride around Monrovia last night and she was singin'!
I'm never gonna wash my azz again after riding in this!






Kyle assures me that the odometer is correct but we weren't able to check the speedo
It works fine, and Kyle assures me it will do every bit of 200 klicks but
the new tires aren't on her yet and the old ones were scary!
I did say 'eau' at least a couple of times!

A proper Trad tailpipe!




Let me know when you can come get it.


Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Apr 10, 2013 - 11:51am PT
Tarbousier can't come, Reilly. He is too busy changing a flat on his wife's bike. Maybe some other time he can hitch a ride back to the future.

From one of the Wikis:


Dubonnet's Hispano-Suiza H6 Xenia 1938, it appears or one just like it. Dubonnet was a fantastic personality of early to mid-twentieth century.

André Dubonnet (28 June 1897 – 20 January 1980) was a French flying ace, athlete, racecar driver, and inventor.
Dubonnet was the son of Joseph Dubonnet, founder of the Dubonnet apéritif firm, from which he inherited substantial wealth.[1]
He was credited with six aerial victories as a pilot during World War I. He began military service as an artilleryman, but switched to aviation. Flying a SPAD XIII, he shared two out of his three May 1918 victories with Frank Baylies, teamed up with Fernand Chavannes to destroy an observation balloon on 13 June, and split a pair of wins on 16 August 1918, with Joseph de Sevin and Captain Battle.[2]
During the 1920s, Dubonnet competed in Olympic bobsledding as well as racing cars for Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza.[1] He later spent much of his fortune developing inventions. He successfully sold an automobile suspension system (système Dubonnet) to General Motors, but nearly went bankrupt late in life while working on solar energy.[1] He also developed several aerodynamic studies and commissioned some special aerodynamic cars to be built for him.


Dubonnet also commissioned several unique cars to be built, such as this Hispano-Suiza H6C "Xenia".
Dubonnet became a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in January 1936.[3]
He returned to service during World War II, serving in GCI/2.[3]


Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Apr 10, 2013 - 12:13pm PT
That car is amazing! Very jealous you got to play with it haha. I have to wonder what the price tag on a one-off HS like that is worth.
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Apr 10, 2013 - 12:22pm PT
Well, I guess we now know where the mid/late 60s Buick wildcats and Corvettes got design inspiration for the rear window/trunk lid.

That is one beautiful machine.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 10, 2013 - 12:23pm PT
Vegas, funny you should reply. I had to start it because it had been parked
on a slight incline too long and the tank was so low that when Kyle tried
to start it the gas pump was cavitating. So he popped the hood and got out
the starter fluid while I cranked it and worked the spark advance. It was
like firing up an old radial! Then, in keeping with Dubonnet's aircraft
history, we had to change tanks! What a freaking trip! But once she
started did she make some kind of music! She goes like stink but, like I
said, the rubber is in really bad shape so at about 40mph it felt like the
front end was gonna shake apart! Whatever, the joyride of a lifetime, fer sure!

The three knobs around the center of the steering wheel are the spark advance,
the choke, and the throttle, aka Cruise Control. :-)

Oh, and Kyle says that if it ever goes on the auction block, which is unlikely,
it would bring well over $20 million. Big pimpin', bishes!

ps
Vegas, you can hop on a SW flight in the next few days if you want to
soak in the ambience. It'll probably be in Kyle's shop for at least a week.
matty

Trad climber
under the sea
Apr 10, 2013 - 01:27pm PT
Wow really pretty...for those in the LA area check out the Nethercutt collection in the San Fernando Valley...sweet stuff. they have over a hundred old cars (pre1960ish) in a free public gallery and many more on a free private tour but you must make reservations for that. My favorite one there is the 1937 Talbot-lago (2nd image below)




H

Mountain climber
there and back again
Apr 10, 2013 - 02:56pm PT
Nice photos. As kid I used to go to Harrah's Auto collection. Over 1,400 cars were disbanded in 1980 when Holiday Inns obtained Harrah’s auto collection. At least a couple hundred car from the original collection are still intact at the National Automobile Museum in Reno.

