VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 What are we looking at here?

I received this photo from a long time member, who believed it was a 490. It is his Dad sitting on the running board. I'm pretty sure it's not a 490, it is simply too big. Also, it has 6-lug wheels (and huge brake drums), and the 490's only had 5-lug wheels. Another clue is the large number of slanted louvers on the hood side. The smaller 490 only had 6 louvers to a side.

So, at that point it is easy enough to conclude that it must be an FA or FB Chevrolet.

BUT - here's the problem - it has the "reverse S curve" front fender line (i.e., not a straight line to the running board), which appeared beginning in 1919 - and yet the windshield is totally vertical, which before 1919 would have been laid back at a 5 or 10 degree slope. So I am really puzzled about the model of this car.

Who can help?

Not an expert by far, but if you check the photos of Pinky Randall's 1914 Chevrolet "Light Six" in the latest G&D, pg 28, it is a very close match, fender lines, hood louvers, 12 spoke wheels, folding windshield, door shapes and top outline. An interesting detail about both cars is how the hood hinge line drops as it goes forward. In later cars, this line stays horizontal and the upper curved sections taper instead. So my thinking is a circa 1914-1915 "Light Six".

Rear fender seem wrong for a Light Six. They seem to be angled out more at the rear on this picture. Are we positive this is even a Chevrolet?

The Light Six idea is very interesting, I had not thought about that. Studied the photo again, and some of my material on Light Six. It just doesn't "feel" like a Light Six - it feels more like a 1917 to 1920 car. I guess I would reject Light Six mostly on the observation that this car has a clearly rounded upper radiator shape; whereas the Light Six is kind of an angular/flattened pyramid shape at the top. Along with that, the Light Six has a shiny band at the line where the hood meets the cowl - like a Model H. The photo car has the more modern late Teens / early '20s look, with the rear edge of the hood over-lapping onto the cowl. Oh, and this is a (later) so-called One Man Top.

But that's a good thought Gunsmoke, made us think.

Brewster, I have wondered about that, too. We can't see anything that definitively makes it a Chevrolet, that is true. But the man in the photo was a hard core "Chevy Guy" and was involved with a Chevrolet dealer in Turlock CA in the mid- to late 'Teens; and the Chevrolet assembly plant in Oakland CA as well, same time frame. His son that sent me the photo always believed this photo was a 490.

It is as if each separate piece I look at on the car is Chevrolet, but putting them all together doesn't add up to any model I recognize.....

Those hood sides should be the key to figuring this out...

Now that I take a second look, you note the hingeline for the hood is in line with about the centerline of the height of the doors, a much lower hood hinge line than Chevrolets of the period (hood hinge was closer to top of door), so that suggests it is not Chevrolet.

Have a look at the 1917 Oldsmobile Model 45 Light Eight Touring. A photo of a green one on Google shows virtually all the features in your photo, with one difference, the Windshield has a slight rake in the Google photo. Otherwise the doors are same, rad is curved, hood line near centerline of doors, and the one man top you mention with a rear V brace which would allow a side screen similar to your photo. Very close, and I suppose Olds and Chev's were sold on same lot at times, especially used!

I'm guessing a 1918 or so Buick. I have a picture of a 1918 roadster and the 12 spoke wheels, reverse curve front fenders, hood louvers and hood shape are very similar. Now to try and find a picture of a tourer. Check out www.prewarbuick.com . Picture of a tourer and also the side curtains are similar. Perhaps someone that knows how can post the photo here or side by side with the above for comparison.

Whenever I'm Googling for the old photo thread, I find that Overland Touring cars seem to be very similar to bigger Chevys as well. This one has the fenders, the cut of the rear door, the small hood side... but not the louvers. Still looking!

http://remarkablevehicles.com/index.php?title=1918_Overland

Put it on the AACA forum in the Photos & Videos section under the What is it? sub-forum. There are guys there that are unbelievable at identifying cars .

All good stuff! The truly vertical windshield is an important thing to match. Pretty much all the GM family of cars went to the slight backward rake after 1917. The hood louvers with the slant is also distinctive, as Bruce points out.

I have checked the books, and the Buicks of this period had straight up-and-down vertical hood louvers, so it's not a Buick.

Oldsmobiles have both vertical and slanted hood louvers, depending on year and model, but can't find anything that matches up with the vertical windshield and same fender lines.

It's not a match until the vertical windshield and the slanted hood louvers and the fender lines all coincide.

That young fella sitting on the running board looks a bit shady, perhaps it's a Johnnie Cash (I got her one piece at a time, and it never cost me a dime...)!

Given the louvers, vertical windscreen,upward lift in the front doorline, low hinge on a rounded hood and the swaging around the doors I decided it was a 1915 Oldsmobile but I then decided it is a 1915 REO. That's what I think.

I looked at a photo of a 1915 REO and agree. Hood louvers, rear fender end style appear the same.

Great work… I think we've got a winner!

I guess Old Ransome E. carried his design philosophy from one make to another. Astonishing how much the various makes looked alike in the day. But then again, many of the bodies were probably being made by the same company. Hope the Guru is satisfied, he's pretty particular!

I think we might have a winner too. Excellent! I found a couple of comparable photos of 1915 REOs - and turned them around, and made them black-and-white, etc, so the comparison would be more clear.

The REO has the vertical windshield, the slanted hood louvers, the 6 lug wheels with shiny rims, the kicked-up rear fender end tip, the same hood line - can't find anything to disqualify it. So here's the original car first, to make comparing easier - and the two REO photos to compare below. Even the grab rail on the back of the front seat, the top hardware, and the spare tire. I'm calling it a match!

It is interesting how the different brands of cars (then as later) ended up with the same advances and styling changes pretty much in lock step. Vertical windshields take a slant in 1918, doors came in 1911, Quad headlights - 1958 (I know, except mopars in '57), sealed beam headlights in '40, running boards disappear, they all were on the same schedule for the most part, all through the past century.



1915 Reo's

The first of your two photos (a factory release I assume with pinstripes etc), is very convincing and leaves little doubt. The second photo however has a couple of interesting differences, the one being what appears to be some sheetmetal at front fender obscuring the hood, and the lower curves of doors seem slightly different. This second car may have been modified a bit, or maybe its just the photo angle. Around here, REO trucks were seen when I was growing up (mid-fifties), not sure when they were discontinued, but have never seen a REO car.

Perhaps those extra lights and radiator cap were "accessories", too...? ( Add pin stripes...? )

Yeah, the first REO car for comparison (middle photo) is actually a photo of a recent restoration,and it looks probably over-restored. I doubt the elaborate pinstriping etc was a factory look. And it is extremely glossy, bright red. So we have to discount the probable over-restoration when comparing it to the period photo.