Duesenberg and the Charles Schutte Body Company

Duesenderg Straight Eight with body by Charles Schutte (from the collection of the author)

The Charles Schutte Body Company was founded in 1910 in Lancaster, PA. Although not one of the largest body companies, they earned a reputation for their commercial work - mostly buses. In 1918, after bodying the prototype, Schutte would provide all the coachwork for the short-lived Argonne car from Jersey City, New Jersey over the next two years. This expose to automobile bodies lead to the opportunity to produce a small run of production bodies for the newly introduced Duesenberg Straight Eight. 

Later known as the Model A (after the introduction of the Model J), The Automobile Trade Journal of July 1, 1920 wrote, "The Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Corp. has bought a factory site in Indianapolis and plans 2400 cars the first year of operation. In addition to a special Duesenberg engine the car will be equipped with four wheel brakes and an axle designed by Fred S. Duesenberg. The new car is stated to be 400 lbs lighter than those of similar power and will obtain from 18 to 22 miles on a gallon of gasoline." 

The Duesenberg Straight Eight would be introduced in November of 1920 at the New York Automobile Salon and would be the first American production car to employ a straight eight cylinder engine and four-wheel brakes. Schutte would provide primarily closed bodies, making these unique and handsome Coupes and Sedans - though it is unknown exactly how many were produced. Other companies would body the Straight Eight as well as - one of the most prolific being Leon Ruby producing a number of attractive open cars. The car would be sold between 1921 and 1926 with roughly 650 being produced – well short of original estimates.

In 1926, seeing an opportunity, Charles Schutte entered into negotiations to merge with the Blue Ribbon Body Company of Bridgeport, CT - who's business had declined when Locomobile, it's largest customer, went bankrupt. Unfortunately for Schutte, his investors took him to court to stop the merger when it was learned that the lancaster, PA plant might be closed if the deal went through. Untimely, Schutte was found guilty of stock manipulation and the company went bankrupt.

Duesenderg Straight Eight with body by Charles Schutte (from the collection of the author)

RM Auction's Hershey sale - favorite picks

With the AACA's Hershey meet come the RM Auction's Hershey sale. Looking past the mountain of Fords, RM has assembled an interesting group of cars - as they always do. Tailored to the crowd at Hershey, the sale has many unique early cars and these are always favorites of mine.

The following are a few of my picks for the sale. I just wish I had a suitcase full of money and more garage space.

1911 Braiser (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 108 is the 1911 Brasier Runabout. The inline monobloc four-cylinder engine is rated at 11/15 hp (that's taxable horsepower). Yes, it's a smaller horsepower car, but a great make and very handsome. The car has a wonderful history of being purchased new by the family of the consigners from the Manhattan dealership of Flandreau & Company, importers of French automobiles. The car is estimated to bring between $30,000 and $50,000.

1930 Cadillac Model 452 (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 109 is the 1930 Cadillac V-16 Roadster by Fleetwood. Body style 4302 is possibly the most striking of the all the bodies offered in 1930. The car was ordered originally by the Whittalls family through Fizhenry Cadillac of Worcester, MA. I grew up around the corner from Worcester and would love to have such a magnificent piece of local history stay in the area - we'll see. This car is expected to sell for $450,000 to $650,000.

1902 Covert (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 142 is the 1902 Covert Runabout. Ok, this is not the most practical motorcar as it's tiller steering and has a single-cylinder engine rated at 3 hp. However, it's history of Miss Woodard (a librarian) purchasing the car new in 1901 at the Lockport, NY factory is wonderful. She drove the car for a decade and it's largely as it was was she owned it. The Covert is expected to sell for $30,000 to $50,000 (I think it might do more).

1922 Duesenberg Model A Coupe (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 156 is the 1922 Duesenberg Model A Fleetwood Coupe. One of only about 60 Model A Duesenbergs to survive, this is the only known Fleetwood bodied "Doctor's Coupe". In fact, it was originally purchased by Pennsylvania physician Doctor C.E. Beals. The car is expected to bring between $220,000 and $260,000.

