1920's, and with a golf compartment

[Old Crock]

Question from England. This photo appeared on a website where I was one of the moderators.

 

I'm puzzled by this American roadster. I'm told the photo is 1928. The combination of the type of headlamps, the type of wheels and the fact it is a Golfers Coupe - note, the opening flap is angled.

 

I've done the usual, Google checks etc. and still haven't found the answer. Can someone help?

Edited January 22 by Old Crock
title spelling (see edit history)

[keiser31]

1926 Oakland.

Edited January 22 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Old Crock]

Wow, that answer was fast! Thank you VERY MUCH, I was beginning to pull my hair out (what little there is) searching. Even now, checking Google there's not many vintage Oaklands shown there, and only a few two-seater dropheads.

 

For interest, here's a photo of my car in England -  a 1928 AC Six drophead coupé with dickey.

 

Best regards

[nearchoclatetown]

Does the wing window go with the door when opened or is it attached to the windshield? From this angle it doesn't appear to have trim down the front of it.

[Old Crock]

Well spotted. There should be a seal that sits in a sill, fitted to the windscreen frame. The door opens with the quarter-light being attached to it. You can see on top of the door is a nickeled bar - inside this is a runner for the glass. The car has novel wind-up windows which work by using a slim chain inside the door. You raise the bar, turn the window handle, it turns only one way for the glass to rise then fall within this runner and the opposite runner inside the quarter-light frame. If it starts raining the driver can pull up the soft-top with one hand then wind up the windows and, hey-presto, the driver and passenger are enclosed inside, out from the rain, in about ten seconds (or so).

Edited January 22 by Old Crock (see edit history)

[alsfarms]

It is very similar to a Nash Special 6 of 1927-28

Edited January 22 by alsfarms
clarity (see edit history)

[nzcarnerd]

35 minutes ago, alsfarms said:

It is very similar to a Nash Special 6 of 1927-28

Yes, but there is the oval Oakland logo on the hubcaps.

[nzcarnerd]

A neighbour restored this 1927 Oakland roadster in the 2000s. It was originally a roadster but the body was gone and he had to build the body from scratch.

 

 

 

 

[alsfarms]

I didn't realize that Oakland also has the same unique shape to the rear quarter panels as does Nash. You either have better eyes than I do or better technology as I can't make out the hubcap inscription. Is this Oakland before they made a try with a V8?

Al

Edited January 22 by alsfarms
Clarity (see edit history)

[alsfarms]

Your neighbor is quite a craftsman to build his own body!

Al

[Oldtech]

Looks Nash  to me too!

[keiser31]

The hump on the top hood hinge is a good indication as are the hub caps....

Edited January 23 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[keiser31]

Having a hard time finding a Nash of that era with a golf bag door.

[alsfarms]

5 lug wheels, if it were a Nash, would point to it being a Special 6. I have the back half of a convert. coupe body, is likely an Advanced 6 Nash that does have the opening for the golf door.

Al

Edited January 23 by alsfarms
clarity (see edit history)

[Old Crock]

Thanks for replies everyone. Does this help, a comparison of photos of the Nash Special 6 and the Oakland Six. I admit to knowing nothing about either marque but here's a few observations on the comparison: Note the windscreen type and angle (unless Nash produced a roadster-type also). Also, the golfer's cupboard looks, in shape, more like the Oakland. Headlamps look Oakland. There is a lower seam on the cowl of the Nash. Front wing curvature suits the Oakland. Nash has visible door hinges, not the Oakland. I can see the oval shape of the hub logo, as referred to by nzcarnerd above. All appears to say an Oakland (with interesting wheels).....

Edited January 23 by Old Crock
spelling (see edit history)

[Old Crock]

For the record, I have found that Nash did produce a roadster. It had the right headlights, no lower cowl seam, internal door hinges also, but other features (like bonnet louvres) are still wrong for the mystery car...

Edited January 23 by Old Crock
additional features (see edit history)

[Oldtech]

My but the Nash and Oakland are very similar looking. I can't find an exact match either.  I was looking at the 5 bolt hubs and discs as being Nash features.  I know wheels can be changes tho. 

[wayne sheldon]

For whatever it is worth? My first glance at the photo, my brain said likely Nash. However, something also said to me it didn't look quite right for a Nash. As I didn't have time to look it up in any of my references, I said nothing. (And that golf bag door was bugging me?)

Oakland is an interesting marque, one which has some background causing me to notice them on the rare occasions I see or hear of one. And over the years, I have known a few people that owned one of some year or another. And I have actually ridden in a couple of them. Year models I have had close contact with have included 1912 (a longtime friend has toured with it for years!), 1918 (I considered buying that one), and a few from the early, mid, and late 1920s. They tend to be a car one doesn't often think about.

As the discussion here progressed, and photos and opinions were shared, That golf bag door kept bugging me. A lot of cars, coupes and roadsters, during the 1920s had golf bag doors. My first real prewar car when I was still in high school was a 1929 Reo Flying Cloud coupe with a golf bag door. So I tend to notice golf bag doors on cars of the 1920s. Most of them are more or less rectangular in shape, often but not always with slightly rounded corners. Sometimes they have a corner notched out around the rear fender? Often they do not. Still, usually basically squarish in shape. RARELY are they askew as is the subject car. 

