PRICELESS - 1909 Knox Type "O" Touring sedan the only one of its kind in the world detailed for the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

This last month I had the privilege of detailing a very special vehicle for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2011. The gentleman that commissioned me to do the job was a very sharp older man that I must say is “Car Crazy” still at 81 yrs old. He has extensive roots that go back to the 50’s and 60’s documenting his love for cars and boats and even old fire trucks…..

Project Detail : 1909 Knox Type “O” Touring Sedan

This particular vehicle is proven and documented as the only one of its type in existence. There are maybe a total of 15 Knox vehicles in existence of the different styles and models that spanned from 1899 until their bankruptcy of 1914. The current owner has had this vehicle for over 65 years and he is the “Authentic” second owner. The vehicle went thru a complete 100% restoration which took over four years to do. You can only imagine the level of detail involved in such a unique turn of the century vehicle.

The vehicle broke down in 1914 according to the current owner it suffered a broken push rod that would never be repaired. The Knox was left covered in a barn for 65 years until it was gifted to the current owner, even though numerous attempts to buy it from the original owner were offered.

So in 2006 the complete tear down and restoration began to bring this 1909 Knox back to life. Personally I must say that this vehicle is absolutely amazing and it has the total “WOW” factor going on. So much detail, so much intricacy, so many types of materials used in the construction from aluminum, wood, brass, nickel, steel, leather and rubber. But the one thing the vehicle failed to have was “Plastic” now what does that tell you?

So my job here was to remove all the grime, dust, scratches and just “Stuff” that had settled on this vehicle for the last 4 years of restoration and bring back the sparkle and the shine. Since completion of the Knox in Dec 2010, the vehicle was regularly wiped down with shop rags which made my job a little tougher since this was a single stage 2 tone paint job with a gold pin…..

For me it was an honor to detail such a fine vehicle for the event, and it must be more of an honor for the owner who was invited to attend this years Pebble Beach Concours De Elegance which is by “Invite Only”

Here are some before and after photos showing this incredible vehicle being detailed

The "WOW" factor begin right here when my customer pulled out these original 1914 matching license plates that were last registered to the vehicle before being stored in a barn. Made of Porcelain covered metal they still had the original tags riveted to the plates, unheard of......he even showed me the original owners manual that he had tucked away in a special brief case.........

So the job began with removing the axle pads that were mounted to protect it from its voyage of being transported back to California from Springfield MA.

A few photos of the vehicle before the detail began....A complete assessment was made and my son and I made a plan to handle this detail from the undercarriage to the top.

 

 

We started the job out using my Detailing Caddy since a conventional wash is just not an option here. This allowed us to clean and prep the vehicle for its detailing using a rinseless wash method.

 

 

 

 

Notice the detail of the speedometer assembly and the gears they used back in those days....

 

Just look at the difference compared to the picture above of the differential, so much cleaner....

 

The bucket of my rinseless solution was really getting dirty as you can see.....

 

All cleaned and ready for a thorough inspection....

 

Rear and front fenders showing excessive scratches from improper wipe down techniques....Single Stage Two Tone with gold pin....

 

Even the side mounted OEM tool boxes needed some loving....

 

My son begins prepping the rubber on these classic wooden wheels with Meguiar's M39

 

I realized during the claying process that this was a single stage paint due to the color bleed and the fact that no clear was on the pin as well. So my approach needed to be conservative but yet one that would restore the finish. My first try or pass was using the D/A and the 4" Megs foam pads with M205, but it didnt touch it. So I wipped out the 3" D/A MF correction system and I saw the results I needed using D300 and the correction pad. I then gave the entire vehicle a pass with the MF finishing pad and D301, followed by an application of M21 and a wipe down with D156.......

 

After just one pass with the Meguiar's MF D/A correction system here is a sample of the results.....

 

As I continued on with the paint correction, my son started polishing the bright work, and there was alot of it......Brass everywhere, after all this was a vehicle of the brass era...

 

Here you can see the the large headlights that were powered by acetylene produced by carbide generators and they did give off quite a bit of light to a passer by. The side or marker lamps were powered by lamp oil or kerosene and did not give off much light.

Lots of Brass, brass everywhere............

 

Nickel was also used on the levers in these days since chrome was not an option......

 

And more brass.....

  

Some interior shots of this amazing project.................

 

 Engine bay photo, all original........

 

Some final photos of this amazing project completed......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meguiar's for the win on this show car shine!

 

 

 

 

Here are some magnificant shots courtesy of Car & Driver Magazine of this very rare and historic vehicle on the greens at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2011 

 

                                                                 Thank you for viewing.....