Please help I.D. this car ...

[wldavis]

Thank you.

[1912Staver]

With those wheels I am thinking it is British. Looks like the photo was taken at the hollow tree, Stanley Park , Vancouver B.C. Canada. Quite a few British cars in the Vancouver area in the early days of motoring.

Edited August 26, 2023 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[drwatson]

It looks like it's sporting Model T side lamps. (not a Model T).

[dictator27]

Napier about 1911-12?

Hollow tree still there - barely.

Edited August 27, 2023 by dictator27 (see edit history)

[dictator27]

No one else?  There has to be someone out there that can prove me wrong!

[Ariejan NL]

This car is quite a challenge to identify. The Napier suggestion however is an attractive one, though in that scenario the car has been 'americanized' in a thorough way: body, fenders and windscreen all are American style. However hood (bonnet) and especially rad filler tube are Napier-style, as well as the wire wheels, a feature of many British makes during the early '10s. Unfortunately for the rest not many chassis details are visible, so it's not 100% certain, but I can live with the Napier suggestion 🙂

[dictator27]

Napiers were assembled in Boston in fits and starts between 1904 and 1912, using both British and American bodywork.  

[Terry Bond]

It appears to be a studio prop car so probably a put together mock up. Not Napier. Hood is incorrect and the body itself is too small. Where's the steering wheel?  Carbide generator suggests an earlier car but nothing about the body itself seems to match the time frame for earlier brass age.

Terry

[Ariejan NL]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:03 PM, Terry Bond said:

It appears to be a studio prop car so probably a put together mock up. Not Napier. Hood is incorrect and the body itself is too small. Where's the steering wheel?  Carbide generator suggests an earlier car but nothing about the body itself seems to match the time frame for earlier brass age.

Terry

I'm sorry to say, but I read at least three incorrect statements in this comment: the car is not a photo prop; the hood is correct; and the steering wheel is probably hidden behind the girl. 

[keiser31]

On 8/29/2023 at 9:03 AM, Terry Bond said:

It appears to be a studio prop car so probably a put together mock up. Not Napier. Hood is incorrect and the body itself is too small. Where's the steering wheel?  Carbide generator suggests an earlier car but nothing about the body itself seems to match the time frame for earlier brass age.

Terry

Looks to be a roadster with a Mother-in-law seat. I think that is why the body looks small. I think it is correct for the car.

[PFindlay]

I sent this to our local Napier expert and he consulted another.  The best they can come up with is "probably Napier."  I've added their comments below.  They mention the back seat or mother-in-law seat but I think the car is a roadster and the fellow in the back right may actually be sitting in another car that is hiding behind the roadster.  Anyone else think that?

 

Comments from the Napier guys:

...  I am quite sure the car is a 15hp Napier with the optional large diameter wire wheels making it a Colonial roadster variant. Too bad we can not see the five spoke steering wheel, but everything else points to this Napier. The tall radiator filler neck plus the bonnet (hood) with no louvers which also indicates the the top curvature of the radiator are correct. That back seat looks to be a single example which is quite common in North America, known as 'the mother in law seat'. It was an option either from the factory or after market. 

 

 

... An intriguing one - there is a slight absence of detailed information to make a definitive conclusion as the little girl is blocking sight of the controls (steering wheel etc) and only a sliver of the radiator is visible.  The body is peculiar (to me, at least) with a seemingly close-coupled rear seat but no rear door, at least on the side visible.

 

If the car is a Napier the bonnet length would suggest a 15hp and the body style (horizontal bonnet but flared scuttle rather than flat bulkhead) would suggest to me around 1912.  Slightly non-Napier (to my mind) are the apparently fluted(?) radiator filler cap, rather high chassis style (but it might be the low angle and this would likely be a high-chassis colonial model and the rear hub arrangement (front hub looks more normal) but any of these features could just be alterations.  

 

I take it this is one of the 'tourist' pics in front of the giant sequoias in the park in Vancouver, so one might assume this is something of a 'prop' and the car may not therefore be fresh out of the showroom but could have suffered some alterations and indignities which for me makes this 'possibly Napier but unconfirmed'.  Sorry that is not more definitive.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by PFindlay (see edit history)

[keiser31]

1 minute ago, PFindlay said:

I sent this to our local Napier expert and he consulted another.  The best they can come up with is "probably Napier."  I've added their comments below.  They mention the back seat or mother-in-law seat but I think the car is a roadster and the fellow in the back right may actually be sitting in another car that is hiding behind the roadster.  Anyone else think that?

 

 

 

I don't think there is room for another vehicle between the car in question and the big tree.

[JACK M]

18 hours ago, keiser31 said:

I don't think there is room for another vehicle between the car in question and the big tree.

And his arm and elbow are clearly on the seat back,

The guy between the two little girls might be standing beside the car.