Bob Kuehn’s Paige roadster.  Sadly, he passed away recently, much too young, and I am helping his widow to dispose of the car.

All photos, full-size, are at https://photos.app.goo.gl/WHEJ38AgULnwMt3u6 .

If you have toured much in North Jersey, or the northeast, or eastern PA, in the past 30 years, you know this car.  Bob bought it in 1989, drove it for a couple of years, then did a complete mechanical restoration.  He was an expert mechanic and machinist, so along the way he made some improvements.  The ones I know of are – higher ratio ring and pinion fabricated and installed, re-engineered the rear axle to stop factory-designed oil leaks, grease fitting on the water pump, and a Viton tip on the float needle in the original carb.  After it was back together, he toured with it endlessly.  He was a brass car guy his whole life, and this Paige roadster was practically his alter ego.

He didn’t have a trailer, so he made sure that he could just drive this car to whatever tour he wanted to go on.  With the higher rear gearing, it’s a 55 mph cruiser.

It was last driven early in this year, before Bob got too sick.  I started it and it idled ok, but the gas is pretty foul-smelling and I didn’t have time to put in fresh gas and take it out on the road.  I don’t know of any reason why it shouldn’t drive as it always did.

I was only able to make a few observations about mechanical issues.  The battery is shot, and the radiator leaks and shows patches.  Right now the radiator is empty.

The Paige 36 was a mid-range car built with high-quality components.  The engine was Paige’s, a torquey 4×5.  It used the complete Gray and Davis electric starting, generating, and lighting system that Locomobile used.  It used a multiplate cork-insert clutch, running in oil, and a silent chain to drive the auxiliaries.

This car is a 1914, and is mechanically identical to the 1913, except for a few improvements like a larger water pump and improved brake linkage.  But this roadster is distinctive, because it was made in the early part of the ’14 run.  The roadster continued to be built with the flat firewall and parallel-side hood of the ‘13, while all the other ’14 Paiges had the new streamlined body.  Later in ’14, the roadster got the streamlined body, too.

There are 4 known flat-firewall Paige 36’s.  Bob had two, and I have one.  That’s how I got to know him.  He was an absolute fanatic about this particular model, and gave me a tremendous amount of help just because he wanted to see another flat-firewall Paige 36 succeed.

Here’s a short article on the car from Autoweek in 2007.  https://www.autoweek.com/news/a2051256/1913-paige-detroit-model-36-westbrook-roadster-gentlemans-ride/

From driving my own Paige 36, I can tell you it’s not as much of a challenge as the article makes out.  For instance, I can easily downshift into second, and even first, without clashing.  When I finished adjusting my brakes, I could lock up both tires on dry pavement.

Price is negotiable.  The car is available to be viewed in Florida.  It has a clean NJ title in Bob’s name.  Please contact owner Ines Kuehn directly.  I will not be available onsite.  I can answer technical questions at kelfy@yahoo.com .  (I’ll call you if you send your phone number to that email.)  It should be possible to arrange for a knowledgeable nearby brass car friend to be there when you come to look at it.