Quiz Archive

About Quiz # 209 .... NOT Essex

We didn't set a trap for you. We just made a mis-judgement when writing the quiz text about this 1925 Overland Model 93 6 cyl Tourer. (2.8 litres(170ci) 38 Hp). Probably the word "sub-brand" made you take the wrong turn. All competitors - including several well esteemed jury members - came up with Essex. Which means you all were leaning on our words and hints and nobody recognised the car from the dashboard or engine. We checked with Kit Foster who experienced the same problem. When he learned which car it is he wrote:"Ah, Overland. Very clever. The reason it's so hard is because there are so few of them that nobody's ever seen one, particularly the six. The "sub-brand" thing was confusing, too, because actually Overland was the older name, existing before John North Willys got involved, and stayed on the company name until he sold out to Kaiser in 1953. But Overland was not badged onto cars after 1926, except for one model in 1939. The engine looks rather like the Essex six, except that, as I said, it's a mirror image, with manifolds on the left, whereas Essex had them on the right."
Thanks for all that Kit, we just have to correct you on the point that nobody has seen one. The car was listed in our for sale section during the week before the quiz... Check out the recent find by Dr. Heins, NZ.

editor's note: sorry for misleading you a bit, but you learn from this that you should not believe everything written. The quiz-question is as always "What IS it?" not "What does it sound, look, seem like?"

Friday, 17 August 2007