Quiz Archive

What is it? # 132 (1914/1915 Milburn Light Electric Coupe)

Some competitors thought # 132 is Grandma Duck's car. And yes there are some similarities, but when you follow this next link you will find that Duck's car is a 1908 Detroit Electric (Goofy313.free.fr)
Back to our own # 132..... About question 1, the Make:
First of all the Make which many competitors had right: Milburn (Electric) Alternatively one can argue that the the name of the make is Milburn Light Electric, but as nobody mentioned the issue we took all Milburn and alike for OK.
About Question 2, the Year:
The postcard is from 1915 The retailprice is from 1915 The late 1914 models are named Model '1915' or Model 15 Still... it can be a photo of a 1914 car. At least one 1914 car is known and there is no way to differentiate between a late 1914 or a 1915 car based on model features. Both the artillery wheels and the early positoned haedlamps were seen in both years. But.... the tires look like massive ones. So -like two(!) jurymembers (Roger Fields and Bart Oosterling) write, it very well can be a photo made of a 1914 prototype. But no way to tell for sure. Concluding it is either a 1914 or 1915. In 1916 both the artillery wheels and headlamp position changed.
Question 3, the Type:
Coupe, Light Coupe, Model 1915, Model 15 ..... all OK. Unfortunately adding up the results of question 1,2 & 3 left us with five (!) competitors: Paul Linster, Ian Hayhurst, Hans Compter, Mike Turner, Jan Gauffin, all ver-r-ry close. In the end we decided that Ian Hayhurst's addition to the Type question >>> 100" WB <<< was decisive. We agree, nitty gritty stuff, but WB is a very important issue on ID-ing US cars.
So, congratulations to Ian Hayhurst!
We had contact with George Milburn about the results. Learn all you want to know about Milburn on the Detroit Electric '>the official Milburn Electric website . (photo courtesy Richard Lane)
It is 'Beautiful, Clean, Smart, Graceful, Silent, Durable, Convenient', all this according to and guaranteed by a company that was established in 1848. This closed model has a pricetag of $ 1485 . The Roadster is $ 1285. Now many of you will see in a glance which make of car it is. So the problem as usual will be to give an exact year to the car. Luckily we know exactly in this case....for a change. So the problem is on your side. Do you like to gamble or are you into the finer detail of analysing the marketing of artillery wheels as opposed to spoke wheels. We'll see. The questions: 1 Make 2. Year 3. Type. Succes !

Rules:

- send your answer to \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it BEFORE Monday, November 22

- PLEASE mention in the subject line of your e-mail: # 132

- include, for in case you win: your shirt SIZE, being S,M,XL or XXL and the ADDRESS where we should send the shirt

- unless otherwise stated there is ONE winner

- please mention if you were an earlier winner (1,2 or J)

- THREE time winners automatically become Jury member, but of course there is no obligation in any way

Friday, 19 November 2004