Name This Car

Can anyone identify this car? The picture is approximately 1930. This is the only known photograph of the DeKalb County, Georgia, Police Department at the time. Pictured L to R are my grandfather, Daniel M. Wright (Justice of the Peace), and Officers Tom Brown, Walter Carroll and O.B. Rawell. As J.P. my grandfather would deal with the hooligans of the day, who committed minor crimes of theft or drunk and disorderly, brought before him by the three men pictured in the snazzy snap-brim caps.

Buick held on to wood wheels longer that others, so that is my guess.

I believe it is a Buick also. The hub caps look like 29's. Dave!

A lot of similarities to Lincoln (though the double bumper would lead me to believe otherwise) and Studebaker, too, and even LaSalle.

I'll say Buick too. Looks just like the touring car the sheriff used in The Walton's TV show.

I Photoshopped the picture to try to make the details better, but I still am not sure what it is. Maybe Lincoln or Buick or LaSalle.

The headlights look a bit like Hudson.

If Mr. Wright could tell us the initial on the hub cap, that would solve our problem. Is it possible to put a magnifier on the original photo and see any letter. I suspect either an S or a B.

There is no distinguishable marking on the hub. Under a magnifying glass it appears as a shadow or maybe a dent but certainly no recognizable letter. I have had this photo for years. Enlarging the photo digitally does no good as it just gets blurry. What we have here is the best I've got. I was hoping that there was some small distinguishable feature about the car that someone would recognize, maybe because they happen to have one. Shape of the top or fenders, etc. You can see an accordion type apparatus on the side. I've seen those in pictures before but don't know what it's for. Most markings would have been on the grill (which we can't see), the radiator cap (which is either flat or just a blur) and the hub caps which none of us can read. Notice the rear hub appears to be smooth. This may remain one of the great mysteries of the universe.

The 1930 Buicks had a cross on the hub cap. The "Buick" would have been in the middle and would have been small. In 29 and 30 the hood had a "bump" that followed that unmistakable shape of the radiator shell. At a second glance, it is hard to tell in such an unclear photo if this distinguishing characteristic is prominent or not. Dave!

Dig up some 1930 Hudson photos now that they have been mentioned. Looks like they had a one year only fender that matches the one in the closeup, '29 & '31 rolled futher forward, and they had wood wheels in 1930.

The 30 Hudsons I've found pictures of have 10-spoke wheels. The car has 12-spokes. Also, the 30 Hudson has ventilation doors that open and close on the side of the hood. Although, that may be unique to specific models. This car appears to have louvers. Other than that it does look close. The overall shape and bumpers are very similar.

I don't think it can be a Buick. The rad shell looks to be the wrong shape and the Buicks of that era had 3 bumper bars.