Help me identify this old car - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

4x4_Welder · #46 01-12-2013, 03:13 AM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dok1/4285552070/
It's a saloon so it has rear suicide doors, but everything else is there.

4x4_Welder · #47 01-12-2013, 03:20 AM

1922 Oldsmobile Touring:

I guess Ransom was still using a lot of the same details on his own cars.

Gilly · #48 01-12-2013, 05:03 AM

I guess this will just end up being a frustration because no one really knows the answer. I posted it a few other places trying to get an answer from an expert, but doubt anything will be forthcoming.

Yeah i suppose someone else could have made the body, even Fisher Body did that before GM bought them I guess.

I just figured it would end up being a common manufacturer from those days, like Hupmobile or Willys-Knight, some orphan company, but not especially rare for the day. I relaly did a lot of looking. All the cars mentioned in the last few posts. I don't think it was an especially expensive car just going by looks.

Gilly · #49 01-12-2013, 05:07 AM

The only similarities I see between this car and that Olds and REO is that they are both old cars, where does anything look like this car???
Going by the picture I think I have it nailed.
If another company made the body then they might have changed the look of the cowl lights, or maybe the cowl lights look different because of the angle the picture was taken or the lighting.

MS Fowler · #50 01-12-2013, 09:30 AM

EARL-- an interesting, and exceedingly rare choice. The Earl was a continuation of the earlier Briscoe, but Earl produced less than 2000 cars in 1922 and 23 before being sold. There were no 1924 Earls. Earls were built on a 112" WB
Packard--unlikely--all Packards had the same shape grille, and although there isn't much in the picture, what I see does not conform to a Packard shape. Also Packard Touring cars I see all had a much lower split windshield which gave a rakish appearance. Packard Touring cars were built on different chassis, but all had WB equal to or great then 126"
Packards had wooden wheels thru '24
1925-26 Peerless had similar lines, but Peerless Touring cars had split windshields. ( Although who knows what might have been replaced.) Peerless Touring cars rode on WB from 116" to 133"
REO--definitely similar.. To my eye, the height of the splash shields --running boards to door sills looks higher in the subject car. Also seems to have a definite charater line from hood to rear that is lacking in photos of the Reos i see. Reos of the era rode on 120" WB

For reference purposes, WB of some other cars of that era--to see the size differences--
Chevy 103"
Dodge 114"-116"
Ford 100"

Some problems make this difficult--
1) Pictures of cars that are available to me of that era are often of poor quality and the wrong angle so that the details are obscured.
2) The state of flux of the industry of that time with many cars being merely assembled of parts from various suppliers.
3) I have not seen a single picture of a touring car of that era with a one-piece, solid windshield. Makes me wonder if it had been replaced. and if the w/s had been replaced, how much of the attaching and surrounding hardware is original to the car?

If you can find an email address for Beverly Rae Kimes, send her a copy or a scan. You might be able to reach her through Krause publications as she is one of their historians/authors.

t walgamuth · #51 01-12-2013, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilly

Ladies and gentlemen I present for your inspection a 1922 Earl

OK, there are differences which are accented perhaps because one picture is color. The base of the windshield may actually be the same but the color picture has one color on both the base and the adjacent cowl, perhaps making it look taller? The color picture also has wire wheels and the little panel covering the frame is rolled instead of folded and it does not have the polished step plates, which look like they could be aftermarket.

The grill, body panels and hood louvers all look the same and that cannot be said for any of the other cars offered.

My thought, unless more information is found, is they are both Earls but are either different years or different trim levels.

R Leo · #52 01-12-2013, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilly

Going by the picture I think I have it nailed.
If another company made the body then they might have changed the look of the cowl lights, or maybe the cowl lights look different because of the angle the picture was taken or the lighting.

This is a really entertaining thread. I've looked at hundreds of photos of old cars in the last couple of days; I never realized until now just how much they differed.

Gilly, I think you are on it. That car in the OP looks too much like the Earl truck and the RHD Earl...and, no other car of that era has the styling line that you see in the OP.

I read the history of Earl at the link that someone else posted and something that occurs to me is that Earls had "Earl" stamped in the wheel hub. I can't make out any lettering on the OP but maybe more detail is visible in the actual photo.

MS Fowler · #53 01-12-2013, 11:47 AM

I admit the Earl looks promising, but with less than 2000 Earls produced over a mere 2 year period, what are the odds?

Mr.Kenny · #54 01-12-2013, 12:57 PM

Honestly; It may just be a customized/repaired fender 1925 BUICK... or an EARL. (That fender is very unique)

I have a book, "The Monstrous American Car Spotters Guide 1920-1980"

No problemo.....I thought....
I thought it might be a 24-25 Buick, Chrysler, Gardner, Packard. Pierce-arrow or Peerless.
But with that two part inner fender lip, cowl light and upper body ridge.....
I don't know; I couldn't find it in the book....
I think there may have been some custom fender repairs & modifications on this car; The fenders look like they have been cut and a lip riveted in.

MS Fowler · #55 01-12-2013, 01:18 PM

I have been thumbing through my copy of "Standard Catalog of American cars 1805-1942"!!! 1805!!! can you believe it? It claims to document every automobile produced, or in some cases, even thought about in America before WW2. 1616 pages and innumerable photos, but many of them a little too blurry to help with the details. I am still looking. But if anyone suggests a candidate for the subject car, I can look it up and see information there is.

4x4_Welder · #56 01-12-2013, 01:23 PM

The hard parts are that body line at the top of the door and that odd detail on the side of the fender. That could be a repair though. The REO and Olds both use the same door handle, and the first REO I posted has the same marker light location at the base of the windshield.

kerry · #57 01-12-2013, 01:31 PM

The first Reo's cowl lights aren't quite the same.

kerry · #58 01-12-2013, 01:34 PM

What's the thing coming off the back fender and heading around the back of the car? Could that be a helpful clue?

Mölyapina · #59 01-12-2013, 02:19 PM

Ether's grandmother's car...

...vs. the Earl

*EDIT* The hood ornament is different on the two cars, but it looks like Grandma may have a Motometer -- a common accesory for the day, and a sensible one for a long road trip.

I think I agree with Tom:

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

My thought, unless more information is found, is they are both Earls but are either different years or different trim levels.

Since the two cars share so many unique styling details, and the Earl was sold for both good looks and durability, it is a bit less likely that they would have mashed together bodies from different manufacturers.

Mr.Kenny · #60 01-12-2013, 04:10 PM

It's an Earl;..just look at those body lines and fenders and 19 hood louvers.