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kuehjo

New member
Hello all,

Looking forward to lurking for some pointers, and maybe get a chance to share a few of my own along the way...

I actually have US Sterling #001 from Norm Rose, but that car is going to need a complete rebuild - and how can you do number 1 any other way than original? The hard part, is that I have some really ambitious plans for my Sterling - so what's a guy to do?

Buy another one, right? So I stumbled across #022 (Craigslist is your friend!!!) and this one is the perfect project. I am hoping to be home early enough today to shoot a couple of photos and will get them posted tonight in the Builder's Forum, as i begin to chronicle my journey.

Glad to be here, and very grateful to Warren for hosting this site. I'm looking forward to being a real regular!!!

Jonathan
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
Hello sir!

...and we are very glad to welcome you to the forum. *thumbs up* Wow, so you really have the #001 Sterling!? Very cool find. Please, definitely treat us to some photos at some point. I know that Rick (letterman7) and I get a kick out of trying to account for the Sterlings (etc) that are out there. He has done a wonderful job of collecting a list of a good chunk of the cars that are still in existence. (NationalSterling.org of course)

Yep, just on principle, you probably don't want to cut up the #001 Sterling. But I see that you've solved that problem quite nicely by picking up a second one. Yeah, after my fifth Sterling (not at the same time) I started to be concerned that perhaps I had a "problem."

Nah.

Heck, I only've owned 1/6 as many as Unofun! I believe that he technically has owned about 4% of all Sterlings ever made. And he doesn't seem ALL that crazy. Just in the good ways. :D So I figure until someone hits 10%, it's not considered obsessive, right? With two, you're still safe.

We'll be looking forward to hearing about your cars.

--farfegnubbin

PS You probably know that letterman7 owns essentially the very last Sterling that Norm made. Norm was making it for himself (or for his son...I can't remember) and he did some rather extensive modifications to it. Technically, other Sterlings were made after it, under different ownership, but in many ways I think of that one as "the last" of the initial run of Sterlings.

You guys should meet up and do a photo shoot featuring the first and the last of the production run from CCC by Norm Rose. Rick is in Philly, of course, so perhaps you can pick a state half way in between so neither of you has to drive more than 1500 miles. *laugh* Maybe Iowa!? The problem is that I think people in Iowa would be really freaked out by a Sterling (let alone two).

(Just kidding, Iowans. We know you're cool. Please don't stop growing our corn just because I have a weird sense of humor.)

On second thought, perhaps just sharing photos and info on the site would be good enough. *laugh*

(Sterling fun fact: My Blue Sterling body (#869) came from Iowa. It was sitting in a field with corn literally growing up through it.)
 

letterman7

Honorary Admin
I've talked with Jonathon via email several times - Welcome, Jon! Glad you found our resource here. Looking forward to those photos... maybe then I can actually place something on the register for you!
I like the idea of a 'beginning and ending' of the CCC saga photo composition. We'll have to figure something out once my car starts resembling a car again. In our conversations, you mentioned that the 001 car was either the very first "prototype" pulled from the molds or the actual Nova brought over from the UK. I can't recall if I asked you if there was a stamped ID plate on the drivers sill?
 

kuehjo

New member
Hiya guys!!

Yep Norm showed me his personal car when I picked up #001 and let me shoot some pictures of it at the same time. It was pretty raw then, but i know it won't stay that way...

Believe it or not - i have been digging through my files trying to find some photos of #001 - i KNOW i have some - but if I don't find them soon I may have no choice but to go shoot a bunch more. The car is in (dry) storage right now, and accessible, and I would really like to do that for you all.

I purchased the car from Norm and his son Scott off of E-bay about 3 years or so ago (forget the EXACT dates... but I've got a file full of documents) They gave me a bunch of articles and newspaper clippings along with it, and a new sill plate, but I don't believe that they ever actually installed the sill plate since it was their factory demo car. This is (according to Scott and Norm) the original car that Norm flew over to England to pick up, and then built into Sterling #001, as the factory demo car. I do have some of the letters regarding the transport arrangements, as well - I should try and get all of that scanned for you to add to the history file. You bring up a good point - although Scott and Norm called this #001 - it was actually pulled from the Nova molds in England, and then shipped here to the States and built as a Sterling - so technically speaking, someone else has the first one pulled from the American molds...

