The Major Damage On The Car

While the car was in Marvin Klair’s ownership he was providing some driving lessons to one of his family members.  While backing up the car the inexperienced driver was not yet used to the delayed response of a steam throttle.  Thus an excessive volume of steam was sent to the engine and when the car did move it did so quickly and assertively.  The reaction is to slam on the brake which is a proper response.  Because of the Stanley pedal service brake is an external, contracting design it operates much more efficiently with vehicle forward motion than vehicle reverse motion.  In forward motion the turning of the brake drum under the brake band tends to assist in the contracting of the band around the drum.  In reverse the rotation of the brake drum opposes the contracting action of the brake band and braking efficiency is negated to a large extent.  The result was that the car backed into a guard rail breaking the right tire saddle and denting the right rear side of the car.  The tire saddle was repaired as seen in the photo; another tire saddle support arm (not matching the original) was used, the right rear fender was straightened out as best as possible, and the large dents in the rear aluminum back panel of the car were repaired.