(Pics) Unknown auto...
 
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(Pics) Unknown automobile

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John Napoli
(@carsman1958)
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After doing some research on logos for the 20's, I believe it is one of two and most probably a Commonwealth, from Commonwealth Motors, Chicago ILL.  Second option would be a Stevens Duryea.

Screenshot 2025 11 17 141219
Screenshot 2025 11 17 141253

 



   
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(@chris)
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@carsman1958 Good detective work John, but in cross referencing photos - those two makes are also "near misses."     Although they look similar to Mike's pic, nothing is an exact match.

🤔 🤔 



   
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(@michaeldetorrice)
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Some really good research work ! There are definitely mysterious aspects to an identification. I will have to see if I can find the film taken by my Grandfather in about 1928-1930 in the Logan Park neighborhood of Chicago of my relations all driving off in an automobile with others going down the Boulevard.



   
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(@jack-dodds)
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I had this one shortlisted to Maxwell, Velie, Ajax and Hudson 8 based on the triangular radiator shell badge design and multicolors......but I wasn't convinced I had it right.



   
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(@michaeldetorrice)
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The color of the automobile doesn't really narrow it down as "any color you want" as long as it is black was pretty typical back then, I believe.

It is a 4-door, soft-top vehicle, but that isn't unique at all either. It does seem to have dual elliptical rear windows that perhaps could be a clue.



   
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(@chris)
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Posted by: @michaeldetorrice

"It does seem to have dual elliptical rear windows that perhaps could be a clue."

Nope!   Many late teens, early 1920's cars share that trait.    Again, I went searching for a match - there was close to 100 different American makes from 1918-1926, some only lasted a few years, and a few are still around.

Several American makes had beaded fenders, an up-sweep cowl, artillery-style wooded wheels, and a rounded hood & grill, but nothing yet has matched perfectly.   

Furthermore, I haven't yet been able to match that "acorn-shaped"  or "face with a hat"  badge seen on the grill.  

The absence of a "proud"  radiator cap is also another clue - that hasn't yet helped. 

I've even employed the help of GEMENI software - nothing. 

😌 😌 😌 



   
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(@sizedoesmatter)
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This is what AI says...The image shows a vintage Studebaker automobile, likely a Studebaker Light Four (produced in 1918 and 1919) or a Studebaker Special Six (produced from 1918 to 1927). The specific model is difficult to determine precisely from the image alone. 


John Bono
North Jersey


   
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(@michaeldetorrice)
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Yikes, well if dual elliptical rear windows wasn't very unique after all, then that's not going to narrow it down very much, lol !

Not that it is going to help very much either, but my Grandfather on that side of the family first worked for Harley-Davidson before he became a Chief Engineer at Diamond-T Trucks in Chicago. For a brief time, I think back in like 1911 or so, Diamond-T also made motorcars.



   
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(@chris)
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@sizedoesmatter John, I did compare Mike's pic to several Studebakers from 1918-1923.....  again, there are similarities but NO perfect matches.   

Unbelievably, I've yet to find a match for that acorn-shaped badge located on the grill.   

- Find that badge - and you've (we've ) found the car!  😲 😕 



   
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(@jack-dodds)
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It couldn't be a European car....could it?



   
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(@michaeldetorrice)
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It seems like in the picture with Grandma in the driver's seat behind the steering wheel, it is a left-hand drive automobile, which I think would tend to indicate a country with such a road set-up ?



   
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(@bob-jackman)
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@jack-dodds My sugar level spiked just looking at the contents of the box.



   
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(@jack-dodds)
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@bob-jackman The box is probably more nutritious than its contents.



   
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David Green
(@david-green)
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How about an Austrian built about 1910 Graf & Stift 28/32 Double Phaeton which was the same car Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in on June 28, 1914?



   
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(@michaeldetorrice)
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Yikes, that would be a remarkable vehicle ! I had heard that the original automobile used by the late Archduke Ferdinand and his equally late wife was kept in a museum in Berlin, but was destroyed by bombs during a late WW2 air raid.

It would be rather ironic, a car helped start one World War and was ended in the late part of a second World War !



   
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