1917 Keystone Special Automobile

[TerryB]

In my collection of old automobile stuff I have a large real photo of an early automobile that is marked 1917 Keystone Special. The inscription appers to have been put on the photo's matting when the picture was framed. The inscription is hand written and looks correct for the timeframe. From what I can find the Keysone automobile went out of business in 1915. My photo was taken by a professional photographer in Lebanon PA. I did find a reference on line that a Keystone automobile was first made in the eary 1900s in the Lebanon PA area.

Just wondering if any of the experts out there have any thoughts on the possibility of a new Keystone automobile existing in 1917. I will try to post a picture of this photo soon.

Terry

Edited January 6, 2014 by TerryB
More info added (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Photos.

[keiser31]

Beautiful!

Edited January 6, 2014 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Grimy]

This is a 1916-1917 Pierce-Arrow 48-B-4 (525 cid, 48 calculated hp, Series 4) 7-passenger touring. The only custom work I detect (to make it the "Keystone Special") is the bell-shaped headlight equipment, which is not the type of bracketed headlights offered by Pierce-Arrow as an option to replace the standard fender-mounted headlights.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Grimy
correct typo (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Thanks for the Pierce Arrow comment! It would be interesting to know if the "Keystone Special" was a dealer's idea on how to make a custom car for the local market. I guess we will never know for sure.

Terry