About What is it Quiz #437

Last Saturday’s puzzle #437 was not about raising chickens, it was about guessing the car on the picture. That mystery was solved by many. Interesting however, that none of our top 10 contestans had a very complete answer, with all the facts regarding the car and brand of the car, the Jackson Automobile Company. No, it was not a Moon like some thought, because of the keystone shaped radator. Jackson was the company that used the phrase "The Car with the Keystone Radiator" in advertisements.

First of all, special thanks to Peter Dew. He sent us a report about the emergence of the modern poultry industry in Britain. Thank you for that, Peter, very usefull, much appreciated.

First to give an answer was Robbie Marenzi.

“1920/21 Jackson 6-38 Semi-Sport. My first thought was Moon, but there was something wrong with the diamond shaped emblem. I found the original non flipped (LHD) picture and the Maryland MD-1921 license plate can be seen.”

Yes, we flipped the picture Robbie, we allways try to make things difficult.

Second was Anders Svenfelt , who also mentioned that the 6-38 Semi-Sport “combined the racy looks of a sports model with the roominess of the five passenger touring, had several color options, a Continental engine and a 121" wheelbase. About half the price of a comparable sized Buick 6-cylinder.”

Alan Spencer clarified the link between the remark of the assembly line worker “the company engineer should have raised chickens instead" and the poor quality of the interbellum Jackson cars. “The company devised the wonderful slogan 'No Hill Too Steep, No Sand Too Deep.' For the later models, it appears they could have added 'But It Isn't Cheap, And It'll Make You Weep.' “

Yes, cheap it was Craig Gillingham. “Jackson made 263 cars in total for 1921, with a list price of the base model at $2150US. The following year the base model price had dropped to $1485US.”

John Elema had the most complete answer about the brand Jackson and its founder:
“Byron J. Carter of Jackson, Michigan produced both steam- and gasoline cars. The first, named Jaxon, were made in 1903 only. The gasoline cars, Jacksons, were advertised with touting slogans like ‘No hills too steep, no sand too deep’ or ‘Like magic on hills, a snail in crowded streets’. 1913 saw a model named ‘Duck', a 4- passenger car that was steered from the rear seat. After WW2 Jackson’s 'Princess Coupe' was the hit of the 1921 Chicago Autoshow. A merger in 1923 with two other makes could not save the Jackson. “

Clear winner though is jury-member Fritz Hegemann, he had the most accurate and complete answer:

“No hill to steep, no sand to deep” was the slogan of the Jackson Automobile Company in the 1910s, offering a wide range of quality cars. After WW1 the performance of the engineers became worse.
We see here the Jackson 6-38 'semi-sport' Touring, built in 1920-23. „The Car with the Keystone Radiator” was offered in “a considerable variety of attractive colours”. Wheelbase was 3,07m, the engine a 6 cyl-Continental-7R (3.670 ccm, 55 hp at 2.600rpm, Stromberg-Carb), the eighteen-gallon gasoline-tank was placed in the rear, protected by the frame.
In 1923 Jackson merged to the Associated Motor Industries, disappearing in 1924.

Congrats Fritz, and best Greetings from the Prewarcar-Team!!

Text: Marius Hille Ris Lambers (Onestop Photo)
Picture: US National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress)