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March 8, 1999Two wheel rims short of the roadBuckley man owns what may be most complete 1919 Napoleon truck anywhere
Record-Eagle staff writer BUCKLEY - After nearly a year of restoration, Dennis Kuhn's 1919 Napoleon truck is ready for its first spin around the block. Or would be, that is, if it had two rims for the front wheels. "The back wheels are on it; the front wheels are the big holdup now," said Kuhn. With a newly rebuilt engine expected to be installed in the next few weeks, the 3/4-ton truck - manufactured by the Traverse Motor Car Co. - is believed to be the most intact model of its kind in the country. It's so rare, in fact, that no one knows its value for certain. "As far as I know, it's the only one around," Kuhn said. Kuhn, who lives in Buckley, bought the truck from a Colorado man in 1997 after seeing an ad in Hemmings Motor News. Most of the original ash wood - body, steering wheel and spokes - had been burned in a Nebraska prairie fire. After a year, during which he made arrangements for its delivery, restoration on the truck began last May. Kuhn also owns an incomplete Napoleon, which he bought from an East Jordan man who spotted it in a neighbor's woods. The Napoleon was manufactured in Traverse City from 1917 to 1923 - a time when auto plants were springing up all over the country. In 1919 the Traverse Motor Car Co. assembled 125 passenger cars and 125 trucks at its factory on Eighth Street and Boardman. Initially it manufactured four models, but its trucks were more popular than its cars, and it eventually stopped making the passenger models. By 1920, it was putting out five trucks a day. It bought frames from Traverse City Iron Works. After a post-World War I recession, the company went bankrupt in 1923, leaving area residents who'd purchased $145,000 worth of stock with worthless shares. The cars, advertised as the "little general" after Napoleon Bonaparte, were sold by Rennie Auto Sales in Traverse City for $1,085 to $1,285. Kuhn won't say how much he paid for his truck, but estimated he'll have three times its value invested in it by the time it's restored. Work on the project has been difficult, he said, because of the vehicle's charred condition and because so few parts for it exist. For instance, retired woodworker Vern Hewer of Buckley is building a body from scratch based on measurements taken from an original Napoleon body in Suttons Bay. Carl Kreiser, also of Buckley, had to completely rebuild the 32-horsepower Gray engine, transmission and steering because nesting mice had nearly destroyed them. "I haven't been able to find any original parts," said Kreiser. "So far I've had to make them or substitute other parts that are sufficient to do the job." Then there's the problem of the missing rims. But Kuhn and his friends are hoping to have the truck driveable in time for the 32nd Buckley Old Engine Show in August, which Kreiser helped found. "I guess most people say it was crazy, but it's the pleasure of seeing this old equipment operating again rather than seeing it thrown on a stack and forgotten," Kreiser said. |
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