Quiz Archive
What is it? # 68 (UPDATE I & II)
Due to a short vacation of our quiz judging staff member and moreover due to a number of very similar and close answers this took some more time than expected. Sorry for that. After careful examination of all answers in cooperation with the American jurymembers we found that the following is the winning answer: "The # 68 car is a 1909/1910 Locomobile, model 40 touring. That was the last year for that model. I think that the thin cable was the handbrake." Congratulations José Gomez! Kit Foster came up with a nice story about the waving sheet. We will tell you that one the next few days with a very illustrating photo. (photo collection Bob Swanson)
UPDATE II by José Gomez: "From the end of the XIX century to the early 1900s, Locomobile was the more
eligible steam car and one of the best seller horseless carriages in the
American market.
- In 1901, in a visit to New York searching for opportunities to invest in the
auto industry, Henry B. Joy, the son of a railroad tycoon from Detroit, was
present while during a exhibition his friend Truman Newberry was injured in an
accident produced by a steam escape from a Locomobile, then they took a
decision in favor of the gasoline powered cars instead the steam propulsion
that they know so well. They choose the Packard car. Later, Joy was Packard
Car Co. president and Newberry board member of that company.
- In 1908, Walter P. Chrysler bought a Locomobile (a very well built and a very
expensive car, too) with the only purpose to disassemble it for a detailed
study. During the twenties Locomobile was the jewel of the Durant car empire."
EARLIER TEXT: It is a long white sheet waving slowly in the wind. Due to the long exposure time the sheet is getting a bit spooky. Most probably it is a product shot meant to show the ample room of the car (nothing has changed...). The right door is wide open to show the second 'Chesterfield' and four(!) fold-away seats (click photo). Not a little car like last week's Charronette. A big very well built car. One of this make won a first prize in a 1913 rally when it was four years old and with 100 K-miles on the clock already... (they ain't build 'm like that anymore). The photo has immense detail and sharpness (no digi-crap but pure silver grain...). OK, enough of that. Who can tell additionally to Make / Year and Type what is the function of
the thin cable in this detail? In order to make a chance winning the infamous PreWarCar T-shirt send your response before Monday 2 June to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Please add # 68 in the subject line.
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Friday, 30 May 2003
Due to a short vacation of our quiz judging staff member and moreover due to a number of very similar and close answers this took some more time than expected. Sorry for that. After careful examination of all answers in cooperation with the American jurymembers we found that the following is the winning answer: "The # 68 car is a 1909/1910 Locomobile, model 40 touring. That was the last year for that model. I think that the thin cable was the handbrake." Congratulations José Gomez! Kit Foster came up with a nice story about the waving sheet. We will tell you that one the next few days with a very illustrating photo. (photo collection Bob Swanson)
