The Zedel Motor Company

Zedel (in the collection of the author)

This image was taken by Dad in the mid-1950s at an un-named event in New England. The car is a rarely seen Zedel (a phonetic pronunciation of the founders initials, "Z" and "L" - for Ernest Zurcher and Herman Luthi). Established in 1901 in Pontarlier (Doubs), France - near the Swiss boarder - the company initially focused on manufacturing motorcycle engines. In 1906 they entered the automobile business and by 1910 were importing their cars to the United States. The Club Journal (published by The Automobile Club of America) of December 24, 1910 (reporting on the Importer's Salon at the Astor Hotel in New York City on January 2nd- 7th) states "Em. Voigt announces that he will exhibit five C.G.V.'s and one Zedel. The latter car, which is well know in Europe, has just been introduced in the the United States." He would show a 12hp collapsible landaulet priced at $3000. Em. Voigt appears to have been an importer of french cars located at 2120 Broadway in New York City.

The car shown here is either the 12hp or 15hp model, circa 1909 or 1910. In 1918, the company was taken over by Donnet and the cars became known as Donnet-Zedel. These later cars are more commonly seen in Europe. The earlier cars are quite rare as the company probably only made roughly 400 cars prior to WWI. 

Dad saw this car back in the day and remembered people saying it was quite rare. Notice the horribly out-of-proportion 1950's fenders fitted to the car. I have no idea what became of this car, but I image it's still out there somewhere.

UPDATE: Blog reader Ariejan Bos has found the Zedel! Our good friend, Joris Bergsma at PreWarCar.com wrote a post about this car: http://www.prewarcar.com/magazine/previous-features/while-we-re-at-it-why-don-t-we-014998.html. The post states, "The known history of this car starts in 1939 when John Leathers (a founder of the VMCCA) found it in a Massachusetts field. In 1941 he sold it to Fred Roe who took photos of it before any work was started. These reveal that it retains the original body, fenders and wheels that were not likely changed before that date. Roe sold it to Nelson Fontneau in 1950 and within two years, Fontneau had accomplished complete restoration of the car, although still without a top. Changing hands several times, it ended up in Southern California by 1970. Gordon Howard owned it from 1973 until selling it to Noel Petter in 1980."

The Club Journal, December 24, 1910

1908 Mors

1908 or 1909 Mors 30 or 45hp car (in the collection of the author)

The Societe d'Automobiles Mors was founded by brothers Emile and Louis Mors - early French automotive pioneers. After moving to gasoline engines in 1895, Mors built a reputation for technically advanced and fast cars. The company grew quickly, exporting cars to England and The United States. The Honorable Charles Rolls imported and distributed Mors prior to his partnership with Royce. In fact, Roll set the land speed record in 1903 in Dublin driving a 30hp Mors. The Central Automobile Company of New York (and later Cryder & Company- located at 63rd Street & Park Avenue in New York City) was awarded the sole distributorship for America. Additionally Mors, like many other foreign makes of the period, licensed the manufacturing of it's cars to an American concern - the St. Louis Car Company would built the American Mors (a slightly altered version of the French car) between 1905 and 1909, competing with the French imports of the same name.

The car pictured here appears to be a 1908 or 1909 30hp (possibly the 45hp) Limousine. At the time, Mors offered a 10, 15, and 20hp car - all of which were shaft drive. They also offered a 30hp and 45hp,  chain drive, 4-cylinder car, as well as a 6-cylinder 50hp car. This car is a chain drive and I believe a 4-cylinder. The car is pictured in front of (Raymond) Bergougnan et Cie, the large French tire and rubber company located in Clermont-Ferranb (a city within the Puy-de-Dome region - just west of Lyon). Bergougnan was often over shadowed by it's neighbor Michelin et Cie of the same city.

Around the time this car was made (circa 1908), Mors was in financial trouble. The company had suffered from the financial depression sweeping France at the time - cars sales had fallen off and the company withdrew from racing. Mors' president, Harbleisher, invited Andre Citroen, a gear manufacturer recognized for his expertise in mass production, to join him in trying to turn the company around. Citroen did as requested and quickly increased production. Citroen would go back to running his own company, however the two would meet again. Citroen would resume control of Mors and purchase the company in 1925 - closing Mors and using the factory to produce Citroen automobiles.