It was an experience I have never forgotten and I still have a fascination with older cars. If you had ever been his collection you know what I mean.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 10, 2013 - 03:30pm PT
Neato!
I'm all about that, lemme take a minute to dig up my kangaroo skin driving gloves and I'll be right over to pick her up!!!

20 million ... hmmm. With that kind of shrubbery, I could get a spool of Goldline, maybe a mint pair of RRs and get out there and kick some serious butt.

Nah, I'd resist that temptation, no problem.
Lisa and I have never had a pet: she'll love it!!!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 10, 2013 - 03:45pm PT
Amazing ride!

Harrison- Your ST email is blocked for some reason. I can't send you a response to your last query.
H

Mountain climber
there and back again
Apr 10, 2013 - 04:46pm PT
Thanks Steve. I PM'd you with my contact info.
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Apr 10, 2013 - 04:59pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Futuristic car, awesome, maybe even vulgar lines. Marinetti would have been proud.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Apr 10, 2013 - 05:15pm PT
Sounds like an adventure machine for sure Reilly!

As much as I would love to check it out, my schedule is slammed for the next month :-| it's that time of year. Just can't get over the lines on that car - unbelievable.

For 20 mil, I would be terrified to even take it out of the garage to clean it, let alone drive it anywhere haha.
otisdog

Big Wall climber
Sierra Madre & McGee Creek, Ca.
Apr 10, 2013 - 07:39pm PT
I had the pleasure of seeing the Harrah's collection as a kid, also. The shops there were amazing, they seemed to be able to rebuild anything!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 10, 2013 - 07:46pm PT
For 20 mil, I would be terrified to even take it out of the garage to clean it, let alone drive it anywhere haha.

I was terrified just riding in it! Dood was going pretty good up these
narrow-azzed streets with bozos coming the other way. I was cringing!
Then he goes to pull it into the narrow alley to the back of his shop and
I was totally gripped! It seemed like there was less than a foot on either
side. You sit really low in this thing with only your head above the body
so it is hard to judge. Still gives me the willies.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 10, 2013 - 09:18pm PT
There's a whole culture of people that own vintage race cars and dirt bikes and they have the wherewithal to actually get out and flog them from time to time. I like that attitude: they are meant to be driven or ridden, not cooped up in a museum hiding from the world.

Gotta figure for each of those there are 10 more in private collections that never see the light of day.

What a beautiful machine. But tooling around with 20 million under your arse is a bit extreme.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Apr 10, 2013 - 09:56pm PT
That French-Beaner mobile don't have nothing on my 66 chevy van with Miss pinky on the front and Tre on the tree......Fook that shizz...
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 10, 2013 - 10:00pm PT
Well then put out Johnny: we need the pictures!
goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Apr 10, 2013 - 10:13pm PT
How about something with more traction in the corners and giddy up.


thudge

climber
CO
Apr 10, 2013 - 11:42pm PT
That Pinto almost looks like a Porsche!

edit: well, maybe knott
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Apr 11, 2013 - 12:30am PT
A 911 on an icy road... Yikes!!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:28am PT
Back when I was Bitchen' and doing some world traveling, hanging in the Dolis, my gal and I came down off of a Via Ferrata into a vintage rally!
I think this is a Ferrari California:
(note the cobblestones)

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:31am PT
Coolest Jaguar known to man, a rare XKD; no doubt purpose built for racing, from the Ralph Lauren collection:


Check those knockoffs on the wheels: straight out of Ben Hur!
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:49am PT
Hey Reilly, does your buddy have one of these knocking around in the garage:


A Gullwing Merc!
Would be fun to go tooling around in Sierra Madre or Upper Monrovia in one of these no?
Risk

Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
Apr 11, 2013 - 12:24pm PT
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Apr 11, 2013 - 01:51pm PT
That is not a trad car.... that is a classic!!!!

20 M is a bargain....... Last I heard a 62 GTO went for 39 M!!!

And Tar... that is a California in that photo. Biggest mistake of my life, and this is no lie, I had a chance to buy one of those for $7,000 in like 1985... and I had the CASH. It was in OK shape except for the little hole in cylinder #1....that would not have been to hard to fix.
When Enzo passed away, every one of his cars went up in value by 400%.

