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What is this 1916 car?


Guest John H. Beach

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Guest John H. Beach

Hi,

>

> I found an old photo in my grandparent's things. There was a photo of an old car they owned, but don't know the name of it manufacturer or model. A date on the photo was 1916. I attached a photo of it. Can anyone ID it for me?

>

> --

> Kind Regards,

>

> John H. Beach

> Yonkers, NY.

>

> john_h_beach@compuserve.com Note: the "_" before and after the initial "h" is an underscore character, not a dash or space.

post-66144-143138165649_thumb.jpg

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Guest John H. Beach

Hi,

Thanks West for the info on the car. I am not familiar with the 1914 Cadillac. Will have to look into this further. Still open to other opinions too.

One think I did notice, when I blew up the photo. There is man with glasses in the driver seat and glasses like my grandfather, but he never drove. He had a his own driver, but if you look, this person is in the driver seat on the RIGHT side. Now the photo is from one of those early photo post cards that folks used to send their photos to friends. I looked at the houses in the background and they are not flipped.

Did they build some early cars with right hand drive or is this a foreign model?

Kind regards,

John H. Beach

Yonkers, NY.

john_h_beach@compuserve.com

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THis one is a challenging one, because the coupe body, I believe, is custom, and that narrows down the ability to pick up specific features.

My first impression is that it was either a 13/14 Locomobile, or a same age Kissel. It is not a Cadillac. Fenders look like 12/13 Loco. Chassis looks like Loco, including front axle, rear axle profile, Headlight rings are octagonal as 13 Loco. Kissel aso used octagonal lights in this time frame.

Car in the photo is a coupe. Loco did not offer coupes in this period, but was a brand that was a good candidate for custom. Kissel did offer coupes. The transition of the cowl, sloping as it is to the hood, really started in 14. So, for me, if this is a Loco, what I see shows 13, but body style looks later 14. :confused:

General comment for John Beach. Most early cars in US were right hand drive. In 1914 many switched to left and by end of teen, most all were LHD.

Bob McAnlis

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John,

The radiator shape and the size of the car indicate that it could be a Kissel. The period advertizing which still exists about Kissels in that period are very similar to the car in the picture, so it could be. Kissels were made in Wisconsin, and never in great numbers. They generally were sold in Wisconsin where they were made, and in New York and Hollywood to rich folks. Unfortunately according to the International Kissel Registry, there are NO surviving Kissel coupes from the "teens" so all you can go on is picture.

I am not familiar with Locomobiles so I can't help there.

Thanks, -- RON --

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Guest Jim_Edwards

Blew that photo up to 600% to see what it might reveal that can't otherwise be seen as posted.

Several things are of note in trying to identifying what make it might be. The first two things are the slight curve in the roof over the windshield, not a real common thing. The nature of the fenders is also somewhat unique given they are not rounded but a straight line at their furthest forward point. The front suspension seems a bit strange but eludes my identification.

Given there were literally 100s of car makers in the nineteen teens, it may not even be possible to identify the make as no tell tale radiator cap can be seen in a blowup and where the name badge might have been on the radiator is obscured by the license plate. I don't believe it to be a Kissel, the roof is wrong.

By the way, there is a driver who wore glasses seated in the car behind the steering wheel and chains on the rear tires/wheels.

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Guest DeSoto Frank

Locomobile 38 ?

Locomobile and Pierce and Stutz were among the last US automakers to switch to left-hand drive, around 1920.

John, not trying to be tacky, but were your grandparents "well-off" ? All the cars mentioned thus far were high-end vehicles, not cars for the middle class or hourly wage earner.

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