Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Autocar remains the oldest surviving vehicle brand in the United States, but they haven’t built a passenger car in over 100 years. It’s been heavy trucks for most of that time. Well, since 1907 to be exact.
This stake-bed truck is powered by a two-cylinder engine and has solid 35″ rubber tires, no weather protection, and a giant ship-like headlight. It’s basic. But that’s exactly what trucks were in 1910. They served a purpose – and it’s amazing that this one is still around. Look for a price between $20,000-$25,000 next week. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Autocar remains the oldest surviving vehicle brand in the United States, but they haven’t built a passenger car in over 100 years. It’s been heavy trucks for most of that time. Well, since 1907 to be exact.
This stake-bed truck is powered by a two-cylinder engine and has solid 35″ rubber tires, no weather protection, and a giant ship-like headlight. It’s basic. But that’s exactly what trucks were in 1910. They served a purpose – and it’s amazing that this one is still around. Look for a price between $20,000-$25,000 next week. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $33,000.
1912 International Model AW Auto Wagon
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
It’s hard to really draw a line in the sand as to when International switched from cars to trucks, as all of their high-wheeled cars were sort of truck-like from the start. In a way, 1911 was the last official year for passenger cars, as their 1912 announcement centered on delivery wagons (though you could get car-like appointments by request on their smallest commercial chassis for years afterward).
These “Auto Wagons” were available in two models for a few years: the AW and the MW. They evolved through 1915, but in 1916 IHC moved to a more modern style and things just kept going from there. With the rear bench seats, I like to think of this as an early SUV, a territory that IHC would dabble in all the way through the early 1980s.
The difference between the AW and MW was their cooling systems. This is where it gets weird. The AW was the air-cooled car, and the MW was water-cooled. The red car above is listed as an AW in RM’s catalog and is clearly water-cooled. The blue car below is listed as a 1913 Model MW. But it is air-cooled. Something is wrong here, or these cars got their running gear swapped at some point.
Both engines were 3.2-liter flat-twins, but the air-cooled version was good for 18 horsepower, three more than its water-cooled sibling.
Regardless, both cars are expected to fetch between $20,000-$30,000 each. So pick one and then rename it. More info on the red car is available here, and you can see the blue one here. Check out more from this sale here.
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Update: Sold (red one): $33,000. (Blue one): $28,600.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10-11, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Kearns Motor Buggy Company was founded by Maxwell Kearns in Beavertown, Pennsylvania in 1909 after he purchased the former Eureka plant. High-wheelers were still in fashion so that’s what they started building. It was also almost the same car Eureka had been building.
Kearns advertised the cars as different than your standard high-wheeler, which they were with their more conventional setup. They eventually moved into four-cylinder cars and cyclecars. Ultimately, the company stopped passenger car production in 1916 to focus on commercial vehicles, which lasted through 1928.
The Model G as one of six models offered in 1910 and one of two powered by a 20 horsepower, three-cylinder two-stroke engine. It has dual-chain drive, a right-hand steering wheel, and other features not found on many of its contemporaries. This former Henry Austin Clark Jr. car is one of about 100 examples of the Model G produced, and it should sell for between $20,000-$30,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10-11, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
This interesting car is described as the first motorized (non-electric) taxicab in New York City. But something is a little odd. The Rockwell was a car named for Albert Rockwell, who sold the car under the Connecticut Cab Company banner with Charles Treadway, Ira Newcomb, T.H. Holdsworth, and Ernest Burwell. But they didn’t build the cars. The Bristol Engineering Company of Bristol, Connecticut did.
Moreover, they didn’t actually found the company until 1910. The story goes that in 1909 there were 11 of these on the streets, replacing the electric cab business that went under in 1907. By 1910, 200 Rockwell cabs were roaming Manhattan. Shortly after, a new taxi company took over and imported cabs from France.
Furthermore, this car is believed to have been electrically-powered at first, before being converted to its current water-cooled gasoline engine in 1910 for Mr. Rockwell himself. So was it actually built in 1900, a full decade before Rockwell (the company) got off the ground? Or was it built circa 1909? Who knows. The car has spent most of its life in a serious of museums and is seriously interesting, regardless of when it was built. This is what NYC taxis looked like 110 years ago.
It’s unclear how many are left, or if this is the only one. It will sell without reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Pacific Grove, California | August 15, 2019
Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers
Stevens-Duryea was founded in 1901 when J. Frank Duryea got pissed off at his brother and left their joint company to work elsewhere. He designed a car and convinced The J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company to build it. They continued to offer very expensive cars through 1927.
This Model X, which is listed as a 1908 but was first purchased in 1911, was from the heydey of Stevens-Duryea. The Model X was produced from 1909 through 1912. Power is from a 36 horsepower, L-head four-cylinder engine. The car is wonderful, especially if you start looking at the details. And it’s all-original apart from a 1950s repaint.
