Need Help Identifying a Car

[Snakeoil]

Hi. I'm a new member here and although I have an interest in antique automobiles, I don't own any myself. I am a member of the AMCA and have a small collection of antique bikes.

 

I was at the NE Classic Car Museum in Norwich, NY yesterday and the Franklin club happened to be there. They are who suggested I ask the group here to help identify the car in question.

They thought it was a Hudson and I am now tending to agree. But there are a few details that don't seem to match Hudsons.

 

The car is in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoXtA-5cFf0&t=28s

The video was shot sometime between 1926 and 1928. I'm basing these dates on the estimated age of my father in the video. He was born in 1914. At first I thought the car was a Franklin, as I remember my Dad and my uncles talking about going to Sylvan Beach in the Franklin. But the Franklin guys said it is definitely not a Franklin.

 

The video is a little grainy. What I can see is it is a 4 door with both front and rear non-trailing doors. There is a visor over the windshield and the windshield itself kicks open at the bottom. There are kick plates front and rear on the running boards. The features that do not seem to match Hudsons are the 4 side windows on a 4 door car. All the Hudsons I've found had 6 side windows. The exception is the Brougham. And I know my Grandfather did well financially so it could be a Brougham. The other features are the hood ornament seems too large for a Hudson. The guys with the Franklin club thought it might have been a Lalique crystal ornament. This would make sense because my Grandparents both came here from France. The other feature is the bumper. It is a 2 rail bumper yet the Brougham I found on the web has what appears to be a 3 rail bumper.

 

The video is about  5 minutes long. The car can be seen in the very beginning in several shots. Then it is seen again towards the end of the video.

 

I would really appreciate it if someone could ID the brand, year and model of this car. Anyone that would have known what this car is, died before we found the films in an old box in my Grandparents' attic.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Regards,

Rob

[keiser31]

Looks like Hudson with the forward opening doors.

[Graham Man]

[Dave Henderson]

The rear hinged doors both front and back are rather compelling evidence it may be a Hudson, ca. '28, the bumper looks about right too.  I do have some question about the abrupt drop off at the rear of the right front fender.   Perhaps it was an option to make room for a tool box on the running board? 

[58L-Y8]

Its a '28 Hudson Super Six Model O Standard Sedan.  The Model O was the longer wheelbase at 127 3/8 inches employed by the Custom series with the Biddle & Smart bodies.  The Standard sedan was essentially the same as that on the shorter 118 1/2 inch wheelbase Model S being a four-window club sedan style but with less wheelhouse intrusion.  The identifying detail that is hard to see in the movie is the light-colored patch on the lower part of the roof quarters by the door, its a small area of painted canework was would be seen on town cars for a touch of class.  It was a $1,450 factory price so your family must have been doing relatively well in that period before the Depression.  The Super Six was an F-Head of 288.5 ci, the size of other upscale medium-priced and entry-level luxury makes, very torquey and powerful for the times.  Hudson had a graceful winged lady mascot which is what that large radiator ornament visible probably was.  Interesting car, wish it survived.  

 

BTW, the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad was a 500 mile plus line that managed to avoid every major city on its way from the NYC area to Oswego plus climb ridge after ridge.  It abandoned in its entirety March 31, 1957, check out its checked history when you have a chance.

 

Steve

[Buffalowed Bill]

I have a friend who had one like it. I never could figure out why he sold it. It went the California to what seemed to be a good home. One day my friend happened to mention that they blew up my car. It seems as though a movie studio had somehow gotten a hold of the car, and used it for scene in a movie, and destroyed it. 

[Snakeoil]

Thank you very much gentlemen. The second stop-action photo that Graham posted is the first time I notice the Landau Irons on the back quarter of the top.

 

I was pretty sure on the time-frame for this video based on my Dad's apparent age. The car was probably new. It sure looks like new in the video.

 

To 58L-Y8, needless to say based upon the video, my family has been coming to Oneida Lake for a long time. I'm the 3rd generation and there are two more now after me. My Grandfather was the Chief Signal Engineer for the NY Central RR. So, he rode free wherever he went. My Grandmother and her kids would spend the summer at "the lake" and the car would stay there as well. They would pick up Grandpa at the station and he's stay for the weekend.

 

The station still remains in Sylvan Beach in the location you see in the video. It is now a private home. It had a fire at some point and the only remaining feature is the bay window. The RR bed is now the street that the house is on.

 

I have no idea what happened to that car or any of the cars the family owned. They were utilitarian vehicles and when it was time, were traded or sold and a replacement purchased. My Dad had a Ford agency before the war. This was a time when you could sell new cars out of a gas station, which is what he did. He quit school when he was about 16 to open up his first gas station. WWII intervened and he was drafted into the USAAF. Just last Saturday I took a flight in the Memphis Belle, the B-17 used in the making of the movie. I wore my Dad's wings for that flight.

 

Thanks again, gentlemen. You helped make the video more complete.

 

To show I'm a kindred spirit, here are what gets my juices flowing.

First is a restored 1939 Indian Four. Second is an all original, including paint, 1947 Harley EL Knucklehead.

And appropriately so, both photos taken on Oneida Lake.

 

Regards,

Rob