Early Automobile Bodys

[vintageride]

Here are three photos of automobile bodys and craftsmen. The photos appear to be part of a series showing a group photo and then some individual shots of the painters. The photos provide a good view of the rear and right side of the bodies as well as the plant floor.

There are a few cars from the period that appear to be alike, although none seemed to match these bodies perfectly. In your comparison, look closely at the sill line, the style details at the rear of the front seat, and other style details aft of the rear doors. The group shot does show the rear of a body to the right that may or may not be of the same type.

The photos are believed to be associated with one of the body manufacturers in Flint, Michigan. The photos were bought from a vendor that purchased them in an estate sale in the same city. No name was given of the estate sale.

What car do these bodies fit?

Vintageride

[Layden B]

My guess is 1911 Cadillac Foredoor Touring, the foredoors are on the front seat.

[vintageride]

My guess is 1911 Cadillac Foredoor Touring, the foredoors are on the front seat.

Mr. Layden B, thank you for the input. You insight is appreciated.

Does anyone happen to know the body builder of the 1911 Cadillac Touring?

Vintageride

[Grandpa]

It may not be important, but the body cart in the group picture appears to be marked with the word "BROOK" or "BROOKS".
Grandpa

[vintageride]

Thank you for noticing that. I didn't.

I also see one of the cans (presumably paint) in one photo says "Flint".

Brooks or Brook is very curious. It could mean anything.

I have looked around a bit to see if I could find a connection. Nothing seemed to fit.

Brook(s) could be allot of things, a line supervisor, body cart supplier, or end user of the body. Perhaps subcontract work to save on transportation. The only body builders named Brooks seems to be Brooks-Ostruk and the associated companies. Autombiles named Brooks are not contemporary or local.

Vintageride

[JV Puleo]

The body in the third picture (on the right) looks very close to the one that was on my 1910 Model R Reo. I don't have the car any longer so can't be more specific... certainly the wood trim is identical, as is the seat. But, that presumes that the company actually built the bodies. If you look at the period magazines like MoToR, you'll find adds for all sorts of independent body companies, both supplying the public and supplying the auto makers. Putting a new body on a used chassis was a much more common practice before WWI than it was after the war and I expect this extended to medium price cars as well as the top end... also, the finish deteriorated so rapidly that it may have been easier and more economical to put a new body on a used car than it was to refinish them.

[vintageride]

Thanks for posting.

I could see re-body being easier to update and refresh a vehicle. It is also tough or impossible to cover a finish that keeps failing. I presume, the re-body could come through many channels too.

Buick, Reo, and Olds were the first group of photos I went through. Within each make is many different Models. I have found it easy to find a good match, but not a perfect match. Style lines, mongram panels, and sill lines.

I will take a look at more Model R Reo photos.

Vintageride

[JV Puleo]

The REO "R" is not well known... it was the four cylinder car that preceded the "Reo the Fifth". My understanding is that it wasn't very successful, so much so that RE Olds was looking for a way to bring out a similar car with four cylinders but not to call it a Reo "4"... hence the odd name. I've had two of them, a 10 and an 11 (the only two years it was made). The 10 only had the front half of the body but was entirely made of wood and did not have front doors. The 11 had front doors and was wood framed but covered with the pressed paper that people usually associate with the 12 "Reo the Fifths". My 11 was a real "barn find" totally unrestored and it looked as if it had the original paint on it - until I actually found the guy who had painted it 1n 1938!

I bet stripping and repainting a wooden, brush painted and varnished body was a real chore and a relatively cheap, new body may have been a viable option for a car only 2 or 3 years old. That said, I don't think many brass cars had much more than a 5 year working life before being scrapped or made into farm trucks ... when you look a street scenes of, say 1918, you almost never seen a 1913 or earlier car.



Here is the '10 ... photo taken around 1975. The seat and the front half of the body are the original although the lower part of the body had been skinned with a thin layer of baltic birch plywood.