Bill Fagan’s beautiful 110-year-old Cadillac has some stories to tell. That includes being found in this Maine barn, to the left, when the 2nd owner came along in 1943 to buy it.

There is a picture of the Caddy (below) when Bill became the 4th owner.

Do you remember the Cadillac engine story from the March 2020 Wheel Tracks? It was about an engine that Fred Gonet restored. There is even a video, on our VAE website, of Fred starting the engine for us. I remember the sound was fantastic!

That engine is now back in its home of Bill Fagan’s 1914 Touring Cadillac, and Bill has completed his multi-year restoration project. The second owner had driven the car until the mid-1950s when it was put into storage for many years. The family had tried, unsuccessfully, to get it running when they damaged the rear engine seal, so it continued to languish until it made its way to Bill’s barn in 2007.

Bill told how he was on a Brass Era Frostbite Tour in Massachusetts when a friend said he had just run across this barn find ‘14 Caddy.

“I was interested, needless to say, and drove to his place in NH the day after the tour to make the deal. Because the car sat in the barn with a damp floor, the fenders, splash aprons and wheel rims were quite rusty and had to be repainted. The body and upholstery are original and in excellent condition. I’ve gone through the running gear and the frame, painted them and the wheels and nickel plated all the bright work.”

The car made its debut at our Waterbury car show this past August, winning 1st place in the brass category. You could purchase this car for about $2000 in 1914 when a Ford Model T touring car sold for about $500. That was when Henry Ford was in his second year using an assembly line to build his cars. Henry often bragged how he could build a model T in 33 minutes at his factory. 202,667 Ts came off the assembly line that year.

There was no assembly line for these beautiful Cadillacs. They were hand built in 1914. A total of 14,000 Cadillacs were built that year.

Travis Cook found this 1929 Ford Model A pickup, with a blown engine, listed for sale in Wheel Tracks six years ago. Since he had a fine “pickled” engine at home, he bought it. Here, you see the model A 3000 miles later, at our 2023 Waterbury Show.

Evidence indicates this Model A might have begun its life in Mississippi. Travis speaks of a windshield inspection sticker from that state. There is also a gas ration sticker on the truck from October 1st, 1942. It’s interesting how these old vehicles can “talk” to us!

Travis answered a Wheel Tracks ad in 2018, and that is when the truck found a new home in his Connecticut garage. It had been owned by VAEer, John Gray of Proctor, our VAE president in 1982. How many have heard of a “pickled engine?” That was a new term for me. When Travis explained, I could only see a huge crock, full of oil, with an emerged engine sitting in it. Wrong… the engine was simply well oiled while waiting to pull a vehicle down the road again.

Travis said all he had to do was install the engine, replace the rusted aprons and buff the old paint. Last year he did do a major revamp of the front end, and the braking system. The pickup sits with two other Model As, a 1930 Murray bodied 4-door sedan, and a 1931 slant-windowed A. It seems like “that old car thing” also exists down country. One old car is good, but more than one is even better!

Travis says he and his buddy of 40 years, Pete Johns, will be coming to next year’s VAE car show with a 1977 Chevy Caprice Classic. He describes the car as having a lot of horsepower and maybe a bit more noise than normal. I can’t wait to see it. He has been a club member for 20 years and speaks of his many adventures in Stowe and Waterbury. Over the years he has become friends with Stowe restauranter, Franke Salese, thus the “Salute” advertisement on the Model A’s door, in honor of his friend. Sign making and advertising has been Travis’ career, and his handywork is evident. BTW, friend, Pete Johns, can be seen, on the front page, sitting at the rear of the pickup. The easy banter between the two was what drew me to the Model A that day in Waterbury. I remember saying that I hoped they were friends, which caused another round of funny cross-comments between the two.

Travis was married to Pauline for 47 years whom he lost her four and a half years ago. She was mentioned many times as he told me of their old car adventures over the years. He is also a proud Army vet. Thank you for your service Travis.

Model A production ended in March 1932, after 4,858,644 had been made in all body styles since 1928. From that total, there were about 482,000 pickup trucks built. Travis said the Model T line ended in 1927, and that Ford used many of the leftover model T parts in the 1928 models. By 1929, the pickups used no leftover parts.

Ford’s 1929 Model A pickup truck was based on its Model A car. It used the same four-cylinder, 40-horsepower engine. Ford’s pickup was available in open and closed-cab versions. Factory price for the open-cab pickup was $430, while closed-cab trucks started at $445. Ford sold more than 212,000 trucks in 1929.

