History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

It is a Metz with friction drive - 1916-17.

 

Only in business four years. I don't believe we've touched on this make
previously. Seems a pretty conventionally designed car for the time.
Anybody familiar with the brand OR know of any survivors???


1909 Jenkins THANKS to the New York Public Library!

 

I found a little more. The 1912 Jenkins Series 50 five-passenger touring sold at a base price around $2,750 -- about $63,000 today. Whoa! Can't imagine they moved many units! There was also a five-seater fore-door for $100 more. The Jenkins came on a 118-inch wheelbase and featured a dual-ignition 390-CID T-head four rated at 36 hp.

 

Thanks. This is what it would look like restored then. Interesting that only a 1913 Metz is listed.

 

Here's a whole bunch of information about Charles Jenkins and a picture of an early Jenkins Automobile.

http://www.funfotos.com/charlesfrancisjenkins.html

 

Here's a couple pictures of Dick Pellow's 1908 Overland Touring from last Saturdays Antique Car Run. Dick has a large collection of cars including many early ones. He just turned 80 this year and has a long history with this run finishing 20 of 21 entered as of 2010. Dick served on the Board of Directors for many years, including a stint as President 1995-96.

 

For sale on Ebay right now...

Dear Friends: This auction is for a very rare and significant piece of brass era automotive history. 1917 Kelsey factory prototype hand built auto out of parts from various cars by C.W. Kelsey himself. Kelsey was a well known automotive pioneer and built the 1910-12 Kelsey three wheel car, and later the Kelsey friction drive cars of 1920-24. This prototype vehicle became the basis for those 1920-24 cars, none of which are known to exist, out of the several hundred built over the 4 year period. He was a fan of the friction drive systems found on Lambert, Cartercar and Metz cars, and took the principle and improved upon it, by putting the friction drive assembly in the back of the car, which direct drove the rear wheels, thus eliminating the need for drive chains. Even later he became a minor celebrity as the founder of Rototiller Company Corporation, which later became Troybuilt or Troybilt of Troy N.Y. This car was stored on the top floor of the Rototiller Co. and later Troybilt building in Troy N.Y. for decades, and sold by Kelsey to automotive historian Keith Marvin in the 1950s or 1960s. Keith in turn sold it to one of his best friends and I bought it from the widow of that friend. In same condition Kelsey stored it in,in the 1930s. Kelsey removed the body in the late 20s or 30s and discarded it. As you can see from the enclosed 1955 "The Automobilist" article, written by Keith Marvin, all of this is well documented. It has an extremely rare Massnick and Phipps of Detroit 22 HP 4 cylinder engine. Engine Model B, serial number 152 stamped in the brass ID tag on the engine. The radiator says Bush Mfg. Co. Hartford, Conn. on the back of it. Radiator is unknown make, but it is not Metz, Overland or Studebaker. It is fairly obvious Kelsey built this vehicle from used parts off of cars from the 1913-16 era. The 30 x 3 wheels and front axle appear to be 1914-15 Ford Model T. No ID on anything else on the car, including the chassis used. Car is approx. 100 inch wheelbase. Thus an original or repro Model T speedster, runabout, racer, truck, depot hack, etc. body, would bolt right on the car. I thought of putting a piece of plexiglass over the rear friction drive assembly for display purposes! Complete other than body. The original complete steering column,minus wooden steering wheel, is included with the car. Just bolt it to the car.Should easily run. Turns over great and has good compression. Superb display piece showing the history of Rototiller, and later Troybuilt. Never been outside since the 1930s! Comes with a clear Florida title. I can help arrange shipping. Opening no reserve price is $19,000 plus shipping, which is a steal for something this rare and historically significant, and in mint original condition. This is a superb brass era auto horseless carriage from the 1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908, 1909,1910,1911,1912, 1913, 1914, 1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920 era.This vehicle is for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction early. Will accept check and wire also. LOTS of photos by email, just ask! Stored in Ocala, Fla. Please feel free to ask questions. Seldom do opportunities like this come up any more! Please DO NOT buy this car unless you are going to protect it and respect its historical value! Good Luck. George Albright, Ocala, Fla. - Cell 352-843-1624 - Email; gnalbright@gmail.com

 

Mark, that's an extremely interesting piece of auto history there. But I think just posting some pix and pointers to the eBay auction would be the HAMB-friendly way to do this. I think you just posted the entire eBay posting here, and I am afraid the mod/editor might not only frown but do things none of us who've been on this thread for osme two years would like. How about deleting that post and just posting some pix, your own thoughts about whyit's exciting, plus a pointer to the eBay connection, should osmeone want to follow up on this innovative piece? Thanks for understanding, bro.

