Okay, Oppo Old Car Sleuths [Case Cracked!]

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/19/2018 at 16:24 • Filed to: None

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Here’s another one. Since I’m shirking my own work to look at old pictures, I am trying to ruin your productivity as well.

Super size

The Actual RootWyrm nailed it. Here is the description from the photo:

“Stephens Salient Six touring car.” Named after the founder of parent company Moline Plow, Stephens was a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , lasting from 1916 to 1924; in 1920, its best year, the Illinois-based firm produced around 7,000 cars.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:27

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I see someone is having a very productive day...

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 09/19/2018 at 15:28

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I lack a certain amount of motivation today. 

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:29

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Is that amount "all of it"?

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:32

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Only today?

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:33

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1935 Toyota Prius.

Send my prize forthwith

ttyymmnn > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 09/19/2018 at 15:35

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Yeah, pretty much. 

ttyymmnn > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 09/19/2018 at 15:35

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Hey, now....

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/19/2018 at 15:39

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:40

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~’20 Cadillac?

smobgirl > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:42

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I appreciate your efforts but I’m already wasting my day looking at pictures of bathtubs that would cost more than my house.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:43

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This one almost caught me out.

1 920's Dodge Brothers Touring Convertible

ttyymmnn > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 09/19/2018 at 15:44

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That’s a very good guess, but, according to my source, you are incorrect.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 15:44

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No, much much more obscure than that. Year is close, though. 

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 09/19/2018 at 15:47

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Here’s one for you. And I thought SWA was the first to punch through the fence at MDW. Although I’m sure there have been others.

From the Flickr description and comment:

(18Dec49) (N86501) Chicago weather was reported: ceiling 300 feet, visibility 1-1/2 miles with moderate fog and smoke, and wind west-southwest at 8 mph. The ILS approach was abandoned at the captains discretion and he started another. On this second approach the aircraft was observed to touchdown approximately 3,200 feet from the approach end of the runway. From this point, it traveled the remaining 2,530 feet of the runway, traveled 875 feet beyond the far end of runway 13R and went through a heavy chain link fence, crossed a parking lot and struck a billboard and a large ornamental stone pillar before coming to rest on Cicero Avenue in front of the Acme Bar and Grill. ( White Castle is there, today) Some of the passengers probably got out of the plane and walked right into the bar, no doubt.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

In those days, a 300 foot ceiling for that type aircraft and that airline required using the airport’s only full ILS approach, which was on Runway 13R (now 13C). No other MDW runways had full ILS at that time, although you could fly the localizer back course to 31L (now 31C). So on the day of this crash, 13R ILS involved a tailwind. Runway 31L was the better orientation for the wind, but at 300 foot ceiling, TWA no could do. Still, an 8 mph tailwind does not justify touching down 3,200 feet down the runway!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:49

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an edsel! Nice lol.  I’d take it

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/19/2018 at 15:50

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It actually looks eminently restorable.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 15:57

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I can see from the license plate that the car was registered through ‘28. Seemed older. The one clear distinguishing mark (the raised body at the seat back/front edge of rear doors) is a frustrating one because it’s hard to see in bad pictures and is the kind of thing a coachbuilder might be responsible for. I don’t think so, though.

Peerless is a close match, but not, I think, a direct one.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:01

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Nah, with those short runways, there have been a few.  The Wikipedia page for MDW lists a couple more.  Though the crash on December 8, *1972* is the most famous crash there, especially if you’re the tinfoil hat type.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 16:03

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This company only made cars from 1916-1924, if that’s any help. In  1920, their best year, they sold 7,000 cars.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:07

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There’s a dead ringer for it that was made by Marmon. Including the weird break in the body.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 09/19/2018 at 16:08

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Funny you should mention that, because I was just reading the Wiki article on that crash . I would have been 6 years old, and living in Chicago (Oak Park)  at the time, but I don’t remember it. I stumbled across somebody’s Flickr stream   with tons of historic photos from MDW. He posted a picture of the charred instrument panel from UAL 553. 

