In Antwerp, Belgium, my great-grandfather was a car builder in 1900 till his death in 1913. Then his sons continued the firm, maintaining cars and trucks in the 1920-30s. On the attached picture (between 1923 and 1930) this was their workplace. One person is working at a car. Now, I’ve been told this is a Ford model T, but I’m not 100% convinced, so I would like to ask for your help to identify the type of car and model. Many thanks for your help, Jørgen.
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The shape of the radiator shell and the contours of the front fender don’t look like a Model T to my eyes. I hope this helps.
Yes it does. thank you. I asked because someone was convinced, but the shock absorbers are different, two light bulbs are different and I wasn’t sure of the radiator shell compared to all Model T’s I could find. Then today i stumbled on a photo on a Dutch site showing a few Belgian legendary makes of the brand SAVA. The radiator follows the same curves and we see part of the logo resembling. Many thanks!
That photograph of your great grandfather at work is a treasure!
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Pretty sure not a Model T
Front springs on axle are not Ford Model T style as well.
Great picture
It’s a pity I couldn’t find any more of these.
Now I’m convinced as well this is not a Ford.
I found a similar front on prewarcars.nl, so I superimposed the front with the photo, and it looks like it is a 1926 Minerva AF town car.
A Minerva was a very expensive Belgian car back then. Very impressive.
Been awhile since I have checked in here. Hopefully your recent post is recent enough that my comments can still be found by you.
The Minerva was one of many fine European cars of the 1920s. A very good friend many years ago had a large collection of fine (mostly American) motorcars. Of all the wonderful automobiles he had, one of his most favorite cars was his Minerva.
The main comment I wish to make, however, is that “town car” is the body style of the car you compared with on the internet. The car in your family’s photo is not showing enough of the car to determine the body style of that car. While it may have been a town car, it is more likely that is was some other sort of sedan or coupe, or even an open body style car.
Many Minerva automobiles received custom built bodies when new.
I am no expert on Minerva automobiles. However, at my first glance at your photo, my first thought was to remember Jack’s Minerva! He sure loved that car, and enjoyed taking it to collector car shows.