Capncarl,
Back in the day, so to speak, I used to be quite interested in "sports cars", just couldn't justify it on my low income, and instead I bought a 65' VW, which was my first new car when I was 19. I did have several friends who had a lot more free money and had a variety of cars, everything from Volvo P1800s, Alpines, AC Bristol Ace (of which the Ford Cobra was derived, Sprites, Midgets, Austin Healey's, Triumph TR2's and 3's, and even a Griffith, if you remember those. Soon after I moved to Painted Post in 1973, I took note of one of my neighbors garages where they had a small car under a blanket. They most always kept the door closed and locked but one day Annie was out there and the door was open. I asked her about the car and low and behold it was a "Tiger". It had belonged to her son, who bought it years before just before he went off to Vietnam. He never got to drive it again and it sat in there since the late 60's. She never wanted to sell it and finally when her daughter married, her new husband got it and towed it away. I never saw it after that.
Painted Post was sort of an interesting place when it came to cars. Watkins Glen is a bit north of there and seems like many in the village had an interest in cars of all types. One guys in the in the neighborhood had been a POW in Vietnam and when he came home he took much of his back pay he bought himself a Ferrari which he would drive around the area on occasions and show it off in the annual Colonial Days parade.
Out on a walk one afternoon we met Ms. Potter, a very nice elderly lady who lived alone. I stopped to tell her how much I admired her 1962 Plymoth Belvadere (sp?) wagon. Not so much that it was anything terrific from an enthusiast point of view, but the darn thing looked like it just came out of the showroom. She told us that she did all of her own maintenance and most of the mechanical work on it herself. Then she asked if I'd like to see "her baby". We walked back to the garage and there under a blanket was spit & polished Model T coupe. She said she bought it brand new when she graduated high school and that no mechanic, except herself had ever touched it. The she said rather prideful, "notice the red wheels?" She said that was a bit of a brash thing for a young lady to be driving around back then!"
Then there was this older chap I met at work. He was a bit of a "collector" and I was invited down to his home in Addison, NY (a few miles south of Painted Post) one Saturday, as he wanted me to photograph several of his rare stamps for a presentation to the Elmira Women's Club. in the attached garage, I noticed this 1920's era touring car that he had. Huge beast with canvas top. I knew he had an old 20's Ford (Model T maybe) that he would occasionally drive to work and I had seen it in the aforementioned parade. He told me he had just recently "found" it, but hadn't done any work on it yet. Then he asked if I'd like to see his other "collection" and we walked across the street to this rather long six-stall garage. Each stall had a different car from the 20's and early 30's. While I can't tell you what they were, they were in absolute mint condition. I remember one which had dark blue enameled paint that looked more like the finish on an antique stove or something. It had a nice depth to it, like porcelain and with perfect light-blue pin striping. It also had etched glass wing windows in the front and "opera glass" oval windows in the back.... just a beautiful machine.
The he showed me his latest "find", which was a ivory-colored (I think he said Chevrolet). It was really clean looking (and to me around the late 20's). Said he had heard a couple of old timers talking in the barber shop and he went searching. Found it in a collapsed barn, covered in a blanket and tarp and covered with bird droppings. The farm owner said it was his older brothers who "went off to the war". My friend said it had been put up on blocks with the wheels removed and had been rather well "weatherized". He bought it for "next to nothing", brought up a truck and after a lot of work clearing away the barn debris managed to get it home where it now sat in his garage.
That was around 1974 or 75, IIRC and I'm sure Dewey has passed on by now. Like Ms. Potter and "her baby", I have no idea what happened to any of these old cars. I think Dewey had a daughter but I don't believe Ms. Potter, had any children. Her house is still there, but has had at least two owners since that time.
In keeping with the topic, both Dewey and Ms. Potter did all their own work and their cars were just special. Of course back in the days when those were built, there wasn't any exotic electronics or stuff hidden away in body who-knows-where!
