Haynes cousin shares restored car

Maybe the designers for Elwood Haynes thought that top hats were coming back in style.
It was the tallest automobile I’d ever seen.
Connie and I had driven over to Kokomo on Friday afternoon hoping to meet up with my third-cousin Jim Haynes and his wife Ellen.
We’d connected with the two of them a few years back at the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association Show at Jay County Fairgrounds.
Jim, who worked in a variety of capacities in engineering over the years, was quasi-retired but had a business selling parts and pieces for an unusual type of old garden tractor. Some of the parts were ones he had machined himself, others were ones he’d come across and stockpiled for use by folks doing restorations.
Our family connection, which came to light through the late Elizabeth Starbuck, is that Jim and I share a great-great grandfather. Judge Jacob March Haynes — as in Judge Haynes Elementary — was my great-grandfather. The judge’s brother was Jim’s great-grandfather.
Amazingly, Jim and Ellen still live in Monson, Massachusetts, the place Jacob March Haynes called home before he set out to the wilds of Indiana to practice law.
Like anyone with a mechanical background, a love of engines and the last name Haynes, Jim had always wanted to restore one of the Kokomo-made vehicles as his own.
He finally got the chance a couple of years ago when he latched onto a 1921 Haynes brougham sedan. He later tracked down parts, and he’s put his machining and mechanical expertise to work on the car tirelessly.
Selling his garden tractor parts business gave him more time to work on the old Haynes, but it also took the Tri-State show off his calendar. Last year’s show may have been their last.
But there’s still a draw to Indiana: Kokomo.
Last weekend, having finally gotten the Haynes running — pretty much consistently — Jim and Ellen brought the huge car out to Indiana by trailer to show it at the Haynes-Apperson Festival. Though we couldn’t make it to the “Hoosier Motor Muster” in the park on Saturday, we did connect with Jim and Ellen on Friday at the Kokomo Automotive Museum.
The museum, which we’d never been to, is worth a trip to the “City of Firsts.” It’s located on Indiana 931, also known as Reed Road. That’s the old 31 bypass around Kokomo, which has since been supplanted by a new 31 bypass farther to the east. If you take Indiana 22 to Kokomo, you just take a turn north on Indiana 931 and go a few miles to the museum, which is located with the Kokomo convention and events center.
The museum has about a dozen old Haynes cars on display, some of which it owns. And there were countless other makes and models as well.
None of the Haynes models on display were a match for Jim’s. In fact, his may be the last one of its type in existence. Only 60 were built.
After reuniting and walking through the automotive museum, we followed Jim and Ellen back to where the 1921’s trailer had been parked. The trailer itself had to be custom-made because the car is simply incredibly tall.
By my estimate, it stands 6.5 feet. No wonder they made only 60.
The four of us climbed in the trailer, squeezing past fenders and running boards while Jim recounted the work he’d done and the challenges he had run into.
There are two types of old car owners: Collectors and restorers. Jim’s a restorer and is justly proud of the hours, expertise and dedication he’s put into the 1921.
Much as I admire that, I have to confess it’s not my thing.
But Jim’s not so sure.
If I ever change my mind, he said, he knows where to get his hands on a 1920 coupe that needs a lot of love.
That’s not going to happen, I told him. I know my limits. I’ll leave that to the next generation.