Ok what's a henway. You guys are a bunch of bung holes, just leave a guy hangin like that. and you are absolutely wrong its a peterfor.
I now think this may be a Buick from the 1920's - used to power a sawmill. The shocks are clearly there to cushion the boards as they fall free from the logs. The side covers gave it away...
Nice yard art! Great patina! I'd like to have the complete engine, frame horns, shock, etc. just as it is for my front lawn. -Dave
Thanks to all the knowledgeable people sending clues and answers. Is that thing in the front of the photos part of a Dubonnet, or "knee action" suspension? Or is it just a regular shock absorber? I ask because it seems like if it's knee action, that might narrow it down. Subject to confirmation: knee action was used by General Motors from 1934 to 1939. The inventor was a French race car driver who also happened to be the heir to the Dubonnet aperitif fortune. It appeared as standard equipment on the 1934 Chevrolet Master passenger cars and sedan deliverys, and the Pontiac Economy Straight Eight, also a passenger car. After that year it became a much rarer extra-cost option until it was dropped for the 1940 model year. Again subject to confirmation: it's probably not a Pontiac, because as far as I can tell, no Pontiac had both knee-action and a six-cylinder engine. But that engine could easily be a 1934 or later Chevrolet "stovebolt six," 206 cubic inches, producing 80 horsepower. Buick had a version of the stovebolt six that was similar to the Chevy, but again, no Buicks offered knee action. So my guess right now is that the car was a 1934 Chevrolet Master, pictured below.
That's not a Dubonnet unit, but a dual piston hydraulic, lever armed shock absorber. Not unlike what was used on '30s/'40s/'50's GM IFS, but combined with the upper A arm in those models. And the identity has already been 'narrowed down'...it's Buick! Ray