Ten spokes on the front twelve on the rear.
The fender reminds me of the Thomas Flyer racer.
What do you think it is
The drop in the frame and the hubcaps remind me of Cadillac but I'm not sure. It does have that look of adventure doesn't it?
Rich
That most certainly started out as a 1911 Cadillac. The drop-center frame, hubs/wheels, radiator and lamps are dead givaways for an '11 Cadillac, but the proportions seem wrong (rear of the frame is too short and the rear axle looks to be too far forward).
The exhaust is also on the wrong side, the Cadillac "30" manifold is on the passenger side with the intake manifold.
I think this is a "throw-together" speedster built on a 1911 Cadillac chassis
I can't speak for the lamps or wheels, but the drop frame, hubs and rad are very similar to this 1912 KisselKar 4-50. Kissel also had the exhaust on the passenger (left hand) side of the engine like the photo above.
I don't think it did start out as a Cadillac for all of the reasons given even though it has the dropped frame like a 1911 Cadillac 30. The rear springs are definitely not Cadillac springs. Cadillac at that time had 3 springs in the rear, 2 semi-elliptic transverse springs that connected to a single cross spring mounted on the rear of the frame.
I certainly could have started as an '11 Cadillac or '12 Kissell-Kar 4-50. I do know the rear springs are not Cadillac "30", but I was thinking it has been modified extensively. The reason I say that is look how far forward the rear axle sits. it is way to close to upward curve after the dip.
A stock location would have centered it a bit more on the spring. This tells me the frame was cut and shortened to make it a smaller car, accept a different drive train, etc.
It also seems a bit "lighter" then the Kissell chassis seen here and considerably shorter.
*correction: Cadillac exhausts on the Right...not the left.
Wow! Chris that is a amazing Kisselkar. Is it one you found and own now? Would love to hear more about that car and its future.
Thanks, Mike — it is a pretty great car. The as-found picture is June 1993, work started in August and was complete in July 2001. The chassis and running gear I bought had been tractorized and auctioned for $35 to a couple brothers during WW2, and originally carried a seven-passenger touring body.
Turns out our local fire department had a mechanically-identical 1912 KisselKar 4-50 Fire Chief's Car... long gone now, but one factory drawing remained (from Kissel's 1913 catalog, showing examples of custom builds done the previous year) and a number of local photographs. We did a very faithful recreation other than making the seat cushions 2" longer for comfort and going with the (functional) original style carbide headlamps.
Engine is a 373 in3 two-jug four, transmission a four-speed with fourth being a 25% overdrive. Tires are 37"x5" and the engine turns 1,500 rpm at 50 mph in fourth which is the happy cruising speed. I've probably put 15,000 year 'round miles on the car since 2001 and am just wearing in my third set of tires.
Wow, Chris. That is really a beauty!!!!!!