LCK81403

Long Beach, Cal after an earthquake in March 1933. Ford Model T worse for wear.

Any Chevrolet folks know what the story is with the 1934 Chevy dealer photo? A sign says open for business Chevrolet and Ford (kind of surprising that), with both cars being what appears to be 1934 Chevrolets. One car, however, has wire wheels while the second car has pressed steel wheels. A 1934 Chevy advert shows all models having wire wheels, and a 1935 Chevy advert shows all models having pressed steel wheels. Yet a well documented 1935 Chevy Standard Coupe has wire wheels.

Looks like a '25 or '26 Kissel, but not the "Gold Bug" color. Ron will have the definitive word on this one.

The rumble seat compartment looks like it is no larger than and possibly a tad smaller than the rumble of my '29 Ford Model A.

We may never know definitively what the Samoa car is. The small door handle is not seen as clearly defined as the larger and more comparative features of a 1931 Plymouth and '31 DeSoto. The Plymouth has a much more pronounced radiator shell than the Samoa car, and the hood louvers of the Plymouth extend more along the length of the hood than the Samoa car. Perhaps I am not understand something in the imagery, but the Samoa car still looks way more DeSoto and Plymouth.

The car in the Samoa photo appears to be a 1931 DeSoto with a rumble seat. The '31 DeSoto had a thin radiator shell to make the hood appear to be longer. But in making the hood appear to be longer the radiator shell ended up looking stubby and chintzy, consequently the front ended just didn't look right. That is what Chrysler also did with their cars. I do not like the look. IMHO Chrysler and DeSoto should have made the radiator shell to look like a full-size shell, thereby making the car look nicer and more balanced of design. The 1932 model year pushed the radiator shell "out there", making a styling statement.

Yes, you nailed it. I am at the mercy of the photos and their captions. If the photos and captions are correct then the '28 and '29 used the same dash. As shown previously the '27 is quite different and then a 1930 is again different from the '28 / '29 version. Attached are two photos of the dash panels in two different 1930 Packard Model 734s, the third photo shows a 1931 Model 845 dash. These three photos are from professional photographs taken of the cars that were advertised for sale or auction. Hence the date of the vehicles, model numbers, and photograph captions are excellent documentation, and it appears that Packard used the same dash for two consecutive years for the 28-29 years, and a different panel for two consecutive years 30-31. The fourth photo is a 1932 Packard Model 902 dash, and the 5th and last photo is a 33 Packard Eight 1001 dash.

The dash panel appears to be in a 1928 or 1929 Packard. Attached is a'27 Packard dash, two '28 Packard dash panels, and a '29 Packard panel. I do not own a Packard and have only saved a bucket load of photos for documentation and comparison. Hopefully the photo titling information is correct.

No, unfortunately I have never been to the Wisconsin Auto Museum. I used to live in Arizona but currently live in southwest Colorado. Hence it is a several day's driving trip to go there. Perhaps in 2022 I may have an opportunity to do a side trip from Minnesota.

This is a great photo that is begging to tell a story. The man with his outstretched arm is virtually pointing at nearby carpenter's tool box. My great-uncle had a box like that for hand saws, hammers, wood boring brace and other items. In the background is a wood framed structure with wire that resembles a baited trap for catching game, such as pheasants or wild pigs.

Kind of looks like a 1906 Cadillac Model K.

The photo labeled as 1936 Packard line-up is interesting for the radiator/hood decoration. I try to keep a photo library of decoration and ornamentation on cars and trucks, with the validity of identification based on accurate reporting and/or on-going photo-analysis. The photo of the '36 Packard line-up shows two different types of radiator decoration: one, a swan with outstretched wings, and two, the so-called flying lady holding a wheel. According to the illustration of Packard ornaments, the winged swan was optional prior to 1939 but it does not specify a date when it actually started to be use. Is there a resource for documentation and authentication of automobile decoration and ornamentation?

By golly that is one slick looking '31 Chevy. The visual impact reminds that the Ford Model A was a baby Lincoln, and now this '31 Chevy looks like a baby Cadillac town car. Thank you for posting this wonderful photo and new data point of automotive history.

The 1910 Simplex Toy Tonneau at $8,000 in 1910 looks real attractive. I'll just plug those 1910 $8000 into an online inflation calculator and see what a bargain it is. What? That used 1910 Simplex had a stick shock price of $232,917.05. I'll just cheap out on that 1907 Packard limo at a mere $850 1910 dollars -- which is $24,747.44 in 2021 U.S. funny money. Whew, times are tough all over.

