Can you tell anything about this old auto from the photos?
(*) round back
Is there a good way to tell what kind of solid wood was used? And why would it have what looks like bullet holes in the back?
'28 Durante. ; ash ; someone shot it.
John T.
I would have guessed a model B
Looks to me a lot like a 31/32 Chevy Baby Grand, going by the shape, the between-the rails rear mounted fuel tank, and the double bead at the top of the body. Being an open body, not a sedan, I'd definitely say there is a VERY good chance.
You could be right - the Durant Rugby (or as it was known up here, the "star"would be another possibility -(4 cyl Durant) It is NOT a Ford or an Essex, for sure -
I guess in 32 they diddn't call the phaeton or touring Chevt a Baby Grand any more -officially .
Ash and Oak were commonly used for automotive body framing - Fischer Body division of General Motors used wood framing up untill 1937.
With all that wood it sure wasn't a Ford.
What were 'Woodies' made from - station wagons were in the 50's.
We had Wood carrier top that had to have Spar put on it now and then. I want to say the tailgate also, but not the sides.
Mart> >
By the fifties woodies were all steel bodys with wood trim. GM's last wood framed body was 1937. Ford's last real "woodie" was 1951,( Maple and Birch.) and other than the woodie wagons, Ford was all steel from
1935 on.. Even the '40's Ford woodies were steel framed, with wood skins and "trim" which was only semi-structural.
The Chrysler Town and Country convertible in the forties just had decorative wood trim on an all steel body, as did Ford's woodies from '53 on. Very shortly thereafter, even that trim was "fake wood"
69 Mustang, V8, with AC
Alice Jones was heard to mutter:
For comparison...
So it was *not* a 1928 Durant D-60 4-door Sedan.
Note the Durant doesn't have the "double bead" across the back of the body. That is pretty common on the GM cars of the period - and the rounded, curved in at the bottom profile was pretty well exclusive to
1932 - '28-30 were a lot straighter, for sure.It's NOT a Durant - only a 28 Star would be close, and it does not have a one piece pressed steel bustle - the sides and rear quarters are separate and have a "bead" vertically on both sides to join them. This is a pressed steel "bucket" - That, with the double bead around the top of the beltline, rules our any Durant - and if it's a Chevy pretty well narrows it down ro a '32 . On closer inspection, it's not a touring or Phaeton because the door of a phaeton or fordoor would go back over the fender
So whatever it is, it started life as a 2 door, it's a stamped steel tub, I'd say LIKELY a 32 Chevy 2 door with the roof cut off. (Assuming it is a North American built vehicle)
.. it might have been a modified version. .. people were really radical, way-back-then. John T.
As I said - no double bead at the top, and it's a 3 piece body instead of a preswsed steal tub. Defineitely NOT a Durant of any stripe. Almost CERTAINLY a 32 Chevy from all the clues.
For me, that was clue that it couldn't be the model Casper linked to in his post.
Take a look at ANY durant - the closest would be a 28 Star (or "RUGBY" as it was exported as) but the Durany is a 3 piece tub, not a stamped steel tub as shown - and the side panel is too long for a 4 door or touring. I've been around a lot of old cars - and the first thing that came to mind, with the way the gas tank is mounted, the double "bead" or "feature line" around the top, the moderate curve to the obviously stamped steel tub, and the lever shocks peaking through the floor on the one picture is "32 Chebby". Looked like a Phaeton except the side panel matches a 2 door body, not a 4.- and all "Chebbies" of that era did not have a separate roof - so it looks like somebody took off the roof to make a "topless" two door - not to use the roof elsewheere because the "riser" which would be left after removing the roof appears to have been metal-worked out (if indead it WAS a 2dr Chebby)
I'm still wracking my brain to find a better answer.
H'mmm, you just answered a question I had in my head, I saw a 2dr Chevy sedan and the tub near as I could see, seemed to fit, and I saw a sedan where the top was off, but there was a wooden post left attached to the hub.
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Neill Massello) was heard to mutter:
I only posted the link for visual reference to a (any) Durant as hubops mentioned it.
FWIW, after looking at the back of a few Chevys (got a friend in a car club with a few Chevys, Fords, etc), can't say I see a resemblance.
I'm not as into cars as some and anyway I prefer British ones.
Looks like Mother Earth is taking all those parts back in the photos.
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