Tag Archives: 1909

A Big Truck from 1909

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1909 Ariès 3-Ton Truck

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Ariès was a French vehicle manufacturer and we’ve featured a couple of their cars here on the site – but this is the first heavy commercial vehicle from the firm that we’ve seen. Ariès existed from 1902 through 1937 and commercial vehicle production began with the model above (some sources list 1910, which would make this a very early example).

What’s great about this truck is that it is pre-WWI. Sure, it was probably used by the French Army, but it pre-dates required harsh military wartime treatment. It could’ve delivered produce in the early days of the automobile. Plus, it’s a dually.

The engine here is a 5.0-liter straight-four and everything has been restored. It is described as “a joy to drive” and while I’m sure it’s interesting, it’s probably a little terrifying as well. At any rate, it should bring between $25,000-$31,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $31,518.

A Pair of Old Heavy Trucks

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1917 Saurer Four-Cylinder Truck

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Adolph Saurer AG was around from 1903 through 1982. That’s a pretty good run, especially considering they abandoned the passenger car business more or less before the company got going.

What’s great about this truck is that it is WWI-era. So many of these trucks were either 1. destroyed during the war itself or 2. scrapped to make newer, more reliable, quicker, and efficient trucks and other equipment for WWII. So to have one that has survived is amazing. It’s powered by a 5.0-liter straight-four.

While it might be slow as dirt, it’s exceptionally interesting and carries a nice restoration and relatively recent mechanical freshening. It should bring between $25,000-$31,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $35,020.

1909 Ariès 3-Ton Truck

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 5, 2015

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Ariès was a French vehicle manufacturer and we’ve featured a couple of their cars here on the site – but this is the first heavy commercial vehicle from the firm that we’ve seen. Ariès existed from 1902 through 1937 and commercial vehicle production began with the model above (some sources list 1910, which would make this a very early example).

What’s great about this truck is that it is pre-WWI. Sure, it was probably used by the French Army, but it pre-dates required harsh military wartime treatment. It could’ve delivered produce in the early days of the automobile. Plus, it’s a dually.

The engine here is a 5.0-liter straight-four and everything has been restored. It is described as “a joy to drive” and while I’m sure it’s interesting, it’s probably a little terrifying as well. At any rate, it should bring between $25,000-$31,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $31,518.

Renault Delivery Van

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1909 Renault Camionette Delivery Truck

Offered by Auctions America | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | March 29, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

This old Renault is a good example of how early automakers were able to transform their road vehicles into commercial vehicles without too much undue effort. If you look at everything from the seats forward, it’s very much an early Renault road car. The fact that it has an extended wheelbase and a big box on the back is what turns it into a work truck.

Or more of a van, really, as camionette is French for “van.” Like many early Renaults, this is powered by a two-cylinder engine. The steering wheel is on the right and there is actually a windshield, although weather protection as a whole leaves something to be desired.

If you own a business, this is the vehicle for you. Have it repainted with your logo on the side and use it as a promotional vehicle. It will draw a crowd wherever it goes. This former museum piece is offered with an estimate between $30,000-$40,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $39,600.

DFP Coupe

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1909 DFP Coupe

Offered by Auctions America | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | March 29, 2015

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

DFP stands for Doriot, Flandrin and Parant and they started producing cars under the DFP marque in 1908. Between 1906 and early 1908, Doriot-Flandrin was the brand name prior to the Parant Brothers joining the company. DFP remained in business through 1926 when Lafitte took the plant over.

Single-cylinder DFP cars were made until 1910. This car uses a Chapuis-Dornier straight-four engine. There were three four-cylinder engines offered in 1909, 2.0, 2.4, and 2.8-liter. It is not mentioned which engine this car carries.

The body is attractive, simple, and light and was constructed by Darlington Garage Ltd. The car is being offered from the collection of a museum in the Cayman Islands. It is expected to sell for between $40,000-$50,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: mysteriously disappeared from auction catalog.

Mercedes-Simplex Roi-des-Belges Tourer

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1909 Mercedes-Simplex 35HP Roi-des-Belges Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 30, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Wilhelm Maybach was a brilliant automotive engineer and he does not get the recognition today that he deserves. Unfortunately, today, his name is more likely associated with a short-lived, over-priced Benz driven by rappers than the brilliant cars he designed before WWII.

The Mercedes Simplex was his design. This 35HP model is from 1909, the last year for the model, and the penultimate year for the Simplex. The engine is a 5.9-liter straight-four driving the rear wheels via a shaft.

This car was used by a sheep station in Queensland, Australia. It was the station manager’s car from 1914 into the 1930s and was regularly used in the very-inhospitable Australian outback. The car was sold to another outback outpost where it remained until the 1980s. The beautiful restoration you see here was completed in 2010. It runs and drives and it’s simply incredible it survived such a harsh, early life. But that’s a testament to Maybach’s industrious design. It should sell for between $640,000-$960,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Not sold.

