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[ SVVS NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION ASSISTANCE
SERVICE ]
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The SVVS Website currently receives
approximately 500,000
hits a year and the "HELP
PAGE" is internationally the most
visited 'page' on the site. We receive numerous e-mails from historians
and motoring enthusiasts from all over the world with the request to
identify vehicles from old photographs. We can help with identification
of Classic cars because most of us are old enough to remember them as
new, and owning Vintage or Veteran vehicles, many of us, and/or our
associates, are also specialists in own make or type of vehicle -
These Help Pages are therefore devoted to some of the interesting enquiries
received, and information that we have provided. While page is
being built, enquiries are in received order, - when completed, cars are in year order:
Page 73 below relates to enquiries received
during
2014 Click
on picture to enlarge
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING: 1897'8 De Dion Bouton Tricycles
Couple of photos from Alex Stevenson (UK)
of a Benz owned by Grandparents Clifton
and Ethel Hilder, from Sevenoaks. In one of them are two three-wheeled
vehicles which we looked at further. --
Different models made by the same manufacturer who started out making
steam vehicles. After Trepardoux left in 1894, Count Jules-Albert De
Dion and Georges Bouton started manufacturing petrol driven trikes in
1897. These two are c1897 1.25HP and c1898 1.7HP De Dion Bouton
Trycicles.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1899
& 1900 Benz Velo
Couple of photos from Alex Stevenson (UK)
of a Benz Dog Cart ? owned by Grandparents
Clifton and Ethel Hilder, from Sevenoaks. The other is of author Vita
Sackville-West and mother, from Knole House. Are they the same vehicle?
-- Different
cars. Our expert Bryan Goodman advises they are a 1899
and 1900 Benz Velo models, with
curved boot lid. UK agents in 1894 for Benz were Arnold Motor Carriage
Co, Paddock Wood. Bryan advises both cars likely
from F W Bywater shop in Sevenoaks.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1906
Argyll Side Entrance Tourer
Photo of a photo with unfortunate flash
bounce sent to us by Martin Hodgson (Australia)
asking if we could help to identify a
vehicle owned by his great grandfather. The picture is from a collection
held by his grandmother. -- The
flash did not help and took me in the wrong direction. Fortunately
corrected by one of our wise sages who advised this was a Scottish made
car. Registration is London, and car was a
cca 1906 Argyll Side Entrance Tourer,
poss 10'12hp. Liquidated 1908/1932.
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IDENTIFICATION AND
DATING:c1906
FIAT Open Tourer
Another from a batch of
fascinating photographs from our regular contributor Cicos Florin
in Constanta by the Black Sea (Romania)
who is interested in old cars of Romania. Do we know what
this is? -- He
is now sending some really difficult ones which we are not able to
identify. This one is also very difficult but a couple of our
experts believe this is a cca
1906 Fiat Tourer. The radiator is
of the correct pattern, it has oval badge and plate on
bulkhead, wheel hubs match as does the front axle. |
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1910
Hotchkiss 20'30 Roi de Belges
Cinema screen grab from aBritish made for
TV Movie "Gentlemen's Relish." made in
2001 where the
cars are being investigated by IMCDB. Film stars Billy Connolly,
Sarah Lancashire and Douglas Henshall artish getting a camera and being hoodwinked
by friends into making 'nude artistic tableaux'. --
Although British film, and many British cars to chose from, they chose a
car made by a French cannon manufacturer from Paris. This
is a cca
1910 Hotchkiss 20'30 Roi d e Belges Tourer.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1911
Humber 12'20 Tourer
Lovely bunch of phots sent to us by Peter
Loose (Australia) of
his grandmother and the Collin family in their old car. Photos were
taken at the beginning of WW1 in Brisbane Australia. He has searched in
vain for the year make and model. Badge looks like a Mercer? -- Regretfully
looking on the wrong continent. This is a British car. Very distinctive
inset wheel hubs, wire wheels; front mudguards with sides, rounded
scuttle and gas lamps, all date this to a cca
1911 Humber 12'20 Tourer.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1913
Arrol Johnston 15.9HP Tourer
Lovely WW1 photo sent to us by Serge
Conein from Malvern (UK) interested
in social history. Perhaps Arrol Johnson as it is a Scottish
photographer ? -- Took
a bit longer to confirm identification because of a couple of
inconsistencies. Arrol Johnson had either humpy rads with low bonnet
hinges, or curved rads and high hinges. Not this one; curved and low.
