nzcarnerd

Found this one - good call.

You may be right. Hudson typically had very square-edged sedan bodies. Worth investigation.

Having another look at this I am leaning towards Ford. The Ford has more curve on the top edge of the rear window. A pity we can't clearly see the body rear three quarter mouldings.

Maybe something custom-bodied. Like a Biddle and Smart Hudson for example - but I know it is not that.

Looks like the cowl vent and windshield base are aluminium. That would narrow it down.

It doesn't seem to match any regular production car engines of the period that I can find. maybe it is a proprietary truck engine, e.g. Buda, Wisconsin, Hercules, etc. It might also help to work out what the car is there. Two swage lines close together. Guess mid-1920s but what make?

It is very confusing looking pictures of Studes of that era. I think many are mislabelled. There were ongoing changes. The most significant was the 1914 cars had the gas filler on top of the cowl and had cowl lights. For the 1915 year they put the gas filler in the dash. In the middle of the 1916 year they moved the gas tank to the rear of the car. Also in 1916 was a change from a single bench front seat to separate seats. If the later 1920s car are anything to go by there were lots of detail changes though the production year as well. One thing I noticed is the change from squared top corners of the windshield to rounded. Still not sure which is which. I think the mystery car is the six cylinder model which has a longer hood.

Yes, it is a mystery. So far an image search of most of the cars sold on NZ at that time has found nothing like it. Whether it is for the car in the background I can't say. I have assumed it is American. There is even debate as the whether it is four or six cylinders. Fairly certain it is automotive by the gear stick and clutch and brake pedals. Hand brake hanging back a bit. Odd shroud around the exhaust manifold with the heat pipe to the carb. Whether the intake manifold is in the block or just covered by the shroud I don't know.

This picture turned up on a Facebook page today. Probably taken in NZ. Maybe the car behind is a clue? The engine looks to be a flathead six with shrouding around the block to give carburettor heat.

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1130978.html Packard??

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1131411.html Maybe a lower price Nash?

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1131435.html

Suggestions of Hudson circa 1913 but the lights in the cowl are not right. Could it be a Simplex? http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1130996.html

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1130989.html Marmon maybe?

There are quite a few car and trucks in this movie that are as yet unidentified. http://www.imcdb.org/movie_7085256-America-in-Color.html Here is an odd coupe to start on. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_1130961.html

I read somewhere that in the very early days the factory didn't have a mascot and owners out all sorts of unsuitable aftermarket mascots on their car. Claude Johnson designed the flying lady - based on his girlfriend(?) - and the rest is history.

I think maybe some of us have not read the first post and not realised how small this thing is. Me included.

A shot taken in 2013 in Shanghai of the 'custom' radiator cap and mascot. A 'bronze naked woman created by a Viennese sculptor.'

The actual car that competed in the 1913 Trial was used to recreate a famous photo - in the original location. I think that is the owner in the middle of the second photo who has brought it with him to NZ. Reading further into this I think this car is not one of the three factory cars but a privately owned model that was also there. It was restored from a wreck many years ago after having been converted into a breakdown truck.

This is an Alpine Trial model Ghost with what I presume is a standard cap.

Looking through the photos of that 1912 roadster a question occurs - what is the third lever for? Obviously two are gears and brake. I once drove a friend's 1913 Overland touring and the main thing I remember as different was the gas pedal - it moved sideways instead of up and down.

For anything Willys/Overland I always refer to this page - http://www.wokr.org/gallery/GALLERY1.HTM The car here is one of these - http://www.wokr.org/gallery/O_139.htm - 1912 Model 59R

These early ones are Fore-cars and tri- cars. The hey day of the cycle car was the years before and just after WW2.

There are 359 pages of discussion re cycle cars here. Many of the pictures have disappeared from the earlier pages. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-talk-cyclecars.226791/

But it has kingpins, which suggest steering. Maybe something industrial.