At that time that i picked up the car, Norm hadn't decided if he was going to sell his personal car or not - but he did take the time to show me through it. Widened rear fenders (with kind of an odd "step" design to them) and off the top of my head I seem to recall that it had a Ford motor in a mid-engine configuration - but the car had been sitting a long time, and was pretty rough - and i don't recall that he ever actually had it on the road...

At this point I'm happy to know that #001 is safe and is NOT getting hacked up. I think its only fair to put it back original - who knows - maybe the Smithsonian would be interested.... So, no rush, but I do have the wherewithall to put it back, and that IS the plan.

IN THE MEANTIME - i DID finally get some pictures of #022 yesterday - i will try and get them up tonight.

Glad to be here guys - looking forward to being an active member!!

Best regards,

Jonathan
 
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letterman7

Honorary Admin
:D I'm really excited to see you here on the boards, Jonathon. You've probably got a little more back history on some of the rarest cars than anyone else - if you could get those items scanned and posted for us to read, that would be a very cool thing to have.
Indeed, Norm's car is a mid engine V6 Ford, and at the moment it's going to stay that way, with a few modifications (more for cooling than anything else). I've tried to contact him a few times to get some more insight on the car and company, but he hasn't come forth with anything, despite an early initial positive attitude to an interview.

Back to your cars... the photo anticipation is killing me!

Rick
 

kuehjo

New member
Hang in there Rick - I WILL get you 22 today....

(just got to figure out how to resize these photos so they will upload....)


80))))
 

kuehjo

New member
Ok - I surrender

How do I resize a photo from 274 KB down to 19.5 (or less) KB so that it will upload to the site? (damn digital cameras are TOO good at capturing detail, i guess...)
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
Hi Jonathan,

The easiest way to pare those photos down to a usable size is to change the "image size" with whatever software you have on your computer. I can't tell you exactly where it is for your particular software because I don't know what you're using. But look around under the drop-down menus of whatever program opens that lets you see/edit your photos. You probably have something on your machine that does that...maybe something that came with the camera. Anyway, if you can find any reference to editing "image size", then you can tell it to be a certain number of pixels wide. If you set it to about 800 to 900 pixels wide, it'll look really good on most monitors and will automatically be a good file size. (It also helps to st the resolution to 72 dpi if you can find and change that box, probably on the same screen as the image size.)

If you have any more trouble, you are welcome to email photos directly to me and I'll resize them and mail them back. I don't mind doing that. I'll send you my email address through the Private Message system (located under the "Your Notifications" link way up under your name in the upper right corner).

Please feel free to share any cool old documentation and/or info that you might know. The history of these cars is so terribly sparse, and I'm worried that there are probably only three or four people still on the planet who know any of the actual subtle early details of these cars. Most of what we know has been painted in broad strokes and passed on so many times that we're not 100% sure of some of those details. Feel free to share whatever you like to with the History section here or with NationalSterling. It all gets shared in the end.

Again, if you're having continued troubles with photos, just email them to me and I can help.

--Warren
 

kuehjo

New member
webDSC00012 (600 x 450).jpg


#022

Thanks TheStevie - that seems to work well!!!
 
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letterman7

Honorary Admin
Hmmm.... that's interesting. Cimbria style drop down headlamps, slotted rear air vent and what almost looks like a hatchback style rear. More photos, Jonathan!
 

thestevie

Member
Thanks TheStevie - that seems to work well!!!

No problem.
It's what I'm here for.

Not a big fan of the lights buckets. They just don't seem to "fit" right.
I really do like the hood though.
I would like to see more pictures as well.
Maybe some of the back?
I need some ideas for the rear lights and such for mine.
 

kuehjo

New member
I went and opened a builder's log in the Journal Forum and posted the rest of the photos there.

Looking forward to sharing the triumphs and the tribulations!!
 

kuehjo

New member
Oh yeah - projector lights all the way!!!!

And frankly - I LOVE the 2006 and newer Lotus Elise/Exige tail lights (LED's), but they are ungodly expensive...
 
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