1911 American Traveler

1911 American Traveler (postcard in the author's collection)

Before there was AMC, another company used the American moniker. The American Motor Car Company was founded in Indianapolis in 1906, and only eight years later, would fold in 1914.  Today the company is remembered for Harry Stutz designing their initial offering (prior to him starting his own company) and Fred Tone's now iconic "underslung". Although there were a few manufacturers of the period offering an "underslung" design, it is Tone and the American Motor Car Company that is best remembered. 

American's underslungs were offered with a 50hp 4-cylinder engines (and later a 60hp version). It wasn't until 1912 they the company adopted the term Underslung as a model designation.

This car (chassis 2465), seen in a postcard issued by the Briggs Cunningham Museum at the time they owned the car, it is described as a 1910 Traveler model (However, from looking at period literature it appears to be a 1911). There are few surviving American underslung's but this car is special because of it's ownership history. It was purchased new by Isabel Weld Anderson - the wife of the former US Ambassador to Belgium - Larz Anderson. I've written about the Anderson's and their cars many times. This car somehow escaped being held in the Larz Anderson Collection (where the majority of their cars still reside today) and was sold  to Briggs Cunningham (the renown driver, car constructor, and collector) in 1948 - the year Larz Anderson died. It's unclear to me why the car was sold, but Briggs kept the car until he closed his museum in Costa Mesa, CA in 1986. The vast majority of the Cunningham cars were sold to the Colliers. However, this car takes a different path and ends up in the hand of Richard Paine (the "Paine" of Paine Webber notoriety). Mr. Paine amassed a fabulous collection of Edwardian cars and this car still resides in his Seal Cove, ME museum (Richard Paine has passed away, but the museum is still open and on my list of places to visit). 

The ex-Anderson American Traveler today (photo credit: Seal Cove Auto Museum)

The agency that sold the Anderson car? (photo credit: autolit.com)

The 1911 American line of cars (photo credit: 1911 The Motor World)

1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Spider

1954 AstonMartin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - chassis 502 (from the authors collection)

I took this picture while reviewing a private collection of fantastic sports cars and this 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Spider caught my eye. One of three Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis commissioned by Stanley Arnolt from Bertone.

Stanley Harold Arnolt made a fortune selling equipment to the government for the war effort during WWII. After the war, he set up shop in Chicago to distribute MGs and other imports. Arnolt attended the 1952 Turin Salon where he came across a couple special bodied MGs on the Bertone stand. It was this encounter that moved Arnolt to order 200 MGs from Bertone (Arnolt-MG). Arnolt would later invest in the Bertone company, becoming a director of the firm.

When the Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis was introduced, Arnolt ordered 3 and sent them to Bertone to be bodied. Bertone's new head of design, Franco Scaglione, would create 3 striking convertible sports cars (spiders). Chassis 502, the first of the three to be bodied and the car seen above, was kept by Stanley Arnolt for his personal use for most of his life. Chassis 505 was displayed at the 1954 Chicago Motor Show and then sold to Phil Stewart - one of the Arnolt factory racing drivers. Chassis 507 was actually raced and has since been kept in largely original condition.

Arnolt's fascination with Aston Martin would soon fade, but he would go back to Franco Scaglione to adapt this same look to 200 Bristol series 404 chassis - the Arnolt-Bristol. 

Aston Martin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - Chassis 505 (photo credit: supercars.net)

Aston Martin BD2/4 Bertone Spider - Chassis 507 (photo credit: supercars.net)

1956 Arnolt-Bristol DLX (photo credit: jamesedition.com)

1948 BMW Veritas Rennsport Spyder

1948 BMW Veritas Rennsport Spyder

Veritas was a German sports and race car company founded just after WWII by ex-BMW employees. Since the occupying Allied Forces had restrictions on manufacturing (no engines larger than 1 liter), customers supplied their own drivetrain - typically BMW 326 or 328 engines. As the founders had worked for BMW they knew these engines well and would tune them up to 125hp in some cases.

The cars had an immediate impact, setting a 2 liter speed record and winning the 2 liter championship in 1947 at the hands on Karl Kling. After only a few cars were made, BMW objected to the use of the name and the cars became known simply as "Veritas" there after. Road-going cars received bodies from Hermann Spohn, however this car wears the aluminum Rennsport spider body and I believe has the 2 liter 328 engine. 