A-J did however make a series of cars for the War Office with this
feature, so this would be a cca
1913 Arrol Johnston 15.9HP Tourer.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1913
Peugeot Landaulette
Cinema screen grab from a British Film "
Room with a View " made in 1985 where the
cars are being investigated by IMCDB. Taken from E M Foster's 1908
book. Romantic drama set in England and Italy about a young woman's
fancy for a young man met in an Italian pension with a view. --
Initial suggestions of a Unic or a Wolseley Taxi, but in our opinion the
curved front to radiator top and the very ornate stylised big cut-out
badge suggests a
cca 1913/14 Peugeot Landaulette, poss
Taxi.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:c1916
Studebaker Four Touring
Couple of period photos received
from Brian White (UK) of
cars 'owned by family of a friend of my wife, and I have been asked to
name them- which I can't. Are you able to tell me some details about
them??' --
Distinctive radiator. This model features a badge, split rim wheels of
American pattern, no front brakes, no petrol cap, and a strange
registration which is not visible. Lady in back with a 'native'
chauffeur, suggesting 'colonial' location. Car is cca
1916 Studebaker Four Touring.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1921
Daimler 30 Landaulette
Couple of period photos received
from Brian White (UK) of
cars 'owned by family of a friend of my wife, and I have been asked to
name them- which I can't. Are you able to tell me some details about
them??' --
Distinctive fluted radiator, no windows to driver's cab, no front
brakes, and registration XF 423#, which is London County Council issue
of January 1921. Pinpoints the car to be an originally chauffeur driven
cca
1921 Daimler 30 Open-Drive Landaulette,
like the cars used by Royalty!
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:c1921
Thornycroft Charabanc
Interesting photo submitted by Fiona
Cormier (Canada) from
a friend showing his parents from Totley (Sheffield) with a church
outing in 1912. What is the vehicle and where photoed? --
Unlikely 1912. Teign Cars were a company in Teignmouth, Devon and seem
from the photo to be based in Regent Street next to WHS. Had a number
of coaches registered c1921. This reg illegible but c1921
Thornycroft Charabanc, probably
modified WW1 Army Q type lorry, as Tein not on list of clients.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1924
Maxwell 25 Sports Touring
Slightly fuzzy but lovely period photo received from
Ken Hosking (South Africa)
saying the photo was taken in Durban, South Africa, of family members.
He found a windscreen so beautifully manufactured that his curiosity was
triggered and prompted investigation on the make and age of the
windscreen/car. --
Slightly difficult but our Mark Dawber thinks this is an
American cca
1924 Maxwell 25 Sports Touring. Maxwell
were imported in SA from 1910. Became Chrysler
Corporation in 1925.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1925
Bayliss-Thomas 10'22 Tourer
Really fascinating photo sent to us by John
Fenn (UK) found in his mother's
photo album after she had died. She often talked her travels with her
father James Francis Simpson to remote parts of Britain for
holidays/rallies. Grandfather drove Alvis cars and photo depicts car
boarding a "ferry" to a Scottish island. --
Registration is Liverpool 1925. Confirmed
by Alvis OC not Alvis but unusual Birmingham made cca 1925 Bayliss-Thomas
10'22 Mulliner Tourer. About 1000 BT cars made '21-29.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1927
FIAT 520 Taxi
Cinema screen grab from an Italian film "È
più facile che un cammello.." made in 1951 where the
cars are being investigated by IMCDB. Film is about a chap
prevented from entering heaven and given an opportunity to return to
redeem himself. --
The badge
has the FIAT in light on a dark background. This badge was current 1925
to 1929. Car is medium size, plain not patterned rad header, split windscreen,
and has a windscreen upstand. All this suggests a cca
1927 FIAT 520 Taxi.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1928
Marmon Two Passenger Roadster
Lovely photo received from Charles
Dagenais (France)
saying the period is 1935-40 in the outskirts of Montreal, Canada. The
car is certainly American made, driver and passenger are his uncles.
-- The main
pointer to this vehicle is the widow's peak molding on the top of the
radiator above the oval badge. The actual giveway on this photo, spotted
by our Mark Dawber in NZ, is the legend 'Marmon' on spare tyre. This is
a cca
1928 Marmon 78 Two Passenger Roadster & Rumble Seat.
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TRACING OWNERS:1928
Graham Paige 614 Mulliner Saloon
Current photo from Ernie Riches (UK)
of a
1928 Graham Paige 614 Saloon
with a Fabric Mulliner Body rescued from a barn. Imported as a RHD
chassis from the USA. Second owner was traced who came from Somerset.
His daughter advised that the original owner bought car from the Graham
Paige Showroom in London, and had the Mulliner body put on it. Who was
the first owner? -- Regretfully
we have no access to DVLA ownership records so cannot help. Can
anybody provide the info?
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1928 Horch 350
Limousine
Cinema screen grab from a German film "Emil
und die Detektive" made in 1931 where the
cars are being investigated by IMCDB. Taken from Erich Kästner's
book, the only one that escaped Nazi censorship, about a young boy whose
money was stolen on a train and the 25 children in Berlin chasing thief.
