Chasing Steam: Jersey’s Boyhood Dream Find | American Pickers (S27) | History

MIKE: Dani D, what’s up? JERSEY JON: What’s up, girl? DANIELLE: Hey, how are my boys today?
MIKE: We’re chilling in the great state of Kentucky, man. What do you got? DANIELLE: Alright, so I’m gonna send you to meet a guy named George. The collection you’re about to look at is not actually George’s. It comes from Glenn, but Glenn passed away and he loved animals so much. He left everything he owned to the Humane Society.
MIKE: Oh, wow! JERSEY JON: Wow, that’s cool.
That’s super cool. MIKE: That’s amazing.
JERSEY JON: That is awesome.
DANIELLE: He was into heavy-hitter cars. Pierce Arrow, Bentleys, Stanley Steamers.
JERSEY JON: Ah! This is gonna be my kind of pick!
Aw, he’s adorable!
MIKE: Hey! GEORGE: Hey.
MIKE: How are you? GEORGE: Good, you?
JERSEY JON: Can I pet that dog? GEORGE: George.
MIKE: This is Jersey. GEORGE: That’s Pepper.
MIKE: That’s Pepper? JERSEY JON: How are you? I’m Jon.
GEORGE: Good to meet you, Jon. JERSEY JON: Good-looking dog.
MIKE: Here we go. JERSEY JON: Pepper’s on point.
MIKE: Cars. GEORGE: Cars.
MIKE: Old stuff. GEORGE: This was all left to the Humane Society.
MIKE: That’s what Dani was telling us.
JERSEY JON: That’s cool. GEORGE: I’m the president.
MIKE: How long have you been president?
GEORGE: For about a year? Yeah. MIKE: No kidding?
GEORGE: We first met Glenn, I think, about five years ago. He came into the shelter one day. He brought one of his dogs, Grom, which he took a lot of places, we found out later. He liked the way we operated, the way we did things, and he just chose us to, you know, leave his estate to.
GEORGE: There’s a Stanley Steamer, if you know what that is.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard about that.
You have a steam car here. MIKE: He’s a steam guy.
JERSEY JON: I love steam stuff, man.
MIKE: Yeah. Can we see that?
GEORGE: Yeah, let’s go over there.
GEORGE: Yeah, let’s go over there.
JERSEY JON: Do I know what a Stanley Steamer is? Of course I do! I’ve only been looking for once since I was 12. MIKE: Ah…
JERSEY JON: Oh, wow. MIKE: There it is right there.
JERSEY JON: Oh, there’s the Steamer, huh?
GEORGE: That’s the Steamer. JERSEY JON: Damn.
MIKE: Nice. JERSEY JON: Wow.
MIKE: Look at the diameter of the wheels on these things, man.
JERSEY JON: The artillery wheels? They’re monsters.
This thing’s got a lot of weight.
This thing probably weighs like 6,000 pounds.
GEORGE: Wow. MIKE: Gosh.
JERSEY JON: I mean, I’ve been a fan of steam engines for a long time, and it’s always been a fantasy of mine to own a steam car.
MIKE: So, it looks… It’s a later model one.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. 1917. MIKE: 1917, okay.
JERSEY JON: Stanley Steamer made several different models. I mean, the early ones are the really rare ones, but they’re very expensive. This is a later Stanley. I mean, this is 1917, it’s a 5-passenger touring car. The stars never aligned for me to buy a Stanley Steamer. MIKE: It’s crazy to think about the run that they had too, because from, like, ’02 to ’24…
JERSEY JON: Yeah. MIKE: They were making steam-powered cars.
JERSEY JON: Some of the fastest cars were steam-powered.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah. JERSEY JON: They raced them.
MIKE: World records back then were set with steam cars.
JERSEY JON: Remember the tea kettle at Norman Beach, man?
MIKE: Oh my gosh, yeah.
MIKE: The problem with Stanley Steamer was that they made these cars up until like ’24, something like that. They never got into the internal combustion engine. They were just like– JERSEY JON: They were putting all their money on steam.
MIKE: Yeah, I think they thought that steam was gonna just carry them through. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
GEORGE: They should’ve gone electric.
MIKE: Yeah. Or at least gas-powered.
JERSEY JON: Electric cars didn’t make it back then either.
GEORGE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: I mean, they had a dead end.
Technology can only go so far.
GEORGE: Yeah, battery technology.