1909 Staver

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1909 Staver Model ER Roadster

Offered by RM Auctions | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 9, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Staver Carriage Company was founded in Chicago in 1907. They started by building highwheelers – and theirs were one of the largest and priciest around. In 1909, they started building more traditional four-cylinder cars. And the one you see here is the oldest known in existence.

The engine is a 3.3-liter straight-four making 25 horsepower. Staver only built one model for 1909, and this is the best example there is. Staver only lasted until 1914 before they went under. This car was purchased around 1930 by the Waukesha Motor Company in Wisconsin (they were the company that built the engine for it, and it has one of the earliest Waukesha engines known).

The company kindly gifted it to their President in 1935 and it bounced between a few company employees until the current owner acquired it in 1975. It is one of only five Stavers that are known to survive with a four-cylinder engine and it is the oldest of those. Only one highwheeler is known to be older. This car can be yours for between $50,000-$75,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $132,000.

1909 Hotchkiss Coupe de Ville

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1909 Hotchkiss Type T Coupe de Ville by Eugene Boulogne et Fils

Offered by RM Auctions | London, U.K. | September 8, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Look at that aerodynamic windshield. I love cars from this era because they were meant to do things. They moved people who no longer wished to use a horse. Yet they were exquisite in their detail and design. It wasn’t about streamlining for gas mileage. It was about accomplishing a task.

Hotchkiss started life as an arms manufacturer (as did a couple of other French automobile companies). The Hotchkiss brothers who founded the company were actually from Connecticut but they were gone before auto production started in 1902.

The Type T was new for 1907 and lasted through 1911. It uses a 3.1-liter straight-four and it was the smallest car they offered. The body is somewhat regal and was built by a little known French coachbuilder. It is believed this is the only Hotchkiss they bodied. This car is pretty much entirely original, which is amazing.

Less than 400 Type Ts were built. Not many are left, but this is the only one from this coachbuilder and it is as it was in 1909. A simply incredible opportunity. The price will range between $165,000-$210,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold on the cheap, $65,327.

Premier Model 45

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1909 Premier Model 45 Raceabout

Offered by Bonhams | Cape May, New Jersey | May 10, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, was founded in 1903. If this car looks big for a two-seater, that’s because it is. These old racer-style cars are huge and insanely cool.

Premier’s 1909 model line consisted of two models, with the Model 45 being the larger. It’s a six-cylinder engine under the long hood and it made a crazy-for-1909 45 horsepower. The Model 45 was available in three body styles – none of them a raceabout. In fact, this car was a formal limousine when new and the body was replaced to what you see here in the 1950s – a popular thing to have done to big, powerful old cars. And given this car’s Indy roots, it’s not unseemly.

Bonhams describes this as one of only a few six-cylinder Premiers still in existence, even though it hasn’t been used in decades. Premier closed its doors in 1925. This is a great way to get your hands on a racy old car on the cheap – if you’re up for a little project. This should sell for between $45,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here fore the rest of this auction’s lineup.

Update: Sold $143,000.

A Tiny Hupmobile

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1909 Hupmobile Model 20 Two-Passenger Runabout

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Houston, Texas | May 3, 2014

Photo - Worldwide Auctioneers

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Hupmobile was an American automobile marque produced by the Hupp Motor Company in Detroit from 1909 through 1940. That means the car you see here is from their first year of manufacture.

As you can see, this car is very light and very small. It covered the essentials of motoring in 1909 but today it’s cute and would make a great little car to putt around town in. The engine is a 16.9 horsepower 2.0-liter straight-four. I’m guessing the “20” in Model 20 comes from the displacement. This thing cost $750 when new and about 1,600 were built in 1909 alone. More body styles would be added the following year and the Model 20 would last until 1915.

This car has been restored to a condition that is about as fantastic as you will find a launch-year Hupmobile. It is well-equipped and is described as running and driving very well. It should sell for between $60,000-$80,000. And boy do I love the white tires with the white body! Read more here and see more from Worldwide’s Houston Classic here.

Update: Sold $66,000.

1909 Locomobile Speedster

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1909 Locomobile Model 30-L Speedster

Offered by RM Auctions | Amelia Island, Florida | March 8, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

These early speedsters (usually built before 1915) are some of the most incredible cars to see in person – especially if they’ve been restored. There is no dashboard. It’s more of a dashboard/floorboard/firewall that slops upward at your feet. It’s usually polished wood with gorgeous brass gauges. This car fits that description.

The Model 30-L uses a 4.7-liter straight-four making 30 horsepower. Locomobiles made big power and they started racing in 1905 but never sold their racing speedsters to the public. So all Locomobiles with racy bodywork have all been customized by their owners (meaning this isn’t a factory body but isn’t necessarily new, either).

This car has known history going back 60 years. The engine and chassis are correct and the body is period-correct (although likely not from the period). It would certainly be a fun car to use at very historical events as it does have usable power. It should sell for between $140,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM’s Amelia Island lineup.

Update: Sold $126,500.