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Ariejan NL

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Posts posted by Ariejan NL

  1. I'm a bit puzzled by this photo, 

    On 6/15/2023 at 12:23 AM, Craig Gillingham said:

    To me it looks like a steering wheel made at least before 1910. It doesn't really look like a steering wheel off a 20's vehicle.

     

     

     

     

    imagert.jpg

    I'm a bit puzzled by this photo, which is a mystery in itself. Could you tell me please what it is? Thanks!

  2. 10 hours ago, Varun Coutinho said:

    ac43aca9694670fad07be78f12dffde7.png

    Judging by the length of the hood, this is the largest model: the Winner. However I'm a bit surpised by the shape of the fenders, which differs from all other images I have: normally they descend in a straight line, not with  a down-curve like this. Possibly this is a modification in the course of 1914. What is the publishing date of this photo?

    • Like 1
  3. 20 hours ago, keiser31 said:

    If it is a Marathon, it is a different year as the head lamps are way different and the cowl lamps are not recessed.

    As I mentioned, the photo of the surviving car shows a Runner, the cheapest model in the line. This model still had acetylene front lights and oil side lamps. Both other models had full electric lighting.

    • Like 1
  4. This car was a real challenge. It is evidently not a Hudson because of the presence of louvres in the hood sides, the flat fenders, the top curve of the dash and of course the missing triangle on the wheel hubs a.o. It was a long search which ended with the 1914 Marathon Champion. The only picture of this car and model I could find has all the features of the mystery car. A few have to be deduced from other models, like from a surviving 1914 Marathon Runner, which shows the same dash curve and seemingly identical wheel hubs. Both the Champion and the Winner were equipped with electric lights and although some pictures of the Winner also show louvres, this model is the largest of the range and clearly larger than the mystery car, leaving in fact the Champion as the only possibility. It would be nice if a better picture of this Marathon model would turn up to prove that my hypothesis is correct.

    ATJ 1913-12 p.199.jpg

    Marathon 1914 Runner.jpg

    • Like 2
  5. Definitely American: engine below the front seats, where the flywheel is just visible below the frame and also visible on the side the hole for the crank handle below the short side lever. The surrey body points at American origin as well, though it is a very short one: the rear passenger will undoubtedly suffer from knee problems! To give the car a name is a different story. For me it is unknown and therefore the well known needle in the haystack ...

    • Like 1
  6. This car is clearly a Mercedes. The 8 bolt wheel hubs front and rear, the distinct shape of the dumbirons and the segmented radiator do not leave any doubt. The detachable rims point at American ownership. The year is more difficult to estimate: I would guess between 1905 and 1908, though this configuration with the round gas tank directly behind the seats is not often seen. The car could well be based on a ca 1905 90 hp racer, but the sprocket wheel seems to be too small for a racer. So possibly a conversion for road use.

    • Like 1
  7. These 'rubberneck' buses were probably made by the Electric Vehicle Company in Hartford, Connecticut. They are Columbia sight-seeing buses Mark LIII (or 53). Similar but slightly different buses were built by the General Vehicle Company of Long Island (with 6 benches). The buses built by the Commercial Truck Company were very different having their benches in a flat plane, not ascending.

    • Thanks 1
  8. It is indeed a Gladiator. This coal scuttle type of bonnet was used between 1901 and 1903. There were three models, a 6hp, 10hp and 12hp, which seem to have had 5.5, 7.5 and 8.5 louvres on the bonnet side respectively. However the photo captions weren't always consistent, so the number of louvres does not always match with the mentioned horse power. 

    The first car with the Surrey registration therefore must be a 10hp model of 1902 or 1903. The Surrey registration started only in December 1903, so cannot be used for dating. The second car is without doubt a 6hp model, made between 1901 and 1903.

    • Like 1
  9. The Craig-Toledo was tested during 8 months in 1906 and described in several magazines end of 1906/beginning 1907. The company went into receivership mid-1907, so it is unlikely that any cars were built later. But indeed a Craig-Toledo was an official tire car during the 1909 NY to Atlanta Good Roads Tour. Apparently still going strong. The only photos I know of Craig-Toledo cars can be found in the Detroit Public Library automotive collection, a true eldorado for the early car historian and still expanding. 

    The car can indeed be found on earlyamericanautomobiles.com, but it that takes a good effort to find it and besides I doubt if you would have recognized the above picture from that source. I use my own archive, which is better organised.

    • Like 1
  10. Maybe at a first glance the script on the radiator resembles the Jackson script, but it isn't correct. In fact it is the Mitchell script, although it is hard to decipher on the rather blurry photograph. Other car details also do not match with Jackson like the front axle shape. Compare for these details the uploaded image of the 1912 Mitchell tourer, where you can observe that also other details of the front part of the car are a match. The model on the mystery photo is the Mitchell which was sold in 1912 in England as the 15-20hp two-seater (image from The Autocar). In the USA the car was sold as 'gentleman's Roadster', the smallest car of the line that year. The two-tone style is identical on both pictures, though small differences are obvious like side lamps. 

    Mitchell 1912 touring car.jpg

    Mitchell 1912 15-20hp.jpg

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  11. Uploaded a few GJG images. In most car magazines like The Horseless Age, Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal and MoToR, articles on the GJG can be found. The uploaded image of the Scout is from MoToR. The article in The Horseless Age also shows the other regular model, the Pirate. The photo of the racer (showing more clearly the radiator shape) can be found in the Detroit Public Library, where only photos of chassis and racers of this type are available. Other photos show the 1912 Junior, an attractive, but much smaller model, and with a conventional, roundish radiator top.

    MoToR 1910-4 p.78.jpg

    HA Vol.25 p.928.jpg

    GJG 1912 racer.jpg

    • Like 4
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