Tag Archives: 1906

Three Classics from Bonhams

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1904 Peerless Type 8 Style K King of Belgium Touring by Quinby

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Peerless was one of the finest American motor cars you could buy before WWII. And their obsession with quality started early, even if these early cars were a little more innovative than their later creations.

The Type 8 was one of three models you could buy from the company in 1904. This car carries “King of Belgium” coachwork from the J.M. Quinby Company of Newark, New Jersey, and power is from 24 horsepower inline-four.

This car has been in collector hands since the 1950s and was first restored in the 60s. It’s the type of car you only ever see in museums. But it can be yours – for between $400,000-$480,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $698,000.

1904 Thomas Flyer Model 22 Rear-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

The first Thomas cars were sold in 1903, but the 1904 Flyer would be the car that would take the company to great heights before they ultimately went out of business in 1918. In 1904, the Flyer was the company’s first multi-cylinder automobile: a 24 horsepower, 4.3-liter inline-three.

This car is being sold from the estate of Harold Coker, who owned quite a few Thomas Flyers. It is said that this is the only Model 22 Flyer remaining, making it the earliest such example of the legendary name that won the famed New York to Paris race in 1908. It should bring between $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $489,000.

1906 Stevens-Duryea Model U Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

After the Duryea brothers parted ways, Frank teamed up with the Stevens Arms Company to begin production of a finely engineered automobile called the Stevens-Duryea. The company existed in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1901 through 1927. These big early tourers were really their best stuff.

The Model U was technically a 1907 model, but it doesn’t matter. Because it’s awesome. Power is from a 35 horsepower, 5.5-liter inline-six. Ten examples of the Model U are said to exist, which is good news. Hopefully, they’ll be around for a long time to come. This particular car should bring between $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $173,600.

Stevens-Duryea Model U

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1906 Stevens-Duryea Model U Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

After the Duryea brothers parted ways, Frank teamed up with the Stevens Arms Company to begin production of a finely engineered automobile called the Stevens-Duryea. The company existed in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1901 through 1927. These big early tourers were really their best stuff.

The Model U was technically a 1907 model, but it doesn’t matter. Because it’s awesome. Power is from a 35 horsepower, 5.5-liter inline-six. Ten examples of the Model U are said to exist, which is good news. Hopefully, they’ll be around for a long time to come. This particular car should bring between $175,000-$225,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $173,600.

Ford Model F

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1906 Ford Model F Twin-Cylinder Side-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Hillegom, Netherlands | June 23, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

The first Ford, the Model A, was a two-cylinder car. In 1904 they introduced their first four-cylinder, which carried over into 1905. 1906 would see Ford launch their first six-cylinder car, but they still introduced a new two-cylinder car in 1905. That is the Model F. It would be Ford’s last two-cylinder car after it exited production at the end of 1906.

Only two Model F body styles were offered in 1905 and just this, the two-door, four-passenger touring car, carried over to 1906. It’s powered by a 2.1-liter flat-twin making 16 horsepower, a good jump over earlier 10 horsepower twins. Fun note on the Model F: you know how Ford was famous for only selling black Model Ts? Well, to adjust the famous phrase, “you can get a Model F in any color you want so long as it’s green.” Kind of weird, yeah? It’s like Henry bought his paint in bulk and used it exclusively until it was gone.

The Model F was a strong seller but, even with its advanced price, they did not survive. It’s thought that less than 50 remain today of the 1,250 sold in two years of production. This car was delivered new to Iowa where it remained for some time. The restoration dates to the late 1990s, right before it was added to the current museum collection in the Netherlands. When new this was an $1,100 car and it should bring between $47,000-$64,000 today. Click here for more info and here for more from this awesome sale.

Update: Sold $109,840.

Ford Model K Tourer

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1906 Ford Model K Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Hillegom, Netherlands | June 23, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

Not too long ago we chronicled the reasons as to why Henry Ford built a massive touring car before the everyman’s Model T went on sale in 1909. Basically: his investors wanted a luxury car. And so Ford obliged. Between 1906 and 1908, the quite large Model K was sold.

It was available as a two-door, four-passenger Touring or apparently as a Roadster. It was the first six-cylinder Ford (and the only one they’d offer until 1941). That six is a 6.6-liter straight-six good for 40 horsepower. In 1906, the Model K cost $2,500. This was the most expensive product – by a good margin – that Ford had offered up to that point. The ’06 model line consisted of the entry-level Model N and the upscale Model K with the Model F floating somewhere in the middle.

This well-restored Tourer is being offered out of a museum and is a beautiful example of an early, large Ford. It’s expected to bring between $270,000-$400,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $401,856.

1906 Winton Touring

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1906 Winton Model K Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 6-7, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Scotland’s Alexander Winton built some of America’s greatest early cars. They weren’t the most luxurious or the most powerful, but they were well made. And Winton knew it. He entered his cars in just about every conceivable endurance event he could just to prove it.

For 1906, Winton only offered a single model, the Model K. It was available as a Limousine and this five-passenger Touring. This K is powered by a 35 horsepower, 5.8-liter straight-four that drives the rear wheels via shaft drive and a two-speed transmission.

