Every Monday since last November, members of the Call of the West Museum have gathered in Al Millard’s shop on his acreage near Okotoks, Alta.
One of the group always brings lunch. They start work at 9 a.m., break for a sandwich at noon, and carry on until 3 or 3:30. Together, they’re restoring a rare 1924 Haynes automobile.
“It’s a long story,” Millard says of how the Call of the West Museum came to acquire the Haynes car. “Erhard Gorski had a sea can filled with three Haynes cars and he needed to sell them. I wasn’t immediately interested but, in a roundabout way, last October the museum ended up with the cars and parts and we decided to do something with them.”
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Located in High River on the Ag Society Rodeo Grounds, the Call of the West Museum is dedicated to preserving automobiles, tractors, and petroleum memorabilia such as gasoline pumps and signs. Millard, who worked for 52 years in the refrigeration industry, pioneered the concept of the museum. It opened in 2013.
“We emptied out Erhard’s sea can to see what we had,” Millard says. “There were three frames and three bodies, and we chose this one because it was a sedan and was fairly complete. We could build another car if we had another Haynes engine, so we’re looking for one.”
Elwood Haynes of Kokomo, Ind., built his first car in his kitchen in 1893. When starting the single-cylinder gasoline-powered engine in his home didn’t go as planned, he paid brothers Edgar and Elmer Apperson to complete the job. Haynes named his conveyance The Pioneer, and it successfully completed a six-mile test run.
In 1898, the trio formed the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company. Cars were built under this name until 1905, as the Apperson brothers had departed in 1902, leaving Haynes to start the Haynes Automobile Company. Haynes vehicles were built until 1924, when the company declared bankruptcy.
Haynes had a background in metallurgy and was one discoverer of stainless steel; he also invented the hard-wearing alloy Stellite. Many mechanical advancements, including the early use of an oil pump instead of relying on splash lubrication, were employed in Haynes automobiles.
The history of the Call of the West’s Haynes car can be traced back to the collection of Stan Reynolds of Wetaskiwin, Alta. Reynolds originally bought the car from Barney Pollard of Detroit, who amassed a collection of more than 1,000 vintage vehicles before selling them at auction in 1976.
Millard’s 30-foot-by-52-foot shop is equipped with a lathe, milling machine, and some sheetmetal gear. He’s usually working on antique tractors in the space, but after the museum crew stripped down the Haynes car, it’s taken priority.
Much research has been done and Millard believes their Haynes Model 60 running gear was updated with a later Haynes brougham body. The sedan features unique oval windows behind the rear passenger doors, and the group is determined to resurrect the rare automobile.
“We each have different skill sets,” Millard says of the crew. “It’s about 10 of us, and some have mechanical skills, and others have carpentry skills. I fit in wherever I can.”
The frame was sandblasted and painted, and the inline-six-cylinder engine taken apart to the crank. Surprisingly, for a car that’s close to 100 years old, Millard says there was very little wear on any of the engine’s internals.
Everything needed a good cleaning, and Millard machined a new water pump shaft and also modified the timing cover to accept a modern oil seal. The antique carburetor was a complicated affair but was successfully rebuilt. With an original coil installed, the engine, which should make around 50 horsepower, was brought to life just a few weeks ago.
“We didn’t run it long because we’re waiting for a radiator to be built,” Millard says. “We had to find clutch discs and used some from a Hyster winch clutch between the engine and three-speed transmission. The engine runs beautifully.”
The wood wheels have been restored and fitted with Firestone tires. As of this writing, the group was assembling much of the body’s woodwork and attaching it to the chassis. Millard expects to have the car ready to be sent out for upholstery by late April.
“There aren’t a lot of Haynes cars around,” Millard says. “Best guess is less than 100 exist, and this one will be a part of the Call of the West collection and will be brought out and driven on special occasions.”
(Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or [email protected])