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 16:10

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Nope. Here’s another clue: The parent company of the auto manufacturer made farm equipment. And the car maker is named after the founder of that farm equipment business.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:14

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The thing that immediately leaps to mind is Chalmers, but that doesn’t match up with the time scale. May I note that the Columbia Six is a sexy piece of machinery? (also not it but has a similar side)

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:17

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Shit, the door handles. The Dodge Brothers is a suicide door configuration. I missed that. You, sir, are a sneaky bastard. But I found another example of this exact car.

1921 Stephens Touring Car.

And further proof.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 16:21

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No, not Chalmers. Though my grandfather had an Allis Chalmers riding mower back in the day. The more I look at cars of this era, the more I am coming to appreciate them. I never really gave the era much thought , honestly, but it strikes me that it was quite an era of entrepreneurship in the US auto industry.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:21

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Speaking of Chalmers, here’s a nice ‘20 model.

ttyymmnn > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 09/19/2018 at 16:22

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DING DING DING! We have a winner! The photo was taken in 1922, and the description states:

“Stephens Salient Six touring car.” Named after the founder of parent company Moline Plow, Stephens was a short-lived marque, lasting from 1916 to 1924; in 1920, its best year, the Illinois-based firm produced around 7,000 cars.  

Nice job. As I dig through more old pictures, expect more episodes of Stump the Chumps.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 16:23

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The Actual RootWyrm figured it out. 

Haase > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:25

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That’s a Stephens Salient Six. 

ttyymmnn > Haase 09/19/2018 at 16:28

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So, did you post that before or after I announced the answer? The time stamps are the same. 

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:41

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This was my browser:

I couldn’t find anything to clinch it, as my image search-fu had not yet hit what Actual RootWyrm had. Interestingly, one of the things that initially made me think Cadillac was that Cadillacs used very similar or even the same door handles, and then I was mired in how there were other manufacturers with nearly the exact same car - even with the weird body contour . The Marmon, particularly.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:41

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This one was actually kinda easy because of the very unique top. I was figuring Dodge Brothers because I couldn’t find one with the top up. Then I spied another car with exactly the same porthole windows. Bam.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:46

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You can see from one of the tabs, “Dort”. Dort is a really weird case, where it was a continuation business of a Durant carriage company business by assorted partners, and the guy running it ran it well enough to hit 13th in manufacturers... but got bored with it and quit.

And nobody ever heard of a “Dort” again.

ranwhenparked > smobgirl 09/19/2018 at 16:53

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I spend part of the day looking at pictures of terrazzo floors, concluded that was too expensive, then killed time looking at terrazzo substitutes, decided Johnsonite Azterra is a good choice, killed time looking at pictures of that, and am now thinking any form of vinyl is probably inappropriate for a living room. 

Haase > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 16:55

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I don’t recall seeing the Actual RootWyrm quote in your post when I replied.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/19/2018 at 16:58

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$1, 095 in 1922 would equal $16,632 today.

ttyymmnn > Haase 09/19/2018 at 16:59

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I’m not at all worried about it. Just impressed that people figured it out.

Haase > ttyymmnn 09/19/2018 at 17:04

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I’m kind of an old car nerd.

ttyymmnn > Haase 09/19/2018 at 17:06

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You park that in your driveway and I would suspect so. Look for some more of these in the coming days, as I waste time and spam Oppo with old pictures. 

smobgirl > ranwhenparked 09/19/2018 at 17:56

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Hah, I’m probably getting vinyl plank installed in mine. Too many animals ruin everything else.

ranwhenparked > smobgirl 09/19/2018 at 17:58

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Yeah, I was thinking it would be good for a dog. That vinyl plank is nearly indistinguishable from hardwood at first glance, and the terrazzo stuff also looks pretty convincing. 

smobgirl > ranwhenparked 09/19/2018 at 18:00

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Congrats on distracting me for the rest of the w ork day while I redesign my kitchen.

ranwhenparked > smobgirl 09/19/2018 at 18:03

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Its what I do best.