Mystery car
September 18, 2011 9:47 PM Subscribe
Can anyone identify the make and model of this car?
I've done a GIS for likely years and makes, and struck out. Possibly salient factors:
The date is mid-1953, probably too early for 1954 models. The happy (hah!) couple are my parents. (I was born in February 1954- you do the math :) The location is Casey IL.
Where I run into trouble: Close inspection of the photo leads me to believe that the rear doors are suicide doors. I can't find a car that had them in that era from the factory outside of some exotic or luxury brands. I also can't seem to find an exact match for the grille or the trim along the bottom of the hood.
Any ideas?
I've done a GIS for likely years and makes, and struck out. Possibly salient factors:
The date is mid-1953, probably too early for 1954 models. The happy (hah!) couple are my parents. (I was born in February 1954- you do the math :) The location is Casey IL.
Where I run into trouble: Close inspection of the photo leads me to believe that the rear doors are suicide doors. I can't find a car that had them in that era from the factory outside of some exotic or luxury brands. I also can't seem to find an exact match for the grille or the trim along the bottom of the hood.
Any ideas?
Pretty sure that's a 1951 Ford Victoria
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 9:57 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 9:57 PM on September 18, 2011
Best answer: milkrate has it right; it is a 1951 Mercury sedan. My father had a black '54 and they really changed in those two years. Here are some better pictures from all angles. And you were correct that it had suicide doors. Those were the good old days!
posted by konig at 10:18 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by konig at 10:18 PM on September 18, 2011
Best answer: Looks like a 1951 Mercury. The 4-door models had suicide doors.
posted by zombiedance at 10:20 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by zombiedance at 10:20 PM on September 18, 2011
Mercury ditched the split windshield in '52, so it definitely can't be any later than '51.
posted by scody at 10:22 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by scody at 10:22 PM on September 18, 2011
What is a suicide door? Is it just a door that opens with the hinge in the back or is there more to it?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:38 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:38 PM on September 18, 2011
yep, suicide doors are doors hinged on the rear edge (as opposed to the front edge); I think the term applies to any rear-hinged door, but I've always associated it most particularly when there's no pillar dividing the front and back doors.
posted by scody at 10:45 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by scody at 10:45 PM on September 18, 2011
Thanks scody. I think my fater had a lincoln in the 1960s like that.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:59 PM on September 18, 2011
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:59 PM on September 18, 2011
Adding to scody, even in a suicide-door situation, there's a post in the lower half of the door frame opening so the doors have something to latch into. (Although in modern three- and four-door trucks, the doors latch to each other.) I've got a '70 Impala hardtop (not suicide), so there's no proper B pillar (just a little strip of chrome and rubber to seal the windows together) in the window line, but there's a post that the rear door hangs from.
posted by notsnot at 3:00 AM on September 19, 2011
posted by notsnot at 3:00 AM on September 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by milkrate at 9:54 PM on September 18, 2011