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This week 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.........
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