Topic: Whaddyacallit #526 - 1921 Cunningham V3 Touring Victoria for A.B. Marcus' vaudeville show

[Ray B.]

Ever seen this ?

If you did, please respond below and let us know the make and model of this car.

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Thanks

[Ray B.]

Three weeks old?
Time to move up.

[streamliner]

1919-21 Cunningham

[Ray B.]

Yes, and just add the exact year and model to secure the point.
Locked for streamliner 48 hours.

[streamliner]

Well, it looks like they changed to those headlights in 1920.  So it must be a V3 as that was the first year for the V3 and the owner of this car would probably have wanted the best and newest model.  So, I guess it would most properly be called a 1920 Cunningham Series V3 6-Passenger Touring.

[Ray B.]

You're perfectly right about the headlights, and I read that they were changed for 1920. So this can only be a 1920 or 1921. Now, on another well-known forum, the car below (in an Harold Lloyd short) has beeen identified as a 1921 Series V Touring Victoria. It looks perfectly similar, and these are the only two ones withs those lines that I found. Now I am a bit lost regarding the V3, V4, V5...
What do you think? The point is yours anyway.

Now there is another one at stake for finding why this bizarre paint scheme...

[streamliner]

Finding reliable Cunningham information is ellusive.  But it appears that the radiator shell for the V4 is higher than the V3.  Incidentally, the radiator shell was made of German silver!  Wow!

Here's what's been identified as a 1920 V3 Touring (that I'm sure you've already seen).  The puzzle car, the 1921 Victoria, and the 1920 V3 all look to be identical to me at first glance, except for the wheels, top, and paint.  Ahhh.... the paint.  Now that's another story...

[streamliner]

Apparently the paint scheme was done to draw attention for A.B. Marcus' vaudeville show, "a sort of road show Ziegfeld", whose revues were "comprised of those sure fire staples of 'flesh' entertainment — plenty of beautiful girls, a good chorus line, an exotic dancer or two, a sprinkling of variety acts and some dependable comics".

[Ray B.]

Your explanation for the paint schem is amazing.
About the car, I think I' ll stick to 1921 as the Harold Lloyd car:
- Both cars seem strictly identical to me:
- In both cars above that prominent crease below the beltline (painted a darker shade in the puzzle car) the sheet metal appears curved towards the inside in a very elegant manner. Not in the 1920 car. On the contrary, on this one it looks like there is a second crease just above (think of the 35/36 Fords).
- The wheels may be optional, but the fenders are decidedly different on the 1920 car. With a softly rounded edge, when on the others they're flat with a narrow vertical strip at  right angle (hard to explain this in a foreign language). As for what V, you tell me if you know.

[Joćo]

And now I can post : 

[Ray B.]

So Joao finishes the story.
Almost. Otto just emailed me a link with many Cunningham pictures, writing that to him it lookd like the 1925 V-6 Phaeton pictured below (a former puzzle I believe: http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=355.0). I don't agree (the radiator shell, as noted by streamliner, is much higher and so the hood line more horizontal.
I also found ther a picture of a 1920 Touring that looks much more like it. So we won't decide what can't be decided and will call it a 1920-21 Cunningham.

[streamliner]

From what I can tell, the "V" designation was for the new V8 engine.  It looks like most of the V designations related to the engine improvements over the styling changes, so without knowing what's under the hood and inside the engine, it may be very difficult to figure out.  Since most of these were hand-made, slight variations would occur within each model line, making things even harder to identify.

[Craig Gillingham]

For 1 point, name the make of this car.

[Otto Puzzell]

This one is a re-post. If it's not solved in the Rookie ranks, I'll merge it with the solved example.

[Craig Gillingham]

Ahh, I've done it again. Maybe just delete this post?

I'm also impressed that you know what it is.

[Otto Puzzell]

No need to delete it. It's quite a car. 

[Craig Gillingham]

Yes, I've found it now. I swear I searched for this car beforehand, But couldn't find it as a solved puzzle.

[Craig Gillingham]

I don't think this ones going to be solved at the Rookie level. Can one of the admin people delete or merge this puzzle?

[Otto Puzzell]

Merged