Age Before Beauty?

What counts more age or beauty?  In the case of the Chevrolet Classic Six (A.K.A. Series 6) we have two winners.

The oldest, most complete and continuously running Classic Six is known as #323.  It was built in 1913 at the Flint Michigan plant and was first purchased by someone in Southern Texas and driven daily until 1936.  It was then acquired by the Aldenhaven Family, a Chevrolet Dealer of Fort Worth Texas, who owned it for about 28 years.  The Aldenhavens put the Classic Six up for auction in 1964.  The Sloan Museum were very interested in #323 and sent two employees to the auction.  They were outbid twice!  However, the family knew that the museum would appreciate and maintain the vehicle more and accepted their bid.  So, in 102 years this Classic Six has had only 3 owners!  And the lady at the MTO office thought my single-owner 2003 Chevrolet Venture was impressive! Thanks to the service department at Boyer Chevrolet Buick GMC for keeping it running like new.

The Classic Six Facts:
•    299 cubic-inch 6cyl. engine with a whopping 40hp!
•    Rear-mounted transmission that attaches directly to the rear differential and is controlled by a series of long levers.
•    20 gallon gas tank that sits right under the driver’s seat cushion
•    Electric starter, which had only been invented a few years earlier by Cadillac (not affiliated with Chevrolet at that time).
•    The cone clutch is made of leather which is prone to swelling when not used regularly and becomes locked to the fly wheel.  This causes the museum a bit of a problem as they find ways to work around it without having to dissemble the parts.

Not to be outdone the Reynolds-Alberta Museum owns the world’s oldest Classic Six.  #93 is a rusting and incomplete vehicle (most of the engine parts are gone).