JERSEY JON: But still, it’s such a unique car.
MIKE: Look at this, Jersey. Jersey, look.
Somebody converted this to propane.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah!
JERSEY JON: The Stanley Steamer, yes, is propelled by steam. But you have to heat the water. Some smart dude came up with the idea, okay, let’s get rid of the pressurized gas tanks. With a little conversion, the propane tank does the same thing and that’s much safer. MIKE: That was the fuel system. JERSEY JON: That was the fuel for the fire.
GEORGE: There was actually a pump hand.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, you had a pressurized… Imagine having a pressurized tank of gasoline in the back here and this is like firing a big boiler in the front.
JERSEY JON: I mean, this is like a grenade on wheels.
(laughter) JERSEY JON: This thing is crazy.
MIKE: And that’s what people love about them.
JERSEY JON: That’s what’s cool about them.
That’s what excites me about them.
Is that burned? JERSEY JON: That’s what I’m thinking.
I mean, this looks like there was a fire.
MIKE: Yeah, this is charred. Look.
Look at this. This is all charred from the fire from the rear from the fuel source in the rear.
JERSEY JON: Probably the fuel source.
MIKE: Look right here, it’s burned.
JERSEY JON: Imagine driving down the road and you got a fire behind you. MIKE: Wow.
JERSEY JON: You try to go faster to put it out…
MIKE: That might’ve been why it was parked.
MIKE: Him and I both love the roots of transportation, so it’s like when you said you had a Stanley Steamer, I’m like, “Oh, that’s cool!” And I’ve seen some really early ones.
JERSEY JON: So, it’s not just a steam powered vehicle I’m excited about. I mean, it’s the history of steam. The fact that we were able to harness boiling water and make power out of it. Civilization got away from an agricultural-based society and went into the industrial age and steam was the power behind it. MIKE: Oh, yeah. Look at this. I got the open wind in my face.
Oh yeah, here we go. JERSEY JON: Yep.
Got your moving mirror. I mean, this thing was moving.
This car could do some serious miles per hour.
MIKE: It wasn’t moving, it was percolating.
(laughter) JERSEY JON: Yeah, like a steam pot.
Like a steam kettle.
JERSEY JON: I mean, I’m looking down into the tube. That’s where the pressure is being made in this boiler. It doesn’t look rotten, it looks really in great shape. You know, it’s mind-blowing when you see these things restored and running. We got to the Hershey Car Show and there’s steam guys running around in beautiful old Stanley Steamers, and it stops you in your tracks. It gathers a crowd. People are fascinated to see them because they’re so unique. JERSEY JON: I mean, I know this is going to the Humane Society and I really love that. But if you’ve got the number you wanted, would be happy with, would you consider selling it today?
GEORGE: Yeah, we’ll talk.
JERSEY JON: Dick Shappy, he’s the guy, he’s been a friend of ours for a very long time.
This is his world. He knows this stuff inside and out.
JERSEY JON: Dick Shappy restores cars from, you know, the turn of the century, all the way up to the 50s. He’s been a friend for a very long time. JERSEY JON: So, let me send some pictures to him.
GEORGE: Sure.
JERSEY JON: He’s going to establish a value of what this car is actually worth. JERSEY JON: He’ll dial us in, like, where we need to be…
MIKE: I’ll take a picture. JERSEY JON: …to make the right decision here.
JERSEY JON: Hey, Dick, it’s Jon. DICK: Hey, Jon. How are you? JERSEY JON: Hey, listen. You got those pictures?
DICK: Uh, yes I did. JERSEY JON: What do you think, buddy?
It’s a nice Stanley. I mean, it’s cool.
MIKE: Dick, what are you doing, man?
DICK: How are you doing, Mike? MIKE: What do you think of this car?
DICK: It’s got some issues, but it is a Stanley. DICK: I can see from the photos in the rear, it seems like there was an issue with a fire? It seems kind of charred in the back. JERSEY JON: Yeah, I mean that was from a previous owner.
But the structure’s not damaged like, so bad.
It’s superficial. Yes, there’s some char in there, but the frame’s not like burnt through.
DICK: Unfortunately, that’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re dealing with steam, you’re dealing with fire, and it’s very common for there to be fire. Not only that, you can get burnt occasionally. It’s just something you deal with when you’re dealing with steam. With a wood frame, you know, wood and having a fire in there, these are all negatives. (laughter) JERSEY JON: Yeah. Yeah, I get you, man. Yeah.
