Detroit Monday morning Mysteries (update: Pope Toledo 1905)

A fine period shot of a workshop in the first years of the previous century; our rough guess is 1905-1910. It occurs to us that the general knowledge about cars built prior to WWI is getting very thin. The answers to this weeks quiz point in the same direction. So we are interested to hear if you can identify one or some of the cars in the picture. Take note of the pointed radiators of the cars on the left. And the mechanic in the foreground who didn't stop working on taking out the separate cylinders of the car in the foreground.

We found the photo some time ago in the USA and a stamp on the back of the photo says: "Photographic Section of General Motors, Detroit Michigan. Please refer to this number when ordering prints", and then with the added code in handwriting L-61. Yet we're not so sure if today's employee at the GM Photo Store could help you based on that number... Anyway knowing all this may help identifying the cars.

Pubblicato:

domenica gennaio 26th, 2014

Sconosciuto

31 Gennaio 2014, 19:55

pope toledtho pope went out of busines about 1908.the radiators are bell shaped.i am restoring one of the popes that ran in the 1905 french gordon bennet race 10 litres on 4 cylinders chain drive on wooden wheels

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Sconosciuto

28 Gennaio 2014, 19:16

Nice photo! That Pope-Toledo you saw at the Kirkland Concours would be ours (Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Alaska). It's a stunning car and identical to those in the photo (Type XIIs). To the best of our knowledge, there are only three Type XIIs with the Roi des Belges body left.

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Sconosciuto

27 Gennaio 2014, 08:46

Very nice photo! Luckily some of us still know and we hope that other people will catch up ... We are looking at a series of 1905 30hp Pope-Toledo's.

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27 Gennaio 2014, 08:38

It may be stating the obvious, but I would say to you that at 65 years old, my knowledge of pre WW1 cars is almost zero because I wasn't around then and consequently have less interest. As a judge on the list for your Saturday brain teasers I must know something, but it is nearly all post Great War knowledge. If you compare with the world of fine art, we car enthusiasts are guilty of not documenting much at all of those years, and what is available contains errors and contradictions.

What the youngsters would think of a DFP or an Alldays and Onions is a complete mystery. My ten year old grandson can tell one modern Porsche from another in minute detail, but doesn't even acknowledge the existence of cars without satnav and Bluetooth.

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Sconosciuto

27 Gennaio 2014, 03:19

Great photo. Pope-Toledos for sure-it looks like they all are. They look like side entrance tonneaus, must be 1905's.

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Sconosciuto

27 Gennaio 2014, 03:15

General motors only came into being in 1908, as a holding company for Buick and McLaughlin cars, therefore the cars, if newish are likely to be of around that vintage.
Is this a GM Factory finishing shop or just a workshop dealing with GM Products ? I think there are too many people for just an ordinary workshop !
They all have Squarish radiator and Bonnets, so, I would suggest that the High backed ones, in the background, could be 1909 Buick Model 10 Runabouts. I can not see "Dumb iron" connectors, which would make them McLaughlins.
And the Separate cylinders are a feature of the Runabouts also.

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Sconosciuto

27 Gennaio 2014, 01:37

Looks like they might be 1906 Pope-Toledos. There was one at the Lemay Museum this past summer at the Kirkland Concours.

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Detroit Monday morning Mysteries (update: Pope Toledo 1905)

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