CWS
Back in the day, so to speak, I used to be quite interested in "sports cars", just couldn't justify it on my low income, and instead I bought a 65' VW, which was my first new car when I was 19. I did have several friends who had a lot more free money and had a variety of cars, everything from Volvo P1800s, Alpines, AC Bristol Ace (of which the Ford Cobra was derived, Sprites, Midgets, Austin Healey's, Triumph TR2's and 3's, and even a Griffith, if you remember those. Soon after I moved to Painted Post in 1973, I took note of one of my neighbors garages where they had a small car under a blanket. They most always kept the door closed and locked but one day Annie was out there and the door was open. I asked her about the car and low and behold it was a "Tiger". It had belonged to her son, who bought it years before just before he went off to Vietnam. He never got to drive it again and it sat in there since the late 60's. She never wanted to sell it and finally when her daughter married, her new husband got it and towed it away. I never saw it after that.
Painted Post was sort of an interesting place when it came to cars. Watkins Glen is a bit north of there and seems like many in the village had an interest in cars of all types. One guys in the in the neighborhood had been a POW in Vietnam and when he came home he took much of his back pay he bought himself a Ferrari which he would drive around the area on occasions and show it off in the annual Colonial Days parade.
Out on a walk one afternoon we met Ms. Potter, a very nice elderly lady who lived alone. I stopped to tell her how much I admired her 1962 Plymoth Belvadere (sp?) wagon. Not so much that it was anything terrific from an enthusiast point of view, but the darn thing looked like it just came out of the showroom. She told us that she did all of her own maintenance and most of the mechanical work on it herself. Then she asked if I'd like to see "her baby". We walked back to the garage and there under a blanket was spit & polished Model T coupe. She said she bought it brand new when she graduated high school and that no mechanic, except herself had ever touched it. The she said rather prideful, "notice the red wheels?" She said that was a bit of a brash thing for a young lady to be driving around back then!"
Then there was this older chap I met at work. He was a bit of a "collector" and I was invited down to his home in Addison, NY (a few miles south of Painted Post) one Saturday, as he wanted me to photograph several of his rare stamps for a presentation to the Elmira Women's Club. in the attached garage, I noticed this 1920's era touring car that he had. Huge beast with canvas top. I knew he had an old 20's Ford (Model T maybe) that he would occasionally drive to work and I had seen it in the aforementioned parade. He told me he had just recently "found" it, but hadn't done any work on it yet. Then he asked if I'd like to see his other "collection" and we walked across the street to this rather long six-stall garage. Each stall had a different car from the 20's and early 30's. While I can't tell you what they were, they were in absolute mint condition. I remember one which had dark blue enameled paint that looked more like the finish on an antique stove or something. It had a nice depth to it, like porcelain and with perfect light-blue pin striping. It also had etched glass wing windows in the front and "opera glass" oval windows in the back.... just a beautiful machine.
The he showed me his latest "find", which was a ivory-colored (I think he said Chevrolet). It was really clean looking (and to me around the late 20's). Said he had heard a couple of old timers talking in the barber shop and he went searching. Found it in a collapsed barn, covered in a blanket and tarp and covered with bird droppings. The farm owner said it was his older brothers who "went off to the war". My friend said it had been put up on blocks with the wheels removed and had been rather well "weatherized". He bought it for "next to nothing", brought up a truck and after a lot of work clearing away the barn debris managed to get it home where it now sat in his garage.
That was around 1974 or 75, IIRC and I'm sure Dewey has passed on by now. Like Ms. Potter and "her baby", I have no idea what happened to any of these old cars. I think Dewey had a daughter but I don't believe Ms. Potter, had any children. Her house is still there, but has had at least two owners since that time.
In keeping with the topic, both Dewey and Ms. Potter did all their own work and their cars were just special. Of course back in the days when those were built, there wasn't any exotic electronics or stuff hidden away in body who-knows-where!
CWS
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