But the big story here is the car’s history. It was retained by its first owner for many years before being willed to Henry Austin Clark Jr. in the 1950s. Clark kept it in his museum and used it on tours (of which video exists on YouTube). It’s currently on only its fourth owner. No pre-sale estimate is provided, but it failed to sell on BringaTrailer for $125,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by H&H Classics | Duxford, U.K. | June 19, 2019
Photo – H&H Classics
By 1910, the Stanley brothers were in their third calendar decade of automotive design. Their model range for the year consisted of the Model 60, Model U, Model 72, and Model 61. The cars had various wheelbases, except for the 60 and 61, which shared a 104″ chassis.
Power for the Model 60 came in the form of a 10 horsepower, two-cylinder steam engine. Two body styles were offered, with this being an example of the $850-when-new Runabout.
This car was actually raced in the U.S. in the 1920s and was restored prior to a 2006 sale. It hasn’t run in about a year, so it will require a little freshening before use. Still, that shouldn’t stop someone from paying $60,000-$75,000 for it at auction. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Bonhams | Tupelo, Mississippi | April 27, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Born in Canada, William A. Paterson moved to Flint, Michigan in 1869 to build carriages. In 1908 he built a prototype automobile, and by 1910, cars were his only line of business. There were a lot of car companies in America in the 1910s. Some were big and are still around today. Some were small and only lasted a few years. And then were companies like Paterson who fell right in the middle: they built a fair number of cars and lasted, as Paterson did, for a solid 15-ish years (until 1923, in this case).
The 1910 Paterson model range consisted of the Model 30, the company’s first four-cylinder car. It is a 30 horsepower, 3.3-liter inline-four. Three body styles were offered, each costing $1,400. Only 450 cars were built in 1910.
This car was once owned by the director of Dumbo and was then acquired by the Harrah collection. The Tupelo museum bought it from a Harrah’s dispersal sale in 1986. It should now sell for between $25,000-$35,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Bonhams | Tupelo, Mississippi | April 26-27, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Anyone with any degree of mechanical knowledge could’ve opened an automobile company before 1910. In this case, J.B. Bartholomew of Peoria, Illinois, made peanut and coffee roasters before building his first car in 1901. In 1903 the Glidemobile went into production, and the name was shortened the following year to just Glide.
The 1910 Glide model range consisted of the Model 45 which was powered by a 45 horsepower 5.8-liter inline-four. Three factory body styles were offered, a three-passenger roadster, the five-passenger Scout touring, and a seven-passenger Special touring. This is the middle car, which cost $2,500 when new.
It is a larger car than the photos would have you believe, and it is one of only a few Glides known to exist. Formerly a part of the Imperial Palace collection, it is the first car we are featuring from the now-closed Tupelo Automobile Museum. It should sell for between $38,000-$53,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Mecum | Phoenix, Arizona | March 14-16, 2019
Photo – Mecum
The Kenmore Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois, built cars for a short period of time: 1910 through 1912. Their cars were a little outdated from the get-go, carrying the styling of yesteryear. Ultimately, the company’s assets were acquired by Sears and their Kenmore appliance brand name is believed to have descended from this acquisition.
The 1910 Kenmore model line offered two options: the Model A and Model B, both two-cylinder cars on an 82″ wheelbase. The B had four additional horsepower, for a total of 18. Normally, I’d want to figure out if this car is an A or a B, but it has been bastardized with an electric motor according to the lot description, so it doesn’t really matter I guess (though it sure looks like an opposed twin is sitting under the front bonnet).
It does have a nifty flip-up wooden rear seat, which rules out the 2-passenger Runabout factory body style. Perhaps it is a 3-passenger Roadster or a 4-passenger Surrey. I don’t think two people are destined for that awful rear bench, so I went with Roadster. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
How Harry A. Knox became to be an automobile manufacturer probably has something to do with how this car looks. His neighbor happened to be J. Frank Duryea, who along with his brother, was one of America’s first automobile producers. And their early cars looked a lot like this (three-wheelers included).
The auction catalog lists this as a c.1899, but my information says that Knox built their first 15 3-wheelers in 1900. Another 100 were built in 1901, and a 4-wheeler was added in 1902. This car is powered by a five horsepower, 1.6-liter single-cylinder engine.
The engine number is 28, which might mean this was actually built in 1901. In any case, it’s one of the earliest Knox cars around, and it is really, really cool. It should sell for between $100,000-$120,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Update: Sold $106,400.
1910 Knox Model R Seven-Passenger Touring
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 7, 2019
Photo – Bonhams
Here’s a later Knox, and a much larger, more traditional example. When I think of this marque I think of tiny, early runabouts like this one. But later on, they certainly built big tourers as well.
The Model R was sold in 1910 through 1912 and it is powered by a 40 horsepower, 6.1-liter straight-four. It has shaft drive and is finished in an attractive combo of blue with red wheels. The restoration is described as older, but with big power on tap, it should be a nice, usable car.
The seven-passenger touring body style was only available on the Model R in 1912, after the wheelbase was extended to 122″. But who knows, anything is possible with old cars. This one should bring between $175,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
