I think everyone here knows how much I love a good automotive mystery. Knowing things is wonderful, but the strange, hungry quality of not knowing something and desperately wanting to is, in some perverse ways, even better. And I think I have a good automotive mystery for everyone today. This one comes once again from my pal Emily and her recent obsession with vintage photographs of Los Angeles, as we already saw in today’s Cold Start. This time I have no idea what the story is behind this photo, despite the strange, seemingly blatant obviousness of the whole thing. If X marks the spot, what spot is it marking?
This image was posted on a Skyscraper Page forum back in 2015, almost a decade ago, and I do not think the mystery has been solved yet. It’s a busy Los Angeles street, and I think the picture was taken in the very early 1950s – likely before 1954. The street itself isn’t mentioned, but I have a suspicion this may be by the intersection of La Brea and Clinton Street.
The mystery part of the picture has to do with the 1947 to 1949 Studebaker Champion in the lower right of the image. You can see the one I’m talking about because it has a huge, white X painted on its roof:
Identifying the car as a Studebaker Champion was relatively easy: that very distinctive wraparound rear window could hardly be anything else:
In 1950, the taillights flipped to be vertical, so it’s no newer than a ’49. The car diagonally up and to the left of the X car is a 1950 Ford, so this is at least from 1950.
Anyway, let’s just get to the big question: why does this Studebaker have a huge X painted on the roof? I don’t think this was a factory option from Studebaker, I doubt there was much demand for roof Xs in the late ’40s, especially with memories of the war so fresh.
It has to be for some sort of aerial spotting, right? But what, and why? And look at the vantage point of the photograph:
It’s above the road, and I don’t think there’s a bridge or overpass there. So maybe this picture was taken from some manner of aircraft, and that car was used to help the aircraft follow or track, for some reason?
But what and why? Is there something done with aircraft in cities that would require a car to visually track like this? Ballooning? Do hot air balloons have support cars like this? Can they even track a car? It’s probably not a balloon.
So, I’m hoping the Autopian Brain Trust can help with this, because it’s kind of driving me nuts. One of you out there must have just that right mix of aviation and automotive and civil engineering knowledge. Or several of you, working together and combining forces like some kind of anime robots forming one colossal robot, in space.
Can we solve the mystery of the X-Car? Man, I hope so.
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Definitely made me think of aerial surveys… I see some explanations below on why they would have been on a vehicle instead just painted directly on the pavement like I am used to. Nice work.
So, from what I gather from the comments, this car was actually a Studybaker.
First of all, how dare your sir!
the elusive x marks the spot
Runway closed. Please don’t land your plane on my roof.
The big white “X” on top of cars, including Studebakers, in the 1950s was used for aerial spotting and tracking purposes.
During that era, cars with such markings were used in traffic studies and urban planning to help track vehicle movements from the air. This method allowed for better understanding and management of traffic flow in growing urban areas.
So the aliens can find their plant
The coyote is driving that Studebaker. The white x on the roof was painted by the coyote. He’s going to drop an anvil on the car in a canyon up ahead.
Do you mean to say the Roadrunner is driving the Studebaker?
(Why would he do that – did he get tired of running all day?)
Those street signs sure are mounted way the fuck up there on that pole. If your car had one of those popular at the time visors I hope you had a really flexible neck.
I would have guessed it was to identify an ‘unmarked’ police car from above. But in 1950 did police cars even all have radios? And police aviation in 1950 would have been fixed wing, and not so useful in cities. Hmm.
Well if it was a Chevy I’d say that it was Mr X’s car, I mean you can’t see the driver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcVWxPBImg0
A (Scottish) speed cross, obviously. Which leads us to the less well known alternative fact: Ecurie Ecosse raced Nascar with Studebakers in the fifties. Must be one of those.
Obviously a patriotic Scotsman.
To find your car in a parking lot. Lol if it were sold to police departments I would say so a helicopter pilot could direct car following a car or perp.
buried treasure, presumably from a pirate, obviously.
“But I don’t want to be a pirate!”
Never gets old…
Sorry/not sorry.