History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

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Windsor, 1911 - 1933
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'The Canadian'.
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Canadian Commercial Car Ltd. manufactured trucks exclusively at its 509 Goyeau St. plant. They named their light delivery wagon The Canadian.
The wagon had a 22 h.p., two-cylinder opposed engine. Other features included a screened-in body, an ebony steering wheel, solid tires and a thermo-syphon cooling system. Listed at $1,500 (Canadian funds), their advertisement claims it to be "the best car in the world to-day for the money."
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Regal Motor Car Co.
Walkerville, 1910-12 ​

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An advertisement for the 1910 Regal, built by The Regal Motor Car Co. for Alberta's Western Canada Motor Car Co. Ltd.
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A branch of the Detroit parent firm, the Regal Motor Car Co. of Canada moved into Walkerville in 1910, under the guidance of Canadian Fred W. Haines.
The Canadian arm of the company produced the Regal '30', a 2,000 lbs., four-cylinder touring car built identical to the US model.
Late that summer the Regal '30' was driven 5,000 miles visiting county fairs between Halifax and Winnipeg in order to stir up business. It was met with little success and the company folded soon thereafter. A second Canadian Regal appeared in Kitchener in 1915, headed by American Henry Nyberg. This company faired much better than the first.
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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top rowSpan=4 width=492 colSpan=4>Everitt-Metzger-Flanders Co. Canada 1909-1911
Studebaker Corporation of Canada
Windsor 1912 - 1936; Hamilton 1948 - 1966
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Above: The Studebaker '20'', originally a 'Flanders 20'
Below: Artist's somewhat exaggerated conception of the Studebaker Plant in Windsor's factory district. At one time this was one of the busiest plants in Windsor.


Below: E-M-F and Studebaker logos.


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In late 1909 the American company E-M-F opened a branch plant in Walkerville and began the manufacture of E-M-F 30 and Flanders 20 Automobiles.
Not long after their move into Canada, E-M-F and Studebaker (who at the time distributed E-M-F cars in the States) got into a dispute which led to Studebaker acquiring E-M-F in a take-over. The Studebaker Corporation of Canada was formed, the E-M-F 30 and Flanders 20 were renamed the Studebaker '30' and '20' and sold until the end of 1912.
One of the more interesting cars manufactured by Studebaker was the E.K. Big Six, so named because of its 7-passanger size and ability to reach speeds of 80 miles per hour. Rum runners of the day did much of their business with this vehicle--so much so, that in 1921 the Windsor Police Department bought a $3,000 Big Six of their own just to keep up with the Runners.
Studebaker enjoyed a successful Canadian run until the late-1920's when it released the Erskine, a European-style six that no one wanted to buy. A few years later, it purchased the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co., which had for years been in a state of decline. The cars did not sell and Studebaker unloaded the company in 1934. Studebaker continued to manufacture a full line of cars in Windsor until 1936, when Canadian tariff protection was parred down.
After the war, in 1948, a new plant opened in Hamilton. By 1963 the American Plant in South Bend, Indiana, was closed, leaving Hamilton to produce Studebakers alone, which it did until 1266. Links
Studebaker National Museum
Studebaker Internet Club
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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=455>Menard Auto Buggy Co. 1908 - 1909
Menard Commercial Car Co. 1910 - 1916
Menard Motor Truck Co. 1917 - 1920
Windsor
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Above: The Walkerville Fire Department drove this Menard Fire Truck.



Above: 1908 Menard Highwheeler
Below: Restored 1908 Menard Highwheeler


</TD><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Blacksmith and prominent wagon-maker Moise L. Menard (later mayor of Riverside), a native of Belle River, saw that the automobile was the coming thing. He arranged for M.B. Covert of Detroit to design a car that he could manufactured at his wagon works.
The result was the 'Menard Auto Buggy', a Highwheeler passenger vehicle with a two-cylinder, opposed, air-cooled engine which he built for two years. Highwheeler's were automobiles with oversized tires, which were in vogue around this time. These early Menard vehicles, crudely made but durable, were manufactured completely in Windsor rather than assembled from imported parts.
The Menard was well built and enjoyed good sales as far away as the Prairies and Quebec. In 1910 the company changed its name to The Menard Auto Buggy Co., and added a new 16 h.p. water-cooled engine, for the reasonable price of $625. But with growing competition and fading popularity of the Highwheeler, Menard switched over to the manufacture of trucks.
Menard produced a series of trucks, from one-ton to three-and-a-half ton models. in 1916 Menard built an aerial ladder fire truck for the Walkerville fire department.
Menard sold out to the Maple Leaf Manufacturing Co. of Montreal in 1920 and entered public life. He became mayor of Riverside in 1923 - 1924 and died in 1946.

