Net54 Really Loves Vintage Windshield Wipers & Ashtrays - CLOSED & Answers Revealed
 

Today's Auction offering a complete set of 1924 Motor Cars from Wills's Cigarettes.

There are 48 cards in this complete set which is in excellent condition overall.

Now the savvy car shopper will note that one of cars has hit the wall, and wouldn't you know it, it was the Rolls Royce in that top row of the first scan.

Fear not though, the Rolls was taken to my exclusive vintage body shop where the wall was successfully separated from both the Rolls and the card. A scan of the Rolls will be added before the auction ends on Wednesday at 8 PM sharp CDT.

So the complete set is ready to go. Salvaging the Rolls increases the value of these beauties, so I am going to start the auction $24 with shipping included.
Lets make the minimum increment $2 as well.

The back scan of 16 cards is representative of the whole set.

The cars in the set are:

Vulcan
Daimler
Wolseley
Rover
Vauxhall
Austin
Ford
Studebaker
Napier
Lanchester
Nash
Belsize
Crossley
Calcott
Sunbeam
Peugeot
Talbot
Talbot-Darraco
Hupmobile
Hudson
Rolls-Royce
Armstrong-Siddeley
Lancia
Humber
Waverley
Delage
Morris-Cowley
Dodge
Overland
Maxwell
Cadillac
Lagonda
Fiat
Chevrolet
Charron
Albert
Singer
Hillman
Swift
Willys-Knight
Bean
Renault
Standard
Citroen
Buick
A. B. C.
Rhode
Riley


Kick the tires, walk around the lot and place your bid.;)

The Rolls Royce
 

Wow!!!

I finally figured out what is holding you guys back from bidding on these beautiful cars.

Given the source, Wills's Cigarettes, you want to know if these roadsters come equipped with ashtrays. For the youngsters on the board, cars always used to have cigarette lighters and ashtrays, but when did this practice start.

I searched last night and will continue to do so. The only contributory fact that I was able to find was that the 1923 Stutz Bearcat did not have an ashtray.
If anyone knows when ashtrays were added to cars, feel free to post.

AUCTION BONUS QUESTIONS BELOW

On a side note, do you know who invented the windshield wiper and did they profit from it? Also what brand of car was the first to make the windshield wiper standard equipment? If you win and answer these questions correctly, you will be rewarded with a discount. Don't spill the beans when you bid though. You will be given an opportunity to answer after the auction is over tomorrow evening. I do know the answers to these questions.

Disclaimer: Suasory was employed in developing the bonus questions.

24

My name is Will. I think I need these.

30

31

33

The ashtray and windshield questions will be revealed after the auction is over in less than four hours.

The windshield wiper thing was covered in a major motion picture (a talkie, even) about 10 years ago. I watched it. So I could spoil your fun, but I choose not to.

35

doat!

A real estate developer named Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903 and had her invention patented in 1905. She never profited from her invention though. Auto companies did not use her ideas until the patent expired in 17 years. It wasn't until 1923 that wipers became standard equipment. The first car that offered the feature as standard equipment was Cadillac.;)

It is harder to answer the ashtray question, but ashtray as a term was not in common usage until 1926, so the 1924 cars may have had a place for ashes, but it wasn't called an ashtray.

That's the rest of the story and I am sticking to it.

I have no idea about the movie that John referenced or the "story" it told about the wipers.

Ah, the movie "Flash of Genius" was about the guy who tried to patent "intermittent" windshield wipers technology and Ford Motors, set in the 1960s.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/

Greg Kinnear played the lead.