nzcarnerd

I agree it is more likely a Hupp than a Studebaker. I had doubts on two issues: the wires on this car have, I think, more spokes than those on the Stude (I have a Stude of this era on wires but haven't been out to the shed to count the spokes); also the moulding at the back of the body is slightly different on the Stude. It certainly is closer to that on the Hupp pics supplied by Hugh. I was initially confused by the roof fabric which, like on the Stude, comes right over to the drip rail. I note that on the lower pic of Hugh's that that is not the case. I presume that the Hugh's Hupps are a '28 and a '29? The mystery car has elements of both. Maybe like Stude, Hupp did mid year model changes.

Grandpa, it is good to see high quality pics from an earlier era - we don't see many that are as clear as this one. I am intrigued by the spotlight mounted on the side. They seem to have been a popular (?) accessory - presumably to be able to read road signs at night. Perhaps an earlier version of the ones which were put through the windscreen (?) on '30s and '40s cars. I have seen lights like that but never the mounting bracket. I wonder who made them.

I think the wheels are wrong for Dodge and it is too big to be a DD which is on the same 109"wb as the DeSoto and Plymouth. I think it might be a 1929 Studebaker series GH Commander - about the last model to use the small hub wire wheels.

1927 Essex Speedster. I think we saw the same car in another pic taken at the same location.

Yes, I agree it is more likely to be a Stoddard-Dayton. It looked a lot like the 1913 Hudson pictured in the Standard Catalog but I missed the toolboxes on the runningboards and notice now that the cowl is a little different. Interesting that the Stoddard-Dayton doesn't appear to have hood louvres - maybe it has a flywheel fan?

2.7 miles to the next tee is along way on a bike!

1913 Hudson Model 54 - Hudson's first 6 - 421 cubes but only 54 hp.

Here are some 1904 Napiers - http://www.brighton-early.com/napier.html - you can see that the radiator shape is quite different to that in this pic.

I saw a Murphy-bodied roadster at an old car meet in northern California when I was there in 1978. I wonder if this is it. I see that the Standard Catalog reckons total production of Dobles was only about 45 cars - there is one tourer here in NZ.

It is very hard to positively identify cars from behind but I think the one on the left might be a Briscoe from around 1920 from the sharp edge at the rear corner of the body - I had a drive one of these last year. I think all of these cars would date from before about 1923.

Is it possible to get a closeup of the badge on the radiator? It will be a blur but we might see what shape it is. And maybe also whatever is hanging on the front crossmember, just to the right of the crankhandle.

That is a nice clear pic Grandpa - thanks. I ran this by the HCFI Library who thought it might be an Autocar but checking the pics in The Standard Catalog it can't be, as Autocar was still using a form of tiller steering in 1904 and then went straight to left hand drive. As well the Autocars of this era had fewer but larger louvres on the hood sides. As far as I can work out there was no Arrow car in '02/'03. The car at the top left of this last pic might be an early Pierce but then again it could be any one of many makes who aped the Mercedes/Fiat style radiator. I am guessing this picture was taken in 1904?

This one is a mystery. It looks American - probably one of the more expensive light sixes from around 1922-23 judging from the wire wheels, the step plates instead of runningboards and the headlights which are one of the more expensive types, very similar to those on this Templar http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/111048,11519/1922-Templar-A-445-Roadster_photo.aspx

I think more likely a Willys-Knight http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/images/26willys-knight-1.jpg than a Stearns http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/17946336_b8cce9d4eb.jpg?v=0 which always had a white line around the inside of the radiator.

1929 Studebaker FD Commander 8.

1904 Tourist - built in Los Angeles, California. According to The Standard Catalog of American Cars, this make was the most popular Californian make of the pre-WW1 era. They built 75 of the 1904 model, a 12hp two cylinder tourer.

Thanks. It doesn't make the cars any easier to identify but it does now look the way it should.

Here's a Duryea very similar to the one in this pic. http://www.papasbarn.com/duryea/mike04s.html The car on the left might be an Autocar, but that is only a guess.

It has just occurred to me why this pic looks odd. It has been printed back to front. Both the car on the left and the Winton on the right appear to have left hand drive whereas they were right hand drive in this era.

There is a whole lot more Duryea stuff on this page http://www.papasbarn.com/duryea/pagea.html which I haven't yet looked at. Maybe the answer is there.

It was the lack of an obvious steering wheel or tiller that led me to think Duryea. My copy of The Standard Catalog of American Cars has several pics of Duryeas - one can only assume that they are correctly identified - and it would appear that almost no two were the same. Some early ones have a transverse front spring, some have full elliptics and this one http://www.papasbarn.com/duryea/myphoto1.gif has quarter elliptics. There is one pic in the Standard Catalog of a car with a front mounted radiator. There was a restored example of one of these in NZ some years ago. It is the central control system that I especially remember.

On the right is a Winton from about 1903. In the middle looks to be a Duryea also about 1903. These had a really wierd control system, all done with a single 'joystick' - steering included. Behind the Winton is a 1903 White steamer. The one on the left is still a mystery at this stage. I wonder if any more of these had their picture taken that day.

The horizontal lines in the radiator say 1927.

My comment referred to the general style of the body rather than any particular aspect of the car. The upholstery on the seats looks modern. The best early cars used top quality hides and had plain backs and cushions on the seats. Pleating and buttoning can hide the flaws in low grade hides. I still think that the body of this car is of recent construction. I note that the gearshift has been moved to the outside and they have even copied the Mercer stirrup for the driver's right foot. The monocle windscreen was typical Mercer as well, although I see the example shown doesn't have one.

Looks like a modern recreation by some one who was heavily influenced by the styling of the Mercer raceabout of 1913-14.