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San Francisco circa 1922. "Star auto ascending steep grade." With a shout-out to FS and WL. 5x7 inch glass plate by Christopher Helin. View full size.
My father owned a Star. A bright red one. He never told me whether or not he liked the car. But he never owned another red car.
Must have been on one of San Francisco's steeper hills judging from the stance of the photographer reflected in the door; anyone have a guess as to which street?
Durant built the Star to directly compete with Henry Ford's Model T. The Star Touring Car cost $348 without a self-starter or demountable rims for the tires. The self-starter and demountable rims initially added about $100 to the price, but then were included with a minimal price increase. Durant sold more than 100,000 (all body styles) during the introductory year, but he could have built more had his manufacturing plants had sufficient capacity.
A Model T Touring Car cost $348 on January 16, 1922, and the price rose to $398 on October 17, 1922. These prices were also without the self starter ($70) and demountable rims ($25). Ford produced over 1.3 million cars (all body styles) during the model year.
Look at the reflection of the spokes on the underside of the fender! Shiny!
I'm guessing the Durant Crapo wouldn't have sold well.
The omission of exterior door handles imparts a sleek, stylish look to this broadside view. It is a handsome car for the early twenties. Excellent design is also noted in the Star's medallion.
The Star was an automobile built to compete with the Model T Ford by Durant Motors, a firm started by William Crapo Durant (1861-1947) after he was ousted as president of General Motors. I believe production started in 1921 or 1922, which would date the photo a little later than 1920. The driver looks like Durant himself. He certainly is very intent on getting the car up the hill. The Durant firm did reasonably well in the 1920s but collapsed in the Depression. Durant died in poverty in 1947.
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