Though submissions of family album car photos have slowed since the holidays, we’re still seeing a few cross our desk from time to time, such as the shot above, submitted by John Rigler of his father, Steven Rigler, in a 1939 Crosley convertible, circa 1985. If you’re a subscriber to Hemmings Classic Car, you might recognize this as the same Crosley convertible that I wrote about in the September 2008 issue. John notes that Deanna Tipton, who finished the restoration of the pre-war, also owned the CC sedan in the background.
Up next, a photo submitted to us (via Jack Shea) by Fred Hill of LaGrande, Oregon. Jack writes that the photo depicts Fred, his mother and father in the family’s Thomas Flyer “racer.” Jack writes:
The story goes it was bought from an engineer working on a local road project call the “Minum Grade” around 1921 in Elgin Oregon.
On the back, we see written:
Owned for 2 weeks by Lynn E. Hill of Elgin. He sold it for just what he paid for it – $20. “It was too fast for us,” he said. Note chain drive and external control levers. Engine was 4 cylinder. 1921, Lynn at the wheel, his wife Etha, and one year old son Frederick with just eyes and top of head showing.
I ran it by David Greenlees, who noted that it’s likely a 4-60 on a 127-inch wheelbase – quite the hefty car for a racer.
HCC reader Robert Green of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, sent this photo in to Lost and Found of his grandfather in a small roadster he owned in the 1920s and 1930s. I believe sometime over the last several years in Lost and Found, we had another vehicle of this make, so perhaps the blog readers can take a swing at identifying the senior Green’s diminutive droptop.
Fnially, another L&F submission, this one from Chris Larson of Regina, Saskatchewan, depicting Chris’s grandfather, James Stout, circa 1916. Chris guessed in his email that the car is a 1911 or 1912 Oldsmobile, and at first I agreed with him, but as I got to looking it over more, I started to lean toward 1910-1911 Buick. Which theory do you agree with?