Please help identify this one... photo taken in late 20s?

[lorraine]

 

Here is an old colourized photo of my 2nd-Great-Grandmother sitting on the front bumper of a...? Can anyone help identify the make of the car? My grand-pa owned a 1928 Essex Coach at the time... but the front bumper looks different from other 1928 photos.. what are your thoughts? Thank you! 

Lorraine

[sagefinds]

Looks like a late 20's Durant

[viv w]

With the Canadian number plate it may have also been called a Rugby, although I'm not sure if the Rugby name may have only been used on export cars.

[58L-Y8]

The Canadian operations of the Durant enterprise sold cars and trucks under the Durant and Rugby nameplates.  The "Frontenac" name was applied to models in the late 1920's then became the make name as the operation separated itself from the faltering Durant empire.

 

Here is a better look:

[Gunsmoke]

This weathered 1929 Durant was for sale a while back on AACA forum, has the similar center bumper medallion, most of the other details match. There was a lot of interest in the "good" parts, so it may have been parted out by now.  The second 1929 Durant has similar center bumper medallion, and in this case bumper has been installed with the "V" on lower bar. The 1928 Durant shows a very similar bumper to the OP, suggesting car is indeed a 1928 Durant. Many different bumper styles are shown on 1928/29 Durants on internet, including many with just 2 straight bars, some with 3 medallions. The subject car bumper has 2 beads per bar, while the '28 shown here has 3 beads, perhaps a model variation, a year variation, or a place of manufacture variation (USA vs Canada).

Edited November 11, 2022 by Gunsmoke
added pictures (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

Durant's empire started to crumble by 1926, various plants were sold off or had production suspended until inventories of unsold cars could be cleared.  There were no 1927 Durant cars built, only Star Fours.  For 1928, four Durant series were again available, one which was the Star folding into the line-up.   Oddly enough 1929 was the Durant's highest production year at 34K cars, then the onset of the Great Depression quickly collapsed Billy's last automotive adventure.

[Gunsmoke]

BTW for the original posters goal of dating the photograph, there are some tell-tale signs that the car in the picture may be a few years old when photographed. Specifically there appears to be an after-market horn added, headlight cross bar looks weathered, etc, suggesting perhaps photo is from mid 1930's. Someone familiar with Ontario plates may be able to narrow the year.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Gunsmoke (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

4 minutes ago, Gunsmoke said:

BTW for the original posters goal of dating the photograph, there are some tell-tale signs that the car in the picture may be a few years old when photographed. Specifically there appears to be an after-market horn added, headlight cross bar looks weathered, etc, suggesting perhaps photo is from mid 1930's.

 

The license plate would date the photo at 1931 as the earliest. Up to 1934.

[lorraine]

Oh wow you guys!  Thank you so very much for all your expertise!  i have definitely hit the jackpot for identifying these old beauties - the cars at least . Huge huge appreciation.   And yes!  the date is only a guess.  My 2nd great grandmother was born in 1849.  It's hard to know how old she is in this photo, but she lived an extremely long time for the year she was born, and passed in 1941 at the age of 91.  I only guessed that she might be 80 in this photo, which gave me the year 1929, so yes, Gunsmoke is probably correct, and my ancestor could definitely be around 85 or more yoa when this was taken.  Again - wow - thank you SO much for all your knowledge!  Yay!

[lorraine]

West - that helps a lot!  . 

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Back to the car, it’s front bumper badge looks more like a letter D than an R, and the radiator emblem could be either one of these colors with it being washed out with glare. I don’t think the Rugby had an emblem that same shape. 

 

The credit for the above picture is this site:

 

http://www.americanautoemblems.com/search/label/DURANT?m=0

Edited November 12, 2022 by TheMoneyPit
Add photos credits (see edit history)

[Oldtech]

Was there Rugby cars of this era? I am only familiar with Rugby trucks and Durant cars. 

[TheMoneyPit]

On 11/12/2022 at 2:48 PM, Oldtech said:

Was there Rugby cars of this era? I am only familiar with Rugby trucks and Durant cars. 

From what I found, it looks like the Rugby started out in 1923 as a Star with different badging and went until 1928 when the Star line dropped, after that any four cylinder Durant cars were badged as Rugby for the Canadian market and ended production in 1931. Durant also marketed their commercial vehicles as both Durant and Rugby.

 

Billy Durant had a pretty good empire building but it just couldn’t survive the depression, however I don't think GM would have survived if not for his earlier leadership. 

[Oldtech]

Interesting. Thanks. 

[wcd30]

Look for 1928 Star and 1928 Rugby car on the web site.

They were both oval shaped