DICK: The car in running condition, restored condition is worth around 85,000. Of course, to fix the mechanicals, it’s gonna be… You don’t want to know the kind of numbers you’re gonna have into this thing if you have to play with the boiler and engine and that kind of thing. The car, to me, is worth 20 to 25,000 the way it sits. JERSEY JON: Alright. So, listen. Dick, thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate your insight.
You’re my mentor, man.
You’re gonna be my steam mentor, maybe. Let’s find out.
(laughs) DICK: Listen, you’re a young guy. I can’t go for it. (laughter) DICK: Good luck with it, man. I hope you pick it up, I really do. JERSEY JON: Alright, thanks, buddy.
I’ll talk to you later.
DICK: Take care. JERSEY JON: Bye bye.
JERSEY JON: Dick’s seeing the same thing that I’m seeing.
I mean, there’s superficial damage on this car. My whole life has been revolved around woodworking. And hey, I’ve done a lot of restoration work on fire damaged furniture. This is the perfect car for me because I can do all the work myself. JERSEY JON: So, I mean, what are you guys thinking? I mean…
CARRIE: I’m thinking we might need to chat. Is that cool?
JERSEY JON: Yeah, no, absolutely.
MIKE: Absolutely. Totally cool. JERSEY JON: Oh, yeah.
CARRIE: I think we found the right person.
GEORGE: I think we– CARRIE: If we can figure out, you know, the dollar amount, Glenn would want it to go to someone who really cares and who’s really, I mean, fascinated and super excited, so…
CARRIE: It did have a fire at one point, and it definitely, I mean, it needs to be fixed up.
To find someone that’s as passionate as Glenn was about steam engines, um, that’s not gonna happen every day.
JERSEY JON: What’d you guys come up with?
CARRIE: I mean, I think we’d be willing to do 25.
GEORGE: 25, yeah. Where are you at?
JERSEY JON: I got to get this thing at a price that makes sense. It’s going to cost me $1,000 to get it up the East Coast. We’re in Kentucky, you know?
CARRIE: We are. JERSEY JON: It’s gotta go to Rhode Island!
CARRIE: So…? JERSEY JON: On a lowboy or something, whatever it’s gonna be. This is a big, heavy car.
Um…
Would you do 24?
GEORGE: Let’s do it. CARRIE: Yeah, we can do that.
JERSEY JON: You would do it? CARRIE: Absolutely!
(laughter) CARRIE: Yay!
JERSEY JON: Thank you, sweetheart!
CARRIE: I am so excited. JERSEY JON; That is so cool, dude. Thank you so much, man.
I mean… GEORGE: I think Glenn would be, you know, pleased knowing that it’s going to somebody that would really appreciate it and knows what to do with it.
Love it and restore it…
MIKE: Get it back on the road. GEORGE: Get it back on the road.
JERSEY JON: It’s going to the right home, man. It’s cool.
GEORGE: And not catch it on fire.
(laughter) JERSEY JON: Hey, no guarantees. But you know what?
Fire extinguishers, hoses, all that stuff comes in handy and I know how to use them.
CARRIE: The money is important. We need it to do our job.
But the icing on the cake is that Jersey’s excited about this as Glenn was, so it’s kind of like a match made in heaven.
MIKE: Listen, you guys. This is a big deal for him.
MIKE: From the day I met him, he had to tell me immediately what steam meant to America.
JERSEY JON: It’s an important part of America!
I mean, the steam engine, they started everything with a steam engine. From the Industrial Revolution was started with a steam engine! You know, cars going down the road! That’s something totally– MIKE: Okay, see? That’s what I’m talking about!
(laughs) CARRIE: There’s no way of stopping you.
MIKE: I can see Jersey with his goggles on, his long duster, flying down the road in this thing with his ponytail waving in the wind. I know that’s what he’s thinking about right now. MIKE: You have no idea. JERSEY JON: I appreciate you so much. Thank you.
MIKE: You have no idea what this means to him.
CARRIE: I’m so glad! JERSEY JON: Come here.
MIKE: It really does. JERSEY JON: Thank you.
JERSEY JON: So, a new chapter has opened up in my life. Now I own a Stanley Steamer and this money is going to a noble cause.
(honking) MIKE: God bless our four-legged babies!
CARRIE: Thank you!