For Sale Oscar Gary Hoonsbeen s 1902 CURVED DASH OLDSMOBILE

Transcription

1 For Sale Oscar Gary Hoonsbeen s 1902 CURVED DASH OLDSMOBILE Serial Number: 7886 We are selling my father s 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, known as Oscar. This 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobile is the car my dad acquired in the late 1970s and is the car that inspired his years of dedication to their history and restoration. We have documentation covering the car s history that will be included with the sale; this car has a very interesting history. In 1977, my father founded the Curved Dash Olds Club. For forty years, he edited and published the Club s newsletter. In that newsletter, he printed thousands of pages of detailed information on the history, restoration, and operations of these cars. In 2018,

2 two years after his passing, we published his book: The Design History of the One- Cylinder Oldsmobile. History of Oscar the 1902 Oldsmobile (serial number: 7886) It was in the summer of 1902 that the Balsam Lake, Wisconsin town doctor, James D. Nickelson, purchased a new Curved Dash Oldsmobile from the A. F. Chase agency in Minneapolis. It was likely the first car ever brought to Balsam Lake and maybe even to Polk County. The car being sold here is Dr. Nickelson s original car. Its first restoration was completed in 1980, the second restoration in the early part of this century. Both restorations were done by Gary Hoonsbeen. A former Milltown, Wisconsin resident, Clarence Nelson, recalls (in a December 30, 1978 interview) that one day when he was in grade school, about 1904, they heard a strange noise outside on the road. The school-teacher, Martha Nelson, from Star Prairie, Wisconsin let the kids outside to watch Dr. Nickelson drive by in this little 1902 Oldsmobile. He remembers the teacher commenting they may never have another chance to see an automobile! Clarence recalled that Dr. Nickelson still had the Oldsmobile when he moved to Milltown in 1906 or The Doctor, in later years, became Milltown s postmaster and lived in a converted Shell station. About 1908 the Oldsmobile was sold to the Milltown depot agent, Olaf Martin Lund, uncle to the man who years later founded the Lund Boat Works. That same year, Olaf left Milltown, under some controversy, driving the Oldsmobile back to his home town of Twin Valley Minnesota. In a 1985 letter, Olaf s brother, Oscar J. Lund (91 at the time the letter was written), recalls the trip across Minnesota:.The drive from Milltown must have been at least 500 miles and then mostly dirt roads. I have gathered that my brother had driven to Wanamingo and then a drive over to visit my dad s brother, Rollof Lund, northeast of Wanamingo. I readily recall my brother mentioned that he had driven through farm fences and what-not to get there. Then I surmise that in doing so he had to drive over the covered bridge on the Zumbro River, which has become a historical site.. Olaf Lund continued to drive the 1902 Oldsmobile until about 1912 when it was replaced with a newer vehicle. It sat in the family barn until about 1918 when it was sold to a junk dealer as part of the scrap-metal drive for WWI. His brother Oscar was not happy about the sale and retrieved it from the junkyard for $2.00, and put it back in the barn. There it sat until So from 1918 until 1965 the car was owned (and stored) by Oscar Lund. Gary Hoonsbeen named the car Oscar to honor the man who preserved it all those years.

