AutoPuzzles - The Internet's Museum of Rare Cars!
Puzzles, Games and Name That Car => Solved AutoPuzzles => 2014 => Topic started by: sixtee5cuda on August 06, 2014, 11:26:27 PM
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(Another puzzle car which may not be what the owner claims)
For one point, specify the supposed year and brand name of this old car
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Up!
Any ideas, Pros?
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As a start I'd say it could be supposed to be an EMF (or Flanders) of 1909-12
Left-hand-drive looks wrong - as does the small steering wheel.
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Surely not a fake Mercer Raceabout ?
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Surely not a fake Mercer Raceabout ?
At least a fake something?
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Not EMF or Flanders. Not Mercer. Labelled as being built before 1909.
Many parts of this car seem not-quite-right.
1) To the left of the driver, is a tall external brake lever. In a video of this vehicle, he seems to be shifting gears using an identical lever between driver and passenger.
2) If that is a radiator in the front, and a gas tank in the rear, what is that black tank-like object mounted on the left side of the hood/bonnet?
3) For a car of this age, the frame rails seem large and technically advanced
4) I have found no reference to another copy of this vehicle, or to the manufacturer
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So it's name is not a known manufacturer? (It looks like a Brush).
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There is a name printed on the radiator (obscured), but it is not that of a known manufacturer.
It does look very much like a Brush, from about 1909. The engine cover of the puzzle car does seem to have more creases in it than the Brush images I have found (these creases are mirrored in the radiator shell).
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The engine crank mechanism seems too sophisticated for 1909. If you can see it from this image, it seems to include an anti-kickback device.
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It might help to narrow down where the image was taken, the country of origin, and the year of manufacture.
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South America?
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Asian?
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These images were taken in Asia.
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India?
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Not India. Go East.
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Japan?
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Close, but not Japan
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China?
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Not China
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Korea?
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Not Korea
(Big jump)
Not on mainland Asia
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Indonesia?
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Not Indonesia
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Philippines?
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The car is in the Philippines.
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Found it, -finally. It's a 1902 De Laton. It's said to be the oldest running car in the Philippines, and was built in France. It looks as though it has a few Model T Ford parts, the steering wheel is, and possibly the column, and I think the hubs as well. Those anti-kickback crank handles were an aftermarket Model T accessory as well.
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"De Latón" means made of copper in Spanish! :o ???
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I can only assume that this was a French one-off, since it's not covered in the usual reference books. I've looked at every post on the internet, and there's nothing to reveal more about the car, apart from rubbish written by non-enthusiasts. (Possibly the first 4-cylinder car, at a time when most were steam-powered!).
I have a horrible feeling, and I think I'm not alone, that this is some kind of Phillipines-built car constructed from parts of several veteran cars, and maybe with some more modern internal parts to assist daily driving. Or maybe I'm being unkind - quite possible.
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It's owner is been very lucky...it's hard to find spare parts for such a rare car and it is like brand new!
And that name, De Laton...how can it be fake...it's written in such big carachters!
(BTW: I don't buy it.)
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One point for Craig Gillingham for the correct answer.
When I read about a car being the oldest in the Philippines, I enjoyed watching the YouTube video of it driving down the freeway. Then I noticed the presence of two brake levers, which seemed strange. So I looked closer, and found the unique tank to the left of the engine. And the frame rails seem to be from a newer car. (etc)
As Nicanary suggested, this car looks far too much like a 1909 Brush to be a coincidence. Before this car appeared, the oldest car in the Philippines was a 1904 Richard-Brasier, also built in France.