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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="50%">Chatham Motor Car Co.
Chatham, 1906-1909
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A 1907 Chatham advertisment.

A 1907 Chatham

The 1908 Chatham 30.
</TD><TD height=611 vAlign=top align=left>The Chatham Motor Car Co. was formed in 1906 by Joseph O'Keefe and D.N. McMullen. They built one model--a five-passenger touring car called The Chatham. The Chatham contained a four cylinder, 25 h.p., water-cooled engine. The bodies were designed by William Gray of the Chatham carriage firm Wm. Gray & Sons Ltd (and later of the Gray-Dort Motor Co.)
The Chatham Car did well, gaining respect and loyalty from its buyers. An action, however, was brought against the company by a Detroit Firm resulting in an auction of the plant and assets.
The successful bidder was a Chatham dentist named G.W. Cornell who resumed production, and produced the 1908 Chatham 30, a substantially remodeled design with a 'tulip-style' body and 30 h.p. engine.
The new Chatham appeared at exhibitions and ran endurance runs with success. During the summer of 1908 a Chatham 30 was driven 3000 miles from Arcola, Saskatchewan back to Chatham by a man named J.B. Stauffer who reported to have passed or pushed the famous makes of Oldsmobile, Packard and Ford.
In all, between 75 and 100 vehicles were produced by the company before the depression took its toll. Production ceased in 1909. By March 1910 the factory was purchased by the Anhut Motor Car Co. of Detroit.
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And while off on the Canadian topic, I ran across this and thought I would share as well................

Canada's First Traffic Accident

Text compliments of:
Austin L. Bowman, Ph. D.


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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=635><TBODY><TR><TD height=1090 vAlign=top>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In 1866, Father Antoine Belcourt, parish priest at South Rustico, Prince Edward Island, purchased a steam powered automobile from the United States. The automobile was delivered by ship to Charlottetown. Father Belcourt engaged a local farmer, Moses Peters, to go to Charlottetown with a team of horses and haul the machine to Rustico.

The extent to which Father Belcourt may have used the machine is unknown. There is one story to the effect that he instructed his housekeeper to light a fire under the boiler and she complied by lighting a fire under the entire machine and almost destroying it.

At any rate, Belcourt undertook to demonstrate the machine on the occasion of the parish picnic on June 24, 1866. Unfortunately the machine went out of control, ran off the road, went through a fence, and rolled over, thus creating what we have called the first traffic accident in Canada. Actually, strictly speaking, Canada as we know it did not come into being until the next year and in fact Prince Edward Island did not become part of Canada until 1873.

Father Belcourt terminated his automobile experiments at that point. Local folklore has it that the engine was removed and used to pump water. Efforts in recent years to locate and identify any components of the machine have not been successful and it seems probable that any remaining pieces might have become part of a World War II scrap drive. Father Belcourt subsequently moved to the western United States and ministered there for the remainder of his life. He never returned to Prince Edward Island.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I strongly suspect that father Belcourt's car was one built in 1861 by Elijah Ware of Bayonne, New Jersey. An article appearing in "Scientific American" in 1913, and of which there is a copy in the Provincial Archives, describes Elijah Ware's car in some detail and concludes with the comment that he sold it to a clergyman in Prince Edward Island. I am inclined to discount the water pumping story without some knowledge of the actual construction of the car. The engine in most steam cars was integrated with the chassis and the driving axle also served as the crankshaft. However, it is possible that the boiler and some other components might have become part of the water pumping equipment.

Father Belcourt is, perhaps, better known for his role in the establishment of the Farmers Bank of Rustico which would be somewhat similar to the credit unions of today. There were no banking facilities available in the Rustico area at the time and so the Farmers Bank provided local residents with a facility for investing their savings and a source of capital for local farmers, fishermen, merchants, etc. In recent years the building which housed the Farmers Bank has been developed into a museum. The museum has a mural with an artist's depiction of Father Belcourt's car. The artist has drawn the machine to somewhat resemble the steam fire engines in use in many cities and towns around 1900. However, it also resembles a steam car built in the United States by a Sylvester Roper sometime prior to 1870 and which has been reported to have been destroyed. We must keep in mind here that, to the best of our knowledge, there are no photographs of Father Belcourt's car and that no one actually knows exactly what it may have looked like.

