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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs => Topic started by: skjoop on Tuesday 16 October 12 17:24 BST (UK)
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Hello
Can anyone identify the Car in the photos please?
No particular connection with direct family research, but I came across it and would like to know what it is
Thanks
Phil
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I'm sure you'll get a very knowledgeable reply in time; assuming it was in the UK then the letters CN would indicate a Newcastle area registration.
Old registration details are held by these folk but there's no gaurantee that they'd find your vehicle in the available records.
http://www.kitheadtrust.org.uk/location_list_3_8.html
Look forward to the replies from those in the know. Hope you get an answer soon.
S_L
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Thanks S_L
Yes, the car is in the Oswestry, Shropshire area, probably sometime in the early 30's? and the Reg is Gateshead I see.
I like old cars and it looks a very interesting old model, probably European I think.
Cheers
Phil
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At first I thought it looked like an Edwardian Rolls Royce, but the rad doesn't look right (top angle too steep?)
The 'chapel windows' in the body intrigue me - I know there were lots of bespoke body builders around then, but these look very unusual
Phil
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Hi, I seem to be very late on this one. Registration CN was issued by Gateshead CBC (then Co. Durham) but dating details of the registration are lost. Gateshead is on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle, not far from the North Sea.
The precise identification of the car was a little difficult because there are two cars in 1910-1912 period with almost identical radiator header tanks when viewed head on. One was the Model C Chevrolet of USA and the other the 1911 Metallurgique of Belgium. These are very difficult to tell apart, especially if the photos are of a poor pixy blurry quality as these are. However, the front wings having no wing-bill tips, wheels without demountable rims and having left hand steering, rules out the Chevrolet.
So this leaves the Belgian Metallurgique from Marchienne-au-Pont, southern Belgium near the French Border, active between 1898 and 1928, who also made locomotives and rolling stock. Cars were of high quality made mainly for export with Britain being the main market. They made four models in that period being 12, 20, 26 or 40HP. Biggish body so this is probably a medium 20HP car bodied by Vandenplas in Belgium, as were most Melaurgique cars built in Belgium. Sold in the UK by Warwick Wright of London. A licence had been sold to the German company Berman in 1909 whom had previously been making electric automobiles.
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Hi Japeflakes. Yes, not quite sure why, but it seems that at the time that my reply to this identification was posted on our Help Pages, it had not been posted on Rootschat ?? This time when I came across the enquiry, I too had not remembered that I had already done it, so I had to start anew, - hence same result with some minor changes in text to mirror the investigation this time round.