1899 Columbia Motor Buggy

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | June 15, 2013

I’ll start by saying that this is listed as a “circa 1899” so I’m just going with 1899. The Columbia Automobile Company was founded as a joint venture between the Pope Manufacturing Company and the Electric Vehicle Company in 1899. They offered electric and gasoline powered cars. In 1904, Columbia offered 37 different electric cars and two gas-powered ones. By 1911, there were only two electrics while gasoline cars offered had risen to 10.

In 1911, Columbia came under the control of the United States Motor Company – one of the first major “automotive conglomerates.” It over-expanded and failed in 1912, taking Columbia, one of America’s first manufacturers, down with it.

This car is possibly from the launch-year of manufacture. It is powered by a 616cc two-stroke vertical twin-cylinder. It hasn’t run since 1986 but it’s still early and interesting. There aren’t many of them left and this is the only one in the U.K. It should sell for between $23,000-$27,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ Banbury Run sale.

Update: Sold $17,966.

1899 Hurtu Dos-a-Dos

For sale by H&H Auctions | Appleton, England

Hurtu was among the earliest of the automotive pioneers. Founded in 1896, this 1899 Dos-a-Dos isn’t even their earliest model. The company started out in 1880 manufacturing sewing machines. They moved into machine tools and finally bicycles – the launchpad for many an early car maker.

Because my French is terrible (and I actually lived in France for a little bit), I always assumed this was pronounced phonetically. But, as always when it comes to foreign language, I was wrong. It’s French, so the consonants are extraneous. It’s pronounced “ooertoo” (or so says H&H).

Their first cars were Léon Bollée copies. In 1898 they switched to making Benz copies, which is what this happens to be. By 1900 they had their own, more contemporary, designs on sale. The marque lasted until 1930. This car’s engine is a 1.6-liter making 3.5 horsepower. The wood is believed to be original, although the dos-a-dos style seats have been redone (dos-a-dos referring to the seat that is in front of and facing the driver/operator).

About three or four of this type of Hurtu are known to exist. It has been in a Portuguese museum for some years but did complete the London-to-Brighton run in the last five years. It has been excellently preserved and is ready to run. Price is unknown, but you can find out more here.