Family history is something that’s always interested me, and learning more about my ancestry has taught me that automotive enthusiasm is frequently passed down from generation to generation. A few years ago, we celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the date my great-grandfather opened one of the first service stations in northern Utah.
Turns out, my great-grandfather on the other side of the family may have also been a car guy. When my grandma passed away a couple of years ago, one of the things I got from her house was a small zippered bag containing a few USB drives. There were some documents and scanned photos related to her family that I browsed through.
One of the pictures on a drive was entitled “Lyndon with car.” Lyndon was her dad, my great-grandfather. He was born May 15, 1908 and passed away October 27, 1983. When he passed, I was only about two years old, so I don’t remember him. Here is the photo in full resolution:
Analyzing the photo in question: The bottom left corner of the Utah license plate appears to say 29, so the photo may have been taken in 1929, which was three years before my grandma was born. Lyndon would have been 21 years old, and the photo was likely taken in northern Utah around Tremonton or Deweyville.
That’s about as much as we know. With all the great (and not-so-great?) intel out there on the World Wide Web, I wondered if any of our readers could shed some light on this car.
I made a quick inquiry with AI (risky, I know) and it suggested the car was a 1922 Studebaker “Light-Six,” Model EJ, five-passenger Touring. Sounds pretty specific, but the conclusion was based on the hood profile, radiator shell, fenders, and bumper. The car appears to have an aftermarket grille guard, which explains the chrome grid in front of it.
A ’22 Studebaker would have used a 207ci L-head inline-six mated to a three-speed manual transmission. It was marketed as “The World’s Greatest Lightweight Automobile.”
A marketing booklet said, “The Studebaker Light-Six was designed and is produced to meet the worldwide demand for an efficient, durable, and economical lightweight car. It is a real achievement in advanced engineering for —
- Refined and improved design, with exact balance of weight
- Quick acceleration, flexibility and power per pound of car weight
- Ease of operation, quietness and freedom from vibration
- Economy of tires, gasoline, and oil consumption”
While I was down the AI rabbit hole, I asked the application to enhance and colorize the picture. Here’s what I got. Not too shabby. Do you think the car was a 1922 Studebaker? If not, what’s your guess?
