1904 Richard-Brasier Four-Cylinder 16HP Side-Entrance Tonneau

Offered by Bonhams | London, England | November 2, 2012

No, the guy who started this company was not that full of himself that he thought his first and last names needed to be on the company letterhead. Richard Brasier was not a person – in fact, Richard-Brasier (that hyphen is important!) was actually founded by two people: Henri Brasier and Georges Richard. (Ironically, Georges Richard sold cars under the name “Georges Richard” before Brasier joined him, so yeah, maybe he was a little full of himself).

Henri Brasier left Mors in 1901 and cars were offered as Richard-Brasiers beginning in 1902. It was short-lived, however, as Georges Richard left the company in 1905 to found Unic. Beginning in 1905 the cars were known simply as “Brasier.” And here is an rare example of this very fleeting marque.

This model, from the last year of production before switching names, uses a 2.3-liter straight-four making 16 horsepower (rated by the factory at the time it was built). It’s a large car for such a small power rating, as the company offered models up to 40 horsepower as well. The history of this car is known from 1975, when it entered display at a Dutch museum. It is definitely a driver, having run London-to-Brighton every year since 2000 (with one exception).

This is a truly glorious automobile from the pioneering days of motoring and it would be worth any serious collector’s time to think carefully about acquiring it. It is expected to sell for between $350,000-$480,000. For more information, click here. And for more from Bonhams’ Veteran car sale, click here.

Update: Sold $358,000.

1904 St. Louis Four-Cylinder Side Entrance Tonneau

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

The St. Louis Motor Carriage Company was founded in 1898 in – where else – St. Louis, Missouri. The company was the first American company to ditch tiller steering in favor of a right-hand drive steering wheel. In 1902 the introduced a four-cylinder engine. In 1905, the company moved to Peoria, Illinois, but retained the name “St. Louis.”

The beautiful car you see here is the only surviving four-cylinder St. Louis in existence and one of about ten St. Louis cars (of any model) that survive. The ten-year-old restoration still looks brand new and the car is festooned with period accessories. Putting the top down (at least in photographs) makes the car look a lot bigger than it does when up.

The St. Louis car company ceased automobile production in 1907 and the company is not well known today. There were so many early car companies that churned out automobiles for about ten years or less. This car is from one of them. It’s quite nice and quite rare and if your a collector of rare makes of cars, this one’s for you. The price? $175,000. Check out the full description at Hyman Ltd’s website where it is for sale, guess where – in St. Louis.