It's a crime

[larry harding]

i'm into hit and miss engines as well as cars. i am amazed how many survived ww11..

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by larry harding

i'm into hit and miss engines as well as cars. i am amazed how many survived ww11..

A Manchester NH friend is now 80 years old and starting to "dissolve" his collection.

The "name brand" engines particularly those of New England manufacture go for seriously big bucks. Completeness is paramount, but its surprising how much can be gone and still retain a "market value."

Other more common engines if operable are worth considerably less. Think "inflation adjusted original cost." A Kenwood (Sears Roebuck brand) engine originally sold for about $24 in a 1920s era catalog. Google query $24 in 1924 = $411.74 in 2023.

And my friend just cleaned out an entire bay to an antique purveyor - like 15 unrestored and even questionable completeness engines for about $2800.

The problem is those who "grew up" using and knowing these engines are passing - their attention is "waning" - and the new generation doesn't have the connection.

The Model A may be unique since in the pre-war years it occupied the position of "car available." The improvements in "modern" cars quickly obsoleted earlier less "functional" cars. Think today about a screw-in fluorescent bulb - worth more as pulverized dust than as a light source.

Dad on the eve of WWII bought a 1929 Model A RPU from the junkman for $15. Drove it while at home from college for three years. Sold it back to the junkman in 1943 for $15.

"Best deal on a car I ever got" he said.

$15 in 1943 = $263.42 in 2023.

I.e. about 1cents a pound then and today. Scrap value.

One imagines with wartime steel production being what it was, that car didn't last long as a car.

Joe K

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Joe K

One imagines with wartime steel production being what it was, that car didn't last long as a car.

Joe K

Many are the expensive European cars that are finding their way to Europe after being bought by wealthy guys over their. It has been happening for years. They say they are "bringing the car home" but it spent its entire life here and is in fact, an Australian car. It's just that we weren't stupid enough to melt them all down to shoot at each other. Now, they seem to think they have a right to them.

[Brad in Germany]

Unfortunately, a lot of old cars also got junked because they were considered dangerous:









Brad in Maryland




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