 

The era picture of the Oakland sport roadster shared by keiser31 above may not have as nice a square view of the side as the OP car, however, it does appear to also have an askew golf bag door. That golf bag door, coupled with the details of the windshield frame, location of the cowl lamps (also a bit unusual), and the not quite clear enough but very close hub caps pretty much conveniences me that the OP car is most likely an Oakland roadster.

 

As for the steel disc wheels. Those are a bit unusual for General Motors. Most General Motors marques did offer steel disc wheels as an option, with Chevrolet selling a lot more cars with steel disc wheels than any other GM brand. Chevrolet and most other GM brands used Jaxon steel disc wheels which most years had their own distinctive look to them. The disc wheels on this Oakland don't have the typical Jaxon Wheel look to them. However (and I don't offhand recall the details of this?), there was a merger between a couple wheel companies including Motor Wheel and Jaxon in the early to mid 1920s. Part of that process resulted in a couple GM brands using different steel disc wheels for awhile. I recall seeing a couple GM brand automobiles including Oldsmobile using this particular distinctive style wheel in the mid 1920s.

 

 

That is my opinion.

 

Welcome Old Crock to a wonderful discussion forum for antique automobiles!

[Old Crock]

Excellent contribution Wayne!

[30DodgePanel]

Interesting photo @Old Crock, any indication of where the photo was taken?

 

Looking through 1926/27 era auto publications of photos or adverts of this model I've noticed all of the tops appear to be white or light tan in color, but the photo on topic is black or maybe a darker brown, an interesting tidbit that may come into play if anyone researches further details... 

 

When doing a quick search this morning I found this photo in an edition of General Motors World V.5 1926 and is referred to as a Grand Sport Roadster. Not sure if that term (including the word Grand) even means anything or if it was improperly labeled, just making note of it...

 

 

 

 

 

Still looking for any adverts or photos that show a black top cover with five bolt steel wheels.

I did find this Motor Record article from Jan, 1926 that states "wire and steel wheels are optional at slight extra cost"

Intriguing car to say the least... the colors described really brings it into perspective how striking it must have been in person.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 24 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Old Crock]

Thanks Dave for your research.

 

In an earlier posting I considered some differences between the Oakland and the Nash, seen at least from the couple of photos. All have been eliminated in later photos and comments. Now Dave's photos show even the front wings, of both marques, can have the same curvature, so that's another difference discarded. The length of the body and the wheelbase appear the same also. This leaves only the shape of the cubby lid and the small hub cap logos! Taking into account subtle differences over the years of production, on side profile at least, the two bodies are very similar. 

[alsfarms]

That is my take also.....

Al

[nzcarnerd]

On 1/24/2024 at 8:15 PM, wayne sheldon said:

For whatever it is worth? My first glance at the photo, my brain said likely Nash. However, something also said to me it didn't look quite right for a Nash. As I didn't have time to look it up in any of my references, I said nothing. (And that golf bag door was bugging me?)

Oakland is an interesting marque, one which has some background causing me to notice them on the rare occasions I see or hear of one. And over the years, I have known a few people that owned one of some year or another. And I have actually ridden in a couple of them. Year models I have had close contact with have included 1912 (a longtime friend has toured with it for years!), 1918 (I considered buying that one), and a few from the early, mid, and late 1920s. They tend to be a car one doesn't often think about.

As the discussion here progressed, and photos and opinions were shared, That golf bag door kept bugging me. A lot of cars, coupes and roadsters, during the 1920s had golf bag doors. My first real prewar car when I was still in high school was a 1929 Reo Flying Cloud coupe with a golf bag door. So I tend to notice golf bag doors on cars of the 1920s. Most of them are more or less rectangular in shape, often but not always with slightly rounded corners. Sometimes they have a corner notched out around the rear fender? Often they do not. Still, usually basically squarish in shape. RARELY are they askew as is the subject car. 

 

The era picture of the Oakland sport roadster shared by keiser31 above may not have as nice a square view of the side as the OP car, however, it does appear to also have an askew golf bag door. That golf bag door, coupled with the details of the windshield frame, location of the cowl lamps (also a bit unusual), and the not quite clear enough but very close hub caps pretty much conveniences me that the OP car is most likely an Oakland roadster.

 

As for the steel disc wheels. Those are a bit unusual for General Motors. Most General Motors marques did offer steel disc wheels as an option, with Chevrolet selling a lot more cars with steel disc wheels than any other GM brand. Chevrolet and most other GM brands used Jaxon steel disc wheels which most years had their own distinctive look to them. The disc wheels on this Oakland don't have the typical Jaxon Wheel look to them. However (and I don't offhand recall the details of this?), there was a merger between a couple wheel companies including Motor Wheel and Jaxon in the early to mid 1920s. Part of that process resulted in a couple GM brands using different steel disc wheels for awhile. I recall seeing a couple GM brand automobiles including Oldsmobile using this particular distinctive style wheel in the mid 1920s.

 

 

That is my opinion.

 

Welcome Old Crock to a wonderful discussion forum for antique automobiles!

Our 1926 Pontiac is on Motor Wheel discs. It was assembled in New Zealand, and at a guess, was originally a two-door coach. Going by the parts book contemporary Chevrolets used Baker disc wheels,

which were also available for Pontiacs. I must try and dig the relevant parts book out.

 

The other photo is a 1928 Pontiac in New Zealand back in the day. I think the photo is not really clear enough to say for certain which disc wheels it is on.