Help : name the car in the old local photo

[petek]

Car buffs.. I'm at a loss dating this local picture and wondering if anyone can possibly identify the car 3rd from the left which looks to me like it is most definitely post 1946.. The picture where I found it the poster was guessing at taken in the late 30's ish..  I don't think so.. Anyone ? 

 

[ea56]

It's very hard to see with such a small photo, but I would guess that it is either a 49 or 50 Mercury or Lincoln, or maybe a Pontiac of the same vintage. If the picture was just a little larger I could get it for sure. In the early 50's when I was a little tike I could name the year and make of almost every car on the road, now not so much. The new ones pretty much all look alike to me.
Eddie[this post was last edited: 10/15/2016-16:26]

 

[pulltostart]

Not sure about the 3rd one, but I tend to agree with you.  However, the first one on the left looks even newer than the third one to me.  It's hard to tell.

 

lawrence

 

[ea56]

The first car on the left I believe is either a 40 or 41 Chrysler product, maybe even a 39, but without being able to see the front its hard to be sure. The rear window is smaller than the 42, or 46 to 48 models used. Most of the 42 models were just a bit more modern looking than their predecessors and most 42 to 48's were basically a retooling of the last pre war 42's.
Eddie

 

[petek]

Yeah. I was meaning the car on the left of the picture (but not the one you can only see the rear view window). It looks like it has to be post 1947 ish.  I was thinking a 49 or so Ford or Mercury.  No way was that car pre 1946 because it appears too low and wider. I tried enlarging the picture but it gets way too blurry. 

 

[turquoisedude]

A Canadian-built Meteor, perhaps??

 

[supersuds]

I'm going to say 1951 Mercury based on the vertical taillights. The side sculpting is the same as 1949 and 1950 models, but the taillights in the earlier cars are horizontal.

 

[supersuds]

1951 Mercury:

 

[supersuds]

1950 Mercury:

 

[ea56]

Bingo, John, I just looked a the picture agian with a magnifiying glass and notticed the vertical taillights too. This could also be indicative of a early 50's DeSoto, or even a Chevrolet.
Eddie

 

[supersuds]

But it could be a 1951 Monarch, a slightly disguised mercury sold through Ford of Canada dealers. Meteors were disguised Fords sold at Mercury dealers.

 

[ptcruiser51]

I go with

The '51 Merc. My old man had an early 50s DeSoto, the taillights were way smaller than that; ditto for an early 50s Chevy, my uncle had one.

Hey, you car buffs. Do you ever see classic cars with curb feelers or static strips? Our neighbor in the 'hood had a '54 Olds with "outrigger" lights that lit up - handy when parking on our dark streets (we had gas lamps).

 

[rp2813]

I came home from the hospital in a '51 Lincoln Cosmopolitan.   We had that car until 1961.  The '49 and '50 Mercs at least had different tail lights than the Lincolns of those same years, but in '51 they were almost identical.   I can't say for sure, but I don't think there was a lot of difference between the back ends of '52 and '53 Mercs and Lincolns either.  From 1954 onward, you could easily tell them apart again from a distance.

 

I agree that the car at the far left in the photo appears to be a post war model.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

What I noticed first was that the first car on the left had no fenders, making pre-War a no-go. Too low and too wide for pre-War hit me second.

IIRC, 40 was the last year for major changes. 41 & 42 had only minor as plans were being made for "the war effort" that didn't yet officially exist. Anyone else remember reading/hearing that? End result for me is that for most cars I'm clueless at differentiating model years 41-48

Jim

 

[rp2813]

Actually, that car on the left at first struck me as a post war GM -- possibly a '47 Buick -- with front fender tapering back to the rear quarter panel (maybe a convertible as seen below), but the consensus seems to be Mercury.

 

 

 

Or even this Roadmaster, which is still lower and sleeker than any other car in the OP's picture.

 

 

This '51 looks like a good candidate too, particularly with the busy bumper treatment around the license plate.

 

 

[this post was last edited: 10/16/2016-01:08]

 

[supersuds]

The Buick is a possibility, too. The image is just so blurry. However, whether it is a '51 Buick or Mercury at least is gives Petek a good time frame.

Jim, both GM and Chrysler restyled their cars extensively for the short 1942 model year. Packard introduced the all-new Clipper in mid-1941, also.

 

[sudsmaster]

It's really hard to tell. The old heaps parked in the photo tend to shout "20's and 30's", but the car in question surely does look post-WWII, so it seems to be some sort of mirage.

 

The Buick Roadmaster is a good guess, but the complete absence of any other post war cars in the photo tends to peg the photo as being taken before the Roadmaster was produced. Perhaps if the buildings (and location) in the photo could be identified and dated, that would help pin down what's going on with the mystery car.

 

Other possibilities might include a 30's concept car sitting in front of a dealership, or a four wheel teardrop travel trailer.

 

Or maybe someone just got creative with Photoshop to annoy car buffs.