The road manners of these trucks are surprisingly nimble, thanks to stiff suspension and quick steering. Speeding tickets probably won’t be a major concern, as a Model A feels happiest running along at around 45 MPH.

Lloyd Davis’s Antique Car in 1953 was a 1925 Davis, one of 692 made that year in Richmond, Indiana.

Lloyd is pictured above, not because of his car, but because he is one of the 29 Charter Members of the VAE.

The VAE began 70 years ago, in 1953, with these 29 Members.

I mentioned Lloyd Davis’s antique auto that he had in 1953, on the front page. He still has it! Like all of us, once we get our hands on an old car, we do not let go. I sat down with Lloyd recently and was able to get a little of his history, I hope I took good notes, Lloyd.

He used his GI Bill for college when he got out of the Army in 1954 and graduated from UVM with a degree in Ag Economics. The “old car” fever might have begun at UVM when he became friends with people by the name of Pevy and Hockeye, to name just two.

He was drafted in the Fall of 1950 when Korea started heating up, but luckily he never left the states. He was assigned to the 980th 1st Engineer Army Battalion, Company B, at an ammo depot in Virginia called Camp Pickett. He was trained as a plumber, an electrician, low pressure boilerman, plus a number of other skills and became an Army Utility Repairman. The jobs he had could fill all the pages of this publication.

The one job that is the most memorable for him was being a part of building a movie set on the Army base for the 1953 movie “Battle Circus”. The movie was about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit that later was used to base the weekly TV series. The movie stars were Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn and Robert Keith, all of whom Lloyd met while the movie was being made.

Lloyd and a couple of GI friends were actually in the movie… well “in” meaning involved. There was a scene where a jeep had crashed and while on its side, you can see a front tire still spinning. Lloyd and his pals were assigned to pull a long piece of clothesline, off camera, to make that tire go around. I have found the movie online and when I finish this column, I plan on finding that spinning jeep tire.

As mentioned, Lloyd went to UVM after being discharged, and after college, spent much of his career working for Eastern States Co-op and The Agway Corporation. He was born and brought up in the Rutland area where he still resides. Like many of us VAEers, his love for old cars has lead him to many adventures over the years and he has met and become friends with an amazing group of people.

One brand of automobile in Lloyd’s garage is the air-cooled Franklin. Lloyd is the ‘go to’ person for those first-time Franklin owners, and for those of us who have had Franklins for a while. He was the librarian for the H.H. Franklin Club for many years. Beside his knack for details and extensive personal library, I am sure those years as librarian also helped in his knowledge of the car.

Lloyd went through the VAE’s 4-year process of being 2nd Vice, then 1st Vice, President and Chair. It appears from our history books that this happened twice as he was president in 1958 and again in 1971. We all try to do our part for our club and Lloyd has certainly done his.

I need to get one more thing into print so it will never get lost. I stopped at Lloyd’s home one afternoon unannounced and found him repairing shingles on the roof of his two story home. This was not too long ago. I reminded him how far the fall could be, but he didn’t seem concerned. I often ask, when we talk, if he has been on the roof lately and a couple of years ago he told me his southern roof was a definite no no, but the other sides were OK to be on. Asked why, he told me his doctor lived next door to the south, and he didn’t want to have deal with him if he got caught. Sorry, my friend, but this had to be written.

Jim Shover Always Wanted a Show Pickup. He Found This One in a Field in 1973.

Jim Shover has family all around him and they are very special to him. However, it does not take long to find another type of family in Jim’s life, and we believe if he could add the Shover surname to his Dodge, he would.

Jim’s “other” family member is a 1941, half ton, Dodge pickup WC. He found the truck, in a field, at the end of the drag strip in Milton 50 years ago. Jim paid $25 for the truck and paid someone $40 to haul it to his home in Burlington. He said the tires still held air, but mother earth was slowly reclaiming it with a tree growing through the frame. The frame was shot along with many other items on the truck, and years were spent collecting what he needed to bring the Dodge back, including the replacement frame.

Jim has “brought” this truck back in very fine fashion. A quick count of trophies over the years was in the neighborhood of 46 and counting. The person who sold the truck to Jim all those years ago was Claude Racine. We wonder how he would react to seeing the Dodge today.

Jim started his mechanical training in the automotive program at Burlington High School for part of his school day, with the other part at his home school at Rice for his academics. After graduation he decided to continue his automotive track at Franklin Institute in Boston. He was amazed at the level of detail that was taught there. He speaks of having to learn the amount of oil flow for each gear of an automatic transmission, as an example. This training lead to a career with the phone companies, New England Tel & Verzon, as a mechanic. You wonder what Jim could teach us shade-tree mechanics.

