Solved - NEH 4208: Car from Boston Blackie TV detective series - 1951/2

Carnut · August 05, 2015, 08:08:32 AM

What's this and on what is it based, for 1 point?:

Remember - solving puzzles using 'Google Search by Image' is BANNED on AutoPuzzles!

Carnut · August 19, 2015, 05:17:19 AM

Experts?

kwgibbs · August 19, 2015, 08:05:37 AM

was it named narwhal?

Carnut · August 19, 2015, 08:21:53 AM

Quote from: kwgibbs on August 19, 2015, 08:05:37 AM
was it named narwhal?

That name rings a bell but this isn't it. Wasn't that a Norwegian special or something like that?

kwgibbs · August 19, 2015, 08:33:46 AM

yes,I believe your right.is this one an American custom car?

Carnut · August 19, 2015, 09:15:37 AM

Quote from: kwgibbs on August 19, 2015, 08:33:46 AM
yes,I believe your right.is this one an American custom car?

Yes, it's American.

kwgibbs · August 19, 2015, 09:58:46 AM

is warren dorrill behind it?

Carnut · August 19, 2015, 10:16:16 AM

Quote from: kwgibbs on August 19, 2015, 09:58:46 AM
is warren dorrill behind it?

It's not the name I have, so I'd have to say "No".

kwgibbs · August 19, 2015, 10:17:52 AM

the front-end looks like it could be part muntz jet?

Carnut · August 19, 2015, 11:07:50 AM

Quote from: kwgibbs on August 19, 2015, 10:17:52 AM
the front-end looks like it could be part muntz jet?

There is some discussion about the basis of this car but no consensus.
Muntz Jet is certainly one of the possibilities and there are those who think that it is the basis!
I can see why they might think that, but I'm not convinced. The windscreen is completely different for starters..
On the other hand it doesn't look a lot more like what the majority think is the basis! I'm still inclined to think it's not the Muntz Jet though.

Carnut · September 16, 2015, 05:15:44 AM

Come on then, Pro's...

Wendax · September 16, 2015, 05:24:10 AM

This car appeared on the Boston Blackie TV show. As said before, there is a discussion about the base ranging from Crosley over Willys to a Spohn body. The most favoured one is a Muntz Jet.

Carnut · September 16, 2015, 05:39:06 AM

You've got the correct car, yes.
Since there is disagreement over the base we can't really reach a conclusion here; I'm not convinced it's a Muntz Jet as I don't think I've seen one with a one-piece screen like that. That in itself is no proof, however, as the screen could easily be from something else!

I think it could be a Willys base and there are one or two pictures out there which could support this theory.

There's just one thing I want to know for the point and that's who is reckoned to have custom-built this car?

Locked for Wendax!

Wendax · September 16, 2015, 07:27:04 AM

Some people mention George Barris in connection with this car, but it rather seemed speculation to me.

Carnut · September 16, 2015, 02:47:36 PM

Quote from: Wendax on September 16, 2015, 07:27:04 AM
Some people mention George Barris in connection with this car, but it rather seemed speculation to me.

Not the name I'm looking for...

Wendax · September 16, 2015, 03:40:17 PM

I didn't find anything trustworthy, so you may unlock if there is an answer to be found.

oko94 · September 16, 2015, 06:41:14 PM

Carnut, isn't Spohn the name you're looking for ? Wendax mentioned it in his reply #11 in case you didn't notice.

Carnut · September 17, 2015, 04:40:56 AM

No, Spohn isn't what I'm looking for; personally I don't think it looks like anything Spohn might have produced..

I know the website you're both looking at and I know the author is absolutely definitive that the mystery is solved and this car is a modified Muntz Jet.
But there is another website that is pretty sure it's a Willys and shows pictures to back this up; they do look quite like the Boston Blackie car but there are enough differences to leave me in doubt.

I was looking for input about this other theory; whether it's right or not is open to conjecture but so is the Muntz Jet solution..
I think Wendax has earned a point already because he's identified the car I posted as the Boston Blackie TV car, but I'm still offering a point for details of the other 'solution'.

oko94 · September 18, 2015, 11:58:29 AM

Welll, the Willys-based Boston Blackie car looks like a completely different car to me. And I can only find pictures of the Willys, no text explaining who built it. I'm scratching my head to the bone.

Carnut · September 18, 2015, 02:59:16 PM

You'll have to keep looking!
That's one picture purporting to be the Boston Blackie car but I agree it's not the exactly the same; but then neither is the Muntz Jet.
Below are a few more pictures from the site where he's pretty sure the car in question is a modified Willys. There are sort-of similarities!::

oko94 · September 18, 2015, 04:19:26 PM

Is Peterson the name you're looking for ?

Wendax · September 18, 2015, 04:19:52 PM

If the guy responsible for the Willys custom also made Boston Blackie's car, it was C. H. Peterson.

Carnut · September 19, 2015, 08:11:03 AM

Quote from: Wendax on September 18, 2015, 04:19:52 PM
If the guy responsible for the Willys custom also made Boston Blackie's car, it was C. H. Peterson.

Yes, C.H. Petersen is what I was looking for; not because I think he built the Boston Blackie car but simply because somebody thinks the car from the TV series is the Willys that he built. It's even captioned as such on his site! There are resemblancies but it clearly isn't the same car, and it's very unlikely to have been modified into the TV car because these pictures show what it looks like now, and I can't imagine anyone would have returned it to its original appearance.

So we're left with the popular solution that it's a modified Muntz Jet, though I have no idea who did it. Not C.H. Peterson as far as I know. Personally I'm not 100% convinced but unless someone comes up with some definitive proof of it or of something else it's all we've got.

Wendax already had a point for correctly identifiying the Boston Blackie car and I promised another point for identifying the builder of the Willys, so since Wendax provided the full answer he gets that one as well! Sorry oko94.

Carnut · January 26, 2016, 05:28:35 AM

I was watching an episode of Wayne Carini's "Chasing Classic Cars" last night, which featured a Cadillac-engine Spohn-bodied car said to date from 1957. Apparently Wayne has always wanted a Spohn-bodied car but missed a Veritas when it came up earlier so was very keen to get this one, which he did manage to prise out of the owner of the Dezer Collection.

Interestingly Dezer said the car had been used in the TV series "Boston Blackie" but didn't elaborate any further. That's a bit odd since the TV series was from the very early 1950s but the car was said to date from 1957. But does that mean Spohn only bodied it in 1957 (I thought they'd gone by then but this was apparently just about the last car they ever built) and that it was actually an earlier car? Maybe the actual car that was the subject of my puzzle?! Whilst the front had been Spohnified in their typical style it is conceivable that it was originally the same shape as the puzzle car as it wasn't so different. And the Cadillac engine would fit in with the Muntz Jet theory.

I wonder.

The car is pictured below:

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Solved - NEH 4208: Car from Boston Blackie TV detective series - 1951/2