It took 71 year-old Terrence Cleife 15 years of his life to bring this now mint 1918 American LaFrance saloon up to this condition. When he bought it, in 1998, it was literally in a pile of bits in a barn.
Now it’s been brought back to its original condition, and it doesn’t appear to have any modern additions – it looks like a fully original car. The old T-head four-cylinder engine displaces some ten liters and you need to prime the carbs with gas before you crank it over (by hand).
As for performance, Mr. Cleife says he has had it up to 60 mph or nearly 100 km/h, a speed which he says is really daunting for passengers as there’s no screen. The driver gets the prettiest-looking brass-rimmed circular screen that looks a bit like a vanity mirror.
See and hear it run in the video posted below courtesy of Barcroft.