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History Help with identifying some old cars?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Rohan, Jun 16, 2011.

  1. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Hi everyone, I've been browsing the huge and awesome photo threads on the HAMB for a while now, but haven't jumped in with posting my own stuff yet. I'm from Adelaide, Australia, and 26 years old, so probably a bit younger than many users on here.

    I've been going through a few old family albums recently, one of my great-grandfathers took quite a lot of photos in the 1930s, 1940s and 50s, which was somewhat unusual at the time here. It's fascinating sifting through the old black and white prints,seeing some of the cars, motorbikes and trucks that were around back then, as well as some distinctive local landmarks, buildings, street scenes, the Adelaide CBD and suburbs. There are also quite a few of my grandfather in the 1930s-1950s as well, he migrated from Bulgaria in the early 1930s.

    Here are a few of the pictures I've come across so far. I'm having a bit of trouble working out exactly what kind of car is in a few of the photos. They all look somewhat familiar, but I'm not knowledgeable enough about older cars to be certain of the year, make and model.

    I'm pretty sure some of you will immediately recognise cars I'm scratching my head over, although with a few cars being Australian that might be a little tricky. I still have quite a lot of album pages and old prints to scan in, which I'll be posting on my blog as I get around to digitising them:

    http://carscameraschronicillness.blogspot.com/

    Thanks in anticipation.

    :) Rohan


    This photo was taken in 1954, and I know what the car is; 1950 Ford Prefect.

    [​IMG]



    The photo is from 1963, it's obviously a Dodge something and looks familiar, but can't place the model name/year.

    [​IMG]



    Photo taken in 1933.

    [​IMG]



    This picture was taken in 1966, and the car is an FJ Holden.

    [​IMG]




    These four are from the 1950s. First two shots are maybe a Dodge or Chev?

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    I'm told this is a Morris, not sure of the model or year though.

    [​IMG]



    This one might be an FJ Holden ute, Dodge or Fargo?

    [​IMG]




    These are both from 1932. I think the car might be a Model T? Not familiar enough with bikes to have much of a guess.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]



    And the last one for this post is from 1953. Not really sure about the car.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2011
  2. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    The light colored roadster pickup with the barefoot dude is a Dodge. The touring with the dapper fella sitting on the running board, that you thought was a T, is a Chevy. Probably about 1928.
     
  3. v8nutter
    Joined: Dec 23, 2010
    Posts: 110

    v8nutter
    Member

    The Morris van is an 8 series E. Made from 1939 to 48ish. It was superseded by the Morris Minor. The series E cars had the headlights set in the front fenders similar to a 37 Ford V8
     
  4. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    The Dodge flatbed truck is a 48-54 model, commonly called "pilothouse".
     

  5. 1950ChevySuburban
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 6,187

    1950ChevySuburban
    Member Emeritus
    from Tucson AZ

    What's that last one? I like how the grille shell flares out. Stylish.

    Cool pics, thanks!
     
  6. LowFat48
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 910

    LowFat48
    Member

    the last one is an Oldsmobile , about 1924
     
  7. Flatman
    Joined: Dec 20, 2005
    Posts: 1,975

    Flatman
    Member

    1926 Chevy
    all201.jpg
    The Morris looks like a 1946 Z series 8

    Flatman
     
  8. LowFat48
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 910

    LowFat48
    Member

    the bike may be a royal enfield
     
  9. 48 Chubby
    Joined: Apr 29, 2008
    Posts: 1,014

    48 Chubby
    Member Emeritus


    Nope, don't know what its yet, but Royal Enfield never made one with a verticle twin engine and both exhaust on the left side.
    I'm sure it ain't a BSA, Triumph, H-D, Indian, Matchless, AJS, and I don't think it's a Norton.
    Right now it's a puzzler.
     
  10. LowFat48
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 910

    LowFat48
    Member

    Brough superior ?
     
  11. At first blush it looks a bit like a Buick or Packard grille but yes, I believe it to be an Oldsmobile too. A 1925 Model.
     
  12. wendle
    Joined: Dec 1, 2009
    Posts: 18

    wendle
    Member

    You don't happen to have any more pics of that PilotHouse truck do you?

    If it came from Riverina Victoria/NSW (Holbrook/Jingellic/Mt. Alfred/Culcairn) there is a good chance I own it.