3 In 1965, the Lund s sold their farm and auctioned off the equipment. The little Oldsmobile was purchased by State Senator Norm Larson, of Ada, Minnesota, for a sum of $ The Oldsmobile was soon thereafter bought by Max Campbell of Oslo, Minnesota, selling this time for $2,100. In a letter Oscar Lund sent to Gary Hoonsbeen years later, he remembered how Senator Larson groused about the steep $ price he had to pay and his profit on the resale. In 1977 Gary Hoonsbeen, of Minneapolis, Minnesota purchased the car from Max Campbell and, after 5-1/2 years of work, restored it to near-original conditions. In his early research on the Curved Dash Oldsmobile for the Club, Gary read a story about Lester Whitman and Eugene Hammond who, in 1903, had completed one of the first cross country trips in an automobile. They made the trip using a 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobile. Inspired to replicate the trip, Gary began planning. He solicited and received support from both Oldsmobile Division of General Motors and many Oldsmobile dealers along the route. In 1985, Gary drove this 1902 Oldsmobile from San Francisco to New York. He was accompanied by two friends, Roy Bernick in his 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile and Joe Merli in his 1904 Curved Dash. On June 30 th 1985 they set out from San Francisco on a trip that covered a distance of 3,844 miles, and took over 38 days. Oscar averaged 12 MPH traveling about 100 miles each day including several hundred miles on the interstate system in the Western United States. Each of the drivers had a name painted on the front of their car. Gary s car was christened OSCAR, and the name was added to the front dash of the car. Oscar is the 2 nd 1902 Oldsmobile to complete the cross country trip. As such, it shares the record as being the oldest model automobile ever to cross the country. After completing the trip, Gary continued to drive the car regularly to events and on antique car tours. In 2001, Oscar was loaned to friends for use in Minnesota s New London to New Brighton antique car run. Along the route, Oscar was struck by a truck, seriously injuring both passengers and damaging the car. As a result of the accident, Gary had to complete a second full restoration of Oscar. After completing the restoration, Gary intended to have its name Oscar repainted on the front of the car, but never got around to it. To Gary, his family, and friends, the car was always affectionately called Oscar. After Oscar s second restoration, Gary and his wife Nancy, continued to drive the car in summer tours and to antique car events. Oscar was his favorite car amongst his collection and he always marveled at how reliable the little Oldsmobile remained. Clarence Nelson and Oscar Lund both lived into their 90 s, long enough to have rides in the restored 1902 Oldsmobile.

4 Oscar s current condition Gary passed away in Oscar was kept in storage until this past spring, when I pulled it out to get it started. The car was oiled and greased in all the necessary places, a new battery installed, the water system was flushed and filled, and gas added. After a couple of cranks, Oscar started right up! I have driven it several times since and find it to be operating quite well. In the terms of an offering memorandum, I would describe Oscar as an older restoration. The car was driven regularly as that s what my dad did with all his cars.he drove them. It has paint chips in areas where panels are removed to fill the oil, water, and gas, but otherwise the paint and pin stripping are in decent condition. Oscar car has no lamps as my father never put them on the car. Photos from when he acquired the car show no lamps or lamp brackets. Oscar has no top as the car did not come with a top. My father would not have added a top either as he felt tops impeded vision and drivability. Finally, the car has no fenders as it did not have fenders when he acquired it. The car comes with the Minnesota personalized license plate 02 Olds (the license plate on the car during the cross country trip), the current Minnesota Pioneer plate 02 Olds, plus the letters and pictures my dad had documenting its history. We are still going through my father s papers and will provide the purchaser any additional documentation on Oscar we find. We will also include a copy of his book The Design History of One- Cylinder Oldsmobile The car has a one-cylinder engine, 4-inches in diameter, developing 4-1/2 horse power. Power is transferred to the rear axle with a block chain. It has two speeds and reverse using a planetary transmission, implemented many years before Ford used it on his automobiles. The top speed is about 25 miles per hour, maybe 30 with a good back wind. It burns regular gasoline and consumes about 1 cup of oil each 50 miles. The tires have inner tubes with a size of 28 x 3 inches. Originally it had wooden spoked wheels but they were in very poor condition and replaced in the first restoration with wire wheels, which were offered as an option in It is steered with a tiller, one of the last automobiles to use this method of steering. About 20,000 Curved Dash Oldsmobiles were built between 1901 and 1907 of which nearly 1,000 still survive in collector s hands today. It sold originally for $650. On good roads it will carry four adults but it takes several minutes to get up to full speed. Two or three may be required to walk going up hills. {Photos on the next several pages} Mark Hoonsbeen July 2019 For inquiries contact me at: [email protected] Please Include in Subject: 1902 CDO

5 Photo of Oscar in 1977 in front of Gary Hoonsbeen s home on the day he purchased the car.

6 Photo of Oscar after 2 nd restoration in 2002/2003.

7 Curved Dashing Across America 1985 Oscar at the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, June 1985.

8 Map of route taken across America

9 Gary Hoonsbeen with Oscar crossing the desert in the Western United States

10 Gary Hoonsbeen making adjustments to Oscar along the road in the Western/Central United States

11 CDO s on display at Niagara Falls

12 Gary Hoonsbeen with Gene Hammond (son one of the men who undertook the original transcontinental trip), at City Hall in NYC. The Hammond family met Hoonsbeen while on his trip across the country.

13 Last day of the trip at the Atlantic Ocean.

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15 Remaining Photos All Taken July 2019

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