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From the library's box of unidentified photographs


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Guest De Soto Frank

I believe the Limo in #1 is a Packard, circa 1912 ?

The unfortunate Fleischmann's Yeast truck is a brass-radiator Model T, and the big bruiser touring car, while unknown to me, is wearing white / light sidewall tires !!!!!!

That front-wheel-drive racer is frightfully imposing !

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  • 8 months later...
Dave, I didn't notice at first but

the Christie in the first origial group of photos is the 4cly version. Most amazing!

The car from the old motors is the two cyl.

Paul

That's what I was saying,Paul, when I said the one in the link only has two cylinders. It's quite odd to have two different models of an extremely rare car posted on two separate forums at almost the same time. If you go to the link you'll see they identify that one as a 1905 model. They also say there is somebody trying to recreate it. I posted a comment there with a link back to here, Unfortunately I don't know how to post pictures there.

Edited by Dave Mellor NJ (see edit history)
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I don't recall Barney Oldfield driving the Christie race car. In 1904, 1905 &1906 Barney was under contract with the Peerless Automobile Co. earning his laurels on the Peerless Green Dragons. I have seen a picture of a Christie on the same track with the Green Dragon but it doesn't say who was driving it. Barney left Peerless in 1906 and went barn storming state fairs with the 90 hp Green Dragon and Peerless Blue Streak. It may be during this time that he drove a Christie but they were unsuccessful race cars.

What do you think the unsprung weight ratio was on the Christie?

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The great Barney Oldfield just about raced for every one, including for

Mr. Christie up till 1910. He also raced Christie cars at fairs for barn storming races later in his racing days for fun as they were major crowd pleasers.

post-72691-143138733727_thumb.jpg

Attached is Barney in a Christie from 1916, and a much wiser design.

Paul

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DeSoto Frank is correct that the first photo is of a Packard. I recall this photo was posted before (somewhere) but not with this level of resolution, which helps considerably. It is a model 30 limousine, from either 1907 or 1908. It's hard to know which for certain. The tail light location is consistent with 1907, and the flat tails on the rear fenders are consistent with 1908. The location is Temple Place in Boston. Registered owner of the car was Susan Thayer of Boston. It is tempting to conclude she was part of the shoe store at left, Thayer, McNeil & Hodgkins. There is some great signage in view, including the mortar and pestle in front of the apothecary Melvin & Badger.

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Here is Christie without clothes:

With the dual drive wheels on one side only, could the car have been set up for racing on an oval track? The car with the sloping front must have a completely different engine configuration. I have never seen photo of this one before, but another with an inline four with cylinders vertical or near vertical is well known. That one is cross-mounted like the staggered V4.

In the Vanderbilt Cup, Vincenzo Lancia pulled straight out after a pit stop, without looking in front of of Walter Christie in the V4, who was passing at high speed. I suppose you might guess that it caused an accidental sharing of design ideas. The Lancia Lambda of the early 1920s had a narrow angle V4 engine, a very rigid structure with pillar/vertical movement independant front suspension. Look at the pillar mounting of the Christie front wheels. Are those wheels really unsprung? Lancia used the pillar independant front suspension to the end of the Aurelia and Appia models of the 1950s. After the company passed from from family control, the Fulvia model had a narrow V4 cross-mounted with frontwheel drive, and the later Beta model is inline 4 cyl cross-mounted front wheel

drive. I guess you could say that when Lancia looked at the Chrisie that ran into him, he was looking at some of the future.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think that Miss Auburn is Mary Pickford. Mary was getting a little long in the tooth by the early thirties. The picture on Wikipedia with President Hoover shows her as decidedly middle aged by 1931.

The Auburn girl is much younger and prettier. I wonder who she was?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Sorry it has taken me so long to post more photos. I don't get to scan the forums nearly as much as I would like.

I don't think I posted the attached pictures before.

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Photo #5-First car looks like a 1909 Chalmers-Detroit.

Photo #6-Singer?

Photo #7-Early Ford...K?

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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Regarding the second group of photos: the second and third ones are of the same car and look to be a Panhard Levassor.  Photo 5 shows a Chalmers and a Maxwell.  I'm not sure what photo 7 is, but it is not a Model K Ford.  The engine, hood, steering wheel and column to name a few are not similar to early Fords.

Edited by modela28
Posted before finished (see edit history)
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