History Photos taken before WW2 - history in black and white

What a pic! Thanks to the New York Public Library, here's Buffalo Bill Cody in his 1908 White steamer!

 

Two MORE, same source.


White steamer



White steamer

 

A tin man with 1893 on his chest posed in front of Selden #1 for some reason...

 

Selden #1. What is up with the steering wheel?

Wasn't that Mr. Winton's idea sometime around 1899?

Vintageride

 

It's on Selden's patent drawings so I guess not.

 

Mr. Selden's fantasies notwithstanding, I thought the steering wheel had its practical origins on European racing cars: Mercedes or perhaps Renault.

-Dave

 

The Benz Velo of 1893 had wheel steering, but you could argue that the wheel was just a circular tiller handle on top of a vertical column. The earliest car with a wheel on an angled column that I found was an 1899 British Daimler.

 

Wonder when this Selden photo was taken? The helmet on the Tin Man looks WWI era, any helmet historians here?

 

The Selden photo is doctored; part of a modern fictional campaign about that robot having existed since the 1890s and fought in WWI. The original photo was certainly taken during the famous Ford lawsuit to break the Selden patent early in the days of FoMoCo. Selden built one to prove it could be done.

-Dave

 

Wow, took me days but I thoroughly enjoyed this site, big thanks to everyone
Rich

 

Anybody happen to recognize this chap or his car??

Photo THANKS to OldCarandTruckPictures.com!​

 

I make NO bones about it! The last LaSalles are one of my very faves AND on my short list,
should I ever win the lottery! Clearly a case of Cadillac making their companion make "too
good," necessitating absorbing it as the entry-level Cad AND renaming it. I don't remember
the Caddy series, though. Somebody help? Photo THANKS to New York Public Library!

 

Two keen old Chalmers pix. I especially like the top one with the real-estate agent doing
business on the road, right out of his car. He even has his secretary/stenographer onboard!

 

The tin man is named "Boilerplate" and is computer generated by a man in the Portland, Oregon area. "Boilerplate" also appears in pictures with Pancho Villa and Mexican Revolutionaries. The "1893" on Boilerplate is probably a wry comment on the Selden 1877, which many car nuts, myself included, have doubted for years.

 

Thanks 33-Chevy and Bigcheese 327, once again the most logical explanation proves to be the right one. I don't understand why some seem to think Selden was a charlatan, he filed the patent in 1879 and the steering wheel is right there in the drawings and description.

 

How about a little color? These are from 1939-1942 and all in color....gorgeous stuff here-Enjoy!

http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

 

Mystery homebuilt 1920's-early '30's vintage single-seat
hot rod or race car. Can anybody ID the make and year
of the car or cars - or major parts therof - that where used
to build this thing??

Mart3406
====================

 

Can anybody I.D. this mid-teens vintage touring car??
I'm just guessing but I'm thinking an Overland maybe??

Mart3406
================================

 

I feel, when you look closely at the facts -- without getting lost in details -- Selden was NOT a charlatan, nor did he do anything "wrong." A better label would be "opportunist." He patented the automobile and, patent laws being loosey-goosey, he took advantage of that. He ALSO made a ton of MONEY, while the ride lasted!

 

It's a 1916 REO "The Fifth". Cost $875 new

 

It is certainly home built. Radiator is certainly late teens or early 20's Packard....and maybe the hood too. I have no clue on the rest.

 

Was Selden an active member of the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers? I had this impression he had just sold his patent to them, and later became involved again during the Ford litigation.

-David