--
Initial suggestions American Cadillac but Caddy has a square bar badge, whereas
this has circular badge with a figure 8 in it which suggests a cca
1928 Horch eight cylinder 350 poss
limousine.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1929
Hudson Dual Cowl Phaeton
Very blurry photo received from Anthony
Vassallo, Vice chairman, Old Motors Club (Malta)
saying they were told that this was the 3rd car brought to Malta. Came
from Egypt (Alexandria) with a Mr. Felix Borda. They know that the first
two cars were a c1904 Siddley and a Cadillac; so, would it be that
era? -- No,
the photo is of a very much later vehicle and unlikely to have been the
3rd car in Malta. Possibly American Nash but our Mark Dawber, in NZ,
says a cca
1929 Hudson Dual Cowl Phaeton.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1933
Buick Series 60 Sedan
Another couple period photos received from Charles
Dagenais (France)
saying the era and context are Montreal (and
surroundings) in the late 40's. The car is certainly American-made. The
new difficulty is that the car is visible only by the back or, faintly,
by the side. Some features visible which may help. --
Main feature is the faint 'B' on the spare wheel which immediately
points us to General Motors and a cca
1933 Buick Series 60 Sedan. Buicks also
made in Canada by McLaughlin Buick.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1941
Dodge D21 Deluxe
Another period photo received from Charles
Dagenais (France), this one simply
notated " 1946 famille GROJ T excursion à New-York "
. -- This
one was bit difficult because only the car front is in the picture and
most of that is obscured. After study of the upper part of the
grille visible between the two ladies we thought it could be the
upmarket 1941 Plymouth P11D, but after announcing so on these
pages, we were advised by Charles that this is the same 1941
Dodge as below. Hmmm!
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1941
Dodge D21 Deluxe Sedan
Lovely period photo received from Charles
Dagenais (France)
saying this photo of his Uncle, a Montreal (Canada) resident, was taken in
at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, USA, during a visit to New York in
September 1949. --
Front bumpers with the upturn at the top say the car was made by the
Chrysler Corporation, an American company with a factory in Windsor, Ontario,
Canada, which had been the Maxwell Chalmers factory in 1924.
This is a cca
1941 Dodge D21 Deluxe Sedan.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:1949 Chevrolet
Two-door Coupe
Lovely period photo received from Charles
Dagenais (France)
saying the setting of this photo is Montreal in October 1949. The car is
certainly American. The driver is his father and it is possibly his
first car. --
American car indeed, made by General Motors. This is from the just post
WW2 period when civilian production restarted. This is from the first remodeled
range, a cca
1949 Chevrolet Two Door Coupe and
from lack of chrome strip on wing, this model is a Styleline rather than
a Fleetline.
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:cca
1991 Nissan Figaro
Photo submitted by Rose Scott (UK) of
a car photographed at London City Airport in 2013. Could we identify the
make and model? --
This looks a bit like a classic car and was
probably the first of the 'retro look' new cars. We get this question
quite often and an earlier entry is on Help Page 24. The car is
Japanese, a cca
1991 Nissan Figaro Coupe Convertible,
introduced 1989 in
Tokyo, 8,000 made. A batch was made in 1991 of about 12,000
cars. Was featured on BBC Andrew Marr Show.
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IDENTIFICATION AND
DATING:Unidentified
Open Tourer
Another from a batch of
fascinating photographs from our regular contributor Cicos Florin
in Constanta by the Black Sea (Romania)
who is interested in old cars of Romania. Do we know what
this is? -- No,
and neither it seems does anybody else!! We have tried all our
in-house and external experts and our friends at the AACA in case
it was American. Nobody had any ideas although consensus is
European, poss Teutonic? Oval badge. Nearest radiator seems a
French cca 1919 Buchet Toppedo. |
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IDENTIFICATION AND DATING:Unknown
1950s Autocycle
Fascinating photo submitted by Ravindra
Naruka (India) saying
he has a great passion for vintage
British motorcycles and has collected some old beauties. Recently he
has acquired a motorcycle of which many parts were missing and which he
is trying hard to identify. --
Regretfully we have not been able to help as we do not think this is a mainstream
British machine because of being pedal assisted. This is common
European feature on 1950s autocycles & cyclemotors including
Russian.
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UNIDENTIFIED
CARS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. ANY ASSISTANCE MUCH
APPRECIATED
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| Links
to interesting sites: Click
on any hyperlink to be taken direct to their site. |
Fascinating site on all things steam: http://stanleysteamers.com/
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Identification of Mystery
Motors - Mystery Cars requiring Identification -
Identification of old Motorcars - Identification of old Car
Photographs - Photos requiring Identification -
Oldtimers from times gone by - Mystery Vehicles - Mystery
Motorcars -
Identify Classic Cars - Recognize Cars - Recognise Old Cars
Antique Autos, Classic Cars, Anciennes -
25 - 1,705 |
| © Copyright
Copying & reproduction of photographs on the Help Pages is
prohibited © Copyright. |
The information
contained in these pages has come from many different sources including
books, magazines, advertisements, sales brochures, web sites,
manufacturers and personal contacts. While we have tried to make sure
that any information given is as accurate as possible, we cannot take responsibility for any errors or omissions.
If you
know of any facts which are incorrect or any subjects or details which can be elaborated on,
please contact us. No infringement of copyright is intended anywhere on the site.
If such infringement is believed to be occurring, please contact us.
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