Mark Gregory Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 (edited) Does anyone know what car this is ? A family of Eskimos sit in a car in Nome, on the western tip of Alaska. Thousands flocked to the area during the Alaskan 'Gold Rush', lured by the chance to make a fortune Edited February 24, 2020 by Mark Gregory (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gossp Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 It says Thomas flyer on the rear tire and the radiator looks right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gossp Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 6 minutes ago, gossp said: It says Thomas flyer on the rear tire and the radiator looks right. Where's the headlights? I see the brackets, but they're missing! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old buicks 2 Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Alaska in the summer is the "land of the midnight sun" No headlights needed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Some of the earliest car owners didn't even purchase the optional headlights. Such owners didn't plan to drive at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 3 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said: Some of the earliest car owners didn't even purchase the optional headlights. Such owners didn't plan to drive at night. That is correct, but it is odd there are brackets in place for them. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gossp Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 The brackets were often riveted to the frame and a part of the car even if lights were not ordered. The same can be said for brackets to mount a top being installed on the body when a top is not included. This flyer has those as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFitz Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Traded the headlights for that big turbocharger mounted on the tail pipe ? Paul 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Headlamps on these brass age cars were easily removable. When not needed, you could store them someplace safe to keep them clean and undamaged. Permanently mounted headlamps did not appear until electric lighting was used. As was pointed out also, you could put any headlamp you wanted to on these early cars. I believe the high end vehicles like the Thomas would have come already equipped with them, but often an owner would keep their lamps and use them on the next car they purchased. You could buy headlamps from catalogs, auto parts stores, even hardware stores and put your favorite kind on your car. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gossp Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 One year after the introduction of the priest-o-lite tank and all the way up in Alaska, headlights requiring an acetylene generator might not have worked. The water in the top tank would freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 This 1924 Essex was shipped to Alaska by a couple of entrepreneurs to meet a perceived demand for cars. It ended up deteriorating in the back room of a hardware store because there were too few roads to find for its use. The car was restored in 1969 and in 2017 had racked up 7,000 miles. I imagined two guys planning to make a fortune selling cars in Alaska kind of like Jackie Gleason and Art Carney might do on the Honeymooners. My son makes movies and I almost bought the car to retell the original story updated be be two guys finding the low mileage car and making their fortune pedaling it at a big car auction. I should have taped the father trying to talk the son into the movie scheme. Bernie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Thought the gold rush was over before the turn of the century. Photo is dated 1905. Probably got rich in the map business. When I rented a car in Alaska there was a $250 charge if you carried fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 4 hours ago, 8E45E said: Where's the headlights? I see the brackets, but they're missing! Craig They’re out getting gold plated! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Nome Alaska had a gold rush that lasted till 07 or 08 ........but only for the big dig style mines, all the shallow easy stuff was gone by 04. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modeleh Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 (edited) In the Yukon, Guggenheim had mining interests continuing past 1910. The Zust automobile from the Great Race was discovered in Dawson City in the 50s. It had been sent up there for the mining superintendent to use around 1910. The museum in Fairbanks has a good collection of early cars, hoping to get up there to see them sometime. Edited February 24, 2020 by Modeleh (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gregory Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 I have never heard of the Zust car seems like the manufacturer was pretty smart. I guess World War 1 affected him ? Good article in the link below. https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/1906-zust-revamped-great-race-100th-anniversary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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