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I need to find out (and it's driving me crazy)

Sherlock77

Sherlock77

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I've been working through digital scans of photos from my vintage photo collection this weekend, since I have a list where I try to describe them

This one is driving me batty, my best guess is that the car is somewhere between 1938 and 1942, but I just cannot figure out what it is, and I've done lots of image searching! Does it really matter that much? Not really, but I just want to figure out what it is, it might help me date the photo a little more, again does that really matter? :rolleyes: I can spend large chunks of time (maybe too much time) trying to identify these old photos based on other hints in the photo as well, almost to obsession... And since I'm supposed to be a car guy who loves history, I feel embarrassed that I can't figure this one out...

I know there are far more important things in life...

Vintage Photo 01.jpg


And a second one, although much older, It's certainly not the standard Ford Model T answer, the flat cover over the engine says it all... When you go back this far it's much harder to identify unusual cars, because there were so many manufacturers back then...

Vintage Photo 02.jpg
 
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My guesses on the first would be Willys, Lincoln, or custom. There were still coachbuilders around, before the era of top-choppers. The second seems to have outdated acetylene headlamps, so it may be an amalgam. The quarter-elliptic springs to the front axle are unusual.
 
At first glance I thought number two could be a Volvo ÖV4, but that's not right. It can be difficult to identify these old cars.
 
The second car appears to have acetylene lights. That narrows down the date but here in the UK we were still on acetylene lights into the twenties. The front springs are extremely strange, I've never seen a system like that before. I wonder if they did it like that to get around a patent or so they could claim that it was their own patented design? It certainly doesn't look very strong.
 
Seems to be a few strange things about that car, extremely soft front suspension and chains on the rear wheels.
Early mud racer?
 
On quagmire roads those chains are needed. Prior to any kind of safety test bald tyres were the norm and some only had minimal tread even when new. Mud clogged it really quickly. Those will be beaded edge tyres and the wheels look wooden. Skinny tyres like that are akin to driving on ice in damp road conditions.

A late friend told me that, with beaded edge tyres, that you aren't having a good day unless at least one comes off! The image below shows why, they are reliant on pressure to keep them seated on the rim.

fvbfbn b.jpg


Here in the UK beaded edge tyres were largely gone by 1926 replaced by the wired on kind we still use today.
 
The Willys Americar coupes were a favorite during dragracing's gasser wars.
This class featured modified production vehicles that used a solid straight axle out of a donor vehicle much like this one in an image captured in the '60s:
scan0200.jpg

These cars were both lightweight and short out of the box.
IMG_466151028594446.jpg


This is how this ride looks today ^

Perhaps the most famous of all were the Stone Woods and Cook team builds:
26-STONE-WOODS-COOK-1941-WILLYS-GASSER-NHRA-DRAG-RACING-MOST-POPULAR-BLOWN-SWINDLER-jpg.jpg
 
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Rule of thumb. If it looks sort of like a 40 Ford but not quite, it's going to be a Willys. Loved doing one as a model...of course not stock, but a classic Gasser. :cool:

As for the other car, I'm still working on it. Not a Dodge or a Hupmobile, but I'd suspect it's something around 1914. The radiator (being so flat along the top) seems distinctive as most of that era seemed more curved. Note the vents on the sides of the hood along with the flat top radiator and how the two headlights are physically linked. Different hood ornament though. Hmmmm.

Could be a "Saxon Runabout Roadster".

maxresdefault.jpg
 
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This reminded me I found this book a few years ago in a charity shop. It has to be said, it's far more pristine than any of my Haynes manuals!

IMG_20230108_192435_828.jpg

IMG_20230108_192206_920.jpg

IMG_20230108_192140_049.jpg
 
Re: several previous posts. If the crankshaft is equipped for a crank handle, there will usually be factory access. My Morris Minor had a hole in the bumper to work as an outboard bearing, using the wheel wrench's other end.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with quarter-elliptic springs for the front axle. I could find other sporting examples. That's what the Austin 7 used for the rear. Control arms can be added as desired, although just making the springs wider would have helped.
Chains were needed just for muddy roads. One reason the Model T was so popular was that it weighed a half-ton less than most others, and was easier to unstick.
Ford persisted with a single transverse leaf for their front axles for a very long time, but still missed their best opportunity, as used on the rear of a later Corvette. If you use two mounting points on the chassis, when one wheel goes up, the middle of the spring bows down, raising the opposite wheel. By fiddling with the dimensions, you get the exact same result as by adding a separate anti-roll bar.
 
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Judge said:
Rule of thumb. If it looks sort of like a 40 Ford but not quite, it's going to be a Willys. Loved doing one as a model...of course not stock, but a classic Gasser. :cool:

As for the other car, I'm still working on it. Not a Dodge or a Hupmobile, but I'd suspect it's something around 1914. The radiator (being so flat along the top) seems distinctive as most of that era seemed more curved. Note the vents on the sides of the hood along with the flat top radiator and how the two headlights are physically linked. Different hood ornament though. Hmmmm.

Could be a "Saxon Runabout Roadster".

maxresdefault.jpg
Click to expand...
I believe you get the win on this call

saxon.JPG

Vintage Photo 025.jpg
 
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