SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 1955
HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON
PAGE SEVEN
Klamath Falls Automobile Dealer Collects, Restores Old Cars for Hobby
LITTLE JILL ECCLES, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Julian Eccles,
220 Conger Avenue, turns to with the polishing cloth on one
of her father's old cars. This is a 191 1 White, one of a collec
tion of nine ancient Automobiles.
THEY DON'T' MAKE ENGINES like that ariymoreiVfact r
which Julian. Eccles is well aware. His hobby is that of restor
ing old automobiles, which usually means tooling most of the
parts which must be replaced. One car has taken him as- long
as four years to finish. This is the motor of a 1921 Stutz, which
has only .four cylinders, but 16 valves, four of them for each
- ..,'; h -
' v. , , j .itjr I ,. -
B? JOE BIGERT I
Be atepped on the inner to
prod the six cylinder!. They Im
mediately jumped Into action.
The gears meshed and three Ions
cf machine" atarted down the road.
We pulled down our toggles and
settled back III our leather bucket
seals.
The tires hummed happily on
the pavement as we cruised along
at a phenomenal 40 miles per
hour.
Yes, old Dobbin can retire. The
automobile Is , here to stay.
Tills particular vehicle un
doubtedly has done Its share In
contributing tu the demise ot the
hayburner and to the rise ot the
gas-eater.
It was assembled with loving
care back In 1918, when woodrow
Wilson worrying about reelection,
and 2nd Lt. Dwiejht D. Eisenhower
ot the uifentry was thinking ot
proposing to Mamie Douu.
This automobile, a Fierce-Arrow,
was considered the Cadillac
of its day. Salesmen probably told
their prospective customers oi
the cast aluminum body and the
extra-wide Jour aud one-hali-Uicb
tires, with their non-skid tread.
And standard equipment tnoluded
a folding water bag in the tool
kit.
But most revolutionary of all
was the electric clock on the dash
board.
The cost waa about 11.000.
tidy bundle in those days of the
nickel cup of colfce.
The car has traveled 300,00u
miles since that time. The motor
has needed no major repairs, and
'the electric clock still runs. So
does the automobile.
Its owner is Julian Eccles, who
sells new cars for a living, but
likes to keep the old ones him
eelf. Eccles collects old cars like
some people collect stamps, or
maybe old dollar bills.
It started In 1946 when he ac
quired the Pierce-Arrow from its
original owner In Walla Walla,
Washington. He hasn't been able
to get over it since, and has had
some 30 of the antiques in his
possession aince then.
At present Eccles has nine cars
ranging from a 1011 White to a
193S Fold. He keeps all of them
in running condition, and recently
took the Fierce-Arrow on a 900
mile trip.
He averaged 10 miles to the gal
lon on the nose on that junket,
and not a complaint was heard
from under the hood. The valves
and pistons did their Jobs without
a murmur.
Eccles buys the cars In various
states of disrepair and restores
them himself, a Job that some
times takes as much as four years.
He usually has to custom-tailor
a majority of the parts, which
sometimes means practically the
entire engine.
At present he is working on a
1921 Stuti and a- 1030 Packard
Sneodster. The latter will be his
most valuable car when he is
finished with It. Only five cars
of this make are known to be In
existence.
The Stuls represents the last
model "car to have the right-hand
drive, a throwback to the horse
and buggy days.
"The lefMiand drive was intro
duced in 1907 with the Model T
Ford," Eccles revealed. "But
Pierce-Arrow still kept the old
style . because it was easier that
Ak ' i ji
u ujj vjj;
enjoy the comfort of self-propelltd
transportation, "She's getting aw
ful noisy."
He glanced at the temperature
gauge on tho hood and deduced
that the radiator waa getting
thirsty, .
"Yes, they even had directional
signals in those days," he re
marked as he flipped a lever and
turned Into a service ttatlon for
some water, '
We were loon back on the road
and off to the fire.
It isn't every day you cover a
fire In a laif Pierce Arrow.
There'! somethlnf about an old
car ... ,
Anyone want to buy 1953 mod
el sedan, real cheap?
HeaineRtl Orgea
CKerat Orgea
Larftrt itoch tad
tna mak planoa in
IKU pari of Iht
wast Rant a Spinal
plana. Ranul pur
ctuaa plan.
LOUIS H MANN PIANO CO.
120 Nt, 7th
READY TO ROLL is Julian Eccles and his dog, Taffy, tn this vehicle of rather old vintage. It's
a 1911 White and still has right-hand drive nd bulb horn. Eccles keeps his cars in perfect
running condition and often takes them on trips. The dog likes to travel, too.
THE OLD AND THE NEW are apparent in this photograph by
Herald and News photographer Don Kettler. Jill Eccles sur
veys the non-skid tiro on her father's 1916 Pierce-Arrow, the
ear that started the hobby for Julian Eccles, who has since
had 30 cars. He has nine in his collection now. This wheel
has the old wooden spokes.
WHO TWIN
IS MORE
TONEY?
Evn their own mothtr can't ttll
them opart . but your TV itt
knows which is which In tubti
and parti. Can't slip in ont that's
just a "loV.-ollke" and aipoct tt
get high-toned performs nee from
your set. That's M problem with
us, though. We've fat com
plcte stock of tubes and ports
for any TV service job. Let us
Install a reol twin for that aKInf
port.
126 No. 7th
way for a chauffeur to open the
door for his passenRcrs. Siutz kept
lt because they maintained that
it was better for racing."
The oldest car Eccles ever
owned was a' 1909 Chalmers,
which he has since sold. He abo
had a 19-8 Rolls Royce at one
time, worth around $'J0,0G0.
Eccles belongs to just about ev
ery old-car aasociation m the
country. He is a member of the
Horseless Carriage Club of Califor
nia, the Antique Auto Association
of Pennsylvania, the Veteran Mo
tor Car Club of New England,
and the Historic Auto Club ol
Portland.
He recently drove to a meeting
of the latter, which was attended
by 66 old model cars and their
proud owners. The Horseless Car
riage Club Intends lo make a run
to Oearheart In September, and
Eccles will be chugslng along
with the others.
The reporter and photographer
Don Kettler looked longingly at
the shiny old Pierce-Arrow as Ec
cles told of his hobby.
"How about a ride," he asked
The invitation fell upon receptive
ears.
"This engine la only rated at
38 horsepower, " he explained as
we cruised along the roadway.
"But lt actually develops about
B5 horsepower by today's stan
dards, because hi those days they
figured it according to displace
ment.
We spotted some .smoke in the
distance and decided to lnvcsti
gate.
"She needs some new timing
gears," he said as we sat back to
"BE BOSS OF
YOUR FUTURE"
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Helping Hand
Society Meets
MALIN Sybil Holl and Emma
Morelock were reelected president
and secretary treasurer, respec
tively, at Wednesday's meeting ol
the Helping Hand Society of Malin.
Rose Bailey was named vice presi
dent. The meeting was held at the
home of Mrs. Mildred (Loyal)
I,oveness with 17 members and
two iiucsts present. Guests includ
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reka, California, sister of Mrs.
Gert Johnson, and Mrs. J. V. God
man of Santa Rosa who Is visiting
at the Hubert Morelock home.
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