Palmer-Singer

1911 Palmer-Singer Model 4-50 Seven-Passenger Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Middletown, Rhode Island | April 29, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

Yes, that Singer. Charles Singer was part of the Singer sewing machine family, and he joined with barrel maker Henry Palmer to start a Simplex, Matheson, and Isotta Fraschini dealership in Manhattan. The next year, 1908, they started building their own cars in Long Island City.

The company’s 1911 model range constituted four cars, with the 4-50 positioned as the second most powerful. It’s powered by a 50-horsepower, 8.2-liter inline-four. It has a four-speed manual transmission and rear drum brakes. Six body styles were offered, and the seven-passenger touring retailed for a hefty $3,900.

This car has had three owners since new and has been in the same family since 1956. It was restored from ’56 through 1960 and is the only four-cylinder Palmer-Singer left (and the only 4-50). The estimate is $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $555,000.

Brennabor Roadster

1911 Brennabor Type B Roadster

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

Brennabor-Werke AG was a German automobile company that was founded by the Reichstein brothers in 1871 to produce child carriages. A decade later they got into bicycles, with the Brennabor name first appearing in 1892. Motorcycles arrived in 1901, and to-order automobiles became available two years later.

Actual production started in 1908, and this Type B was produced just three years after that. The B was available from 1911 through 1913 and is powered by a 1.3-liter inline-four rated at about 12 horsepower. Top speed was around 35 mph.

This car spent decades upon decades in the U.K. before entering the collection from which it is offered. It’s been regularly used in various rallies and events and now has a pre-sale estimate of $24,000-$27,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $31,902.

Adler Type K

1911 Adler Type K 7/17PS Phaeton

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

Adler really ran the gamut of products, selling things like typewriters and bicycles in addition to motorcycles and cars. Their first cars were De Dion-powered and premiered in 1900. Automobile production ceased in 1940, but motorcycle production resumed after WWII. They are most well known for the Trumpf models of the 1930s.

What we have here is a pre-WWI touring car. The Type K was produced between 1910 and 1913. Power is from a 1.8-liter inline-four, which was the smallest engine they offered in a range of exclusively four-cylinder cars at the time (there was a nine-liter four also offered concurrently, among others). Output was rated around 15 horsepower.

The car had a top speed of less than 40 mph, so about the speed of a Model T. Still, though, it’s a really attractive car. It looks like the sort of thing the Kaiser would be seen riding in during a WWI movie. It has an estimate of $35,000-$44,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Kissel D-11

1911 Kissel Kar Model D-11 Toy Tonneau

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 18-20, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Hartford, Wisconsin’s Kissel Motor Car Company was founded in 1906, with production cars coming the following year. For the first dozen or so years, the cars were branded Kissel Kar. Their most famous product would be the Gold Bug Speedster, an early sports car.

The 1910 Model D-10 gave way to the model D-11 for 1911. It’s powered by a 6.3-liter inline-four good for 50 horsepower. It has a four-speed manual transmission with overdrive, which would likely make it a decent tourer. As would the toy tonneau body, which is just a touring car with the rear passenger compartment squeezed in between the rear wheels.

This car was previously owned by the curator of the Harrah Automobile Collection. It’s apparently been in the same ownership since 1988. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $135,000.

Chalmers 30

1911 Chalmers Model 30 Roadster

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 26, 2022

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Chalmers-Detroit lost the “-Detroit” suffix beginning in 1911, making this a first-year stand-alone Chalmers automobile. The Model 30 was a carryover from the prior year, but now with updating branding, revised running boards, and a new dashboard.

Power is from a 30-horsepower inline-four. Six body styles were offered, including the $1,500 roadster. Not super cheap, but then again the Chalmers was not an entry-level automobile.

This example was restored as needed over the years, the last 20 or so of which were spent in a private collection. It is now offered at no reserve and without a pre-sale estimate. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $36,960.

1911 Winton Touring

1911 Winton Model 17-B Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | May 22, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Alexander Winton’s company is one of my favorites. Winton was one of America’s first automobile manufacturers, and by the 1910s, they were a producer of some of America’s finest cars. Six-cylinder Wintons arrived in 1908 and became the mainstay of their lineup until the end of the company in 1924.

The Model 17-B was Winton’s sole 1911 offering. It was powered the same 7.5-liter inline-six that stuck around for 1912’s 17-C. Horsepower was rated at 48. Seven body styles were offered from the factory, including this $3,408 five-passenger touring that was delivered new in Pittsburgh.

