ID the model/year (now hopefully with image!)

"Eddie Brannan" (eddiebrannan) 01/22/2015 at 09:01 • Filed to: None

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My family came across this photo of my grandfather at the wheel of this car, which looks to be bearing a Rolls Royce spirit of ecstasy radiator cap. The photo would be from the late 1930s, but the car looks to be a decade or so older. Pop-pop and great grandpa were both sort of celebrities in Australia at the time (Pop-pop was a pro wrestler and his father was a well-known opera singer), but I don't think either of them had it like that .

Can anyone confirm the make and ID the model and year? Many thanks in advance.

BJ > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:06

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This is a RR Phantom I from about 1925, according to the RR website:

It's hard to tell from the picture if that's the same car; too many people blocking the view!

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:07

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Looks to me like a mid 20s Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:08

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Looks like a Phantom I with different roof. At least for me.

I'm not good at identifying cars, i;m just put 1930's Rolls Royce on the google machine. That Phantom was made from 1929 to 1936.

Eddie Brannan > BJ 01/22/2015 at 09:12

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I know! And not only that but they're perfectly positioned to each obscure the key potentially identifying features.

davedave1111 > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:13

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In those days Rolls Royce didn't body their own cars; they provided rolling chassis to coachbuilders to take care of the bodywork. That means they were almost all one-offs, making it very hard to tell which is which from a photo like that. On the other hand, if you do ever manage to, you could conceivably narrow it down to a single car, not just a year.

I'm not even sure that's a Spirit of Ecstasy on the front. Mascots like that were common in the era, and back then people also were much more likely to have a custom bonnet-piece on their Rolls.

If it is a Rolls, though, it's almost certainly either a Silver Ghost or a Phantom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Roy…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Roy…

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:15

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Lambo.

The Real Dacia Sandero > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:19

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This detail is what you want to compare stuff with. What SM70 posted is close, but this appears to have a rounded over hood. Also a rounded radiator, so I'm wondering if it is a Rolls Royce. Also, the hood ornament doesn't really look like the Spirit of Ecstasy.

OkCars- 22k Crossroads > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:21

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It must be older because the wheels on your car look to be wooden, not steel as this image.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > davedave1111 01/22/2015 at 09:21

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Mark me down as skeptical that's necessarily a Roller too, as the vast majority of coachbuilders seem to have built them with reverse-swing doors.

THOMAS5 > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:22

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Judging by the doors and how the front fender pokes out in front of the wheel I would say Phantom. But then it has elements of Silver Ghost. It's hard to tell since back then these were coach built.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:23

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A Packard is also a possibility, I think.

Eddie Brannan > OkCars- 22k Crossroads 01/22/2015 at 09:24

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Yes I have been searching through the online images for spokes like that to try and narrow down the date.

Eddie Brannan > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/22/2015 at 09:26

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Not all had suicide doors by any means. It may indeed just be a radiator cap, but it is certainly a spirit of ecstasy, and other aspects of the car—its size, line of the fenders and general styling—look consistent with early Rollers.

Eddie Brannan > The Real Dacia Sandero 01/22/2015 at 09:28

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That looks very much like a spirit of ecstasy. The hood is definitely rounded, and I can't see enough of the radiator to make a call on its shape It definitely seems to stand proud of the hood a little, which is very unusual. Rounded hoods were not by any means uncommon on Rolls Royces though. That high radiator made me question it too, but in other aspects the car has some very RR-like styling.

Eddie Brannan > davedave1111 01/22/2015 at 09:29

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Yes I know how hard it is to pin down models (and even makes) as the coachbuilt bodies were so varied.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 09:32

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I did find *one* coachbuilder that was using standard-swing doors without them being scoop doors, and that was Hooper. Hooper built cabriolets and phaetons. However, the Hooper I saw had the latch lower on the door than this and a couple of other points of mismatch. Most of the Rollers of these years I could find had the doors reverse-swing with the latch in the same place, which makes me think some element of the overall setup was a good match for it there.

As odd as it seems, the door latch may be your best chance of nailing it down.

BJ > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 10:01

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Let's see if the marketing shmucks at RR can help you out!

davedave1111 > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 10:14

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"it is certainly a spirit of ecstasy"

When you say that, what precisely do you mean? From the pic above, I can't even say it's certainly attached to the car, let alone tell which manufacturer's mascot it is.

Thing is, from what else I can see I'm starting to be more convinced it's not a Rolls. It could well be a Duesenberg:

Clearly not that exact one, but the bonnet line, doors, and roof are all right.

For all I know it could be something else American like a Cadillac:

Maybe something relatively ordinary, though, like a Buick or some such.

Eddie Brannan > davedave1111 01/22/2015 at 12:16

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Lurid color scheme aside, it also bears a strong resemblance to this Dodge Brothers Phaeton too. Trouble is, so did most similar cars of this era.

davedave1111 > Eddie Brannan 01/22/2015 at 14:35

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Well, we've got guys on here who can spot the difference between a 99 Civic and 99 Accord just from an indicator or something, so I guess somewhere there are 20s/30s car nuts who could tell us exactly what it is :)

Eddie Brannan > davedave1111 01/22/2015 at 20:34

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That's what I was hoping. It's not my wheelhouse for sure, but I know there are guys who are weapons-grade at this.

Eddie Brannan > Eddie Brannan 01/23/2015 at 11:36

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Someone on another forum suggested this:

"All I can sensibly offer up is a mid 20's Packard, considering its very long wheelbase and thick-spoked wooden wheels. The bonnet mascot is of interest as it resembles the Rolls-Royce "Spirit of Ecstasy" but could in fact be the Packard "Winged Lady" which often held a wheel between her outstretched arms. The rounded radiator top also suggests a Packard as Rolls-Royce had their patented "Pantheon" grille which was pointed and peaked like the Acropolis.

The Packard "Goddess Of Speed". This motif was carried by Packard for many years and this picture is the closest I can find to the 1920s version. Later ones were more streamlined and stylised a la Art Deco."