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Vintage Machines
Wills St. Clair colletor Tom Lieb
by Ken Handman
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Two Cadillacs and two Wills St. Claire autos from the Twenties await restoration at Tom Lieb's shop. |
Manhattan Beach resident Tom Lieb is the founder of Scat Inc. in Torrance, a business that he started while attending college. Scat is now a major player in the automotive after-market and the supplier of high performance crankshafts and rods to the big three car manufacturer's high performance divisions.
Lieb owns five of the 50 remaining Wills St. Claire automobiles in the world. Two of his cars took top honors at the Pebble Beach Concourse, the equivalent of winning the World Series or Kentucky Derby. The first two cars are big-sedan bodied machines, but the fabulous black car that is nearing completion is a roadster. There is little doubt in my mind that this car will follow the others to glory at Pebble Beach next year.
To give you an idea of that passion, here is a list of Lieb's cars: '06 Model N Ford; '21
Wills St. Claire dual windshield Touring (100 points at Pebble); two '22
Cadillacs (pictured above), which will be used to build one car; '23 Cadillac 7 passenger sedan (95 point car); '23 Wills roadster under restoration; '23 Wills 7 passenger Pebble Beach winner; two '23 Wills Tourings to be restored into one car; '27 Packard coupe under restoration; '26 Wills cabriolet roadster-next in line for restoration; '36 Ford Deluxe 3 window coupe lo-mile original car; a '36 Cord 810 Westchester 4dr. w/68k miles; five midget dirt track racers straight from Ascot and Gilmore Raceways, the '29 Ford Model A roadster Tom drove in high school and sold the motor from for college tuition -- to be restored soon, '53 VW Bug all original w/19k miles and a '66 Porsche that he has had from new. How's that, for having been bitten by the Old Car bug?
Lieb told a bunch of quick stories to illustrate his adventures in locating and restoring these cars. He also told one long one that was about as interesting as any I've heard and I've been swapping car stories for quite a few decades.
In 1985 Lieb was in Torino, Italy on business. In a spare moment went to the National Automotive Museum. While viewing the cars on display, he came across one of the few cars that he had never seen before. Upon close inspection of the enamel logo on the radiator shell, he saw that the car was a SCAT, an acronym for an Italian builder of the era. But more importantly, Lieb's company, founded in the sixties, bore the same name as the 1923 touring car. And to add further drama to the discovery, Lieb realized that the type style and art work on the logo was nearly identical to his.
Naturally, he spent a lot of time on the trip home thinking about the "coincidence" of his company's name and logo being uncannily similar to this virtually unknown car built before he was born.
The image of the SCAT stayed with Tom and he started a search to find one he could purchase. He assumed that he would have to put out feelers in Europe if he was going to succeed, but amazingly, he found one within months of returning from Italy. The car was listed for sale in "Hemmings" by a man that had immigrated from Europe many years before. So, instead of bringing a Scat across the Atlantic, he only had to go to Hemet, Ca. to see the car. It turned out that the seller was of two minds about letting the car go and it took a couple of years of casual negotiating before Tom finally took possession. Now it is completely disassembled in his shop awaiting restoration.
Space does not permit me to tell you any of Tom's "short stories." However, Tom has agreed to get up on the stage at the Project Touch/Easy Reader Car Show and let me ask him some questions about his experiences with old cars. You will be enchanted with his stories and blown-away by his historical knowledge and his willingness to share it with the rest of us. He is also bringing both of the Pebble Beach winning Wills St. Claires to the Show. Since the cars have won the highest prize possible, Tom said that it would not be fair to the other competitors to have them judged. They will be for display only so that everyone can enjoy them.
On behalf of Project Touch I want to thank him in advance for his generosity and tell him that if I ever grow-up, I want to be just like him.
The car show will exceed all of our expectations for attendance. I can tell you that we will have one of the most interesting collections of cars imaginable, far more than what you would expect at a hometown event. Thanks to the folks who have pre-registered these great cars and motorcycles.
Admission is $5. Kids under 12 are free. We will have great food from Einstein's and Project Touch and an excellent Blues Rock Band called the Rogues.
We could not have got this event anywhere near the level of organization it is today without our founders (in no particular order); Mike Ludwig, Gloria and John Anderson, Ray and Sherry Hyland and Jan and John McHugh. Thanks to these dedicated folks, our car show is going to be better than ever. See you on October 22 at Clark Field, at 8t St. and Valley Dr. in Hermosa Beach. The hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ER