1918 Rauch & Lang B26 Brougham

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 6-16, 2022

Mystery. Mecum’s catalog lists this as a 1918 Baker. But I don’t believe it. And here’s why: Baker Electric of Cleveland, Ohio, began producing electric vehicles in 1899, and in 1915 they merged with Rauch & Lang, one of their fiercest electric-car-making competitors. The Baker brand was phased out on passenger cars after 1916 (trucks soldiered on for a little bit afterward).

The Rauch & Lang brand continued on, selling nearly identical cars to the Baker through the late 1920s. The Baker-Raulang name (as the post-merger company was called) soldiered on in various fields and continues to exist as Linde Material Handling, a manufacturer of forklifts, among other things. This car is apparently being sold from that company, having never been titled.

I called it a Rauch & Lang because Baker didn’t exist in 1918, and the model name follows the same structure as other R&L cars. This is about as low-mile (3,211) of a 100-year-old electric car you are likely to find. You can see more about it here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $55,000.