Grandpa Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Circa 1924 open car to ID. The engine appears to be an in-line six. Note the running board design. The parking light is placed between the doors. The sedans in the background have the parking lights on the cowl.Grandpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Braverman Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Moon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave@Moon Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Isn't 1924 extremely late for all-white tires? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 They are most certainly Kissels made in Hartford, Wisconsin. The runningboard design is distinctive as are the hood props mounted on each side of the firewall. Also note the rubber mudflaps extending down from the back edge of the front fenders. Likely Model 6-55's. We recently restored a '27 Kissel Brougham as well as a '21 Kissel Goldbug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Did you get to drive the Goldbug? Often wondered how they compaired to a Mercer or Stutz from the same era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron hausmann Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Hello. I just joined AACA. I own a "1923 Kissel Model 6-45 Gold Bug", one of 5 remaining and the only one in show condition. Kissel of hartford made it's own 6 cyl. engines, and dated and numbered each one. The car is heavy but very powerful. I've never had it above 60, but there is more there. It is a real pleasure to show it, becuase it is so rare and "cute as a bug", which is where its name originated.RON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron hausmann Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Also, kissel speedsters were factory equippede with a really neat exhaust cuttout lever in the driver's compartment. For fast response or to get attention, you just kick the floor lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron hausmann Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 The cars shown in the pics are probably Kissel Model 6-55 Toursters, which had one door and two rows of seats on floor rails. the spares aren't yet mounted in the sides in the pics. Starting in 1924, they typically came with the 2-bar bumpers. 3-bars were used in most 8's starting in 1925. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Layden B Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Looking at the cars in left background makes me wonder if the tires are red with white walls. All early tires were natural latex rubber with one ( or mixture) of 3 wear and strengthening agents: zinc oxide ( white), iron oxide ( red rust), or carbon ( black as today). It is hard to impossible to tell colors in old pictures obviously due to them being in black and white but also the exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 The '21 Gold Bug we restored got its Senior award in about '95 and currently resides in France. Kissels are interesting cars, somewhat overbuilt but not spectacular performers. The '24 Brougham we restored received its Senior at Hershey this year. It will be going home to France as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisselman27 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 The car in the front of the line is a 1923 Kissel Model 6-55 Standard Phaeton. This car would have had 24 inch rims while all other body styles in 1923 as well as the Deluxe Phaeton had 23 inch rims. In 1923 all speedsters were deluxe models. The standard speedster wasn't introduced until 1925. The radiator surrounds on the standard 1923 Kissel model 6-55 cars were painted while the on the deluxe models they were nickel plated. Bumpers on deluxe models were also nickel plated . In the photos you will notice that the Y’s for the side mount spare rims are yet to be fitted. Kissel also put their side lights between the front and rear doors on this and other similar models. They were fitted with a clear glass at the bottom to light the running boards for safe entry. There are a myriad of other features that stamp this car as a 1923 Kissel 6-55 Phaeton. The support props for the hood, the placement of the Stewart vacuum tank mounted on the engine, the large ID plate on the fire wall to name a few. Many of the Kissel cars in the factory photos of this era seem to be fitted with some type of white wall tyre.CheersJohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 (edited) Dear Ron and John,Have any of you Kissel guys ever heard of the movie "Ace Eli & Roger of the Skies"? The featured car was a Kissel Gold Bug, driven by actress Bernadette Peters in her 1st film role. Might be worth watching for the cars if you can find a copy for sale cheap on ebay. The movie was set in Kansas in the early Twenties, and starred Cliff Robertson. It was actually pretty awful -- a lot of people had the studio list their part in it with fake names. Released in 1973; written by Steven Spielberg. Edited October 5, 2010 by jeff_a (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron hausmann Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Jeff,I have not heard about this. i will attempt to get a copy to see if there's a "bug" in the awful movie !Thanks, -- RON -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Maybe your car's in it! It wasn't the worst film I ever saw, but it had bad reviews and came out at the same time as another barnstormer-themed movie, Paper Moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron hausmann Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Jeff,I bought a copy of "Ace Eli and Roger of the Skies" and it is both an awful movie, and does NOT have any Kissel Gold Bug vehicals in it. The car that some folks might be mistaking for a Kissel is a mid-twenties Apperson, Paige, or Moon roadster. i could not identiofy it precicesly, but it is definately NOT a Kissel Gold Big. It is a pretty car to ber sure, but not as pretty as the Kissel.Awful movie!RON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Ron,I'm sorry I was wrong about the car. It has been over 30 years since I saw the movie. I thought my Dad & Grandad had told me one car was a Kissel. They were there during the shooting of some scenes near Mt. Hope, Kansas and we were all at the Kansas premier in Hutchinson. I remember both were upset with the way it came out.If you read some of the reviews for the movie (all bad) that come up when you google the movie title, they talk about it having problems, people refusing to have their names on the credits, and the release being delayed a long time. My Grandfather was paid to provide his 1922 Lincoln Sedan for a background car. As far as my grandfather knew, the movie was just going to be a nice tale of a barnstormer in Kansas with a lot of rural scenery and old cars added in. Apparently, some producers decided to change the plot and filmed some new stuff which was added later. He said the original parts were fine but they messed it up back in Hollywood.My grandfather's Lincoln was supposed to be in several scenes, but we were disappointed that most of that was cut from the final version. There is one scene where various actors are in a cafe' and his car appears to have driven by for one 1/2-second.----Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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