Marjorie

Thanks all!

I found this photo in a family album of my great-grandfather with one of his cars. Can you identify the make and year?

Thanks all for weighing in. I apologize for confusing things by bringing in the photo of "Heave." I located more photos of that one, and lo and behold! It's the 1911 Model 36 Pierce-Arrow my great-grandfather had loaded on the ship he sailed on to Naples, Italy, where his tour of Europe by automobile began. modela 28, you hit the nail on the head. JV Puleo, I appreciate your comments about the badge on the front grille. It's been driving me crazy. Good to know it has nothing to do with the make of the car. Thanks for your suggestion, nz carnerd. I will try to keep my questions in separate posts for each car. Watch for one more soon--

I have two photos of the Stutz when it was new and after taking another look, I see it's the car that was wrecked. Sad! Thanks for helping me straighten this out. The 1915 auto is still a mystery, but at least now I can put all the photos of the Stutz together.

Thanks all for weighing in. Here's the catch--I think. The car has a badge with an old English F on the front grille. Would a Stutz have that? I discovered a photo of another car with the same badge. I thought it was the same car, but I see the front bumpers and wheels aren't the same. I have no doubt that's just the tip of the iceberg, but those two things stand out to a novice like me. I know my great-grandfather had a Franklin, so I'm hoping to have found at least one picture of it. I'm uploading a pic I posted earlier so you can see them side by side. We know Brd286 was taken in 1915 and the other was taken about 1923.

My great-grandfather was a car collector from 1905-1935 when he wasn't being Mayor of Longmont, Colorado, or oil tycoon in Texas and California. I've been able to identify his Pope-Toledo, Pierce-Arrow, Locomobile, Daniels (thanks to you all), Stutz Cabriolet, and Jordan Playboy. Can anyone out there let me know what this car is and approximately when it might have been produced? The only thing I know is the photos were taken after 1922, but of course the car could be older. It came to a sad end, as the photos show, but as far as I know nobody was injured. The photos are scaled down to 100dpi so I could upload the three in one message--hope they're not too blurry. Thanks for your help, Marjorie Rodman

Ed in Mass, you can certainly share the photo. I'm in the process of writing a book about the man and his motorcars now, and I would love to put an article together for the magazine at some point. Let me know how to get in touch when I'm ready. The research has been exciting, and I can't thank all the folks who posted answers to my cry for help!

Thanks so much for all the info! And an expert in Holland, even. So glad he confirmed your identification of the car as a Daniels. Great! I'm interested to see that one of you, EdinMass, is a Pierce-Arrow expert. My great-grandfather--the same one in front of the Daniels--toured Europe in his 1911 Pierce and kept a journal of the trip. With him were his two teenage sons and his brother. The itinerary was pretty amazing: his ship from Boston landed in Naples, and from there he drove to Rome, Florence and Venice, made it over Gothard Pass into Switzerland, followed the Rhine River through Germany to Amsterdam, then drove through Belgium to Paris and Le Mans, loaded the Pierce onto a boat to cross the English Channel, toured England, Scotland and Wales before crossing the Irish Sea for a trip around the island. The trip took just over three months. At every stop, he took a photo of the car. When he returned home, he had the journal printed for friends and family. I was lucky enough to find a copy in my father's effects. What a treat! I've attached just one photo so you get an idea. I wish I'd known him.

Great detective work, all! Thanks for posting those photos—they confirm the identification as a Daniels. I really appreciate your help.

Thank you all for your guidance. Lots to think about! Any chance it could be a Franklin? I know he had one in 1921 but don’t know when he bought it. I’m thinking between 1915 and 20 if that helps.

I’ll take a look at a Daniels. Could it possibly be a Locomobile? He had one but this photo doesn’t look like examples I’ve found on the web. What’s really confusing is the front fender doesn’t continue to a running board. I see 2 brackets on the side that almost look like steps. Perhaps he had the running board removed because it was too low for the rough roads around his oil fields?

My great-grandfather was an oil producer in Texas from 1905 to 1925. I think this photo is from 1920. He had a number of cars and I can't identify this one.