White Model G

1907 White Model G Roi-des-Belges Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company | Lynchburg, Virginia | April 7, 2023

Photo – Gooding & Company

The White Motor Company is one of America’s most overlooked automobile manufacturers. Founded in 1900, they were an early proponent of steam power. In 1910 they introduced gasoline-powered cars, which is all they sold beginning in 1912. Passenger car production ended after 1918.

Yet, White soldiered on, remaining a fairly significant player in the commercial vehicle sector until 1980, at which time they were acquired by Volvo Trucks. White-GMC-branded trucks remained on sale through the 1990s.

As far as passenger cars go, early White steam cars are the most sought after. The Model G was one of two models offered in 1907, with this being the larger, more powerful version. The 2.6-liter twin-cylinder steam engine was rated at 30 horsepower. Three body styles were offered, with the least expensive being the touring at $3,500.

This car has known ownership history back to new and has been under current ownership since 2015. It was restored in 1949 (which is an insane sentence) and is one of four Model Gs known to exist. The estimate is $250,000-$350,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $324,000.

Scripps-Booth Model G

1918 Scripps-Booth Model G Roadster

Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | Online

Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions

James Scripps Booth was the heir to a publishing fortune, and he hyphenated his last name when he founded the Scripps-Booth Cyclecar Company. A little bit earlier, he also built Detroit’s first V8 engine, before turning to light cyclecars.

More traditional (but still small) cars followed the 1914 tandem-seat Rocket. By the end of 1917, Scripps-Booth had been taken over by Chevrolet, and General Motors would fold the brand after 1922. The 1917-1919 roadster-only Model G was similar to the well-selling 1915-1916 Model C, except that the fuel tank had been relocated to the rear of the car (among a few other small differences). It was a three seater, with a tiny jump seat facing the front passenger seat.

Power was provided by a 22.5-horsepower inline-four. Alongside the G, the company sold the Model D, which was powered by Detroit’s second-ever production V8 engine. The car here hasn’t been started in a few years, but is interesting and will probably be a good deal. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $21,500.

Yale Model G

1905 Yale Model G

Offered by H&H | Buxton, U.K. | December 8, 2021

Photo – H&H

There were two different Yale-branded automobiles that came out of the Midwest U.S. before 1920. The first was the company that produced this car. The Kirk Manufacturing Company of Toledo, Ohio, built bicycles before turning to cars, for which they used the Yale name.

This car is from the marque’s final year of manufacture, 1905, in which three models were offered. The G was the mid-range model and was only available as a side-entrance, five-passenger tonneau. The engine is a flat-twin that was rated at 14/16 horsepower when new.

This car would’ve cost $1,100 in 1905, and it’s obviously been restored. It’s got an electric starter now and carries a pre-sale estimate of $40,000-$53,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Franklin Model G

1908 Franklin Model G Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 7, 2021

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

From 1905 through 1910, Franklin cars featured a distinct round grille and “barrel-type” hood to house their air-cooled engines. They are quite attractive cars, in their own way, and this 1908 Model G touring was the second-cheapest Franklin you could buy that year, beaten out only by the Model G runabout.

The 2.3-liter inline-four produced 16 horsepower when new. Franklin offered three models in 1908, and the G was actually produced from 1906 through 1913, although later cars featured Renault-style hoods.

This car is the oldest of four Model G tourers known to exist, and it would’ve run $1,850 when new. It features a 1910-model-year engine (factory-rated output was 18 horsepower that year) and has known history back to the 1950s. It is now expected to sell for between $60,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $88,000.

Grant Touring

1918 Grant Model G Touring

Offered by The Vault | Online | October 1-14, 2020

Photo – The Vault

Grant was founded by brothers George and Charles Grant in Detroit in 1913. The company then moved to Findlay, Ohio, for three years until 1916, when they relocated again to Cleveland. When they launched, they were a cyclecar producer, but as that fad subsided, Grant introduced six-cylinder cars and sales took off. Unfortunately, they began stockpiling for this newfound success, right when the post-WWI economy tanked.

Grant was stuck with a huge inventory and no one to buy anything. They closed in 1922, although a few commercial vehicles puttered out for a brief time thereafter. This Model G is from 1918 and is powered by a 22-horsepower inline-six. Four body styles were offered by the factory for the G, which was again available in 1919.

