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Hi

So as not to hijack the '56 Caribbean 5699-1001 thread and to follow up on my recollection of the unrestored '34 Twelve Dietrich convertible sedan at the 1999 Centennial.
To reiterate:
"Also at the Centennial: The shocker was the '34 Twelve 1108 V-windshield Dietrich convertible sedan in ratty, preserved condition owned by a bearded fellow in the white hard hat. He seemed to be engaged in serious conversations with various obviously well-healed fellows in hot pursuit of that ultimate prize"....."I wouldn't have missed the Centennial for the world!"

BDC asked: "What happened to that 34? Any pictures from the centennial on that car?"

James from Kanter Auto Products responded: "34 dietrich custom mystery solved"........"This car was owned for many many years by a gentleman from central New Jersey named Matthews, as far as we know it was the only 7 pass custom Dietrich conv sedan built. He was a long time Kanter Auto customer. Fred recalls that Ralph Marano of NJ bought and fully restored it"

BDC asked: "Is this the 34 Dietrich you're talking about?"

Owen_Dyneto replied: "Maybe, maybe not - can't tell. The car as I recall it from the Centennial was green and apparently had a VERY well worn engine that smoked like a mosquito exterminator. I'm sure it shows up in the background in some of my pictures of the Centennial."

James from Kanter "The picture above is not of the car. As of the last CCCA roster it is still owned by Ralph."

BDC replied: "The car in the picture is Ralph's."

Tim Cole added: "As I recall the Mathews 34 Dietrich was white with the bullet hood ornament and a black top. I saw it several times and it drew a lot of attention. More than a restored car to be sure. It was better left alone."


Finally, as it appeared at the Centennial and at Hershey 2006. Its difficult to tell from the '06 photo, but it has the longer quarter section to accommodate the seven passenger seating, which detract from the wonderful proportions somewhat.

Steve

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It's easy to distinguish this car in old photos because I think it is the only '34 that doesn't have the elongated hood.

I got a few more pictures of it that I took when I got a personal tour:

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Anyone know why the production HOOD ?
Early '34 ?
'33 with 34 update ?

One thing left out here is that the owner of this car at the time DROVE it to Warren from New Jersey. It wasn't trailered and no one followed him in a modern car either. I think he even had a minor mechanical issue along the way and he fixed it himself using his own ingenuity and skill. I believe he had owned it since at least the 1960's. I also remember he had it running at one point on the show field and someone said, "oh, he's going to start it up." The person next to him replied "it IS running." It was that quiet you couldn't hear it idling. That meet represented the end of an era in some ways. A lot of owners who brought cars had owned them since the 1950's or 60's, and the Warren 1999 Centennial Meet was their last hurrah. That was 17 years ago now. How many are no longer with us?

While the subject car here certainly received an authentic restoration in good colors, part of me liked it the way it was too. Just a driver condition car in mostly original condition save for the decades old, slapped on white paint job. It seemed more like a real car in 1999. One you could get in and drive and have fun with, which is exactly what the previous owner did with it. Now it's just another perfectly restored car that's part of a mega collection, trailered from concours to concours and accumulating no miles. The guy with the hard hat is the one who really enjoyed the car.

About the only positive thing I can say about some of these restorations is they provide a livelihood for some of my old time associates. One particular phrase that makes me puke is "restored from a low mileage original". Why not put some fresh paint on the Mona Lisa, or some new varnish on a Stradivarius?

I'm having more fun in Detroit with these over electronic new cars then I did working on antiques and dealing with their peculiar owners.

Tim, I entirely echo your sentiments on "restored from a low mileage original". It's really only in the last decade that major clubs have provided recognition of such cars and much of any incentive to keep them so. In many cases these cars are our only source of reliable info on what is authentic and what is not.