Motor, December, 1906

Mystery Solved - 1906 Gallia Landaulette de Ville

circa 1906 Gallia Electric Landaulette (photo credit: Ariejan Bos)

Blog reader Ariejan Bos has emailed this wonderful image of a circa 1906 Gallia Landaulette de Ville which appears to be the vehicle pictured in the Charles Barenne photograph - excellent work Ariejan.

La Societe L'Electrique (1904-1915) established an American distributorship in New York City in 1905 (Gallia Electric carriage Company). The company exhibited at the 1906 Madison Square Garden (Space 42 East Hall), Sixth National Automobile Show. Exhibiting a "Gallia" Landaulet bodied by Kellner and a "Galliette" runabout bodied by Rothschild, it was reported by The Automobile (January 18, 1906) that Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt Jr. purchased the Landaulet at the show. Interestingly there is also records indicating that Brewster, the esteemed New York coachbuilder, bodied two Gallia Electrics for General A. E. Booth around this same time period.

As the stated in an article in The Motor of Januray 1906, "…the importation of a French electric car, … shows that the idea is eminently practical after all, because both New York and Paris lead the world in this type of motor-cars, and if American electric cars are sold in Paris, why French electric cars may be sold in New York."

Charles Barenne photo of Gallia Electric (in the author's collection)

The Motor, February, 1906

1907 Winton Type XIV Runabout

1907 Winton Type XIV Runabout (from the author's collection)

The Winton Motor Carriage Company of Cleveland, Ohio introduced the new Type XIV in 1907 to replace the Model K. The smaller of the two Winton offerings in 1907, the Type XIV was fitted with a 30hp 4-cylinder engine on a 104 inch wheel base - available as a Touring or Runabout. The Horseless Age of January 16, 1907 writes, "Their Type XIV, four cylinder, 30 horse power chassis is shown stripped and fitted with a regular touring body and as a runabout. The latter car is not intended as a racer, but as a serviceable runabout, and has a comfortable body with collapsible rubble seat and trunk platform." Winton was a well organized manufacturer who appears to have had a strong sales program as witnessed by the article noting Winton's School for Automobile Salesmen seen below.

This car was photographed by Dad in the mid-1950s at Raceland - the estate of John Macomber and host to an annual VMCCA event at the time. The Type XIV Runabout looks to be fresh from refurbishment, and back in 1907, would have sold for $2500.00.

Dad doesn't recall who the owner was at the time and I haven't been able to locate the car today. Does anybody know where it resides?

UPDATE: 
As a blog reader has suggested, this vehicle appears to be the 1905 Binford - not the Winton I thought it might be. The Binford is a car created from the imagination of an early collector and was assembled using parts from various cars in the 1940s (is this a Winton radiator?). The car was created, and has spent much of its life, in New England - traveling through the Princeton Auto Museum and The Long Island Auto Museum. It still exists today.

Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal, November 1, 1906

The Horseless Age, December 31, 1906

A Mystery Electric Landaulet

photo in the author's collection (by Charles Barenne)

I acquired this image along with a couple others recently and after much research I'm still not sure what it is. Thus, if anyone has ideas about the make of this early electric motorcar, please leave me a comment.

What I do know is that on the card the photograph is mounted too, it says "Ch. Barenne, Paris - 27bis Rue Duret (Avenue de la Grande Armee)". This refers to Charles Barenne, a portrait photographer based in Paris, France. Barenne appears to have photographed the well-to-do in Paris as well as the social past-times in vogue at the time (such as cycling and later automobiles). Rue Duret is a residential side-street off the Avenue de la Grande Armee.

Any reference to the make of the car or the people in the photo is not noted. After a bit of looking into the make of the automobile, I can rule out Krieger (a sizable French manufacturer of electric Broughams from 1894-1909) as they used electric motors on the front wheels - which the car in the image does not have. It is also not a Baker, or a Rauch & Lang, or a BSG (another French maker of electric Broughams). I'm also ruling out the English Electromobile.