Steam cars seem to have been particularly prone to accidents. The world's first non-guided, self-propelled, mechanical vehicle is reputed to have been a steam car, or more accurately, an artillery tractor, built by Louis-Joseph Cugnot, a French Army engineer, in 1770. After some experimental runs it crashed into a brick wall in 1771 thus creating the first known automobile accident and ending the French Army's experimentation with self propelled vehicles.

In 1867, the year after Father Belcourt's unfortunate accident, Henry Seth Taylor of Stanstead, Quebec, built what is regarded as the first automobile to be built in Canada. After some minor mishaps with the car in its first year, and following some modifications, Taylor proceeded to drive his car the following year. Apparently all went well until he attempted to descend a steep hill. The car, which had no brakes, went out of control and crashed at the bottom. Taylor managed to escape, but the car was a wreck. Taylor gave up on it, salvaged the boiler for his steam yacht, and devoted his experimental efforts to steam boats. This incident has been described as the first automobile accident in Canada, but this would have been two years after the wreckage of Father Belcourt's car.

It has been reported that many years later Taylor's car was discovered in the United States where it was subsequently restored, this time with brakes, eventually returned to Canada and is now the property of the Ontario Science Centre. As I have noted, Canada did not come into being until 1867, Prince Edward Island did not join Canada until 1873, and so, in that context, Taylor's accident is probably the first in Canada although it was two years later than Belcourt's.[/FONT]
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Austin L. Bowman is a member of the Prince Edward Island Antique Car Club and of the Society of Automotive Historians. Mr. Bowman and his son own a small collection of old cars. Most of them are from General Motors and range in age from a 1930 Chevrolet to a 1983 Pontiac T-1000 and include a rather rare 1969 Pontiac Firebird with a Ram Air 3 engine.

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Hey Guys-

The PreWarCar wedsite has revamped their website and they now have an organized listing of prewar automobile manufactures arranged alphabetically and chronolgically.

Some of them have live links as well.

Check it out.

http://www.prewarcar.com/featured/marques/

 

Now HERE is one that has me flabbergasted. NO JOKE, either. The Lost Cause supposedly was REALLY a car made in 1963 and 1964 in Louisville, KY. I can't imagine what kind of car this was, NOR how such a recent car flew under my radar. I've been on sme wild goose chases for cars that DIDN'T actually exist, but I think this was for real!

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=465>Denby Motor Truck Company of Canada Ltd.
Chatham, 1919 - 1921
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<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width=220> </TD><TD width="100%">The U.S. designed Denby was produced in models ranging from one to six tons at a Canadian branch plant in Chatham. Denby's sales manager was William Riley Stansell, who later produced the Brock Six. Production took place in the old plant of the Defiance Iron Works, previously home of the Swift car.


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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=482 align=left>Brock Motors Ltd.
(Stansell Motors Ltd.)
Amherstburg, 1921
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The well-designed, smooth-running Brock Six was originally designed by William Riley Stansell, to be marketed under his name.
</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>Originally Stansell Motors Ltd., William Riley Stansell had plans to build 10,000 touring cars a year. After a short while the company was reorganized and renamed Brock Motors, with Stansell kept on as a manager.
In May of 1921 production plans were announced for a larger five passenger touring car named the Brock Six. By fall, however, the company folded after producing only one Brock Six. This Brock Six was driven by the well-known Dr. Fredrick Park, a shareholder who also bought one of only three Amherst 40s ever made.
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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=443>Colonial Motors Ltd.
Walkerville, 1922
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Drawing of the proposed 'Canadian' with a cutaway showing its unique front suspension system.
</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>The Canadian (not to be mistaken for Canadian Commercial Car Ltd.'s 'Canadian') never made production, but some of the design elements of the prototype were impressive. Among other features, this car boasted a Continental six-cylinder engine and an independent front suspension system--a first in Canada.
The Canadian was designed by Earl G. Gunn (formerly of Packard) and one of Colonial Motors' financers. Colonial Motors set up a factory in Walkerville but production never got underway
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Now, this one's a real stumper, and it seems strange that the car was designed with great intentions, good backing, experience, and was scheduled for show debut -- before disappearing like dust in the wind!

