The Triumphs of College Graduation

John Dizer of Utica, NY has rebuilt, restored and modified many cars over the years. They range from a 1921 Essex and a 1941 Packard to several Triumphs. As you can see in the picture of John and his extended family, these are all cars he has restored and that are still in the family. In the picture, John is standing (from left to right) next to the third TR3 in the front row. This is John’s red 1962 TR3B. John’s license plate reflects exactly what his car is. The plates read 62TR3B.

 

John’s association with Triumphs began is 1968. Unknown to him, his sons Tom and Bill made a barter arrangement with a neighbor to paint their home in exchange for a 1964 Triumph Spitfire, that was in need of much repair.
Since then, John has restored 12 of these British sports cars. Most of John’s projects have remained in the family. In fact, with one exception for his daughter Ann, John has given his other four children a restored Triumph for each of their college graduations. When asked about Ann, John said, “She wanted an automatic transmission. This was something I could not do.”

The Dizer family car collection is extensive. It includes:

• For son Tom – a 1962 TR3 (owned for 33 years) and a TR6 that started as a 1975 that is now powered by a 1971 engine.
•  For son Bill – a 1958 TR3, 1966 & 1967 TR4As and 1925 and 1926 Ford Model Ts.
• For daughter Jane – A 1961 TR3, that has been driven to Houston, TX and back.
• For daughter Mary, a 1958 TR3.

John‘s car, as previously mentioned, is a TR3B. John said, “The difference between an A and a B is the piston sleeve. On a TRA it is 83-mm. The sleeve on a TRB is 86-mm. I built my car with an 87-mm piston sleeve. The other difference is that TRBs have synchro-mesh in first gear.” John also added cruise control to his car, which is unknown on these small cars.

In addition to internal combustion engine locomotion, John has a wonderful collection of turn-of-the-century and early 1900 bicycles. These have been restored as flawlessly as his cars. John has completed five Century rides (100 miles in a single day) on these bikes. This was done in his seventies. One was completed on his 1883 high wheeler and others on his 1894 Crescent and 1896 G & J ‘safety’. These are single speed bikes and one has solid rubber tires. At 81, John is planning another Century ride in July. He adds, “If my knees hold out.”

Travel over water has not escaped John either. He has two fine antique wooden boats that he has restored.

John is not about to stop doing what he loves. He said, “I’m happy to be able to get in and out of a Triumph at 81.” He indicated that his next project would be the restoration of his son’s 1926 Model T. It is encouraging to me to see the energy and enthusiasm John has for this hobby. When he is not working in his garage, he is writing college textbooks. He has two written and a third planned. The books are related to children’s literature. John has a large collection of over 8,000 children’s books that provide the material for his college textbooks.

It was interesting to me that John names his cars, since I have always named mine. One of his cars was called Archie (Arch de Triumph) another was named Henry. This was the eight car he completed (Henry the Eight).

John does all the work on his project cars in a 24’ x 44’ garage attached to his home. He said, “Sometimes the paint and other smells would seep into the house. This was not very pleasant for my wife.” John has a PHD in Mechanical Engineering and is the retired Dean of Engineering Technology & Business at Mohawk Valley Community College. He is the first to say that there is a big difference between mechanical engineering theory and hands-on application experience.

From what I saw in his completed cars, bicycles and boats, John has mastered both and his children are the beneficiaries of his fine work.

Larry’s Market, DeRuyter, NY

It was the end of April a couple of years ago when I snapped the picture of Larry Loffredo behind the wheel of his then recently restored 1931 Ford Model A Peddler’s Wagon in DeRuyter, NY. It was just six months prior to this when I met with him as he was about to begin the complete frame-off restoration of this very unique truck. What started out as a ‘barn-fresh’ truck that had been stored in a Westchester County, NY barn, for thirty years is now out-and-about and grabbing a lot of attention at local and national car shows.

These Peddler’s Wagons were ubiquitous in neighborhoods across the country when they were new. They are a very faint memory for the few that may remember when the ‘Produce Man’ made his rounds.

It is difficult to find one of these unique trucks today, anywhere. If you are lucky enough to see one, it is safe to say it would never measure up to the quality and the workmanship that has gone into Larry’s truck. He said, “The guys (Artie and Mike) that work exclusively on the George Staley car collection) did an outstanding job on this truck and in a relatively short period of time – almost six months to the day from start to finish.” (George Staley owns over 130 classic cars, some are one of a kind. He has donated approximately 80 cars from his collection to the North East Classic Car Museum in Norwich, NY where they can be enjoyed by the public. Larry is George’s son-in-law.)

While Artie (mechanical) and Mike (body-work) did their respective things, Larry was busy building the wood structure that makes up the trucks bed and produce display racks. This triple team restoration approach really paid off in getting the project completed in ‘record time.’

Officially the truck is called a Canopy Top Express Delivery Wagon. Back in 1931, Ford manufactured the chassis, motor and basically everything from the cab forward. The rear portions of these trucks were constructed by independent body builders. Back then companies such as Stoughton Co. in Wisconsin did this type of work. For this truck, Larry became the custom body shop. Pictures from calendars and other documents became his blue prints. Larry has worked with wood professionally and as a hobby for most of his life. The finished product reflects his skill and knowledge of his craft.

When the truck was completed this spring, it was time for its initial shake-down run. Larry said, “I ran into the normal stuff that you would expect after a project like this (rattles, lights not working, etc.). What I did not expect was hitting the brakes and having my foot go right to the floor.” He was able to stop the truck without incident. The brakes were fixed along with a minor gasoline leak. Since that first drive, there have been few problems.

This truck is a driver. If it gets dirty, Larry cleans and details it. If his destination is greater than an hours drive from his home, he will trailer it. However, the truck is just a few inches too tall to fit into an enclosed carrier, so it has to be trailered in the open.

One thing most restorers do not have to deal with is stocking their vehicles with fruits, vegetables and other items that would have been carried in these trucks. Larry has found an assortment of authentic looking plastic substitutes to fill the custom oak racks. Larry said, “I found most of this stuff at local hobby shops and at JoAnn Fabrics. I continue to look for vintage Coke bottles, soda, cases, boxes and cans at local antique shops. He is fortunate to live in the heart of one of the largest antique mecca’s in New York State – the Madison/Bouckville area. This has got to make the search for these items a little easier.

 

Larry has restored his truck to as close to original specifications as possible. The engine and the frame serial numbers even match. He has made a couple of improvements. He added a battery cut-off switch on the dash and a fuel cut-off under the hood.The collector/antique car hobby is an important part of Larry’s life, even more now that he has retired from his construction business. His fleet of cars continues to grow. In part, he owns an award winning red 1959 Ford Retractable (hard top convertible) and a recent purchase, needing only some cosmetics, is a 1957 Lincoln Premier convertible. He belongs to several different car clubs and association, as well as being a member of the car museum in Norwich.

Future projects are still up in the air. He is thinking about another, as he said “odd ball truck”, a 1958-1960 Oldsmobile, Pontiac or Mercury convertible or something else that might catch his interest. Whatever it is, you can expect that it will be completed to the same standard he has followed with his Peddler’s Wagon – flawlessly.

Gary Wilkinson writes about old cars and trucks, and also collects and rebuilds them. If you would like your collector car featured in this column, please send your request to, gwilkins@twcny.rr.com.