4x4Founder

Richard- Thanks much for that list. I presume you have all or most of these? If so, is there any other American all-wheel drive content in particular issues I should look for? Thanks!

Thanks, Richard. Alas it may be a while before I get to see that 1963 article, but I'll watch for it. I have some tidbits of info here and there. Clarification please: Is it "Old Motor and Vintage Commercial" or simply "Vintage Commercial." I founf some copies of the former on eBay... agonizingly 1963, starting 10/63. Argghhh!

I have two original photos of the FWD R6T truck, the predecessor to the AEC version, dated 1928 and here are the scans. These appear to be shot at the FWD factory in Clintonville, Wisconsin. Other than a penciled date of 1928 on the reverse of one, I have no other context.

The Saurer looks like a winner to me. The rear axle is quite unique

I know, it's glorious. I had the honor to ride through the better part of two states in a 1918 Dodge Staff Car during the 2009 MVPA Transcontinental convoy reenactment. What utter joy!

Looks similar to the 423ci Continental used for the FWD Battleship, installed in the spring of 1909 and still installed. It made about 50 brake hp according to the spec sheet on the car. In the pics I have of the various FWD touring cars built at least one other had this engine but some also had Wisconsin T-heads as was used in the first Model B and Model G. Here's a pic of the Continental as it appeared in the Battleship a few years back. The curator who taught me how to start and drive the car told me that it hasn't had any engine work at least since the 'teens. I'm no expert at starting these old cars, but it started on about the fourth pull on a 35F day. The Nancy Hank (the last surviving production FWD touring car) was not so nice. It has a Wisconsin and getting it started about killed me. I cranked for about a half hour. As I hung draped, sweating and exhausted over the radiator shell, the curator asked, "You done?" I said, "Well, I got one more crank in me." I did and she started. The curator later grinned suddenly as we were out driving the Nancy Hank saying, "Yeah, old Nancy goes pretty good but she sure needs a lot of foreplay, don't she?" .

The level of simple patience exhibited here, and in the Dennis thread, is awe inspiring. Not to mention the skills. You need the skills of a machinist, a foundryman and metal fabricator, as well as a mechanic... and I suppose acquiring those skills is the true joy in it. Seeing this in such detail is both encouraging and discouraging to a person who has long held a desire to do something like this. If I started now, I might just reach apprentice level at some of those skills before I died or old age made the work impossible. No matter what, these are truly remarkable journeys and I am grateful you make a place for us to ride along.

Enigma's is too good to beat. I'm too intimidated to even try. "Do you women really need all that luggage for 1 weekend away?"

"I say, are you stuck?"

I presume these are Imperial gallons? The only one I'm somewhat familiar with firsthand is the FWD and, converted to US gallons, that number seems about right to me. No Jeffery/Nash Quad on the list tho... Interesting stats, though, and many thanks for posting!

"Say again, Sarge? You want me to hand start all of these and warm 'em up before lunch?"

Looks like military paint and has the spoked wheels, which could indicate a license built truck. If these trucks could only talk.....

Great pics... thanks. Haven't been to Duxford since 1989. It was awesome then!

The red IS ghastly, but I kinda like the wagonette body. Don't know that i've seen one quite like like it. Still, if a HMV, it would be best served by a military body.

Anybody seen any good info on early Continental engines? Lots of stuff on the web on the aircraft powerplants, but not much on their earliest ground vehicle engines. I have found a lists of some early cars and trucks that had Continentals, but thus far I have not been able to find an engine pic from the right era. I have lots of other period pics of the Battleship, including some when it was just a powered chassis (both with the steam engine and the gasser) and it appears that this is still the same engine that was in it from 1908/'09. The Nancy Hank has a Wisconsin, which I believe to be originally installed. The Scout car may also have had a Wisconsin. I have pics and serial numbers of all the FWD touring cars, though I have not been able to connect pics to VINs for all the cars yet. I do know at least one other touring car had the same engine as the Battleship.

It's in the car you see in my signature... none other than the Battleship herself. All my research material shows that Zachow replaced the steam engine with a Continental, but I wanted to double check that's still the same engine. It's definitely not a Wisconsin.

Can someone confirm that this is a continental four, approximately 1909 vintage?

Or maybe you are writing to a ghost and need to call in the Ghost Whisperer? ( : < ) Seriously, glad to hear he's OK. My memory was obviously not accurate in this case. It was some FWD owner, though, I feel sure .

If the one at MacArthur is Claire's, then that's one I have driven. Did I hear right that Gordon has passed on? He was kinda frail at the time I drove the truck at an MVPA show.

That looks like the one in the story, but I think they removed the spotlight for filming. I the story they also had some "ghosts" running around in WWI era uniforms. She sees dead people and in her world, they are everywhere.

Mistakes in books are inevitable but if they don't rise past a certain level, I am forgiving. On that subject, I live in a glass house!

Was waiting for Mroz's book but missed the debut. Thanks for telling me it was out.

And a Dodge M1918 Light Repair Truck too! There's a rather silly TV series called "Ghost Whisperer" on CBS. Don't normally watch it, but I did last night because I saw a promo for it and caught a glimpse of an FWD Model B. Below is the synopsis. I don't recognize the Model B as one I know, but I think the Dodge is the one that belongs to the Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro, CA... which makes sense because the show is filmed in SoCal. Maybe they have a Model B as well. I haven't done any research. If I'd had some warning, I would have spread the word. Those of you in the USA will have to watch for this episode to repeat. I don't know if this show is running in the UK, but if it is, you'll see it eventually. The plot and story were inane. The star, Jennifer Love Hewitt, is not difficult to look at but that doesn't carry the rest of the show. To save turning your mind into a gelatinous mass from watching the entire show, the Model B appears notably in the last five minutes, where Hewitt's character sit in it, talks with a ghost and sends it off, "to find the light." The Dodge pops up a few times, starting about the middle of the show, but if you look you can see the B then too. "Implosion" New, 3/05/2010, Drama, Paranormal, Supernatural A ghost who is aware of a hidden munitions dump with unexploded bombs confides in Melinda that one of the bombs, which has gone missing and has fallen into the wrong hands, will ultimately cause someone to lose their life.

Thanks Runflat!

Frankly, when I made that estimate about 15 years back, I polled a number of collectors, averaged their estimates and that's what I used. Admittedly unscientific. With what I know now, I think your estimate is better. I have driven three Model Bs, a M1918 Premier built unit that the Hicks Brothers owned in the '90s (I don't know who has it now), Gordon Claire's wonderful Quartermaster bodied unit and the one in the FWD museum. I would have driven Don Chew's recently on the MVPA Transcontinental Convoy reenactment, except that it conveniently wouldn't start and there wasn't time to mess with it.