Tag Archives: 1908

Chicago Motor Buggy

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1908 Chicago Motor Buggy Type 112

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 7, 2013

1908 Chicago Motor Buggy Type 112

Photo – Bonhams

What’s amazing is that the car we featured yesterday was built the same year that this car was. While the Alldays & Onions from yesterday was built in the U.K. and had a windshield and doors and a top and well, you get the idea. This car has wheels – high ones. And a seat. And a steering wheel.

It was made for the rugged roads of rural America. And in that regard, it was successful. As a sales leader, it was not. The company (yes, the marque was actually called “Chicago Motor Buggy”) built this lone model and lasted for this lone year (it was actually a sub-brand of the Black Motor Company). The engine is a 14 horsepower twin. It has chain drive and solid tires and is probably not comfortable to ride in. But it is cool.

It cost $450 when it was new and can do 25 mph. It is one of 13 known to exist and arrived in England in 2007 when it was made running. It is a driver and can be yours for between $31,000-$39,000. Click here for more details and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Alldays & Onions

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1908 Alldays & Onions 10/12 HP Four-Seater Swing-Seat Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 7, 2013

1908 Alldays & Onions 1012 HP Four-Seater Swing-Seat Tonneau

Of all automobile manufacturers, Alldays & Onions has one of the strangest names. You can trace its roots back farther than the merger of two engineering companies in 1889: to Onions (founded in 1650 by a Mr. John Onions) and William Allday & Co. (founded in 1720 by, well, William Allday). When combined, they became a well-known blacksmith equipment and pneumatic engineering company based in Birmingham.

They built their first car in 1898 and by 1918 the company’s name had changed to Enfield-Alldays. This model was introduced in 1905 and it was Alldays & Onions’ most successful model. It uses a 1.6-liter twin-cylinder engine making 10/12 horsepower.

The original owner and registrant of this car is known (it was first registered in 1909). It’s post-WWII history is more or less known. It was “sympathetically” restored sometime prior to 1987 but was still described as “highly original” when it was sold in ’87. It has spent a good deal of its life in private collections not having seen much use. It has been prepped prior to this sale and is usable. It should sell for between $44,000-$50,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams at the National Motor Museum.

Update: Sold $68,077

One of the Earliest Sports Cars

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1908 Isotta Fraschini Tipo FENC Two-Seater

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17, 2013

1908 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo FENC

Milan-based Isotta Fraschini began building cars of their own design in 1904. This car came not long after that. The Type FE was a race car built by Isotta to compete in the great European races of the day. Its predecessor, the Type D, used a 17.2-liter straight-four engine. That’s “train-size.”

Well that big engine didn’t fare so well in competition, detonating itself after one lap. So, for the 1908 races, Isotta tried something different. Instead of brute power via displacement, they went for the whole package. The cars were light and handled well – weight was only 1,342 pounds – which is probably close to what the 17.2-liter engine weighed. And then they fitted it with a light 1.2-liter straight-four.

They were more successful at the track and Isotta Fraschini built some for the road and dubbed them “FENC.” The engine was enlarged to 1.3-liters and makes about 17 horsepower. It is capable of 60 mph. You could call it a sports car. Only about 100 FENCs were built and only two are known to survive. This one was discovered in 1985 in bad shape and then thoroughly restored. It sold at auction in 2008 for $166,500. We’ll see how it goes this time around. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum in Monterey.

Update: Sold $145,000.

S/N: 6023

Pre-DFP Doriot-Flandrin Tourer

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1908 Doriot-Flandrin Type E

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | December 9, 2012

D.F.P. – which stood for Doriot, Flandrin & Parant – was a French automobile manufacturer in Courbevoie that was originally founded in 1906 by August Doriot and Ludovic Flandrin (former workers of Peugeot and Clement-Bayard, respectively). They produced cars using both their last names until Jules-René Parant joined the firm in 1908 and the company changed it’s name to D.F.P.

So this is obviously a rare car, having been made somewhere between 1906 and 1908 – the only years Doriot-Flandrin existed. This is an eight horsepower car, the larger of the two initial models offered by the company. It has a single cylinder of 1.1-liters.

D.F.P. lasted through 1926 but Doriot-Flandrin-badged cars are never seen. In fact, this might be the only one left in existence. The restoration is listed as “recent” and it looks good. The price should be between $19,500-$26,000. For more information click here. And for the rest of Osenat’s lineup, click here.

Update: Not sold.

The Oldest Simplex

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1908 Simplex 50 Speedcar Roadster

Offered by Mecum Auctions | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

The Simplex Automobile Company was born out of the failure of Smith & Mabley, which began importing and building cars in 1904 under the name S&M Simplex. After their bankruptcy in 1906, the remnants of Smith & Mabley were purchased by Herman Broesel who formed Simplex.

The first Simplex cars were, like the one you see here, massive cars, whose bare chassis with engine cost $4,500. The engine was a 10.0-liter four-cylinder – which, I think, means you can hear each individual revolution of the engine. It also has double-chain drive, which is a really amazing thing to see when one of these drives past you. Simplex was one of – if not the – last company to use chain drive on their cars. The company morphed into Crane-Simplex when they were bought out in 1917.

The restoration on this car can be described as “fresh,” having covered only 200 miles since completion. This is the earliest Simplex known to exist and cars like this are capable of fetching prices near $500,000, but no estimate has been published. For more info, click here. And for the rest of Mecum’s Monterey lineup, click here.

Update: Sold $1,900,000.

Update: Sold, Bonhams Amelia Island 2021, $610,000.

Itala Grand Prix Car

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1908 Itala Grand Prix Car

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, England | June 29, 2012

The Itala marque was founded in 1904 and is fairly well-known among enthusiasts and collectors for its racing prowess prior to 1910. The company existed until bought out by Fiat in the mid-1930s. That’s 30 years of history but it’s so rare to see one come up for public sale. And yet here is one – but not just any Itala. This car, known as “Floretta” is a somewhat famous model with known, detailed history.

Itala racing cars won the Coppa Florio in 1905, the Targa Florio in 1906 and the Peking-to-Paris race in 1907. 1908 was the first year for a fixed “formula” for the Grands Prix of Europe. Itala built three four-cylinder cars for the 1908 season, utilizing drivers Alessandro Cagno, Henri Fournier and Giovanni Piacenza. It was thought until very recently that this car was the one driven by Cagno. New evidence (such as wheelbase and weight comparisons) suggest that this may have been the one driven by Piacenza, as it had a longer wheelbase and thus, more weight, than either of the other team cars.

In 1909, the car was in possession of a Mr. R. Wil-de-Gose who lapped the Brooklands circuit at 93mph. The next year he returned and eventually bumped the speed up to 101mph, faster than the Mercedes race cars it competed against in 1908. Shortly after this, the original racing body was replaced with the four-seat touring body you see here. After World War I, the car was parked in a garage in England until discovered in 1927. The car was brought back to life and has changed hands only a few times since. I highly recommend going to Bonhams site here and reading the entire description, which includes snippets of stories by people who have driven this monstrous machine. It’s very interesting.

The engine is a massive 12-liters in capacity. It has four-cylinders with cylinders cast in two blocks. It makes about 100 horsepower and is good for cruising comfortably at speeds over 80 mph. The last Itala I can find that sold at auction went for less than $100,000. The estimate on this one is slightly more at $2,300,000-$3,900,000. It’s an amazing machine and an amazing opportunity. For more info click here and for more on Bonhams in Goodwood, click here.

Update: Sold $2,724,748.