I just found this thread probably too late. However, the Templar Motors Corporation stock certificate shows there main office in Cleveland, Ohio, but the actual factory was in Lakewood, Ohio from 1917 to 1924. The factory suffered a major fire in December, 1921 that severely crippled the Corporation. Financial difficulties for Templar Corp. was evident in the spring of 1922 according to various articles in "The Automobile" of year 1922. On March 23, 1922, The Automobile (page 685, column 3) reported that Judge Warner in Franklin County Court took advisement action in receivership proceedings against Templar Motors Company by a stockholder. A second article on the same date detailed that Judge Warner refused to appoint a receiver for Templar Motors because a creditors' committee was then in charge of the company and was performing the same service as a receiver. ... refinancing of the company seemed evident. An article on April 20, 1922 (page 892, column 3) discussed the Corporation's payment to creditors and providing new working capital. At that time the capacity of the factory was 25 cars per day, but Templar was producing 8 cars per day. By contrast, in 1914 Ford Motor Corp could produce a Model T car in 93 minutes with a car coming off the production line every three minutes. Templar Corporation was then struggling with several financial factors, such as economic recovery post-World War One, stiff competition from other auto manufacturers, shortages of materials, their own low volume production and relatively expensive cars compared with other manufacturers. During World War One the Templar factory manufactured artillery shells for the U.S. government. Templar produced about 150 cars in 1918. A Templar coupe cost $4250, and a three-door sedan and a Sportette model cost $2400. By contrast, in 1925 Ford produced Model T cars at a selling price of $250, producing 9,000 to 10,000 cars per day, two million vehicles annually. (Ford had manufacturing facilities in a number of locations in the U.S. as well as foreign countries, such as Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, England.) Attached are several photos: 1918 Templar 4-45, 1919 Templar illustration, 1920 Templar roadster, 1923 Templar 4-45 Coupe, and a 1924 Templar 4-45 touring car.

Woodlites on a '29 Chrysler. Presumably the gentlemen are advertising lubricant or additives for motor cars. I remember gas pumps like that from when I was a kid.

Could it be the Chrysler with a Mercedes-Benz grill, as seen in the movie "Machine Gun Kelly"?

Is this body style a seven passenger that happens to have a windscreen for the rear seat passengers, or is this actually a dual cowl model? Maybe my old eyes are not calibrated today, but something seems to be not kosher with that center wind screen. The tires look really nice. Does the left-rear rim have a split rim? The left-rear rim appears to have a split rim while the front does not. What is the year and model number of this Packard?

Thank you for identifying the family's old '27 Chevrolet. That identification has now linked up and identified the car in this second photo, with my father standing in front of the car. Dad is hiding a broken left arm inside his shirt. The other thing I now notice in this photo is the washline posts behind the Chevrolet. In my time those old posts has been replaced by a frame from a Studebaker car. The fenders of that parted out Studebaker were in the attic of our machine shed. The fenders looked like a vintage of about 1928 or so. Grandfather had buried the front part of the Studebaker frame in the ground and the rear half of the frame was used for supporting one end of washlines. The other end of the washlines was also supported by a car frame but I don't know what it was from.

Here's a photo from the family's old box of pictures. One of my uncle's is driving what appears to possibly be a 1926 Chevrolet. Can anyone confirm the year make of the car, and is it a Superior or K model, or something else?

Shrinkage of old fabrics is a common problem. One time my wife accelerated the process by drying my custom made wool sweater in the drier. I didn't know that wool could shrink THAT much and so quickly.

The ALCOA car's passenger compartment appears to be quite similar to a 1922 Dodge three passenger model. The ALCOA car has a passenger side suicide door, and the length of the passenger compartment indicates it is not a standard two passenger coupe. The '22 Dodge has suicide doors on both the passenger and driver sides. The license plate on the ALCOA car shows "NY 28". A search on the WWW shows that format is correct for a New York plate in 1928. A 1923 Dodge coupe, shown in Clymer's Scrapbook, Number 8, page 168, shows a standard coupe body with rear opening door. The single tail light mounted in the center rear does not appear to be legal on the street in 1928. The gasoline tank cap is extra cool, similar to one seen on old race cars. The trunk (boot) design is very nice, suggesting a Kissel Gold Bug influence.

Wow, tough going with those photos. I do not see a single Ford in either photo.

And here is one on an Amilcar.

Very nice photo of the Model T racer. Having seen a number of car accidents in the 20s and 30s, it is interesting the sizes of spectators who assemble. One has to question whether the people didn't have anything else to do? The race car in this photo apparently is equipped with a special race body. The radiator shroud does resemble the same shape used on a Kissel, the inside engine compartment firewall is definitely not Ford, and the hood that the one fellow is holding up is not a Ford hood. The left-side glass headlight lens also does not look like Ford issued equipment.