The current owner acquired the car in 1982 and took over 20 years to restore it, completing it in the 2000s. It’s a large, early American tourer – and the only thing that can make that better is white tires, which this car has. It would be a great acquisition for anyone and you can read more about it here.

Update: Sold $160,000.

Brasier Tonneau

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1906 Brasier 15HP Side-Entrance Tonneau by Vedrine

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 3, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Brasier marque began in 1902, after Charles-Henri Brasier quit his job at Mors and went into business with Georges Richard as Richard-Brasier. Richard jumped ship in 1905 to found Unic, leaving Brasier a standalone make beginning in 1905. The company lasted until 1931, having been known as Chaigneau-Brasier from 1926.

This car is from the second year of Brasier production and it is both big and quite nice. It’s powered by a four-cylinder engine making 14 horsepower, powering the rear wheels via shaft drive. This car was shipped from the U.S. to the U.K. in the 1980s and was restored by the current owner, likely in the 1980s.

The pre-sale estimate on this car is $52,000-$77,000. Cars from other manufacturers of similar size and vintage can go for many times this amount, making this a good, usable car at a decent price. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $79,679.

1906 Jewell

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1906 Jewell Model C Runabout

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 5, 2015

Photo - Worldwide Auctioneers

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

The Jewell was a product of the Forest City Motor Car Company of Cleveland, Ohio. After the first year of production (1906, which didn’t go so well), the company moved to Massillon, Ohio, and renamed themselves “Jewel.”

This light runabout is either a Model B or Model C (it is listed in the catalog as “Runabout”). The difference was that the Model C had a top and while this is more of an umbrella, I’m considering it a “top” because I don’t see how a convertible top would be possible on this high-wheeler-esque design. I will, however, admit to liking the Oklahoma!-like parasol.

The engine is a single-cylinder making eight horsepower. It is one of three known with tiller steering (of Jewell or Jewel) of about 1,000 total cars produced by the company over their short lifespan (Jewel disappeared after 1909). And it sports a very nice restoration. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $29,700.

Pungs-Finch

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1906 Pungs-Finch Limited Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 14-15, 2015

Photo - RM Sotheby's

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

This is a car you’ve likely never heard of. W.A. Pungs and his son-in-law, E.B. Finch, joined forces in late 1904 to create an automobile company. Finch was the engineer and Pungs was the money. They built a couple hundred cars through 1910 when, um, “familial issues” caused the two to part ways.

In 1906, they built a car called the Limited. It was available as a two-passenger Roadster or a seven-passenger Touring. This is an example of the seven-passenger Touring and it is likely the only example ever built. Henry Ford said it was the finest car he had ever seen.

This car is wonderfully engineered. It features shaft drive and hemispherical combustion chambers. The engine is an absolutely massive 10.6-liter straight-four making 50 horsepower. That’s right, each cylinder displaces almost as much as the engines in the two cars in my garage combined.

The Pungs-Finch – which really isn’t a great name for an automobile, let’s be honest – Limited Touring likely never progressed beyond this, the prototype stage. It was found and rescued in the 1950s and was once owned by Henry Austin Clark, Jr. The restoration is somewhat new, as is the body (it is a faithful recreation of the original, as the original was lost). At any rate, it’s the only Pungs-Finch in existence and, as much as I don’t want to sounds like a teenager, this car is epic. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $852,500.

1906 Franklin

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1906 Franklin Model E Roadster

Offered by Auctions America | Santa Monica, California | July 17, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Herbert H. Franklin founded his car company in 1901 when inventor John Wilkinson convinced him he had a solid design for an air-cooled automobile. Franklins remained air-cooled throughout their lifetime and as time went on, their cars went more and more upscale, which ultimately cost the company its existence when the Depression started.

The Franklin Model E was built between 1904 and 1906. It was Franklin’s light car for 1906 and is powered by a 12 horsepower straight-four. It was only offered as a two-passenger Runabout. This car was re-bodied at some point to resemble one of Franklin’s Speed trials cars.

It is being offered out of a “barn find collection” and therefore is likely not a running, driving example but would be a great little project car. The detail on it is great, right down to the light pinstriping on the suspension. It should sell for between $25,000-$45,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $19,800.

Packard Model S

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1906 Packard Model S Touring

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 9-11, 2015

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

For 1906 produced a single model called the Model S and it was only offered in that 1906. The Model S was a step forward for Packard, who, up to this point, had been sort of building a slightly reworked version of the same car year after year.

It is powered by a 5.7-liter straight-four rated at 24 HP but actually produces somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 horsepower. Because of its initial rating, the Model S was sometimes referred to as the Model 24. It was offered in five body styles with this Touring example being the least expensive at $4,000 – in 1906. So it was still pretty rich.

Packard only sold 728 cars for 1906 and only three are known to exist. This one spent 20 years in the Harrah Collection before joining the collection from which it is being offered in 1991. It is the 22nd oldest Packard known to exist and it is a multi-hundred thousand dollar car. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $300,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2016, high bid of $285,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Kissimmee 2017, high bid of $290,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Indianapolis 2017, high bid of $250,000.

Update: Sold, Mecum Indy 2018, $286,000.