So what is this Dodge WC all about?

WC might mean something totally different to a non-old-car person who might have traveled Europe a bit. Dodge had another idea. They made over 380,000 truck and called them WCs, VCs and VFs for the military. Another category of the same truck was “job rated” for the civilian market.

These trucks ranged from Jim’s Dodge, a 2-wheel drive, 92 HP pickup to the one & a half ton 6X6 vehicles the military needed. All the trucks shared many common parts that could be easily interchanged.

Some say the WC stands for “weapons carrier”. Others say the W simply is Dodge code for 1941 and the C for the 1/2 ton rating. Books on the subject are still disagreeing on these designations It might have to do with the confusion of WWII.

The military use for Jim’s 2-wheel drive version of the WC Dodge varied. Some had bench seats for carrying troops, and others were simply called a “Carry All”. Some were set up as a panel van, while other were used for telephone installation and repair trucks.

The sweep of those fenders, however, lets us know the truck did it with class.

(Pictured above is our former Wheel Tracks editor, Gene Fodor, and his beloved unrestored 1953 MG TD, both ready for the 2011 costume event.)

The 66th VAE “Vermont Antique and Classic Car Meet” is on August 11, 12 & 13.

This 1914 Cadillac Touring car began its life in Iowa Park, Texas when Ernst Goetze needed transportation. 

Today, it is garaged in Ludlow, Vermont. Brian Wood is now the Cadillac’s owner/caretaker. 

Mr. Goetze, an immigrant from Saxony, Germany, was a cattleman in Iowa Park, Texas. He had seen the two neighbor girls with broken arms and decided that any car he bought must have electric starting and electric lights. 

He turned down Chevys, Fords and Oldsmobiles until June 5, 1914 when Mr. Claspy from the Munger Motor Company in Wichita Falls showed him this Brewster green Cadillac. After a trial ride, Mr. Goetze bought the car and presented it to his two daughters, Lina and Frieda, on condition that they care for it and drive him wherever he wished to go. He had lost the use of his left arm in an accident with a horse and could not drive himself. 

With the car came the Dykes Visual Aids book, a creeper, trouble light, snow chains, tools and such accessories as the spring-loaded bumper and spare tire. It also had white tires. A garage was built for the Cadillac, and it was put inside on jacks after each outing. Miss Lina and Miss Frieda remember that usually Mr. Goetze would ask if they had set the jacks back under the car and admitted that sometimes they fibbed. 

Miss Lina told of returning from town and outrunning a rainstorm. “I stepped on it and we were really flying. My father was in the rear and, as I glanced back, I saw he was holding the rail in both hands. We flew all the way home and just as we rolled into the garage, the biggest rain you ever did see burst out. I knew he didn’t like my speeding, but Father never said a word.” 

Around 1920, the Cadillac passed her 100,000 mile mark and the Goetzes joined the 100,000 Mile Club. The daughters remember their dad often wearing the club pin. 

In 1926, the speedometer gave out and was taken to town for repair. The mechanic shipped it off and died two days later. It was never heard of again. 

About 1930, Miss Frieda was driving the family home from a rodeo in Electra, a village sixteen miles away. She remembered shouting “Look out. That cop is going to hit us!” Blam! A drunken policeman, on his motorcycle, had careened into the left front side of the car so that he blew out the Cadillac’s tire, bent the rim, ruined the fender and bent the bumper. No one was hurt and a new fender and rim were replace along with fixing the other damage. This was its only wreck. 

The Cadillac was retired in 1934 having never been outside Texas and Oklahoma. 

Brian Wood estimates the car had about 150,000 miles on it when he purchased it in 2004. He is the 3rd owner. He has rebuilt the engine, transmission and rear end along with the many smaller needed tweakings. He was able to confirm many of the story’s details while working on the car. He found a bent front axel, most likely the result of the drunken policeman’s wreck. There were holes in the floor where the daughter’s heels rested while driving those many mile, and the back carpet was worn through from Mr. Goetze’s feet. He always sat in the back seat on the passenger side. 

Brian has been completely through the car mechanically without changing any of its appearance, including the 109-year old leather interior. He says it was pretty much worn out. It might be hard to see these two examples of worn bolts to the right. Brian says there were many more. 

The car is fantastic to be around and unbelievable when you hear the story. BUT, when you hear the engine start and the car backs out of its garage, it transports you to 1914. The sound and sight will stay with you forever if you are an old car buff. 

