Model 31 - Lipped front fender   Period Images    Home
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1906  model year.

4 cylinder 50hp engine, 118" wheelbase.
There was a large variety of fender shapes and styles during 1906.
The earliest images of Model 31 show a flat front fender, so it is assumed that the lipped-front-fender cars were later production.
Some lipped-front-fender pictures show flat rear fenders.
    Curiously, some flat-front-fender pictures show lipped rear fenders.
The radiator supplier changed mid-year, so some lipped-front-fender cars have a short filler neck and some have a long one.

As with the flat-front-fendered cars, there is variety in the flare angles of both ends of the front fenders.
Thus far it has not been possible to determine whether or not there was a manufacturing sequence.

Short-necked radiator

The lipped-front-fender cars started with the same radiator that had been used since the beginning of the season,
    manufactured by Whitlock Coolers.


eBay                                         Sumner, Washington



eBay



eBay



eBay                              only known image of a Model 31 with a 5-bow top



Varun Coutinho



Pennsylvania Archive



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library
This is a very interesting photo.
The driver, front seat passenger, and setting seem to be the same as in a couple of pictures on the Model 25-26-29 page -
    are these factory photos?
The running board has a short skirt under part of it, with an odd circular object dangling to the rear of that.
    It looks like a large watch fob on a leather strap.


Brad Hartley



The Automobile, Jul. 12, 1906                                            Francis Richards, of Portland, ME



The Automobile, Sep. 25, 1906 
J. H. Baxter and party, after the San Francisco to Del Monte endurance run, in which the car received a perfect score.



Automobile Topics, Nov. 16, 1907
S. O. Johnson, of the McCloud Lumber Co. in McCloud, CA, often had business out in the boondocks.
He got railroad wheels made for his Model 31, which he could swap onto the car in about a half hour.



Detroit Public Library
Ernest R. Kelly, racing somewhere in PA, possibly at Philadelphia's Point Breeze in August of 1906.
Can't say whether this was a lipped or flat-fendered car, but the picture has some nice detail and had to be included.


Long-necked radiator

These radiators were supplied by Fedders.
See also the Model "31a" runabout.


eBay



eBay



eBay



Albuquerque Museum                         banker M. W. Flournoy's big red touring car



Detroit Public Library



Automobile Topics, Dec. 1, 1906
SAN FRANCISCO MOTORISTS AT DEL MONTE - MR. AND MRS. R. G. HANFORD AND MISS GUITTARD



Automobile Topics, Aug. 24, 1907                      President Horine of the Springfield, MO Automobile Club



The Automobile, Sep. 5, 1907                      President Horine of the Springfield, MO Automobile Club



flickr, Curt J



Jeff Chattin



Princeton Historical Society                                            Princeton Alumni P-Rade



Horseless Carriage Gazette, 1960, Vol 22 #1
Not an early period photo, but this 1950s photo was taken while this car still retained much of its original configuration.
The rear fenders do not match any other Model 31 period photo.
Its radiator was later swapped with an earlier one.


Unknown radiator


Colin Feichtmeir 
Don't know the radiator, but we can't leave this one out.
A Thomas is a babe magnet!   


1906 Glidden Tour

The tour was held July 12-29.
Ezra E. Kirk managed car 8, which was driven by Edward C. Richard.
Passengers were Mrs. Kirk and Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Benjamin.
George M. Davis managed car 9, which was driven by George Salzman.
Passengers were mechanic Arthur Tuttleby and Edward Mussen of the Thomas factory.
Davis came through with a perfect score, and Kirk would have except for a misunderstanding of signals.
Both cars have lipped fenders and long radiator filler necks,
    so we can assume that the final production configuration of Model 31 was in place before July 12.



Antique Automobile, 1961, Vol 25 #6



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library
Photo taken July 18-21 while the tour was in in Quebec.



Detroit Public Library



Detroit Public Library



Horseless Carriage Gazette, 2000, Vol 62 #4


The next three photos show both cars 8 and 9.


Detroit Public Library
Since the participants were penalized for arriveing early to their daily destination,
    the popular strategy was to drive like mad while your tires were good,
    and if you got to town early, wait for the clock.



Detroit Public Library
Probably another one of those arrival waits.



Detroit Public Library


The next 3 pictures show Davis's #9 at the beginning of the tour.


Buffalo Times, Jul. 22, 1906



Buffalo Enquirer, Aug. 2, 1906



Detroit Public Library
At the start of the tour, in front of Teck Theatre, Buffalo, July 12.



Detroit Public Library                             just after the "wait" photo, above, was taken



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Day 2, in Utica - the car still looks like new.



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Detroit Public Library



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July 27, second-to-last day, at Rangeley Lakes, Maine.



Detroit Public Library
The car has taken a beating, but the boys still clean up good.
Left to right:  front seat, George Salzman, Arthur Tuttleby; back seat, Edward Mussen, George M. Davis.



Buffalo Morning News, Aug. 2, 1906
After the tour.  Davis's car was the first Thomas to make it back to Buffalo, 500 miles from the tour's end in Bretton Woods.