The BREMAC of Sidney, OH, was to be something of a radically engineered car for 1932 and was planned and backed by two men with experience at Hudson, as well as being designed (and co-invested-in, as I understand) by Murray chief designer Amos Northrup! Northrup's teardrop streamlining complimented, we're told, an airplane-like monocoque body with no conventional chassis. A rear-mounted engine of the company's own design generated 80 horses. Strange even by today's standards, three people were seated in front, two in the back seat. The 146-inch initial wheelbase could be varied for different body designs, backers claimed.

By October '32, backers asserted the first prototype was nearly done, and three cars in all would be exhibited at November's NY Auto Show. Then -- for a project that had been conducted in the furthest thing from secrecy -- it must have been very surprising when the Sidney-made BREMAC failed to make the show at all! Teardrop? We are left to wonder if the Bremac, in fact, wasn't quite similar to Buckminster Fuller's DYMAXION, eh? Who can say?

Anyone know more about this car, the whereabouts of the prototype, have drawings or photos???

 

That's one of those names that are impossible to look up on the interenet because it uses such common words.

Will check some of my reference books later.

 

BREMAC - Sidney, Ohio - (1932) - The name Bremac was coined from the first syllable of the names of Procter Brevard and William R. McCulla. McCulla was a noted designer of engines; Brevard, though not so well known, was the former sales engineer for Zenith-Detroit Corporation and had been assistant to Colonel Jesse G. Vincent when the latter was chief engineer for Hudson prior to joining the Packard Motor Car Company. Hudson also boasted McCulla as an alumnus, the engineer having served there as well as Belden and Thomas. Also involved in the new Bremac Motor Car Corporation were Amos Northup, chief designer of Murray Corporation, and Fred D. Clark of Sidney, who was backing the project financially. The project was a radical new idea in automobile con&shy;struction. The Bremac had no chassis frame, no propeller shaft, no universal joint. As described by the company, it most closely resembled "an airplane mono&shy;coque fuselage, to which have been flexibly attached at the front end a front axle and steering unit, and at the rear a powerplant, transmission, clutch and axle unit." The powerplant was an 80 hp eight designed by Brevard, the prototype's wheelbase was 146 inches, and the coachwork was courtesy of Amos Northup who evolved "a new form of streamlining" for the Bremac that was designated the Teardrop. (Seating in the five-passenger sedan was the reverse of the usual, three passengers in front, two in the rear.) Production on a strictly custom basis was planned, with wheelbase varying "in proportion to body design for stream&shy;lining." In mid-October of 1932, Bremac announced that its first prototype was under construction in Sidney - and that the company expected to complete three cars of different body model design for exhibition at the New York Automobile Show the following month. The Bremac never made it to the show.

supposedly a drawing of the Bremac

 

Thanks, SWI, about the Bremac info. I found that stuff too, so it doesn't add anything to our knowledge, except maybe the drawing -- which is helpful. I wrote my own synopsis, so that someone wouldn't sue me for copyright infringement. The last sentence is pretty much the challenge I always throw out on these obscure makes: Anybody got anything?

 

The mention of "The Lost Cause" (MODEL)intrigued me.
I did find a reference that it was a speciially customized "Chevrolet"
Body by Derham.
I had recalled hearing, or reading years ago about a "Lost Cause" Corvair.
And remember, I'm the Corvair guy.........
I did find this link to a Popular Science mention.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ty...page&q=LOST CAUSE "LOST CAUSE MOTORS"&f=false

Looks like simply a custom Corvair..............

Along the lines of maybe an Eshelman Corvair.
Eshelman Motors bought fleet-model Chevrolet Corvairs in quantity, which were re-trimmed and re-badged with special gold-colored Eshelman insignia and other appearance changes and marketed to the public as "Eshelman Golden Eagles". But when General Motors learned of this operation, it ordered Eshelman Motors to cease and desist, but Eshelman continued to market the appearance package for those who wished to apply them to their personal cars.

 

That Eshelman deal is sort of reminiscent of the elMorocco episode. GM wasn't too fond of that either, as they were fauz Caddy elDos. No problem there, as the '58 Chevys didn't lend themselves well to being converted into Cads.

 

Maybe a little surprisingly, we haven't talked about the exotic Dual Ghia Itialian-American hybrid made from about 1956 to 1962. The first generation were based on the Exner Fire Arrow show car and ran a Dodge chassis and drive train, including the 315-CID Hemi. MoPar's switch to unit bodies for '58 seemed to spell the end of the opulent cars. But others picked up the ball and built a second generation car, this time running a 383-CID. During their brief run, then-steep Dual Ghia prices ranged from under $7,000 to around $12,000, so many entertainers owned them but few others. Of better than a hundred built in all, only about 30 are accounted for today, and they have brought auction prices well into the six figures. Below are photos of a special, celebrity-owned Dual-Ghia of the second generation.

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1962 Dual Ghia, once owned by Dean Martin, was sold relatively recently by Chicago Classic Cars, source of these photos. Sincere appreciation is expressed.
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Below is a photo of the Dual Ghia owned originally by Peter Lawford who reportedly drove a Dual Ghia on-air for his TV show, "The Thin man." Did he sell this same car to fellow Rat Pack member Dean Martin? Looks awfully similar! The photo derives from the car's run on eBay to whom appreciation is expressed.

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I see no one has listed the Griffith (1964 - 1967)



http://www.mikemooney.com/Griffith_200_400_600.php

 

Ran into this one awhile ago, but have been having trouble identifying it.

 

Come on- a Corvair guy can't identify this?

Corvair Futura Concept Car

by Paul Crowe on <ABBR class=published title=2007-03-18>March 18, 2007</ABBR>
in Concept Cars, Vintage Cars

Even when you think you have seen most of the concept cars from years past, once in a while one shows up, like this [COLOR=#dd0000 !important][COLOR=#dd0000 !important]Corvair[/COLOR][/COLOR] Futura concept car, that has you scratching your head. I had to stop and look because I just don&#8217;t recall ever seeing it before.
It is listed on eBay as a 1960 which is about right judging from the Corvair styling from those years and it has a center front driver position like some current supercars. The glass surrounding the driver, including a glass sunroof, adds to the feeling of visibility but you have to wonder what would happen in a frontal crash, it looks like the driver might be the very first person on the scene. There are no pictures of the engine but I imagine it would be pretty standard Corvair power.
Concept cars from the fifties and sixties had a very period style to them, sort of an optimistic [COLOR=#dd0000 !important][COLOR=#dd0000 !important]jet [COLOR=#dd0000 !important]powered[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] feeling. I love the look.

 

Okay- Now the rest of the story-

Good April Fools joke SWI66.

From: Musclecar Club Discussion Forum

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Futura "concept car", the rest of the story.

This is how the car was recently advertised on e-bay.

FUTURA
The car you see before you was inspired by Kaiser Aluminum designer Rhys Miller. It was designed and engineered by Blake Larson whose life long desire to produce a practical concept car resulted in this unique design, in which he was also hands on in the construction.

His concept was to give the driver as much vision as possible and he therefore put the driver seat in the middle front with center steering and two bucket seats behind and one full car width seat behind that a and a fully glassed enclosed area front and rear (something you see coming out of Detroit in 2009 or 2010). He included the eye catching luggage rack and a tinted glassed roofed area over the front portion of the car as part of the package. The car has a standard Corvair engine and powerglide transmission in the rear, also power windows, door locks, heater and windshield wipers. This car performs very well and is always the center of attraction at any car show.


This car is in complete full street restoration condition and has been recently tuned and checked out for all driving conditions. The car is rust free and has an excellent paint job and a close to like new interior.

Unfortunately the gentleman who originally designed, engineered and hands on built this car has passed away and it is now being offered to become a unique car in any collection. The pictures should speak for themselves. It is important that this car goes to appreciative collector. Car comes with a title.

Now the REAL story...........

It was not built way back when, but built in the late 70's or early 80's by an individual based on the Ryes drawings. Or should I say "cobbled" together. The pictures you see were from an article from around 1998 in Collectible Automobile on the car. It has been pulled off E-bay for mis-representation 3 times. It is based on a 61 Corvair Wagon, Rear window is out of a early Corvair 4-door, steering setup is from a Nash and called Uniscope, tail lights are 59 Caddy, and Headlights are obviously Early 60's Pontiac.

Hope you all had a little fun with my April Fools joke...........

 

Very good!!!!!!

I thought it was obscure enough to make people think about it.
I also figured someone would accuse me of photo shopping that.
It does almopst look like a photo shop, though a very good one.
Yes, the back half of a Corvair wagon on the front, Pontiac Headlights, and the rear window of a 60 corvair moved all the way to the back.
The way this is put together though, most likely have to drop the motor out the bottom to reach the dipstick to check the oil, or change a fan belt.