Editor’s notes…..
A document with the above words was certified by Lina and Frieda. 

Ernst Ehregott Goetze was born September 15, 1843 and died December 11, 1936. 

Daughters, Lina Rose (1/26/1883-6/21/1978) and Frieda Martha (5/28/1889-12/7/1986) are buried near their dad in nearby Highland Cemetery. 

Why a Ford Model T, Fred? 

Fred Gonet’s first experience driving a model T was in 2017. 

A friend in New Hampshire had asked him to come for a visit and work on some car projects he had. The friend also asked if he could tune up a couple of T’s that were to be in a 60-mile tour the next day. Unbeknownst to Fred, who had never driven a Model T, his friend’s plan was to have him drive one of them. Needless to say that Fred was “white knuckling” for a few of those first miles, especially in tight city spaces. Before the end of the tour, however, Fred had a smile on his face, and was having a hoot. He was ready for the 2nd 60-mile tour the next day. 

“Model T’s are a hoot to drive. 
Plus I can see now, 
why everyone driving them is smiling. 
They are lots of fun.” 

Fred Gonet

Fred came home from New Hampshire knowing that he needed a Model T in his garage. He had driven his 1908 Locomobile for many years and hundreds of miles, but the Loco now had to make room for a T. 

He remembered a friend in Massachusetts had a nice touring T, that he had seen many time since the 1980s. Larry Gould of Chelmsford had a 1914 touring and that would fit Fred fine. When asked, Larry said he had more touring plans and was not ready to sell. Larry was 99 years old at the time. Knowing that Fred was very interested, Larry’s family came to him in 2020, when Larry passed at 102 years old, and asked if he still wanted the car. The Locomobile moved over and the T came home to Proctorsville, Vermont! 

When Fred’s 1914 Model T was built, it was one of 308,162. 

More Ford History….. 

*In 1915, 394,788 vehicles were produced with a labor force of 18,892 employees. Over this six-year period, the production number of Model Ts per employee went from eight in 1909, to 14 in 1911, and to an astounding 20 in 1915. 

*When Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line in 1913, he loved it, but his employees didn’t. The work was boring and relentless, and worker turnover was high. He had to hire more than 52,000 workers that year to maintain his workforce of14,000. 

*So on January 1, 1914, Henry announced that he would double his workers’ pay from $2.34 per day to $5 per day, “as long as you were over 22 years of age and conformed to the company’s standard of clean living.” It was headline news in Detroit and around the country. 

*Detroit headlines January 6, 1914….. “Ten thousand anxious, determined men, some ragged and unkempt, others seemingly prosperous, this morning fought for places in the line that stretched from the employment window at the Ford Motor Co., in Highland Park, a line that continued for many blocks from the company’s factory.” 

When asked about the condition of the car when he purchased it, Fred said the it was “perfect”, but in some cases, “not correct”. Some of us have a friendly term for this type of person, but in Fred’s case that is how he has built such a successful restoration business over these many years. 

“Perfect, but not Correct.” 

Fred Gonet

The car’s dash was perfect, but not correct, so enter the correct dash. That has led to the steering column that was also perfect, and the coil box, and the side light brackets. Then there is that slight vibration at 40mph, since the dash is off, we might as well tear the engine and transmission apart to see if we can’t find that perfect vibration! 

I am having fun with Fred here; I hope he forgives me. When I grow up, I want to be just like Fred Gonet. 

From your editor, G. Fiske 

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. 
– Robert Louis Stevenson

Travel……..[trav-el] verb 
To move from one place to another: seeking places to discover. A journey to a distant or unfamiliar place; a slow and steady pace can be done by train, plane, ship and especially an automobile; a one way or round trip. 
To uncover cultures and open the mind; to grow and yourself find, makes you pine for places never known; makes you not want to go home. 

 

The 2022 VAE President’s Restoration Award Goes to……
Mike Felix & His 1939 Plymouth

During the summer of 1998, I attended a car cruise in Highland, NY and struck up a conversation with an attendee in an all original, low mileage 1937 Dodge. At the time, I was looking for parts for my ‘37 Dodge ½ ton and thought this gent may be aware of some part sources I was not familiar with. Turns out he did not. But he did point me to the widow he bought the Dodge from and said she had some parts for sale. 

Later that summer my Uncle William and I arranged to meet the widow at her house to see the cars and parts she had for sale. Turns out her recently deceased husband restored cars for a hobby and had 10 or more cars in various stages of restoration when he passed away. She had sold all of them and their parts but one. She was unable to sell this last one. None of the buyers were interested in it. You guessed it, the unwanted leftover was a ‘39 Plymouth. 