It's possible that the car is of the City & Suburban Electric Carriage Co., Ltd. - the English licensee of the Electric Vehicle Company's Columbia line. Additionally, it could be the a product of the Gallia Electric Carriage Co. of Paris (you can see one of their ads below). However, I'm leaning toward the Electric Vehicle Company's 1906 Mk LXVII Landaulet. The Eletric Vehicle Company of New York (the conglomerate establish to dominate the electric commercial vehicle market) had a strong presence in Paris around this time.

Now it's your turn to tell me what you think this car might be.

The Gallia Electric (photo credit: Automobile Topics, July 21, 1906)

1956 Arnolt-Bristol Coupe

1956 Arnolt-Bristol Coupe (chassis 404x3120) - from the collection of the author

Conceived by Stanley Arnolt, the Chicago industrialist, the Arnolt-Bristol was built upon the Bristol 404 chassis and running gear. Arnolt had been quite taken with the work of the Bertone carrozzeria at the Paris Salon and commissioned Bertone (Scaglione, Bertone's new designer is responsible for the design) to design a spyder on the Aston Martin DB2/4 chassis, after which Arnolt invested heavily in the company. Arnolt choose Bristol (over Aston Martin) to partner with on a production version of the original Aston Martin / Bertone design. The Arnolt-Bristol was available in three versions: the Bolide (a true spider), the DeLuxe (a roadster with heater, carpets, and roll-up windows), and the Coupe (with much of the same features as the DeLuxe). 

The car pictured here is chassis 404x3120 - the first coupe built and the only one to wear these unique scalloped front fenders. Priced at $6390.00, this car was sold new off the floor of the Paris Salon to actor Lee Marvin. Originally finished in green and red, the car features the Bristol inline six-cylinder (130hp) engine, independent front suspension, and four-wheel drum brakes. It is said that only six Coupes were produced - I'm not sure how many remain, but this must be one of the finest. The current owners purchased the car at auction for only $51,700 (an incredible bargain) from the 2007 RM Auctions' sale of the Ponder Collection. The car sounds as good as it looks.

Chassis 404x3120 prior to it's current restoration (photo credit: Special Interest Autos)

Arnolt-Bristol Brochure

Arizona Auction Week in January.

1910 Simplex 50hp with body by Holbrook (from the author's collection)

Well, I have to start out with an apology to all you faithful blog readers out there - I've been away from the blog for too long! The end of the year has turned out to be a very busy time for me as I help coordinate the Arizona Concours d'Elegance and assist certain of the auction companies. 

However, the Concours is shaping up to be a fantastic event. I hope anyone planning on coming to Arizona in January will schedule time for the Concours - to be held the first Sunday of the week (January 12th) at the Bilmore Hotel. If you haven't purchased your tickets, go to: http://www.arizonaconcours.com. 

Additionally, if you haven't looked at the auction catalogs, I encourage you to do so as there are some fantastic cars being offered this year. Some of my favorites are: Gooding & Co's wonderful 1933 Rolls-Royce PII (a Springfield car) with a Brewster Sports Saloon body: http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1933-rolls-royce-phantom-ii-sports-saloon. I believe it is one of three such cars bodied in this style - sometimes referred to as a closed Newmarket. This car wears the later, signature Brewster side sweep and door handles - fantastic.

RM Auctions is featuring a lovely 1915 Pierce-Arrow model 48 Touring and a beautiful 1916 Stutz Bulldog Touring: http://rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1064204. Similar to the Bearcat, the Bulldog "Special" is a longer wheelbase car with the distinctive body separation between the front and rear seats - very handsome.

Our friends at Bonhams have really worked hard to field a significant group of early cars. Not often seen at auction, they have a wonderful 1910 Simplex 50hp Toy Tonneau bodied by Holbrook, as well as the ex-William Harrah 1910 Thomas-Flyer model 6-40 Touring: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21392/. Not quite as large as the model 6-70, the 6-40 is said to be fast and powerful all the same. Incredible to see these two cars in the same sale.

Bring on the New Year!