‘31 YOM Illinois plates with Chicago medallion

[David in San Antonio]

On BringATrailer there is a ‘31 Tudor but what I want to know more about is the 1931 City of Chicago medallion accompanying the 1931 Illinois license plates.
Looking closely, the bottom of the medallion appears to me to read “35 HP or less”. I’m guessing this was for taxation, but I’d love to know more. Anyone?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...d-model-a-158/

[Thodge]

Vehicle tax medallion used through 1931.





https://chicagocop.com/history/decal...ax-medallions/

[Vic in E-TN]

Interesting history. Years ago I lived in Bartlett, IL. It was a small suburb 30 miles west of Chicago on the Milwaukee Road line. When I moved there in 1970 it had a population of approximately 3500. I looked for on of those medallions for years for my 29 CCPU. A friend finally found one that I bought. It was a real treasure and I still have it.


Vic

[WTSHNN]

I have about 100 Chicago tax tags from 1912 up thru 1937. A dozen or so pics from that Chicago Cop site are mine.

The plates and tag in the BAT listing are worth maybe $50 or $60. The frames could be $150 by themselves.

Here's a group of '31 Chicago tags from my collection. From top left. 35 HP or less, 1 ton truck, Over 35 HP, Auto Delivery Wagon, Duplicate.


-Tim

[David in San Antonio]

This is fascinating! How does a Model A qualify for “35 horsepower or less” when it’s supposedly 40 hp?

[Keith True]

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You didn't use the 35 HP or less on the A.You used that over 35 HP tag on the A.There was one for everybody.At least that is what a license plate collector told me.

[AYooperA]

I have several Chicago Vehicle pins from the early 1900’s when the Driver wore on his lapel and not placed on the vehicle. Don’t have handy to take pictures today but are an interesting bit of automotive history.

[WTSHNN]

For reasons I do not understand Model A's used the 35 HP or less tag. The over 35 tags are considerably more rare today than the less than ones.

[nkaminar]

The first measurement on horsepower in the very early days of auto manufacturing was based on the displacement, not what the engine put out on a brake. This continued in England for long time. That is why you will see two numbers for the model, like a 25/30 RR, for early cars. The first number was the horsepower for tax purposes based on displacement and the second was the actual horsepower. That RR is not a good example, but I cannot think of a better one right now.

[David in San Antonio]

I wonder what the Chicago “tax horsepower” was based on. Does anyone know?
According to Wikipedia, England, Spain France, Germany, Italy, and each individual canton of Switzerland have their own tax horsepower definitions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_horsepower

[ModelA29]

We should not be having this conversation lest some .gov employee sees it and drops it in the suggestion box for "new" tax ideas........


Anybody find it odd the break is at 35 hp not 40 (or 25, 50)? By setting it at 35 they were able to charge 1,000s of middle class Model A owners a higher tax.

[Thodge]

I’m curious as to how they calculated the tax rate based on hp while autos were phasing in and horse-drawn carriages were phasing out. Did a Model T cost you 20 times more than a one-horse buggy?

[WTSHNN]

Originally Posted by ModelA29

Anybody find it odd the break is at 35 hp not 40 (or 25, 50)? By setting it at 35 they were able to charge 1,000s of middle class Model A owners a higher tax.

Model A's used the 35hp or less. The 35hp line in the sand was in use as early as 1912 so the break point had nothing to do with the Model A h.p.

[David in San Antonio]

According to the Wikipedia entry linked above, “Tax horsepower” was generally calculated by a formula. It was generally not based on actual horsepower. Rolls Royce, for example, had a line of cars called the 30/40. 30 tax horsepower, and 40 actual horsepower.
The list of different calculations is a testament to many governments attempting to calculate horsepower but absolutely committed to not measuring it directly. Bureaucracies haven’t changed in a hundred years.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by David in San Antonio

This is fascinating! How does a Model A qualify for “35 horsepower or less” when it’s supposedly 40 hp?

Because that's the one he collected.

[Jeff/Illinois]

The Illinois title on our '30 Dlx. Roadster reads 'H.P. 24'

Our Illinois titled '29 Tudor had that on there too

[David in San Antonio]

Per the MARC site:
Horsepower
SAE rating, 24.03
Brake, 40 @ 2200 RPM.

The SAE horsepower rating which was based on a formula, not a real- world test, was used to set the taxable horsepower. Hence the “35 horsepower or less” on the Chicago tax disc.