This one comes up regularly on the Corvair Forums and has been de-bunked many times.
It does resemble that GM concept from the 50's though.

Oh well..........back to more serious research!!!!!!!!

 

Talk about vintage cars................
How many can you identify in this film?

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k

This film was "lost" for many years. It was the first 35mm film ever. It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car
The number of automobiles is staggering for 1906. Absolutely amazing! The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there. (I'm also wondering ... how many "street cleaning" people were employed to pick up after the horses? Talk about going green!)
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And no traffic lights, no cross walks, no painted lanes, no road signs, no cell phones (!) AND NO RULES - yet folks seem to survive okay...!
Great historical film.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k
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This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was
shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing
to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!).. It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing but true!

 

Holly Freaking Molly!

Today morons get run over by light rail/street cars with all the safety features in place. Back then it seems like a Mad Maxx dare game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwcYcedLxZc

Way to go Houston - We are No. 1

 

I hope this hasn't been posted before, but I was just reading and interesting article about the Checker Motor Company and thought I'd pass on these pix. I had no idea that the companies origins had such a "checkered" past! Sorry...it was too easy. Anyway, here's some pictures I ran across (at coachbuilt.com), kind of an evolution of the brand. Very interesting read there.

1922-

1938-

1939-

1948-

1954-

1956-

1966-

1971-

 

Check this question from another mailist. What do you guys think?

Dear Checker Experts,

The March/April SAH Journal notes the history of Checker. I have one question/story to verify. I used to have several 1953-4 Hudson Jets and ran into an old timer that claimed he took a front fender off of a period Checker and put it on his Jet.

Murray built the Jet bodies and I guess the first piece of evidence would be that they also built the Checker auto bodies.

The second bit of ground truth would be that the dimensions of each fender are similar. That would of course would include the wheel cutout so the same dies could be used. I find no early &#8216;50s Checkers photos in my books so my question is did Checker use a Hudson fender or did Hudson use a Checker fender?



1956-

 

1904-05 Pope-Tribune Runabout automobile

American Civil War veteran Colonel Albert Pope had created his bicycle-building 'Empire' in the 1880s and it was a natural progression to enter the automobile business, first with Columbia electric vehicles from 1897, followed by five other Pope makes, the best known of which are probably the Pope-Hartford and the Pope-Toledo - these names reflecting the location of the factories and made by the Pope Manufacturing Co. and the Pope Motor Co. respectively.

 

Checker made their own cabs from 1922 to 1982 under Morris Markin's auspices. I actually like the style of the '30s Checkers! The Gilmore Museum does have nice examples of early Checkers. For at least a decade or two, if I recall correctly, Yellow also made their own cabs, then stopped some time in the '30s and started buying cabs from other companies. I do recall that around WWII up through the forties, Packard, DeSoto, Hupmobile, maybe others, specifically targeted the "livery" fleet trade.

 

1916 taxis, Chicago. This historical pic is just a follow-up
on our discussions on Checker & Yellow. The detail isn't
good enough for me to determine the MAKE of these taxis.
Any HELP out there in HAMBland???

 

Here is a pretty scarce car whose name is rarely heard nowadays,
the Westcott, made in Richmond, IN, and Springfield, OH, from
about 1909 through 1925. They used a Continental engine. One
of Westcott's final models came with novel hardwood side panels
for winter that could be removed in summer during those pre-air-
conditioning days. To me, it rather resembles a Maxwell.


1915 Westcott Model U-50 touring, made in Richmond, IN

 

<CENTER> </CENTER>A 1920s coal-gas powered taxicab operated by John Lee Automobile Engineers in Keighley, England. The bag atop the vehicle stored sufficient fuel for 15 miles of driving. Fast forward to 2007...according to an article in The Conservative, more than 1000 taxicabs in the Chinese city of Fuxin have switched from gasoline to compressed coal-based methane (CBM) fuel.

 

Since the Westcott was just mentioned, I ran onto
a different year and body. This, a 1913 Westcott,
thanks to the keen site maintained by Royal Feltner
of Amesbury, MA.

 

Rare, not extinct, but STILL two cool old pix of times gone by!


Photo from the U.S. National Archives was taken some time
between 1910 and 1915. Scratched on the top of the negative
is the phase, "Around the block for two cents." No restrictions.


Dupont camp car, taken between 1910 and 1915. Photo is from
the U.S. National Archives and has no known publication restric-
tions. DuPont (yes those DuPonts) made cars until 1931.