Regardless of their initial success, the cash strapped company was unable to keep pace with other post-war race offerings and closed its doors in 1953. Production of the Rennsport Veritas is said to have been between 20 to 25 cars, with 15 known survivors. This particular car may be one of the three raced by the Ecurie Belge team that won the 1949 Formula 2 Chimay Grand Prix.

A BMW Rennsport Spyder racing at Zandvoort in Holland (photo credit: www.mcarpedi.com)

1952 Lancia Aurelia B52 PF200 Convertible

1952 Lancia B52 PF200 Convertible - the 1952 Turin show car (from the authors collection)

In 1950, Lancia introduced the B50 chassis to replace the aging Aprilia. In 1952, around 100 examples of the B52 chassis were built with a slightly longer wheelbase for neighboring Italian Carrosserie to create custom coachwork. The B52 was one of only a handful of cars still available to coach builders without a body and last Lancia chassis to be available as such. Ghia, Bertone, and others would grace the B52 chassis, but it was Battista 'Pinin' Farina (coming off his success bodying the Cristallia 202 chassis) that would create the car seen here for the 1952 Turin Salon. As with other coach builders, Farina was looking to generate interest in its design that would lead to a semi-production run. 

The so named PF200 convertible and coupe, is said to have been influenced by American aircraft design (take a look at the F86 Sabre introduced in 1949), however this car doesn't seem to have spurred significant public interest. Farina would go on to build a total of 6 (some say 5) PF200's - two additional convertibles and three coupes. Four of these cars are thought to have survived - no two are exactly alike. The PF200 uses the Vittorio Jano designed 2 liter, 6-cylinder engine (hemispherical head) producing around 90hp.

Pininfarina (their name officially changed in 1961) would go on to greater success with Lancia in 1954 with the Aurelia B24 Spyder (one of which is also in the same collection as this car). This car, in a beautiful private collection of sports and racing cars, was sent back to  Pininfarina for restoration prior to its showing at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours - where it was returned to its original green color.

Pinin Farina would call upon this design to influence his 1956 Nash Rambler Palm Beach Show car commissioned by George Mason. It would be the firm's work with Nash that would truly introduce the Farina name to America.

Pinin Farina Display (photo credit: www.pininfarina.it)

Period advertising for the PF200 (photo credit:www. coachbuilt.com)

The 1954 Nash Palm Beach Coupe by Farina (photo credit: www.conceptcarz.com)

1931 Rolls-Royce PII Continental drophead coupe

1931 Rolls-Royce (20MS) when in the Briggs Cunningham collection (from the collection of the author)

This 1931 Rolls-Royce (20MS) PII Continental drophead coupe with body by James Young Ltd. (Young of Bromley) was said to have been built for Marion Barbara "Joe" Carstairs. Sorry about the quality of the image, it's a scan of a postcard of the car when in the Briggs Cunningham collection. The short chassis (144 inches) Continental is the most desirable of the Phantom II's. Very few drophead coupes were built on the Phantom II Continental chassis - I found the four seen here. 

Marion "Joe" Carstairs was a controversial figure who inherited a piece of the Standard Oil fortune through her mother (Frances Evelyn Bostwick). She started the X Garage, a car-hire service that featured women-only drivers and mechanics. In 1925, X-Garage closed and Marion purchased her first motor boat. Between 1925 and 1930, Carstairs became a successful powerboat racer, winning the Duke of York's trophy and establish herself as the fastest woman on water. During this time, she was close to several male racing drivers and land speed record competitors, using her considerable wealth to assist them. She helped fund the building of one of Sir Malcolm Campbell's land speed record cars and provided John Cobb a pair of engines from her powerboat Estelle V for his Railton Special.

Could Briggs, who was a champion yachtsman, have known Carstairs and purchased this car from her? I'm not sure why this car didn't follow the majority of the Briggs Cunningham collection into the hands of the Colliers? Regardless, it's certainly something special. The other PII Continental drophead coupes that I've found are as follows:

1934 Rolls-Royce (2SK) PII Continental drophead coupe by Thrupp & Maberly (photo credit: Worldwide Auctioneers) sold for $660,000 in Houston in 2010. Once owned by Tyrone Power, the car was said to have been in the Fred Buess collection for close to 50 years.

