What is it????

[sunroofcord]

[Mark Shaw]

A Gardner???

[keiser31]

Almost looks like a Doble steam car, but smaller.

Edited June 2, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[olympic]

It's a 1928 FIAT

[Dave Henderson]

From the gitgo this one struck me as not your ordinary grocery getter. It has a very sturdy look to it, as if made for heavy service. There are 2 characteristics of the vehicle that differ from what I would consider the more customary practices of the era: They are: 1.) Tubular bumpers, 2.) Disc wheels. Coincidentally, the "Yellow Cab", a built-for-service vehicle using a Buick chassis, shares those same somewhat unusual features. I don't see any yellow colorization on the subject vehicle, but then I see almost no paint at all, especially where the yellow would have been. It could have burned. My references are; The Old Car Book, by John Bentley, Fawcett, p.141, which pictures a '27 model, and If you will google it, there is also a very dark picture of a '33 which had appeared in the movie King Kong. Note too the many louvres, almost from front to back on the hood sides, a bit more than ordinarily appear on other makes, and they too are like those on the referenced pictures. So, I'm going with Yellow Cab, ca. '29-'33.

[alsancle]

From the gitgo this one struck me as not your ordinary grocery getter. It has a very sturdy look to it, as if made for heavy service. There are 2 characteristics of the vehicle that differ from what I would consider the more customary practices of the era: They are: 1.) Tubular bumpers, 2.) Disc wheels. Coincidentally, the "Yellow Cab", a built-for-service vehicle using a Buick chassis, shares those same somewhat unusual features. I don't see any yellow colorization on the subject vehicle, but then I see almost no paint at all, especially where the yellow would have been. It could have burned. My references are; The Old Car Book, by John Bentley, Fawcett, p.141, which pictures a '27 model, and If you will google it, there is also a very dark picture of a '33 which had appeared in the movie King Kong. Note too the many louvres, almost from front to back on the hood sides, a bit more than ordinarily appear on other makes, and they too are like those on the referenced pictures. So, I'm going with Yellow Cab, ca. '29-'33.

Good call.

[R W Burgess]

I would have thought that if the car had burned there would be no tires and a lot of metal shrinkage???

Wayne

[Guest De Soto Frank]

"Compost" ?

I think FIAT might be on-target. The radiator shell has more of a Moon-type peak than what I see on the Yellow Cab in the photo...

I was going to guess '28-'29 Moon or Windsor.

[Guest Timthemailman]

The tube bumper & rack on top look aftermarket to me. My 2 cents.

[Paul Dobbin]

I think you all are on the right track. My guess is a FIAT Taxi or Station Car

Reasons:

1. Heavy duty chassis with 6 lug wheels

2. Foreign style license tag

3. Luggage Rack on roof and the rear

4. Bumper car bumpers

5. It's left had drive

6. When Fiat made cars in Massachusetts they were big ones

7 I'd rather ride in that in Rome than a Fiat 500 like they used when we were there.

(Times were different then and only people used Taxi's in 20's & 30's)

[olympic]

I think we agreed on the "What Is It?" forum that it is a FIAT.