Restored a while back, this car has been used in historic tours since the 1950s. It’s a pretty grand piece of pre-WWI American automotive art. It should sell for between $200,000-$250,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $318,500.

Inter-State Indianapolis Re-Creation

1911 Inter-State Fifty Race Car

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | May 20, 2021

Photo – Bonhams

Thomas F. Hart founded the Inter-State Automobile Company in Muncie, Indiana, in 1908. Production of automobiles began the following year, and an Inter-State was on the grid at the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The cars were pretty good, but financial problems led to the company being reorganized in 1914. They shifted to war production during WWI and never resumed making cars. The new owners sold the factory to General Motors after the war, and the Sheridan was later built there.

In 1911, Inter-State offered two models: the popular Forty and the Fifty, which was only available as a seven-passenger touring car. This is what this car started as, but it was later converted to a replica of the 1911 Inter-State Indianapolis race car.

It uses an Inter-State chassis and a Fifty engine – which was a 6.4-liter inline-four rated at 50 horsepower. It’s a pretty monstrous four-cylinder, and I have either seen this car in person or a very similar Inter-State. But the pistons are about the size of your thigh.

The original car must not exist anymore, as this one was used during the centennial celebration of the 500, where it was driven by Buddy Lazier for a lap around the track. It will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $184,800.

A Pair of Benzes

1897 Benz 10HP Mylord-Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 5, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

Let’s start with the fact that this car is listed as a “circa 1897” in the catalog, which is interesting because it is powered by a 2.7-liter flat-twin. This 10 horsepower engine was first found in the Benz Dos-a-Dos of 1899. Earlier in this car’s life, before its late-1980s restoration, it was registered as an 1895. So who knows.

This Mylord-Coupe is one of three known examples. These early twin “contra-motor” Benzes are highly sought after for their increased power. The Dos-a-Dos was gone by 1902, giving way to more modern vehicles. This incredibly rare early car is expected to fetch between $500,000-$750,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.


1911 Benz 50HP Victoria by Demarest

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 5, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

And here we have a larger, “modern” Benz. The 50HP model was introduced in 1906 and was only available to American customers here and there. According to the auction catalog, it was almost a special-order occasion in order to get one stateside.

This particular car was sold new in the US and wears American coachwork from Demarest. Power is from a 7.4-liter inline-four good for, you guessed it, 50 horsepower. It was near the upper reaches of the Benz model line, but by 1911 it had effectively been replaced. This is likely one of the last 50HP models produced, and it cost $10,000 when new.

And it’s the only known survivor of the model. Its first owner perished on the Titanic, and the car was restored in 2014. The pre-sale estimate is $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold for unknown amount.

Benz 50HP Victoria

1911 Benz 50HP Victoria by Demarest

Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 5, 2020

Photo – Bonhams

And here we have a larger, “modern” Benz. The 50HP model was introduced in 1906 and was only available to American customers here and there. According to the auction catalog, it was almost a special-order occasion in order to get one stateside.

This particular car was sold new in the US and wears American coachwork from Demarest. Power is from a 7.4-liter inline-four good for, you guessed it, 50 horsepower. It was near the upper reaches of the Benz model line, but by 1911 it had effectively been replaced. This is likely one of the last 50HP models produced, and it cost $10,000 when new.

And it’s the only known survivor of the model. Its first owner perished on the Titanic, and the car was restored in 2014. The pre-sale estimate is $400,000-$500,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

Update: Sold for unknown amount.

1911 Selden Roadster

1911 Selden Model 40R Varsity Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 10-11, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

We’ve chronicled the story of George Selden, the man who was granted a patent for an internal combustion-powered automobile in 1895. He received a royalty on every car built in the U.S. until Henry Ford quit paying him, initiated a lawsuit, and brought the whole Selden Patent to an end in 1911.

Selden did build cars in his own right in Rochester, New York between 1907 and 1914, with commercial vehicles continuing on through 1932. The example above is from 1911, a year in which Selden offered six different models. The Model 40R was only offered as a three-passenger Varsity Roadster, which cost $2,500 when new.

Power is from a 40 horsepower, 5.8-liter inline-four, and the car remained with the same family from new until 1983. It was restored in 1996 to the condition you see here. Remarkably, this is one of only six Selden automobiles to survive. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $159,500.