interesting tow vehicle

[ragtop4two]

Can anyone identify this tow vehicle from this pic taken in 1937?

[keiser31]

Cut down late 1920s Packard. Looks to be towing about a 1928 Oakland or Chevrolet.

Edited February 17, 2018 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[ragtop4two]

Thanks Keiser, I was thinking it was a Packard but I thought it was too new in 1937 to be cut down to be modified into a tow truck.

[28 Chrysler]

Here is a Lincoln version,  most likely the sedan was cut down in the 1930s.

[Brass is Best]

Was common practice in the 1900's thru 1920's for dealerships to take a used sedan or touring and turn it into a "crash car" or "wrecker".

[Leif Holmberg]

Here`s a Styer 1922 in Torsåker Sweden.Picture from Torsåker Photo Historic.

Leif in Sweden.

[Dave Henderson]

Those conversions from large old sedans often had a wide thick wood plank replacing the front bumper, which was used to push start stalled cars.   I recall one (sadly) that was made from a '32 Packard 900 coupe roadster.

[Marty Roth]

Pre WWII my Dad sometimes drove Mom's uncle's Pierce-Arrow which had been converted to haul Big-Truck tires. It once locked bumpers with a car ahead of it on the Brooklyn Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Both vehicles drove off together until they could get to a location where jumping on the lead car's rear bumper brackets allowed it to slip out from under the P-A's front bumper. No harm done, and almost no time lost !

 

Today that scene would involve a two-mile traffic backlog, 4 traffic helicopters Police, EMS, 23 pages of reports, 17 Attorneys, and 3-1/2 years of litigation ;-)

[lump]

What kind of car was used to make that tow truck under the Goodrich tires sign? The "POTOMAC GARAGE" wrecker? I like the hood sides with only 3 huge louvers.