More words than pics; possible late 20s electric?

I ran across a very interesting thread on the hamb site; here are the exact words. (in two quotes) Now, the shell seems to be a modified 30 DeSoto, but the descriptions of the rest of the car are interesting. Any electric guys out there?? I was thinking it may have been an electric that someone tried to make it look more conventional, back in the old days??

Originally, I was pretty sure this came from a late-'20's Detroit Electric Car...however, I can't find any images of those cars from that era to confirm it...I spoke to several owner's of early Detroit Electric's, and they can't confirm either, but, their opinion lean's to the "no, it isn't" side...

...the grille shell is approx. 34" tall X 23" wide X 6" deep... the front is closed off with "slats" of oval-shaped metal tubing that are soldered in from the back side...it doesn't have a mechanism for opening & closing them, like a Winters grille would...

...obviously, an electric car doesn't need a radiator, therefore making this piece cosmetic, but, why would it need a hole for a crank handle?

I personally disassembled the car it came from, although, there were no emblem's or brand marking's on the car...the grille shell emblem and head light's were gone...the car was a large, 5-passenger opera coupe...I was told it was a Detroit Electric, there was no motor under the hood, and no provisions for mounting one...only a platform, which lead me to believe it was a rear-engine car, as Detroit Electric's were...the rearend was a strange, non-conventional set-up also...

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by 61TBird

Do you have pics of the car during disassembly??

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>No...unfortunately not...it was one of those deals where it was like, "take what you want now, 'cause the scrap guy is on his way"!

...I was able to save the body, but it's in piece's...it was a wooden frame with the sheetmetal tacked on, and large, cast aluminum trim pieces that covered up the overlapping sheetmetal seams...it had large diameter wooden wheels...now that I think about it, seems to me, there were center cap emblems on the wheels, and I believe I know who got the wheels...

Your post triggered a memory. I thought years ago I'd seen a picture of an odd vehicle that seemed to be a homemade attempt to modernize an old electric with Mopar sheet metal. Apparently judging by Google's images you may have the remains of an early 30's Detroit Electric and not something madeup. Can you post some pictures? You may have a one and only!

Howard Dennis

I don't have any connection to the car.

I just found out about it tonight on the hamb hotrod site.

The person was trying to ID the car with the grille shell.

I think you may have solved the mystery. I had no idea Detroit Electrics were made past the 20s and never heard about the Mopar body parts.

Your post triggered a memory. I thought years ago I'd seen a picture of an odd vehicle that seemed to be a homemade attempt to modernize an old electric with Mopar sheet metal. Apparently judging by Google's images you may have the remains of an early 30's Detroit Electric and not something madeup. Can you post some pictures? You may have a one and only!

Howard Dennis

Wow!!! 1936 Dodge front end.