Arthur - Ron has the latches and told me the whole story. I have not been down yet to pick up my parts and try to talk him out of those
Thanks for the heads up on them.
Joyridin' - I sent you a PM about your Type 4. I have a special interest in seeing some pictures and learning more about it. Please drop me an e-mail when you get a chance. Thanks!
Jerry - Your car looks to be a Type 2 Arntz (mid 70s). This is based on the shape of the nose, the upholstery pattern and the front bumper mounts. I'd need to see pics of the rear body and suspension and the engine compartment to be more sure though.
Russ - I got your e-mail and will get back to you this weekend. I have some other random Butler car pics and info to send you for the registry. I just need to sort through them.
Rick - You are correct about the "G" or "GR" on the frames. I've most commonly seen it under the seat (also where Ron remembers seeing it) but I have also seen a car with it on a frame rail and now Jerry's on the crossmember. It was the initials of the company that built the frames at the time. I've long forgotten the name, but it begins with a "G"
These frames came before the 60 that Ron Butler built for Arntz as a supplier. These Butler built frames only had a simple number 1-60 stamped in them according to Ron (again, front frame, just behind the bumper mount).
And that begs the question... Should we consider these 60 cars Arntz or Butler cars. Technically, they were provided to Arntz to be sold by him. But this was nearing the end for Arntz and some of the cars were sold so incomplete that the owners had to buy most of the remaining parts from Butler, who initially started making stuff just for this reason. Some of the frames were never paid for and stayed at Butler, possibly becoming the first Butler cars, their frames now stamped with BRI numbers.
David's car falls into this catagory. I called it out as a Butler because I saw all the little details of the Butler kit and parts and a frame number suspiciously close to a BRI number, possibly misread. However it could be one of these Arntz Type 3 cars that never had any parts until the owner bought them from Ron. We still need David to look at his frame and tell us what's there.
Jason