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San Francisco. "Dort touring car, 1921." Latest display at the Shorpy Exposition of Obscure Autos. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.
Is that a ghost car behind the Dort?
[A car in motion on the street behind. -tterrace]
Where are the bumpers?? And what are those two access doors used for on the lower side of the car? Grease fittings?
That just might be the door handle. Both doors front hinged and just pull on handle to open. If so, another reason why not successful.
[The Dort had rear-hinged doors, which opened from the front. Like the Dort, most open cars of the era had doors that unlatched from the inside and had no exterior handles. Closed cars had handles near the top of the door. - Dave]
Thanks to you both,
Though it appears that there is just one hinge for each door, there were two. The visible lower hinge was angled slightly so that its pivot point passed through a point inside the door jamb where the upper, hidden hinge was located. It was an unusual, but not unheard of, trick in the early days. It also allowed the doors to swing in an upward path which made them self closing when you let go of them.
Maybe the "One hinge per door" policy led to the Dort's early demise.
The leather interior looked so elegant, that I had to look for an interior picture.
This is a 1924 model, but looks very similar.
I can make out a shiny bronze cannon, seemingly aimed straight at her, just above the rearmost roof bow. The top word on the sign seems to read "Military". Would this be near an entrance to a military base?
[As a matter of fact, that's Fort Mason to the left - west - of the Spaghetti factory. -tterrace]
[That "shiny bronze cannon" is a brass standpipe; the sign says MILITARY RESERVATION. - Dave]
The Fontana Spaghetti factory that is, back there at Van Ness Avenue and North Point. Now the spot's occupied by the notorious Fontana Towers, whose erection in 1962 spurred the drive for a height limit to protect waterfront views.
["Spaghetti factory," LOL. Everyone knows spaghetti is harvested! - Dave]
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