I have to wonder if the car was moved or if this is where the wheel fell apart?
Did all manufacturers use hickory?
I notice that the horn on the frame is bent too.
Herb
Another car or vehicle may have been involved in the accident? In that case it's strange the fender doesn't seem to be damaged - but stranger things has happened.. Good the passengers seems alright
Just because spokes are hickory does not mean they will not break. Dan
Too many hands on the wheel!
Would guess it hit the railroad track too hard and maybe at an angle. Sure bent the frame horn upward!
The very first automotive product liability lawsuit was for a new Cadillac's (or Buick's?) wheel with "dozy" spokes that broke at 15 mph, and the owner lost an eye in the accident.
Hickory is a strictly American wood, so Europeans developed good wire wheels before we did.
What kinda' car is that?
Kinda looks like a Maxwell that I owned for a wee bit.
Looks like a Model 10 Buick.
Here's a picture of a 1908 Model 10 Buick
Agree, Buick.
Both headlamps turned. Left headlamp virtually destroyed. Right fender bent out and up. Left frame horn badly bent right. Right frame horn bent right a little. The car impacted something moving from car's left to car's right. The left fender is a mystery. Whatever it collided with didn't seem to do much damage to that fender. It got the headlamp, though, so it must have gone under the front of the fender.
I would say the car has been moved from the accident site, also. No debris. No side slides by the tires. And weeds alongside the right side of the car would indicate no cross traffic to cause all that "shoved to the right" damage.
Like I often say. Most broken wheels are the result of a collision. Unless, of course, it is run WAY past any reasonable limit.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I'm still thinking the railroad tracks had something to do with it. That and that huge whiskey decanter on the running board.
From the looks of the busted up headlights, and passenger side frame rail pushed towards the drivers side. My money is on him hitting something other than a RXR ... Those spokes failed for good reason.
Also note drivers side front fender...
Yeah, you guys are right. There's a truck close by with some wrong color paint on it. But I still think that whiskey had something to do with it. Look at the faces on those two guys.
I think they were a more brittle wood than hickory, judging by the ones broken at the hub.
Red oak is especially brittle.
Maybe Mike has something there... Early Buford running experimental NOX lighting system? We go boom... oh well!
And these days some guys drive their T's 50+ MPH with wood wheels. Makes me shudder.
John, wood is too broad a term. The difference between hickory and any other wood is remarkable. In fact, there is a great difference between hickories. There is no evidence Ford used anything but Hickory, probably Shagbark, for about one billion spokes.