 

Manassa Mauler Jack Dempsey in his '24 McFarlan, which topped out at 90 mph on a straight stretch.

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Dempsey liked his McFarlan so much that he bought a second one, this
seven-passenger, in 1926. This car -- one of only about 19 McFarlans still
extant -- was recently sold by The Auto Collections, at Las Vegas' Imperial
Palace.

 

1930 Bonneville Hupmobile


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The 1930 Bonneville Hupmobile is currently under restoration at White Glove Auto. The 1930 Bonneville Hupp was built by Dr. Norbert Knoch of Denver, Colorado. He was the personal physician to Ab Jenkins who drove the 1935 Duesenberg Marmon Meteor. This car in it&#8217;s day did 146 mph. The body was constructed by Ernie Niederhut, a coach builder in Denver, Colorado at the time.
The Hupmobile was bought at the Hupmobile dealership in Denver, Colorado, right off the showroom floor, and taken to Niederhut&#8217;s for custom boat-tail body to be constructed. This car raced the Bonneville for at least seven years. In 1931 Russell Snowberger entered his own Studebaker Indy car into the Indianapolis 500 and started on the pole and he finished 5th. Hupmobile at that time wanted to get into the Indianapolis 500 and coaxed Russell to pull the Studebaker motor out of his race car and install a Hupmobile H engine, of his design, to race at Indy for the Hupp Corporation.
With the heightening money situation of the depression, Hupmobile was forced to end their Indianapolis racing endeavors. At the end of the 1932 season Russell Snowberger decided to go his own way and returned the engine and all Hupmobile related parts back to the company.
The motor was then purchased by Dr. Norbert Knoch and installed in the Bonneville Hupp as he was still on his quest for speed. The engine out of the Hupmobile Comet stayed in the Bonneville for 44 years in the Frank Kleptz collection. The car was then acquired by John Snowberger, the son Russell Snowberger, and the engine was removed as John was building his father&#8217;s race car exactly as the Hupmobile Comet was originally. Then I aquired the body and chassis of the 1930 Hupmobile Bonneville from John Snowberger and am currently restoring it and returning it to it&#8217;s original condition of 1930. We have also acquired the correct engine and are currently about half way through the restoration.

 

The Hupp info is a total -- and fascinating -- surprise to me. I never
heard of this, NOR did I have any idea the company itself was interested
in showing what its engines could do. (BTW, I assume this Bonneville
Hupp was one of their sixes, not the eight?)


ON A DIFFERENT NOTE: I got an email from a regular who said he
wasn't showing about the last four pages of our thread here
(meaning everything after Aug. 5).


ANYBODY ELSE EXPERIENCE ANY TROUBLE??? I seem to be able
to see everything okay, so

 

All's well at my end. The person might want to clear his browser's cache.

 

That was me and everything is okie dokie now.

 

It is the eight Huppmobile H model engine. Also a REO connection too.

Russell Snowberger, Fourth Ranking American Racing Driver in 1931
Has selected this Hupmobile Eight Comet as his mount for 1932.​

John and John Jr. at the Yard of Bricks (Start/Finish Line) 2009
​

From: http://www.johnsnowberger.com/restoredcars.asp

Robert C. Hupp was an engineer who worked with Ransom Eli Olds and Henry Ford before setting up his own car company in November 1909.

Then he started another cmpany using his intials just as Ransom E. Olds did.

Hupp left in a huff during 1911 (his next venture would be the unsuccessful RCH), but Hupp Motor Car Company prospered through the Teens and '20s.

After a second straight year of healthy sales, Hupp volume plunged to 22,183 for 1930. That year's line began with the six-cylinder S, a six-model line with 111-inch wheelbase and a 70-bhp, 211.6-cubic-inch engine. Prices were $995-$1160, which made it a medium-priced car. Then came three straight-eight series designated C, H, and U, which were assembled in Detroit; the S was produced in Cleveland at the former Chandler plant that Hupp had acquired. The S and C were Hupp's bread-and-butter cars. The latter mounted a 121-inch chassis and carried a 268.6-cid engine with 100 bhp. H and U used a larger 365.6-cid eight with 133 bhp and included some luxurious limousines on a 137-inch wheelbase.

