Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[JGS59]

Hello Forum, I have recently unearthed 3 family photographs from around 1916. (see links to images below) The woman in two of them is my paternal grandmother. It is likely that these photographs were taken in the UK in the Summer of 1916.I was wondering if anyone you help me with the make and model of the car in the images. My initial thought was a Morris Bullnose .... but I have not been able to find any images that match these. Can anyone help with this mystery? Kind Regards JGS

http://s46.photobucket.com/user/JGS59/media/JanetMeggittsboyfriend1916_zps673e1f69.jpg.html

http://s46.photobucket.com/user/JGS59/media/JanetMeggittwithboyfriend19161_zps42744fa3.jpg.html

http://s46.photobucket.com/user/JGS59/media/JanetMeggittwithboyfriend19162_zps4131ee72.jpg.html

[Rick]

Here's the first of JGS' photos (to save clicking)



RJ
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[Peter_L]

Hello. Welcome. I can guarantee that your mystery car will not be a mystery for long. This forum has a vast wealth of knowledge an although the grille doesn't appear in shot, there is more than enough to identify it.

I added the photo here to make it easier to compare. (Rick got to it first )

My first thoughts, 1: It is of American origin. The photo may have been taken in the US or Canada, the clue comes with the house architecture.

[ka]

Probably with it being right hand drive should help narrow it down.
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KA

Better three than four.

[Peter_L]

[JGS59]

Hi Guys - good sleuthing so far. I cannot be certain - but am fairly confident that the images would have been taken in the UK in 1916. In the middle of WWI - it is unlikely that a holiday would have been taken to North America. The lady in the images lived in Mansfield near Nottingham in the UK. She had written to her brother in the Somme trenches in France and sent these photographs. Kind Regards James

[Peter_L]

Re Location. Likely to be in either Australia or New Zealand.

Would explain RHD

Reason. Family history data.

[Bitumen Boy]

I wouldn't be too quick to judge location on the background architecture alone. As a native of Nottinghamshire (near Newark) I can confirm that "colonial looking" dwellings are not unknown - remember that 1916 would be well before the strict planning laws we know today, and what planning laws there were often didn't apply in the countryside. I remember some very odd looking structures next to bypassed stretches of the old A1 that would never be allowed these days, and I doubt the builders of the Mansfield area were any less prone to flights of fancy

[Peter_L]

The boot scraper and mat on the running board is a feature found on a higher % of Aus / NZ vehicles, somewhat less in the US and rare in the UK.

The ridge tiles on the house and the horizontal tiling lines on the roof of the house are typical of Aus/NZ.

Perhaps the two vertical supports either side of the windscreen provide a clue ? do they allow the roof to be up and the windshield to be flat ?

[mikeC]

I would agree that the general atmosphere looks more like Australia than Nottinghamshire; as for the car, I don't pretend to know my American cars, but it looks very like a 1914/15 Buick 44 to me - certainly the detachable rims and general style suggests a Yank of some sort.

[Mog]

The paling fencing is common in Australia not the U.K.

[Peter_L]

Thanks for the input.

It is known that the young lady in the car went from England and married in New Zealand. Possibly 1924. Although the original post says 1916, this may not be correct.

There are features of the car that look like a Mercer, but also Chev or Dodge. Pity there is no front grille, but this forum has cracked more obscure puzzles.

[Riley9]

In Australia prior to the early 1930s we had laws which made it very expensive to import complete cars. Most cars came in in chassis form and had bodies built locally. The body on this car looks like an Australian body. Often the same bodies were fitted to many different chassis. You could see Austin, Morris, Buick, Dodge etc. chassis all with the same body fitted so without the radiator to identify them it can be quite difficult. However the wheels on this one look very American to me. The house in the background looks very much like houses built here in 1920s.

[Rick]

The angled bonnet louvres ring a bell, but I can't place it. Oz or NZ seems likely, and yes most imported cars had home-grown coachwork, although often the factory bonnet and wings were used, which makes he hopeful that the louvres may help id this one.

RJ
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[Peter_L]

Thanks Riley9. Your information about period cars and 1920's houses is most helpful