1913 Alco Six Model H Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions, Boca Raton, Florida, February 24-25, 2012

The American Locomotive Company was formed in 1901 as the result of a merger between eight smaller locomotive manufacturers. This made Alco the second-largest steam locomotive producer in the United States.

In 1906 the company began producing Berliet automobiles under license (as American Berliet). This license agreement was trashed in 1908 in favor building their own cars. Alco cars won the Vanderbilt Cup in 1909 and 1910 and competed in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Alco was also the first automobile company at which man named Walter P. Chrysler worked before he left in 1911 to join Buick.

In 1913 Alco shifted their focus back to locomotives (they had lost an average of over $450 on every car sold since 1906), producing their last steam locomotive in 1948 and final diesel locomotive in 1969.

The car seen here is a six-cylinder Model H from the final year of production. It is believed that this car was featured on the Alco stand at the 1913 New York Auto Show. It has 60 horsepower and after the completion of restoration in the mid-1990s, the car was “mechanically updated” in order to take place in brass-era tours. So it’s a driver.

Only six of these cars are known to exist and this one is a glorious example. There is something undeniably stately and imposing about large brass-era touring cars. The estimate on this car is $400,000-$600,000 and is offered from the Milhous Collection. For the complete catalog description, click here and to see all of the other interesting things available at this sale, click here.

Update: Sold $506,000.

1913 Pathfinder Series XIII A Five-Passenger Touring

Offered by RM Auctions | Phoenix, Arizona | January 19-20, 2012

This 40 horsepower Pathfinder is described as “the only one of its kind in existence,” meaning it is the only 1913 Pathfinder in existence – making it sound rarer than it is. It’s a Series XIII Five-Passenger Touring model with attractive, but average for the time, styling.

This model was originally spec’d with all available electrical equipment – but as you can see, there is a hand crank hanging out the front of the car. At this time, the electric starter had only been on Cadillacs for a year. While this car is quite interesting and worthy of being collected, it is not a Cadillac.

Pathfinder was in production for five short years, from 1912 until 1917, as a sub-marque of the Parry Automobile Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. Later cars became more luxurious with V-12 engines, but this early model has a 281 cubic inch L-head 4-cylinder.

This particular car sold this past summer at an RM Auction for $115,500. You have to wonder when a car pops up at auction twice in a year. Either the new buyer wanted to hurry and try and flip it for a quick profit and that plan went south and they needed to just get rid of it. Or there is something wrong with it. I’m guessing the former. With only six months since it’s last sale, I doubt the market for 1913 Pathfinder’s has changed all that much. More about it here, with auction info here.

Update: Not Sold.

Update II: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2016, $121,000.