1902 Yale

1902 Yale Model A Detachable Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18, 2019

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Yale was a product of the Kirk Manufacturing Company, a bicycle manufacturer from Toledo, Ohio. It went on sale in the summer of 1902. The company produced two-cylinder cars through 1905, when a four-cylinder arrive just in time for the company to close. The reason they gave? They were “too busy” to make cars. Bankruptcy followed in 1906.

This Model A is from the first year of manufacture and is powered by a 3.2-liter flat-twin making 10 horsepower. Annual developments saw the power rating grow to 16 by 1905. The detachable rear-entrance tonneau was the only body style offered for the first two years.

Fun story, the original owner of this car lost it in a poker game to famed lawman Pat Garrett, who was killed a few years later. This car was used in his funeral procession and ultimately restored a few owners later in the 1950s (and again later on). It’s a rare early American automobile that should bring between $90,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $105,280.

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