Last Monday's 'Mercedes-Simplex' mystery appeared to be a 1909 Pierce-Arrow Model 40. Not a very strange mix-up as many makes of car were following the Mercedes radiator style prior to WWI. This making the identification of some cars extremely difficult as their designs are sometimes even more close to each other than is the case with modern cars.
Anyway, a few readers asked if any more photos were available and to our surprise Hugo Modderman produced two more of the same car, being the most charming picture above and a second one showing here. At the same time a little more history about the picture came up. It appears the car was transported for touring in Europe and the two (temporary) registrations are found to be from Liverpool and the one painted on the radiator is from Marseille. Imagine doing that trip alone in 1909-1910.... What can happen to you with this grand lady on your side and a sumptuous amount of spare tires. Look at the sidemounting. Counting two wrapped up ones with a snug-fit round luggage keeper in the center. Plus in view of the bad roads in France(?) or in England(?) yet another third one attached to the earlier ones. Our gutfeel and the architecture say that the picure above is still in France. Also the Liverpool plate is not yet attached. A second picture is showing a little bit more of the side and judging by the landscape and atmosphere most probably shot on the same location as the earlier photo.