James Hildebrand

Kelly K,</SPAN> Your rebodied 1914 Studebaker speedster is a real beauty! I saw your photos on the AACA Notable Speedsters thread: http://forums.aaca.org/f230/notable-speedsters-377460-2.html</SPAN> Here is a thought: I wonder if the body and metal work on your rebodied 1914 Studebaker speedster is directly related to, or perhaps even the body of one of, the extremely rare Dormandy cars of 1903-1905, of which only four were ever built? </SPAN></SPAN> As you probably know, Troy Carriage Works, Troy, NY, was founded in 1882 by James Know Polk Pine, who was also the president of the very successful United Shirt and Collar Company, also of Troy, NY. They built some car bodies, as well as sleighs, etc.</SPAN> Troy Carriage Works, Troy, NY, built the bodies for all four of James K. P. Pine’s Dormandy cars of 1903-1905, which were designed by his employee Gary Dormandy for Pine and his family. The body types for these four cars were runabout, a coupe, and a seven-seat touring car. All four cars were painted red! (I believe your Studebaker speedster is also painted red.) Only four Dormandy cars were ever built. One is believed to be in a museum in California, but no one has managed to find it.</SPAN></SPAN> There is a very brief 2002 thread on AACA Forums concerning Dormandy cars started by his great grandson. See: http://forums.aaca.org/f119/dormandy-automobile-155595.html</SPAN></SPAN> Troy Carriage Works, Troy, NY, advertised in the Troy Times newspaper on January 3, 1919 offering “winter tops for Ford roadsters and touring cars” and also winter tops for Buick cars. See web page:</SPAN> http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Troy%20NY%20Daily%20Times/Troy%20NY%20Daily%20Times%201919/Troy%20NY%20Daily%20Times%201919%20-%200025.pdf</SPAN> James Know Polk Pine</SPAN></SPAN> passed away on September 17, 1919. For his biography, see: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyrensse/bio283.htm Maybe you could put the photos of your 1914 Studebaker speedster that are now on the AACA Notable Speedsters thread onto this thread also, so someone with knowledge of the four Dormandy cars could make a comparison?</SPAN> Cheers, James </SPAN>

Layden,</SPAN> The young silent movie actress with the pig sitting in the Stutz Bearcat is Pearl White. Note the big smile on the pig’s face! I would smile in that position too. </SPAN> Click photo to see larger image. This series of Pathé </SPAN>Studio photos was taken in 1916 when she was filming the silent serial movie Pearl of the Army. The pig was in the movie. These Pathé Studio publicity photos now reside in the Library of Congress film archive. Pearl White became a very successful and celebrated silent movie star in America and France. She loved her yellow Stutz Bearcat and always drove it at speed. The Stutz became one of her trademarks. </SPAN> At that time the silent movie industry was still largely based in New York. In fact, Pearl White never even visited Hollywood. Many silent movie actors and actresses were not able, for different reasons, to make the transition from silent movies to “talkies.” Some voices and some acting styles were deemed to be not appropriate for talking movies. And some actors and actresses simply did not want to move from New York, or New Jersey, or Florida, to California in the early 1920s. In Pearl White’s case she had damaged her voice when acting on stage as a young person (she starting acting at age 6) and that is why, in 1910 at the age of 21 years, she had moved into silent movies. Here is another Pathé Studio photo of Pearl White sitting on the hood of the Stutz Bearcat speedster with the pig. The pig is smiling and looks very happy. I sure wish I had a movie starlet as a radiator ornament to sit on my Stutz, with or without the pig! Click photo to see larger image. Note the 1916 New York license plate. Pearl White drove cars in many of her movies. She made her last silent movie Terror in 1923 in France, which included scenes with her driving racing cars through the streets of Paris and over the hilly French countryside. She was idolized by women in America and in France and she has been credited with encouraging women on both Continents to learn to drive in the very early days of motoring. She was an early role model for young women who admired her courage and independence.</SPAN></SPAN> She died of liver failure in Paris in 1938 at the age of 49. Cheers, James </SPAN> </SPAN></SPAN>

Hi George, I also looked at this firewall when it was on eBay last week and I concluded that, if indeed it is Stutz which is not certain, then it is likely from an early 1920's Stutz fire truck. The eBay seller had other Stutz fire truck items for sale. It does not look like any Stutz car firewall that I have ever seen! The early Stutz fire trucks had metal firewalls in this exact shape and they also had metal side supports positioned roughly two inches in from the outer edge -- as is the case with your firewall supports (see the bolt holes). The photo you have included is actually taken from the engine side of the firewall and not from the driver's side. Therefore, from the driver's side the instrument holes are reversed. The top four instrument holes are almost exactly the same as the holes in the 1920 Stutz Model A Triple Combination Fire Truck dashboard,</SPAN></SPAN> as you can see from the following webphotos: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/lightbox?advertid=2930807&index=4&link=false In the photo of the side of the fire truck you can see the position of the metal side supports. In the photo of the dashboard you can see that the position of the four top instruments match almost exactly your four top instrument holes from the driver's side of the firewall. If you google "1920 Stutz Model A Triple Combination Fire Truck" you will find more photos. Here are two photos from the dashboard of a "1923 Stutz Model K Baby Fire Truck" that also look remarkably similar to the reverse side (the driver's side) of your firewall taken from the following webpage: http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ei=-RTQVO_CIImsU7TYgfgO&ved=0CBQQsAQ&q=1923%20Stutz%20Model%20K%20Baby%20Fire%20Truck&tbm=isch</SPAN></SPAN> I am not saying that your firewall is from either of these Stutz fire truck models, but your firewall is very similar and the holes are in almost exactly the same position as your firewall as seen from the driver's side. Cheers, James