1905 Fiat Quinby bodied touring car (photo credit: RM Auctions)

Lot 257 is the 1905 Fiat Quinby Touring car - the star of the sale. Bonhams Simeone sale just featured a Springfield Rolls-Royce owned by the Anheuser Busch family and here's another. This car, chassis 3003, is the third of twenty 60 horsepower chassis built in 1905. August Anheuser Busch Sr., of the legendary brewing company, purchased the car from Hollander and Tangeman - the American importer for Fiat located in Manhattan. The car was bodied here in America by Quinby & Company and the family kept the car until 1934 when it was purchased by legendary collector James Melton. The car is expected to bring between $800,000 and $1,200,000 (I'm confident will do over a million) - fantastic!

Bonhams' Simeone Sale - Preserving the Automobile

I'm off to the AACA National Fall Meet - better know as Hershey. The team at Bonhams as been working to establish a sale, in association with the fantastic Simeone Museum, that starts the week and features preservation cars. As with any new event, the first couple of years have been challenging, but they seem to have a pulled together a wonderful group of cars for this year's sale.

The following are a few of my picks of the sale. It should interesting to see how these cars do over the block. Which are your favorites?

1917 Packard Model 2-25 (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 305 is the 1917 Packard 2-25 Twin-Six Brougham with coachwork by Chauncey Thomas & Co. (a rather obscure coachworks from Boston). Not much seems to be know about it's early life, but it is a fascinating Packard. It is expected to sell for between $70,000 and $90,000.

1925 Cunningham Phaeton (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 322 is the 1925 Cunningham Series V-6 Phaeton with factory coachwork. The James Cunningham, Son & Company out of Syracuse, NY made a small number of extraordinary cars through the classic era. Regardless, of the model designation, this car is driven by the companies own 442ci L-Head V8 engine and is expected to bring between $135,000 to $160,000 - an absolute bargain in my humble opinion.

1927 Springfield Rolls-Royce Phantom I (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 326 is the the 1927 Rolls-Royce PI Dinsdale Limousine with Brewster coachwork originally delivered to Mrs. August Anheuser Busch, wife of August Anheuser Busch Sr, of the famed brewing company. This car appears to have only 13,500 original miles and has spent all but the last three years in the hands of two owners. It is expected to bring between $75,000 to $95,000.

1907 American Underslung Roadster (photo credit: Bonhams Auctions)

Lot 341 is the famed 1907 American Underslung Roadster of F.C. Deemer. Ok, this car really isn't a preservation car having been restored twice, but it is an amazing car with an incredible history. Written up back in 1979 in the Antique Automobile, the car was purchased by Deemer, an oil tycoon, to take her bride on their honeymoon. This car is probably one of the first Underslungs to be produced by the factory and the earliest to survive today. It was found in the early 1960s in the Deemer homestead with the three other American Underslungs the family had owned. This car is expected to fetch between $900,000 and 1.3 million - I expect that it will do better than $1 million.

Unknown car - Can you solve the mystery?

Connecticut circa 1918 (from the collection of the author)

I don't usually offer up a mystery car, but in this case I'm stumped. I acquired this image in an antique store a few months back and the car is noted as a Buick (written in pencil on the back). I'm fairly certain it's not a Buick. The car wears a 1918 Connecticut license plate, however the car itself is earlier - probably 1911 or 1912. It appears to be an American make of mid-price range. The photo is not the greatest, but you can click on it to enlarge.

The challenge is on. Please leave me a comment and let me know the year and make. 

UPDATE: Blog reader Ariejan Bos has suggested that this car may be a 1911 or 1912 Haynes. Great suggestion, Ariejan

Studebaker and the Whipple Stage

1926 Studebaker Model EP "Big Six" Duplex Phaeton (photo credit: Sharlot Hall Museum)

The Studebaker Corporation, of South Bend, Indiana, introduced the "Big Six" in 1922 and by 1926 the car had earned a reputation for being a strong runner for a reasonable price. This car features a 75 horsepower, 6-cylinder engine and wears Studebaker's "Duplex" body - a style copied after the "California" tops of the previous decade. Apparently these cars were favored by the southwest's lawmen and earned the nickname "Sheriff". 

The story is told in The Arizona Sheriff, by Grover F. Sexton. It states "Twelve of the fourteen counties of Arizona furnish the sheriff's office with an automobile. Every one of these twelve has bough a Studebaker. When this story came to South Bend, we commissioned Major Grover F. Sexton to visit each of these twelve sheriffs and see just what service Studebaker cars were rendering to the people of Arizona. In honor of Arizona sheriffs who have made the Studebaker a vibrant symbol of law and order, from the Grand Canyon to Old Mexico, the 5 passenger Big Six Sport Phaeton has been named "The Sheriff."