Anyway... love old 30's French cars, they are works of art.

Rilley TFPU
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Apr 11, 2013 - 02:19pm PT
Had my Buicks mixed up. early 70s Riviera was what I ws thinking (not the wildcat)


And the Vette got on the "boat tail" design even earlier, a '63 Stingray seen here:


goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Apr 11, 2013 - 05:38pm PT
Those boat tails date back to '34 Packard's.

goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Apr 11, 2013 - 05:44pm PT
Ksolem

Apr 10, 2013 - 09:30pm PT
A 911 on an icy road... Yikes!!

Hell yeah!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 11, 2013 - 05:52pm PT
Hey Reilly, does your buddy have one of these knocking around in the garage:

No, Tar, he's all about Frogland: Voisin, Bugatti, Talbot-Lago, Hispano-Suiza,
and Delahaye. He has one of the three Bugatti EB 110SS produced after
Artioli resurrected Bugatti in '87. I'm still lobbying for a ride in that
or his new Veyron. ;-)
goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Apr 11, 2013 - 06:58pm PT
Or forget the cars and build a track like this down Boulder Canyon doubles as a mtb ride in summer.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 11, 2013 - 07:27pm PT
Mr Drool, mon dieu, talk like that will get yer face rearranged in much of Canada.
Now you boys behave or I'll pull le plug on this thread; it's about Trad and
class, remember? Froggie Canucks doing kinky stuff on ice ain't in it!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 11, 2013 - 07:45pm PT
Bien sur mon ami! Laissez les bon temps rouler!

OOps! Konyechno, tovarish! :-)
MisterE

Social climber
Apr 11, 2013 - 09:26pm PT
Classy doesn't have to be fancy:

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:04pm PT
Austin Healey 3000 or some such?
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:12pm PT
A trad car is versatile in some regard,
Here the turbo Saab as beast of burden

All to keep the home fires burning

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 11, 2013 - 11:13pm PT
Reilly said, about the guy who owns the car in the OP:
Tar, he's all about Frogland: Voisin, Bugatti, Talbot-Lago, Hispano-Suiza,
and Delahaye. He has one of the three Bugatti EB 110SS produced after
Artioli resurrected Bugatti in '87. I'm still lobbying for a ride in that
or his new Veyron. ;-)

I remember when Bugatti was resurrected: it's fantastic he has one of those!
Most of those cars don't even turn a head in the average enthusiast' s lexicon; but even punky boy tuners know what a Veyron is.

Frog land: I guess it helps to specialize in a specific and categorical engineering vernacular so you can get a handle on the recurring challenges?

Isn't the French stuff particularly difficult from a mechanical/wrenching/assessment/purchasing standpoint? I'm guessing he shops out any restoration, or does he just buy stuff that's already frame-up restored?

This guy's net worth must be equivalent to that of a small country !!!
MisterE

Social climber
Apr 12, 2013 - 12:40am PT
Tar, you were right, an Austen Healy.

Speaking of Bugattis, here's a sweet 1931...

Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 13, 2013 - 06:48pm PT
As I recall the designation of those Austin Healey were Mark I through Mark IV.

Okay.

Being that this thread has my name on it and I grew up around autoracing, I'm going to roll out some stuff.
When I was four years old my old man had a Triumph TR3.
I'm standing next to it there in Sierra Madre California circa 1962:


Sure seems like most guys come into this life and leave it without much hair on their heads. I suppose that's why men once wore hats?

But I digress.

I have memories this far back. Note the hood is up; as a consequence pops bought an extra car at this time in my life, ostensibly for my mother's use and I remember the day he brought it home! The first thing I did was waddle straight into the open door of that VW Bug and worm drive between the seats to crawl way up into the parcel stowage area behind the back seats. It was lined with some sort of coarse fabric with a woolen hand and an abrasive texture. Shortly after this I spent an afternoon lying down in that cubbyhole while pops taught moms how to drive in the Rose Bowl parking lot. I slept during most of her driving lesson and sustained a position in the cramped and somewhat abrasive space. As Teutonic blood runs deep in my veins, it's now incumbent upon me to tell you the original VW were Hitler's "people's car".

