A moving-picture mystery from the early days of cinefilm

A very interesting request has come to us from Brian Walmsley. We are accustomed by now to receiving requests for identification of vehicles in photographs, but rarely are we asked about cars in film. Mr. Walmsley has a very interesting piece of early cinefilm footage in his possession, however, and wonders if we could be of assistance in naming the car captured therein. He writes as follows:

"I am writing in the hope that you, or one of your experts/readers can help me to identify a pre-war car. I am currently researching an archive of rare pre-1920s tinted cinefilm, and two frames feature a car. I have tried many hours of searching the internet to try and find this car, but to no avail. Tinted films of this kind were quite common in France and Germany I think, so the car may have been manufactured there, but the internet also showed some similarities to American cars, so I am really at a loss.

 

"I am hoping that the curvature of the bodywork/bonnet, boxed section running boards and hooded headlights will make this an easy identification for an expert in this area, but I also realise that there were a lot of manufacturers and coach builders in those days so it may not be that easy, especially from these old images.

Many many thanks for your time and your help, and I look forweard to hearing from you."

Well, what of it? Our first thought was that it is probably something American as the radiator looks painted rather than plated, and the long, broad, arrow-straight boulevard is also a little suggestive of American street-building. The Editor admits to being somewhat stumped by it, but a colleague at PreWarCar.com Headquarters has very plausibly suggested that it might be a Saxon. The car is clearly depicted and we're sure its identity will soon be confirmed by several of our readers with a more expert knowledge.

Words: Zack Stiling; Still: Brian Walmsley