It was partially disassembled, had delaminated glass, a destroyed interior, a dented trunk, missing running boards and who knows where all the parts were…and it was a four door. 

Well, we looked the car and parts over and determined there were no parts that could be interchanged between that ‘39 Plymouth and my list of parts needed for my ‘37 Dodge. We thanked the widow for her time and began to walk away. She stopped us and asked me if I would buy the car. I explained I had no interest in it and I could ask around and determine if I can find a buyer for her. We thanked her again and walked away. 

My uncle and I were about to leave her long driveway when she yelled, “Wait!”. We turned around and she asked if I would take the car for free. I replied that the car and parts have value and I would help her try to find a buyer and that, again, I had no interest. She then explained to us that she no longer had the luxury of trying to find a buyer for the car and parts. She further explained the buyers of the house (we did not know the house was for sale) would not schedule a closing date until the “junk” car and boxes of “junk” were gone from the property. And she did not want to pay someone to take the car and boxes of parts away. 

At that point, my uncle and I opened our wallets and counted out somewhere just over 200 bucks between us. I offered her $200 for the car, which she refused at first because I would take the car and parts off her hands. After a few back and forths, the widow grudgingly accepted $200 for the car and parts. We wrote up a bill of sale and I returned a few days later and loaded the car and parts on a truck and off we went. 

That was twenty five years and five homes ago. 

Are there any guesses what this 2-wheeled vehicle is? Hint… it is now 100 years old.

In 1901, 20-year-old William S. Harley drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of 7.07 cubic inches and a 4-inch flywheel designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. It didn’t work very well.

Over the next two years, he and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle using the northside Milwaukee machine shop at the home of their friend Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur’s brother, Walter Davidson. Upon testing their power-cycle, Harley and the Davidson brothers found it unable to climb the hills around Milwaukee without pedal assistance, and they wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment.

The three began work on a new and improved machine with an engine of 24.74 cubic inches with a 9.75 inch flywheel weighing 28 lb. Its advanced loop-frame pattern was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee Merkel motorcycle designed by Joseph Merkel, later of Flying Merkel fame. The bigger engine and loop-frame design took it out of the motorized bicycle category and marked the path to future motorcycle designs.

They also received help with their bigger engine from outboard motor pioneer, Ole Evinrude, who was then building gas engines of his own on Milwaukee’s Lake Street, designed for automotive use.

So, now to Fred’s silhouette. You have a better hint from the above paragraphs, plus, you know its 100 years old.

It is a 1922 Harley Davidson JA.

The ‘J’ means it has “intake over exhaust” with a 61 cubic inch V-twin 4-stroke engine. The ’A’ means it is a police model and more likely has a few more cubic inches of power.

It is chain-driven with a 3-speed side-shift transmission and brakes on the back only. The internet claims top speed is 85MPH and it weighs 319 pounds.

Fred found the Harley in Harmony New Jersey and bought it 31 years ago. He said the bike spent many of its earlier years, before he purchased it, in North Carolina.

Fred has done very little to it over the years he has had it. The nice paint job is from 1949, an indication the Harley has been someone’s treasure over much of its life. He had to remake the drive sprocket along with replacing the chain and a little electrical rewiring. That is it.

Fred and his wife BJ each have modern Harleys. When they go for a ride and he takes the ’22, they joke how Fred gets all the attention and BJ can expect none.

Fred did say that he has driven the old bike a lot over the years he has had it.

Can you see the hand control just behind the silver shift lever, in the picture to the right? It is a hand clutch. It was relocated to the handlebar in later years. If you watched Fred take off from a stop on a hill, you will witness some unusual moves. You will hear the engine rev up. Then you will watch what looks like him bending over to scratch the left cheek of his behind. That is not what he is doing!

Here is what you are seeing. He is holding the bike from moving backwards with his right foot on the brake while operating the throttle with his right hand. His left foot is on the ground to keep from falling over. The gear shift is in first ready for take off. When he is ready to move forward, he revs the engine a little and reaches below his left ‘cheek’ to release the hand clutch… all orderly and in good taste.

Asked why he wanted an early Harley Davidson motorcycle, Fred said his grandfather had a 1917. He has only seen a picture of his grandfather on the Harley, but at that moment many years ago, that was Fred’s dream.

Fred Gonet owns and operates his restoration shop in Proctersville, Vermont. G & G Restorations has been in business for many years and is known throughout the Eastern US for its high quality work.