1932 Rolls-Royce (41GX) PII Continental drophead coupe by Binder.

1932 Rolls-Royce (47RY) PII Continental drophead coupe by Freestone & Webb. Seen at RM Auctions 2011 Salon Prive sale in London. 

Marion Carstairs in her powerboat (photo credit: The Mariners' Museum)

1934 Rolls-Royce (2SK) by Thrupp & Maberly (photo credit: sportscardigest.com)

1932 Rolls-Royce (41GX) by Binder (photo credit: traumautoarchiv.de)

1932 Rolls-Royce (47RY) by Freestone & Webb (photo credit: sportscardigest.com)

1902 Toledo Gasoline Touring Car

1902 Toledo gasoline touring car (photo credit C.L.)

I saw this picture hanging in the garage of a friend and thought I'd share it. It appears to be a 1902 Toledo gasoline touring car made by the International Motor Car Company of Toledo, OH. The detail in the picture is fantastic and shows a professional driver with his passengers - note the gentlemen in the back carrying golf clubs. This car is monogramed (though I can't make out the initials) and has a very unique pattern of holes pierced in the hood. The location of the photo and names of the individuals shown are unknown to me.

The story of the company starts with the departure of the Lozier company for New York, leaving an empty factory in Toledo, OH. The American Bicycle Company (ABC), one of many in the industrial empire of Albert Pope, would fill the space. ABC would build a steam carriage, named the Toledo, in late 1900. By 1902, the ABC company had divested itself of its last bicycle holdings and changed its name to The International Motor Car Company. That same year, the company began building a gasoline powered car - the car we see here. A three cylinder engine of 16hp, the car had three forward speeds and reverse. 

The following year (1903), the company discontinued their steam car and renamed their gasoline car the "Pope-Toledo". See my earlier post for more on the Pope-Toledo: http://vintagemotoring.blogspot.com/2013/05/1904-pope-toledo.html

photo credit: Horseless Age, August 20, 1902

photo credit: Horseless Age, July 23, 1902 

photo credit: Horseless Age, December 31, 1902

Celebrating 100 years of Maserati

1 of 27 Maserati 6CM's built between 1936-1940 (photo credit: Michael Tobian)

2014 will be the 100th anniversary of Maserati, and here in the United States, the first celebration will be held right here in my back yard, at The Arizona Concours d'Elegance at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Having been invited to serve on the organizing committee, it's has truly been an honor and pleasure to join with a passionate group of car people in founding this event. The Concours will be held Sunday, January 12, 2014, and if you plan to come to Arizona for auction week, get your tickets now at: www.arizonaconcours.com.

The Maserati brothers (Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, and Ernesto) began making bicycles and later engines for the budding automobile market. Carlo went to work for Bianchi and Alfieri, Bindo,  and Ernesto joined Diatto to design race cars. Carlo opens a work shop in Bologna (December 1st, 1914) and founds Maserati. When Diatto suspends their racing program in 1926, Alfieri, Bindo, and Ernesto join Carlo at Maserati. Their engineering capabilities are soon proved out on the track and the company creates a name for itself. In 1937, the brothers sell the company to the Orsi family, but remain under contract for engineering support. In 1940, the Orsi family relocates the company to Moderna. American racing success comes in 1939 & 1940 with back-to-back wins at Indianapolis.

After WWII, Alberto Massimino (ex Fiat and Alfa Romeo engineer) comes to masrati to lead the racing program.  Around this same time, the Maserati brothers leave the company and found O.S.C.A. Maserati would have continued racing success throughout the 1950's and into the 1960s. The company is acquired to by Alejandro de Tomaso in 1975 (through deal funded by GEPI through the Benelli Motorcycle Company). In 1993, Fiat purchases the company and in 1997 sells a 50% share to long-time rival Ferrari. As of 2005, Maserati has been split from Ferrari and merged with Alfa Romeo under the Fiat Auto Group.

The Arizona Concours already has some wonderful pre-war and post-war Maserati's registered, so please join us in Arizona in January to celebrate 100 years of Maserati.

Maserati 8CM (photo credit: Michael Tobian)

1 of 27 Maserati 150S's produced between 1955-1957 (photo credit: Michael Tobian)