My Favorite Ride: Alex Tanford knows a lot about the law. And headlights.
By the end of Monday, I had received four responses to last week's quiz on identifying old cars by their headlights. I had meandered through a courthouse square car show in Martinsville and taken a few pictures of headlights, close-up.
The good news: Everyone knew that Car No. 1 was a 1960 Chrysler Imperial.
"It’s one of my favorite post-war cars," said retired Indiana University international law librarian Ralph Gaebler.
This one, light blue with original upholstery and futuristic-looking taillights, stood out. I've seen the car before, somewhere, and will track the owner down this summer to learn more.
More My Favorite Ride: Jim Schlick leaves a collection of much-loved Peugeots as his legacy
Gaebler recognized the Imperial right away, drew a blank on two cars and and tossed out guesses on the the others, getting two correct. "Is car No. 3 a Ford Mustang? No. 4 a Corvette?" Yes, and yes; a 1969 Mustang and a 1962 Corvette.
Car. No. 6, though, is not a 1936 Oldsmobile. It's a 1935 Ford Coupe.
(An aside: Ralph, I must get a look at that 1924 LaFayette car catalog; contact me.)
Reader Jacob Hammond identified the same three cars, but was stumped by three others. Car No. 2 is not a 1953-54 Chevy Bel-Air, but he was close: It's a 1951 Chevrolet station wagon.
Hammond misidentified car No. 5 as a 1955 or '56 Pontiac Chieftain; it's actually a 1953 Ford.
He guessed incorrectly that Car No. 6 was a 1945 Auburn Speedster, not a simple 1935 Ford.
Greg Zimmer of Howell, Michigan, identified four of the cars but missed two. He guessed the Chevy station wagon was a DeSoto, and said the old car last in the sequence was a Lincoln, not a Ford. Close.
IU law professor emeritus Alex Tanford wins the prize, correctly identifying five out of the six cars solely by headlight. He bottomed out on the final guess, though, calling a 1935 Ford coupe owned by Roger Stiles a 1935 Hudson, possibly a Terraplane.
I'll be scrounging local salvage yards seeking a cool headlight to award Tanford.
And, come back next week for more photos and the story behind Stiles' 1935 all-original Ford.
Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-318-5967 or 812-331-4362 .
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Herald-Times readers take stab at identifying cars by headlights
