What car is this?

"KnowsAboutCars" (knowsaboutcars) 12/21/2014 at 08:23 • Filed to: None

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This is a screencap from Charlie Chaplin documentary The Birth of the Tramp. This particular footage is from 1914 when Chaplin met Max Linder. My guess is a 1913 or 1914 Cadillac but I don't know what model it is. Any input about make, model, year and possible coach builder involved welcome.

EDIT: It seems that the documentary was wrong. Linder met Chaplin for the first time after moving to USA in 1916.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars 12/26/2014 at 10:48

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It's possible this is an Oldsmobile. The most unusual feature to my eye is the shape of the hood-to-firewall draft, which is very long and has a distinct curvature. The closest I have found thus far is a 1915 Oldsmobile 44:

The windshield frame is obviously quite different on this example, but the area behind the hood is very similar - a much better match than most Cadillacs I looked at. It's possible that this section would be coachbuilt with the rest, but less common, I think - particularly with the curvature it possesses.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars 12/26/2014 at 11:05

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Here's a Chevrolet, as a comparison - the draft is much shorter and at a sharper angle. I really suspect this part is key, as the driver's position and dash vs. the hood is a relatively fixed relationship, and a coachbuilder would have to be very adventuresome to make a part for that location that changed dash size, position, and hood relation significantly, without making the mechanical part of things very difficult.

Dodge Brothers, Hupmobile, Cadillac, Franklin, and others... the two closest to the Oldsmobile in fit so far have been Chalmers and Auburn... maybe Overland and some esoteric Packards. I'm still leaning Oldsmobile.

KnowsAboutCars > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/26/2014 at 11:11

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Hmm, interesting. The closest I got while researching this on Sunday was 1915 Cadillac Type 51 Touring Car with Landaulet Coupes windshield area.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars 12/26/2014 at 11:17

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Those are a much better match than the '14 Cadillac, but the break-over from the windshield to the firewall draft isn't quite right. This is not to say it isn't another makers take, because the length of the draft is about right, only not the height of the skirt under the windshield. Did you notice what appear to be cab air vents cut into the body down low? I haven't spotted a single car yet that has that feature - it may be something specific to the coachbuilder.

Edit: forgot to add, the builder of the second Cadillac used an A-pillar window, and that is present in the picture. It seems to be an unusual feature, so if one might find which coachbuilder had A-pillar windows in their metiere, that might narrow down that part of the question.

KnowsAboutCars > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/26/2014 at 11:28

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Yup, noticed the vents. The area between running board and main body seems to be slightly different too.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars 12/26/2014 at 11:35

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The area between running board and body appears used up partly with accessory boxes of some kind - who knows exactly what they're for, other than more optioning out in general. Possibly tools? Both the Olds and the Cadillac seem to have somewhat of a frame-covering sill out past the body a bit, which matches the pic. The wire wheels are rather odd, since both the Cadillac and the Olds (and most others) defaulted to a wooden artillery style - another pricey option, perhaps?

It's a shame the brakes don't tell us much - rear (probably mechanical) drum, present in virtually identical form on the Olds and the Cadillac.