From: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hupmobile-cars.htm

 

You can get a glimpse of the Hupp H in this photo from: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/galleries/show/2757-indianapolis-500/page/17/

 

i built this car in England in the nineties and sold it at Hershey in approx 99-00. Incidentally, i have another kit of bits to make a 2nd car (2 engines, one of which is restored currently for sale on www.prewarcars.com) contact me at roger@hazeldon-manor.go-plus.net

 

​

Anybody familiar with this? I ran across it on eBay, captioned "rare Stout bus
in junkyard." Is this, possibly, the same Stout of Scarab fame?
​

 

It is appealingly weird

 

Check this!
http://books.google.com/books?id=4w...MQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=stout bus scarab&f=false

 

There was even a Sacarab Bus

From: http://celticowboy.com/Wm%20Bushnell%20Stout.htm
​

 

Awesome

HUGE THANKS, guys, for the Stout leads! Some GREAT reading there
(especially, "So Away I Went!"). The guy was as indefatigable as he was
brilliant. The world could use more men and women with his drive,
vision, conviction and persistence! ​

 

​

 

AJ, SunRoof, VintageRide, EVERYBODY. Feel free to correct me on any
details, but HERE are two BEAUTIFUL AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE CARS!!!
Both are just a feast for the eyes -- I wonder the power-to-weight ratio on
the La Grande Duesenberg roadster??? And the '35 Auburn Brougham
is so sweet it could almost be called petite! Photos THANKS to the New York
Public Library!

 

I was checking out oldies in the New York Public Library archives yesterday
and saw an actual photo of a Century steamer, made in Syracuse from 1899
through 1902. I do not think we had a photo of this four-year-only car previ-
ously. NOTABLY, the company began making a gasoline-powered car, the
Century Tourist, in 1903 only.

ANYONE know or survivors? Gotta be very rare, if not extinct. NOT a make
of which I've seen "survivor" pix anyplace -- neither steam NOR gas. [NOTE
the tiller handle which resembles handle of a child's Radio Flyer wagon!]


Century steam car, ca. 1901, THANKS to the New York Public Library.

American-Automobiles.com had these statements: "The Steam engine was a two cylinder
vertical marine type that developed almost 5 horsepower. The Century could maintain 25
mph at 175 psi of steam made in its water tube boiler. Claimed to be of 'Ample Strength
and Durability,' the Century had double shoe brakes and a burner pilot light for quick starts
and stops. The price of a Century with Victoria top shown [below] was $950.00."

1901 Century steamer, THANKS to American-Automobiles.com!​

​

1903 Century Tourist, gasoline powered, THANKS to American-Automobiles!​

 

So... Alex Tremulis used to play hookie from high school just to visit the Stutz and Duesenberg showrooms in Chicago. There he would sit and draw the cars for hours on end. His drawing skills attracted the attention of the Sales Manager, Donn Hogan, who saw the opportunity to hire Tremulis as a designer for his customers. By using Tremulis, Hogan avoided the delay in sending the customer's ideas to Auburn to be drawn up and returned to Chicago for the customer to approve. Tremulis was paid $1.00 for a pencil drawing and $2.50 for a color rendering. At the time, Tremulis was shovelling rotted fruit out of a fruit stand so he didn't smell all that great and was only paid pennies per hour. He would deliver his drawings to Hogan the following day. When he got paid, that's the moment Tremulis said "Now I am a designer!" and he never looked back.

Duesenberg's in-house design team styled bodies under the "Walker" name, so this example is the 1934 Duesenberg Model J Walker LaGrande Convertible/Coupe. They made three of them, J530, J531 and J 534. There are other Tremulis-designed Walker-bodied Duesenbergs out there waitng to be discovered. This one just happens to be one of the best of the best, considering Tremulis was only 20 years old at the time.

The Duesenberg in the photo is J534 for which Tremulis was paid $2.50 for the concept sketch. The "designer's designer" and Art Center College of Design great, Strother McMinn, somehow had acquired the sketch, and years later sold it back to his friend, Tremulis, for $2.50! J534 sold at auction a couple years back for somewhere around $2.6 million.

Here's Tremulis' original drawing that created these great cars and launched one of the most distinguished careers in automotive history:

 

Awesome story, man. Know if the other two still survive?

 

It appears that the New York Public Library may have the only visual
evidence that the one-year-only Fischer actually existed. Ran onto
this yesterday. Very little info about these, except for basics, so we
don't really know WHY the company didn't get off the ground.

Apparently all seven Fischer brothers of Flint worked on the cars. A
light car rather than a cyclecar, the 1914 Fischer was manufactured
by Detroit's G.J. Fischer Co. and was powered by a reputable Perkins
water-cooled 1.2-L four of over 90-hp (according to a source), selective
trans and a progressive shaft drive instead of chain. Three bodies, all
on a 104-inch wheelbase, ranging from around $550 to $850.

Anyone know of a survivor, OR is it EXTINCT???

 

Jimi, I believe all 3 walker-lagrandes conv coupes still exist. J534 sold at auction in 2005 for 2.5 million.

 

Century Steam Car