No pictures of that particular auto, or the Porsche Speedster he owned later, so I'll toss these out:



That might be Reilly, in the crash helmet on the left.
Don't let his name fool you, or mine for that matter ... McClenahan is an adoptive name.
Rodger was a doorstep child so to speak, somehow arriving stateside all by his lonesome as a baby. I suspect by U-boat.

Pops used to say that I looked like Albert Speer, architect to Hitler:


Photoshop a Stetson on that guy and methinks we might have something!
Speer was later Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich.

Now I drive a BMW: that's Beh-Em-Vay to all you plebes.

Car tawk to be continued ...
goatboy smellz

climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
Apr 15, 2013 - 04:22pm PT
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Apr 15, 2013 - 06:59pm PT
Hitler didn't have a Speedster... first year was 55.

Hitler loved his Benzo....

So Roy, your Pops had a TR3, so did he let you work on it?

Drive it?

I can relate to the cool spot to hang in the bug, the little spot behind the seat with the wool smell.

you could lay down there and watch the overpasses go by.....



Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Apr 15, 2013 - 11:00pm PT
I read that sleeping in that spot has been associated with odd disparate medical anomalies later in life...
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 15, 2013 - 11:07pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Apr 16, 2013 - 12:12am PT
Guy said:
Hitler didn't have a Speedster... first year was 55.
My story lists the VW Bug as the People's Car, not the Speedster.

No matter; this brings me to the next step in my crooked evolution. The Triumph was sold by 1963. We were still living in Sierra Madre California off of Laurel St., as depicted up in that picky. So he had this black Speedster, just like the one Eddie Murphy drove in Beverly Hills Cop.

this photograph is just a dramatization


The memory I depicted in the Volkswagen was from two years of age. Next year, at three years old, Rodger and I are tooling around town near the beach. He liked to take me Will Rogers State Beach.

Will Rogers ... are we starting to get the picture here?

So, he's tooling around while I'm lying low in the front of the Porsche all swaddled up in soft baby blue blankets with the seat removed and as he's looking for parking, some greaser is crossing the street with one of those duck butt hair jobs just like Warren Harding wore; I remember the dude too ... It may actually been Warren Harding. So I popped my head up over the low-slung door of that black beauty right into the street and spied this guy jaywalking and he's wearing lineman's boots. "Wow look at those boots!" I blurt out in a rapture of avarice, pining for them black beauties with the buckle down low over the instep and the other up high just showing beneath his cuffed blue jeans.

Rodge, as his friends call him, says to this day the dude turned five shades of red having received the adulation of a three-year-old!

Next adventure in the Porsche, when I was four, was a trip out to the desert. We stopped on the way so I could eat my Lucky Charms out of a translucent square Tupperware. I wasn't digging it so much because the milk was warm and the colored marshmallows were a bit soggy. Bigger problems lay just ahead however: Car Trouble. Luckily there was one of those anachronistic soda shacks nearby with some hicks keeping the patrons entertained by handing out soda pops and selling us tokens for the automated miniature bowling alley. I played with that number for a couple of hours.

I remember the hillbillies had a little kid that was about a year older than me and it was real hot outside in the desert so she was lying face down on the cool linoleum floor with flies buzzing around her ass.

Later in the afternoon the tow truck finally came to snag the Speedster and Rodger hailed a motorcyclist who gave us a ride all the way back to wherever, I don't believe we got all the way home as a threesome on the motorcycle, but I was riding right up on the gas tank while Rodger was on the back of the bike behind the rider. So I guess that was my first motorcycle experience too; I don't member the brand, I fancy that it was and English bike but I remember it had a black gas tank made of hard steel of course. It all starts adding up if you think about it.


Laurel St., Sierra Madre 1962/63

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2013 - 12:54am PT
Wow, now it all comes into focus, the one question being west or east Laurel?
Back then it prolly didn't matter but now it does, especially if you're
buying real estate. ;-)

If'n you can't resist the itch for a trad Porsche but would prefer one that stops,
among other niceties, check out Magnus 'Urban Outlaw' Walker:

Urban Outlaw Porsche


But, Tarbuster, why were we separated so early?

Messages 1 - 44 of total 44 in this topic
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