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The Orange County Register reports
Gerald Willits was 76 and resided in Buena Park [California] when he died Aug. 14, 2014
[...]It's likely he worked in the plumbing business, according to some of the signage and advertising printed on the sides of some his trucks. He has a daughter, but she lives in another state. [...] Under California law, an original will is needed to transfer assets to the rightful heir and Willits only kept a copy [said Elizabeth Henderson, chief deputy public administrator for Orange County.]
[...]In November, Deputy Public Administrator Investigator Brett Williams found 69 vehicles parked in the front, side, and backyards of the plumber's half-acre Buena Park property [...] Ford Model Ts and Model As, Volkswagen Buses and Beetles, and dozens of other models
Those vehicles were moved to the Public Administrator's lot in Santa Ana, where staff have been attempting to identify them and determine their value ever since.
Some are labeled with tags: the "Chevy 3100", "Chevy 6400" and "Chevy Thriftmaster", and the "1960 Ford F100", "1949 Ford convertible", and the truck with wooden wheels and a crank starter that reads "1918 (?) Ford pickup".
[...]The vehicles are in a condition known to collectors as barn find. Stored outside for decades, none can be driven off the lot. Many were covered in leaves or had their upholstery and wiring systems destroyed by rats. Only a few have keys or title documents. Many, including a Volkswagen camper van of unknown vintage, were last registered in the 1980s, according to the most recent stickers on their license plates.
In addition to full vehicles, there are also parts--some valuable, some not. There are piles of tires, a truck bed loaded with rusted Ford flathead V8 engines and a frame for a 1900s Ford pickup, as well as hubcaps, headlights, radiators, tailgates, and gas cans.
Describing the collection as "a combination of 'Hoarders' and 'Antiques Roadshow'", Henderson said, "we have no idea what these are worth".
[...]Henderson recently set up an email account[1] specifically for interested buyers to get in touch. Already, Edgar Castillo, public administrator estate inventory clerk, said he has been getting five calls daily inquiring about the vehicles.
[1] SoCal motorheads, this was as close as my Google-fu got me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2015, @08:02AM
When you said "overhead cam" did you perhaps mean "overhead valve"?
That would be the development that came after flatheads.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2015, @08:08AM
n/t
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Tuesday March 24 2015, @08:09AM
some engines actually have both.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2015, @08:19AM
True.
There was, however, a considerable lag between the development of the 2 concepts.
...and the dig was intended for Fristy, of course.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2015, @08:45AM
Well, yeah, overhead valves came first, with the rockers and whatnot. But then we invented Hydraulic lifters! With auto adjustment for valve functions and then overhead cams were possible. Dual, in the case of V-configurations. But still, the internal combustion engine sucked, and it sucked so bad it needed to be blown, as in turbo.
Being digged by --gewg_, I don't know if I can handle this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2015, @02:47PM
A Vee engine is not a requirement for dual overhead cams. DOHC is one intake and one exhaust camshaft in each head. A Vee with one cam per head is still a single overhead camshaft design.