I love the looks of this Speedster and the seller claims that it is a real period race car! That makes me want it very badly. The only problem is that the seller doesn’t provide any real evidence that it’s authentic. There’s a plaque on the dash from El Mirage and a few other things that make me wonder if it’s the real deal though. The seller claims that’s it came out of a millionaire’s estate a couple of years ago. Apparently, they drove it regularly, but still only managed to chalk up 55k miles. Take a look at the eBay listing here and let us know if you think it’s legit. Thanks goes to Paddy M for the tip!
As mentioned, there is some doubt about the authenticity of this dash plaque.
Even if it turns out that it wasn’t raced 80 years ago, this thing could still be a real blast to cruise around in! Real racing pedigree though would make this thing a real bargain too.
I don’t think that engine is original. With that blurry picture of the engine with a modern looking air cleaner and a modern alternator showing i think this is a replica.
I should have mentioned that the engine was swapped out to something more modern by the last owner. The original lump is included in the sale though.
This car was built by a good friend of mine 15 years ago in Massachusetts and except for the hood, frame and wheels there is not an original part on this car. Total cost to build including the Toyota engine was $500.
I think the buy it know is a little steep without verification of any pedigree
Sounds suspicious to me.
If this is what is claimed then the seller would have pictures, time slips etc to back it up. It is just another cash grab replica. Sad that the Internet has made everyone a skeptic and a greedy liar.
The seller openly admits the timing tag is a fake. The motor and seats were swapped in the 70s, and I am going to say the car was built then as well.
Yep just because a Mass. title states “actual miles” IRC it means that the odometer was visually checked when the title was issued (been away from Mass. for 20+ years so I’m not sure)
To many niggly things that add up to replica.
Also If you are going to say in your add that cars identical to this sell for $45k all the time why are you selling it for $17K?
I think what he means is “Real” pre war racers sell for $45K
A bit pricey, with no authentic history……usually it’s ‘easy’ to determine if it was an early racer if you know what you are looking at, most of these are much later built ‘parade cars’
..One positive is Buick had a great design for the mechanical brake system… and my experience with it in my 1928 Speedster was very good.
Another nice design was the cantilever rear springs, and that “lump” as Jesse calls it, was a great OVERHEAD VALVE 6 that ran smoothly and had LOTS of Torque. ( not a flathead as the ad says.
My ’28 was underslung.. and bobtailed……… see attached picture. It had the original motor and drivetrain, and would easily leave two strips of rubber in both first and second gears. Sold it a couple years ago to a gentleman in Europe …
That timing association wasn’t around until after the war I think…and the painted Coleman cooler doesnt help. The seat is bogus…etc..
SCTA was founded on November 29, 1937. Seller makes a lot of undocumented claims with no real historical material to back them up. DRV’s term “bogus” strikes me as accurate for the whole damned thing. Too bad, cuz it looks cool, at first glance…
Lots of hard sell going on in this auction listing, and that coupled with no documentation says there is no reason to believe any of the grand claims about the car. Buy it if you like the look of it and want to have fun driving it, but not because it’s a significant piece of history. But if it’s just a fun car for someone, it’s overpriced.
“has been part of a reclusive millionaire’s car collection for many decades”
“NOT a clone or “tribute” car”
“today’s hot pre war collector car market”
“obviously experienced some difficulty with the original motor and whimsically had the engine and transmission replaced”
“whimsically”???
All that verbiage plus 4 bucks will get me a very nice designer coffee, but I’m not interested in either the car or the coffee.
DId you see that this car was sold for 15,000 in August from ebay. I love the look of the car, but the price seems high