Graham-Paige on the Alaska Highway

[aostling]

The Golden Gate Bridge overlook was jammed with tourists on Boxing Day. This guy stood out from the rest. He'd lettered his car with the message that he had just driven from Argentina to Alaska, and was going to do Asia next.

It's a 1928 Graham-Paige, built in Detroit he said. A Frenchman, his English was okay but not sufficient for a long conversation about where he got spare parts en route. I would think he'd need some for a car as old as this.

Did any of you Alberta guys see this guy coming or going?

[jmm360]

Thanks for the pic aostling,

A friend and old neighbor of mine in Alaska is a Graham from that family, I'll get him a copy of that pic.

I thought they were built in Indiana but that's just an old thought.

[aostling]

I thought they were built in Indiana but that's just an old thought.

That's right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham-Paige confirms that the company started in Indiana, later expanded to Detroit. This 1928 model may have come from the Indiana factory.

I was surprised to see how narrow the interior seats were. The front seat would have been fine for two, if they weren't lard-asses.

[Peter S]

Thanks for the Graham-Paige photo!

The Graham brothers were associated with Dodge, but in 1927 bought the Page-Detroit company, hence the Graham-Paige name. In 1928 they built 78,000 cars (essentially a Paige-Detroit), so quite sucessful. They built some nice cars over the years, e.g. the first pure Graham was the nicely-styled Blue Streak in 1932 with sloping grill and windscreen, also some nice eight cylinder and supercharged models over the years. In 1941 Graham got out of cars, I think they got into property investment, e.g. owners of Madison Square Garden. I think the company may still exist in some form.

I owned a 1937 Graham for about 20 years and sold it (still unfinished..) a couple of years back. I have read that the 1937 tooling was sold to Nissan of Japan.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...ham-02-red.jpg

[gmatov]

I think in 1941 Graham-Paige began making Rototillers, the original owner of the Rototiller name, that which made Troy famous.

I have 3 Graham-Paige Rototillers, one I know was shipped Oct. 31, 1946. 450 pounds and 7 feet long, and can dig new soil 9 inches deep in one pass.

5 HP 2 cycle engine, the entire unit is built like an older tractor, all castings machined and mated. Single unit, but separable for repairs. Aircraft quality bearings thoughout.

Great machine. I have pulled up 2" pipe with it, thrown dinnerplate sized rocks out from under the hood.

Every part of it is still available from Frazier Farm Equipment. Auburn, Indiana.

Cheers,

George

[Evan]

Chances are he came through Williams Lake instead of taking a side trip through Alberta. Highway 97 is the extension of the Alaska Highway to the south. I don't recall hearing about him though but then I don't pay much attention to the local news.

[bollie7]

I think in 1941 Graham-Paige began making Rototillers, the original owner of the Rototiller name, that which made Troy famous.

I have 3 Graham-Paige Rototillers, one I know was shipped Oct. 31, 1946. 450 pounds and 7 feet long, and can dig new soil 9 inches deep in one pass.

5 HP 2 cycle engine, the entire unit is built like an older tractor, all castings machined and mated. Single unit, but separable for repairs. Aircraft quality bearings thoughout.

Great machine. I have pulled up 2" pipe with it, thrown dinnerplate sized rocks out from under the hood.

Every part of it is still available from Frazier Farm Equipment. Auburn, Indiana.

Cheers,

George

George
Can you post some pics of this machine please?
Here in Australia the Howard company built a tractor type cultivator called a "rotary hoe" Not sure of the time line but it would have been back in the 30's - 40's I think. My Dad had one. The hoe was part of the machine. It did a really good job. It was quite advanced for its day, Had an overhead cam engine with roller cam followers.

regards bollie7

[franco]

bollie 7,

The Howard DH22 was first manufactured in about 1927. The original OHC engine was from Morris. Other engines were fitted later. They were still being produced in the late 1940s. There is a photo of an early DH22 at:

http://iconsinternational.com/Defaul...Language=en-AU

franco

[Lew Hartswick]

When I was kid (aprox 1938 to 40) my dad had a Grahm Paige. I
don't remember much of it , I was about 7 or so. just remember the
name and it was "boxy" looking. And maybe the bumpers were two
horizontal strips spaced apart. My mother was going to try driving
and hooked the bumper on the swing rope at the front of the drive
and when backing up pulled the whole thing down. She gave up and
never tried again.
...lew...

[Al Flipo]

He sailed through Vancouver Island on his way to Alaska,
He and his family stayed in our area for a while; his wife was pregnant at the time. We had some fundraisers to support him and his family.

[aostling]

He sailed through Vancouver Island on his way to Alaska,
He and his family stayed in our area for a while; his wife was pregnant at the time. We had some fundraisers to support him and his family.

Maybe she had twins. There were two kiddie car-seats strapped onto the back seat when I took the photo. I've heard that they have been in the Bay Area for several weeks, perhaps waiting for the babies to be old enough to continue the journey.

[Stepside]

Howard Tiller

I ran a Howard tillewr in the late 50's and early 60's. I had a three speed transmission and great big Wisconsin 2 cylinder for power. If memory serves me right it even had reverse. 8 hours of running it was enough for any 135 pound high school kid.

Worked on parts of a Graham Paige "hollywood" hot rod. Owned by Eddie Murphy the comic/actor. Actually did the lettering on the hubcaps for the really expensive aftermarket/custom wheels. The hollywood was a Cord body with Graham-Paige under carriage. This one had a 454 Chev shoehorned into it.

[gmatov]

bollie7,

Scanned the cover of the 1975 parts catalog.

As I said, it is a 2 cycle integral engine. All cast iron, big crank case, 2 speed transmission, I think high range 1 1/2 MPH, low speed, 3/4 MPH. They were available with reverse gearbox that bolted to the rear of the tranny. I don't have that on any of mine. Thumb clutches for turning ability. Disengages one wheel so it freewheels, like brakes on a crawler. I have that on one of the 2 that don't run. Have to move it to the runner.

Bad feature, in my estimation, is the rewind starter, pull type, mebbe 3/32 cable. Right side of machine, have to push in the big dog clutch to engage,. I'm right handed, strong arm, and it's a bitch to reach with the left to push that heavily sprung button in to engage, as well as I don't think the spring or the cable last long enough, they break rather easily. Replaced several times, finally took off the front cover, bolted a fan pulley from some type of car onto the flywheel , used a nylon starter rope after that.

Guy I bought the first from said his bad heart forced him to sell it. Took it home, pulled the starter, "Clunk", freed it up, again, "Clunk". Guy told me he'd had a "small engine shop" rebuild it. I tore it apart, pulled the piston pin, found half the needle bearings were clipped from 1/2 brass wire. He'd taken it apart and lost about 1/2 the needles into the crank case. Near zero clearance, kept hanging up on the needles.

Ordered parts from Frazier, here in about 3 days, rebuilt it and fired right up.

All parts, as I say, available. MAN, have they gone up from the days when I bought it. 2 buck tine in the 75 catalog was about 12 bucks in the late 90s catalog.

Link to the Photobucket pic attached.

Cheers,

George

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rototiller.jpg

[john hobdeclipe]

Driving from Argentina to Alaska? How'd they get through Darien?

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008...bsence-of.html

And if you haven't already done so, be sure to explore the whole Dark Roasted Blend website. Always something interesting there.