35 Ford Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 I am a Sydney, Australia based historic preservation practitioner researching the history of motorised tourist transport from the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, to Jenolan Caves, Australia's most famous system of limestone caves. From the time the first cars, an 8HP De Dion and a 6HP Liberia drove to the caves in 1903, motorised transport rapidly replaced the horse-drawn vehicles that had previously conveyed tourists on the sometimes perilous journey to Jenolan. Entrepreneurs in the upper Blue Mountains towns competed for the tourist trade, their drivers meeting passengers on the trains that brought them up the steep grades of the railway line from Sydney. Early favourites with the tour operators were Milnes Daimlers, Tipo Zero Fiats, Italas, Stoewers and Cadillacs but they then switched to Chandler, Hudson Super Six and Nash cars. Many of these had extended chassis and char-a-banc bodies so they could carry more passengers. In the 1930s and '40s some operators also used 'parlour coaches' which were built in Australia on imported chassis by Dodge, Ford, etc. A tour operator based in Adelaide, South Australia, built parlour coaches with names like 'Miss Transalia', which were fitted with aircraft-style seats and had multiple passenger doors on the kerb or 'near' side (in Australia our vehicles are right-hand drive). I have attached an image of Miss Transalia which conveyed passengers on the 2,500 mile round trip from Adelaide to the eastern states including Jenolan Caves. I have also attached a photo of tour cars lined up at Katoomba, one of the major Blue Mountains towns from which tourists were conveyed to Jenolan Caves. I am hoping that someone might be able to confirm that the four outer cars in this image are Hudson Super Six models and the three larger vehicles in the centre are Chandlers. Any comments on the likely models would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrhd29nz Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 The two on the right are 1927 Hudson’s. the two on the left are Hudson’s as well. Likely 1925 or 26 judging by the Fenders. these bus like cars were very common in NewZeland and Australia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 The three in the middle are mid-1920's Studebaker Big Six commercial chassis based touring coaches. The Studebaker Big Six was 354 cu in, 3 7/8" X 5" bore and stroke, generated plenty of torque to move whatever would be loaded on it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35 Ford Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 4 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said: The three in the middle are mid-1920's Studebaker Big Six commercial chassis based touring coaches. The Studebaker Big Six was 354 cu in, 3 7/8" X 5" bore and stroke, generated plenty of torque to move whatever would be loaded on it. Hi 58L-Y8 Many thanks - much appreciated. 35 Ford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35 Ford Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 Hi PaulRHD29NZ Many thanks -much appreciated. 35 Ford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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