Would like to identify the old car

[Guest BillLee]

Hello;

First post, was directed to this forum from the fordbarn.

This is an old picture of my father John S. Lee. Can anybody identify the car? I suspect the picture was taken in the 20's but there was no indication on it to be certain.

The discussion on the Model A group of FordBarn has ranged over a lot of possibilities, none of which seem to fit the car in the picture. Some characteristics that I can see are:

Curved cowl along the bottom of the windshield.

Hinge line of hood at the beltline.

Beltine straight back along lower edge of driver's side opening.

Curved lower corners of windshield.

No apparent hinges on door (Perhaps no door at all?)

Very tall splash panels.

Fenders appear to be flat on the top surface.

Fenders with a strange edge, almost like a small edge and shelf or some-such.

Area above rear wheel and behind cab is quite substantial

Overall height is quite tall for a roadster.(My father was 5'11")

Six bolts holding rims together (Found most have four)

No sidemount spare on Driver's side.

I have looked at hundreds of pictures using Google and so far haven't been able to identify the car. One poster at FordBarn suggested this forum since the breadth of interest is far greater, and someone may be able to spot what the car is.

Thanks.

Bill Lee

Edited April 6, 2012 by BillLee
Correct picture insertion (see edit history)

[Jim Rohn]

the blue box with a question mark in it is difficult to ID ... :-)

an actual picture would be better :-)

[keiser31]

You will have to limit your photo pixel dimensions to 2000 pixels or less in both directions in order for it to show up here.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I brought the thread over so our people could consider the barners' opinions An interesting old picture - The Ford Barn

[Guest BillLee]

Sorry 'bout the picture screw-up. The cut-n-paste from the FordBarn thread didn't work properly. Should be visible now.

[Guest BillLee]

What an exciting search this old photograph has led me into!

I found a reference in a writing that my Mother put together back in the mid-60's that outlined my family's history. My original picture was likely taken in 1925 or 1926 in or near Sunrise, Wyoming, where my Father was the superintendent of schools and my Mother was a high school student. (Yes, a type of relationship that would end you up in jail today, but it was handled with great care by my mother and her father, and my Mom and Dad were married in 1927, a year after she graduated from high school.)

The car is a "Dort Roadster", probably 1921 or 1922.

This is the only image that I have found that shares the characteristics of the one in my old picture of my Dad.

I did find a photo of a 1923:

You can see the major difference: the wheels. Wooden spokes on the 1921 and what appear to be steel wheels in the 1923 photo.

Here is another picture, of a 1923 Gray Dort, that shows the very distinctive shape of the edge of the fenders, easily seen in my original photo.

Here is a picture of a 1921 Dort phaeton (what would you call that body style? In a Model A, it is a Phaeton.) You can see the basic "sameness" to the roadster in my original photo: the shape of the fenders, the continuous beltline at the top edge of the doors, etc.

What a wonderful exercise that old photo has led my upon!

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Before the model A these were called,simply,Tourings. I think "phaeton" came in with the classics which were largely coachbuilt.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Here are some nice pictures of a 22 Dort sedan and a brief history of the Durant- dort companies

[Dave Mellor NJ]

1922 Dort Four Images, Information and History | Conceptcarz.com