This particular example was owned by the same family from 1946 until 2011, when it was purchased by the current collection. Grants aren’t too common today, and this one will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Kearns Roadster

1910 Kearns Model G Roadster

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.

Update: Sold $66,000.

De Tamble Roadster

1911 De Tamble Model G Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Alacer do Sal, Portugal | September 20-21, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The De Tamble Motor Company got its start in Indianapolis in 1908 when Edward De Tamble began building cars. They moved to Anderson, Indiana the following year and the company went through many rounds of managerial and ownership changes in its short life. By 1913 the company was bankrupt and the president, Charles H. Walters, was in jail.

The 1911 model year offered five models, including a two-cylinder roadster, which was the company’s initial offering. The sporty Model G Runabout (yes, De Tamble did have a little competition history in their blood) was only sold in this year and is powered by a 36 horsepower inline-four. It cost $1,000 when new, the second cheapest car the company sold after the twin.

Only about 2,000 De Tamble automobiles were built in six years of production, and this is the first one I can recall coming up for sale in the last nine or so years. And it’s in Portugal of all places. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $82,037.

Stutz Model G

1919 Stutz Model G Roadster

Offered by Bonhams | Greenwich, Connecticut | June 2, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Between 1917 and 1922, Stutz offered a single model every year and they were all based on the same stuff: a 130-inch wheelbase and an 80 horsepower, 5.9-liter inline-four. But they all had different names.

For 1919, it was called the Model G. Four different bodies were offered. The two-passenger Roadster would’ve set you back $2,750 – the same price as a Bearcat from the same year. The only difference was that the Bearcat had 10 inches cut out of the wheelbase. They are in completely different arenas today, price-wise.

This example was modified to look like a Bearcat, though it most certainly isn’t one. It’s been in the same family since 1960 and should sell for between $60,000-$80,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $44,800.

Du Pont Convertible Victoria

1930 Du Pont Model G Convertible Victoria by Waterhouse

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | St. Louis, Missouri | May 4-5, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Du Pont name has been around in America since the mid-1800s. They started with gunpowder and moved to dynamite and now are a huge chemical conglomerate. But the name was also been associated with automobiles shortly after WWI. Pierre S. Du Pont was once head of General Motors. But this car has nothing to do with that.

Instead, the Du Pont family set up Du Pont Motors to build marine engines during the war and afterward, with a factory and all, E. Paul Du Pont decided to build an automobile. So between 1919 and 1931 they sold some really fantastic cars, namely the 1929-1932 Model G. The Depression did the company in after 1932.

The Model G is powered by a 125 horsepower, 5.3-liter straight-eight. Only 273 examples were built in the 3.5-year span, and while factory body styles were offered, there were coachbuilt cars, too… like this Convertible Victoria by Waterhouse, which is the only remaining Waterhouse Du Pont of the six built.

Du Pont only built 537 cars in total. Very few are around today. And they all command a hefty sum, especially these later Model Gs. This one was rescued from a junkyard and restored after WWII. A more recent restoration was completed in the early-2000s. I couldn’t tell you the last time one sold at auction, so it should be interesting to see what the open market has to say about its value. Click here for more info and here for more from this collection.

Update: Sold $368,000.

Two-Cylinder Packard

1902 Packard Model G Four-Passenger Surrey

Offered by Bonhams | Los Angeles, California | November 11, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

If you told me this was being offered straight out of the Harrah Collection, I’d believe you. If you’ve ever wandered through the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, you’d know that the first part of it is full of cars just like this (and if you haven’t, DO IT).

Only 400 Packards were built between the company’s founding in 1899 and the end of 1903. Packard offered two models in 1903: one was the single-cylinder Model F and the other was this, the twin-cylinder Model G. It was the only two-cylinder model Packard ever sold and this is the only one left. That engine is a 6.0-liter flat-twin that makes 24 horsepower. Those are some massive cylinders, at three liters a piece.

The Model G is a massive automobile: it weighed in at over 4,000 pounds – even with aluminium fenders! Only four of these were built and they were fabulously expensive, with one reputedly going to a Rockefeller. This one has been in this collection for over seven decades and was damaged in a fire some years ago. The body was exactingly rebuilt and, as they say, it “ran when parked.” This piece of Packard history – one of the oldest Packards in private hands – should bring between $250,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $423,500.