    Those are beehives stacked on the back, yeah?
     
  13. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. Just what I thought the HAMB would be able to do; tell me about bumpers and headlights of the cars I can't even ID for sure. :)
     
  14. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    No, my great grandfather was a market gardener, the photo was taken in Fulham Gardens, Adelaide, South Australia. The boxes are most likely filled with tomatoes, definitely not beehives.

    That's the only picture I can find of the truck at the moment, my mum thinks that is probably the only photo taken of it.
     
  15. wendle
    Joined: Dec 1, 2009
    Posts: 18

    wendle
    Member

    Cool.

    The smaller ute a few photos down from that "This one might be an FJ Holden ute, Dodge or Fargo?" is either Dodge, Fargo, or DeSoto. They were sold under all three names, sent flat packed from Windsor, Ontario and Finished here. The front of it would look exactly the same as the bigger PilotHouse truck, just a bit lower.
     
  16. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Just did a big zoom on the ute photo, missed the 'Dodge' badge on the back, just above the licence plate.

    But speaking of Fargos, I wrote and photographed an article on a truck version a couple of years back, for the Australian 'Caravan & Motorhome' magazine.

    [​IMG]


    I'll post up more photos from the shoot a bit later. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the owner and his friends had a Fargo ute in the workshop that they were in the process of restoring.
     
  17. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    This was taken in the 50s. Love the car, with the smooth sweeping lines and whitewall tyres. Looks more like an American car.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. babaydoll
    Joined: May 26, 2011
    Posts: 10

    babaydoll
    Member
    from BD

    I can't really help you with anything but I can't help admiring your photos. Incredible!
     
  19. Car with the lady,,a DeSoto ?
     
  20. LowFat48
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 910

    LowFat48
    Member

    1939 Chrysler
     
  21. v8nutter
    Joined: Dec 23, 2010
    Posts: 110

    v8nutter
    Member

    Didn't Brough Superiors have V twin engines? Aerial perhaps. They used to have magneto drives similar to the one in the picture except they were usually at the back of the engine.

    Those Morris vans were used by the Post Office in the U.K. The fenders were made from moulded rubber so they wouldn't get damaged in minor bumps
     
  22. ltownrodder
    Joined: Jul 17, 2007
    Posts: 310

    ltownrodder
    Member

    Not all the Morris vans had rubber fenders. Only the post office vans. My 47 has steel fenders the whole way round. The model you have in the picture is called a traveler.:D
     

    Attached Files:

  23. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Thanks again for the help guys.

    This one isn't car related but thought people might be interested because it's so old. The couple in the centre are my great-great grandparents, the photo was taken in 1900 as far as I know.

    [​IMG]
     
  24. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Taken in 1955, this is an Australian car, an FJ Holden.

    [​IMG]
     
  25. That ain't no FJ, it is a 48-215 - more commonly known as an FX. The FJ was the facelifted version that came out a couple of years later.

    I don't yet know what the bike is but contrary to what someone else wrote it is not a twin. It is an overhead camshaft single. It looks to have something written on the mag drive chaincase. Maybe someone can get a close up of it. It looks though it might start with C - maybe Calthorpe?? The bike is an interesting mix of old and new; it has a saddle tank which would mean it is late 1920s but it has gas powered headlight. That is the gas generator just below the gear shifter. Note also it has an external contracting rear brake. All very odd on a bike with ohc. It looks to have a good size front brake - I wonder if that is a later addition.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2011
  26. Rohan
    Joined: Aug 24, 2010
    Posts: 26

    Rohan
    Member
    from Australia

    Wealth of knowledge on this forum is amazing, all this information about vehicles I'm not sure of. Probably not worth me guessing when people can tell me little details of differences between models and years. :lol:

    This one was taken in Hahndorf, a small town just out of Adelaide, in 1953.

    [​IMG]
     
  27. The little car with its back to us is, of course a Morris Minor. The van might be a circa 1941 Ford from the style of the wheels and hubcaps.
     
  28. The Panel Van as we call them here in Australia appears to be either a '39 Ford Deluxe or '40 Ford.

    As to the bike I agree that it appears to be a Calthorpe. This pic is of a 1927 model.


    [​IMG]
     

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