I wonder if this influenced Jack Sills, the man seen with his Studebaker in the photo above, to acquire his car? Mr. Sills founded the Whipple Stage in 1922 to provide bus service to soldiers at Fort Whipple in Prescott, Arizona. From the sign on the number, it cost 15 cents to get to town. Fort Whipple is now the Prescott Veterans Hospital and Jack Sills's Whipple Stage gave birth to Prescott Transit which still operates today.

1914 Packard Model 2-38 Runabout

The sporty Packard 2-38 Pheaton Runabout of 1914 (photo from the author's collection)

The 1914 model year was a transitional one for Packard. Having introduced their first six-cylinder car only two years prior, Packard had now standardized on the six-cylinder. However, they offered a dizzying array of chassis and body options. This car, seen in a period postcard, is a 1914 Model 2-38 with a two-tone "phaeton runabout" body - a very sporty offering. With an L-head, 38 horsepower engine, this car is smaller in displacement than their model 48 of the same year. 1914 also brought a number of new features to Packard, including left-hand drive and a Delco electric starting system.

In May of 1915, Packard would introduce their landmark Twin-Six and change everything - the first mass-produced V-12 engine. Additionally, Carl Fisher would pace the 1915 Indianapolis 500 in a Packard factory special built from a 1914 Model 2-38 runabout.

Today, there are roughly 6 to 8 1914 Model 2-38 Packard's known to survive. Only one of these is a runabout - the 1915 Indy pace car. If you own a 1914 Packard, you have between the 141st and 161st oldest Packard to survive. 

Factory image of a 1914 Packard Model 2-38 Pheaton Runabout (photo credit: Detroit Public Library, IMLS)

1909 Stoddard-Dayton Tours London

1909 Stoddard-Dayton touring London (from the collection of the author)

This postcard, showing the pride of Dayton, Ohio's Dayton Motor Car Company, the Stoddard-Dayton, appears to be taken in London. Upon careful examination, the building in the background looks to be Britain's House of Commons (or Parliament Building). Could this shot be taken from the Victoria Tower Gardens?

The Stoddard name was already well established and respected within Dayton. It was John Stoddard's farm implements business that put Dayton on the map as a center for industrial production. Together with his son Charles, the two would turn to automobile manufacturing in 1905. In 1907, they would introduce an engine of their own design and by 1909 they manufactured most all components for their cars within thier own factory complex. 

I believe this car to be a Model 9K, Detachable Tonneau. The largest of the line that year, the car featured a 4-cylinder, 45 horsepower engine on a 120 inch wheelbase and sold for $2700.00. Stoddard-Dayton also sold this Detachable Tonneau style on their 35 horsepower - Model 9C - chassis. The company had North American representatives spanning from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to Texas, however I could find no reference to a London agent? It is certainly possible that a wealthy family brought over their Stoddard-Dayton for a European tour (no uncommon at the time).

The company earned a reputation for fast, reliable cars - competing (and winning) many tests of endurance and speed. Unfortunately, the Stoddard's made an error in judgment when they decided to merge with the recently formed United States Motor Company in 1910. The brain child of Benjamin Briscoe, the company was an effort to consolidate many automotive brands, a prevailing movement in the industry at the time. United States Motor Company would buy up 11 companies - including, Maxwell, Columbia, and Brush - before going bankrupt in 1913. A reorganized Maxwell would buy up the assets but the Stoddard-Dayton name was never revived. A few years later the Maxwell board would entice Walter Chrysler to lead the company. With a deal that allowed Chrysler to gain controlling interest, he would found the Chrysler Corporation and retire the Maxwell name.

UPDATE:
Blog reader Ariejan Bos has added the following:

References to the presence of Stoddard-Dayton in Europe are scarce: according to the "List of Motor Cars 1908-1914" (accessible through the site of Grace's Guide) Stoddard (no suffix!) was present in the UK from 1912 on. However I have a photo of a Stoddard from a 1911 English magazine (probably The Graphic, but no exact date), so they were available earlier but how much remains unclear.

Although I first thought it was an early 'photoshop' because of the vague contours of the buildings, the photo was made in London indeed: the lamp is clearly a London Embankment example. Looking at the angle from which we see the Parliament buildings, the photo must have been shot from across the Thames, roughly along the Albert Embankment near Lambeth Bridge.

As always thanks for your always interesting blog!

Motor Age, September 10, 1908