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

Buck Jones Cadillac designed by Harley Earl is now in West Palm Beach, Florida

 

Buck Jones Cadillac is owned by Palm Beach collector and is being restored locally.

 

From: Harley Earl official website

http://www.carofthecentury.com/the_buck_jones_cadillac.htm


Richard Earl helped with the sale of the Buck Jones Cadillac and in order to have Harley Earl's first high-finned motoramic roadster become a turn-key Pebble Beach Concourse car, it will need a proper restoration. ​

​

Here are some recent photos:​

Last two photos, shown above, are of the B.J. Cadillac in its original form.​

 

The big open car pictured early in the Pix of Truly Extinct makes is a 1916 Liberty Lafrance roadster. They are in fact a production car though very few were made. It is my understanding they were made in Britain. They are powered by a 1,650 cid American built Liberty V-12 aircraft engine. The engine makes just over 400 horsepower using 4 big SU carburetors and dual ignition with each bank of cylinders running a single overhead cam. I have seen and sat in one of these cars. It is identical to the one pictured. They are a double chain drive with a simple two speed transmission. I stand 6 feet 4 inches which is the same as my "wingspan." I laid across the hood with the tip of the middle finger of my left hand touching the front of the top of the radiator and reached as far back towards the cowl with my right hand as I could. I was still fully a foot short of touching the cowling below the windshield! Plus I still had two huge headlamps and the front of both spring perches another foot or more ahead of the radiator. To say the car is large would be an understatement. My guess is it is capable of speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour. But I think you had better have a lot of room because it might not take long to reach triple digits but stopping it again might be an entirely different matter as the car I saw appeared to have mechanical brakes only on the rear wheels.

 

Here are 3 rare ones. Each a one of one most likely.

 

Hi, Mullay. If you mean the blue Liberty LaFrance. It was at 110 when the driver lifted, for fear of the chains flying off. Rick Jorgensen was in the car with him. The car has been the subject of quite a seires of posts on this thread, and one major mystery was how an engine not in service until 1917 (1918 in quantiy) would have found its way into such an early car (Krit body on a LaFrance chassis, BTW). If you search the whole thread, the picture becomes pretty clear: It was, in a real sense, a very early -- very powerful -- hotrod. Posts #3717 and 3719, in particular, speak to this.

 

AJ, amazing shot there! Where and when was this? I wish I could have seen them with my own eyes. Is there a story about the one at RIGHT? Seems to be under restoration. Also, the top is style rather differently from the others.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^ Yes, more details on the car on the right please! Bob

 

Bob, everybody loves unrestored cars for some reason. Every concours should have a barn find/ unrestored class.

The blue car on the left is the only known Hollywood Graham Phaeton. The car in the middle is the Hupmobile Skylark Conv prototype, also using a cord phaeton body. The car on the right is the only known Hollywood Graham conv coupe. Picture was taken at the end of the St Johns Concours.

Conv coupe's history is known back to 1949 where it was on a used car lot in Harwrich Massachuetts. Story is here. Car has not run in 50 years so it had to be towed on to the show field. Video of that is here.

 

AJ, the add'l info makes it five times as exciting. THANKS for posting these! BTW, did any of them have the Kishline supercharger?

 

Part of the fun of this hobby is looking at a car or a photo of one and noticing something that is odd or unusual, I had no idea that Graham was that rare. That is one of the best "The Rest of the Story" stories I've read in a longtime. Thanks! Bob

 

Jimi, what is a Kishline supercharger ? Both Hollywoods have the Graham blowers on them.

 

Floyd Kishline, Graham engineer. Sorry, I guess they are not generally known that way! My bad.

 

Ran across this on the 'net. Can't verify it anyplace,
so maybe a short-lived assembled car AND EXTINCT?
Anybody EVER hear of this make?

Blanchard Chamberlain - Bellefontaine, Ohio - 1910

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Could this be the last version of what started as Zent, then the Traveller, later the Bellefontaine?
http://www.american-automobiles.com/Traveler-1.html

 

Gary, last iteration of the Traveler and Bellefontaine, I'd WAG it's POSSIBLE, though the first two appear on the historical radar while Blanchard-Chamberlain does not. I couldn't even get a sniff on the AACA and Hemmings sites.

The Traveler below bears some resemblance to the B-C, though the Bellefontaine is said to have been a bigger more costly version of the Traveler. Both the Traveler and Bellefontaine had 32-horse fours, but we have no tech on the B-C at all.

If, indeed, the Blanchard-Chamberlain was actually a make (and not a mistake on the part of the person who labeled the photo), then it cetainly seems possible that it was the final, very short-lived GASP of a succession of assembled cars: from Traveler, to Bellefontaine to, conceivably, Blanchard-Chamberlain. If so, this is a super-rare -- possibly EXTINCT -- make, indeed!

(I can, however imagine another outside possibility. We know that there were at least a few of what I'd call "vanity" makes, meaning someone with some dough would take an existing car and, with a few superficial changes, slap his own name on the car. Wa-la! Maybe far fetched, but hey!)

<CENTER> </CENTER>

1908 Traveler Model B-8 Five Passenger Touring Car
Bellefontaine Automobile Co.
106 Water Street Bellefontaine, Ohio,
thanks to American-Automobiles.com ​

 

For the sake of anyone coming in on this cold, the Zentmobile 1900-1903), then the Zent (1903-1907) were buggy-based, one-cylinder cars, built in Evansville, Indiana. It's my understanding the operations (perhaps under new ownership) shifted to Bellefontaine, OH, building bigger, four-cylindered cars.

So, yes, there was a business relationship, but practically NO physical similarities between cars manufactured in Indiana versus those built in Ohio.

 

Schuyler, Zent & Co. manufactured gasoline engines. The Dec. 7, 1900, issue of the Marion Star includes a short note about a new automobile designed by the Zent company for Mr. E. Huber. The Compete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to Present contains entries for Zent Automobile Mfg. Co., Bellefontaine, Ohio, 1902-07, and for Bellefontaine (Ohio) Automobile Co., 1908. So, it seems Marion's Zent and Huber were involved in producing an automobile. It appears, however, that before Zent actually put his automobile into production, the operation was purchased by the Bellefontaine company and the Zent automobile was forever lost to Marion. - James Boblenz

Read more: http://www.farmcollector.com/company-history/marion-ohio-industry.aspx?page=2#ixzz23A4C6gzf

​

 

Could it be possible the guy behind the wheel is named Blanchard Chamberlain?
And 1910 is just the date of the photo, and the car is something else entirely?

This photo seems to have originated from a geneology site.............

 

Yes, I think there's a good chance. Otherwise, we'd see at least a GLIMMER of a mention on the net, at least AACA or Hemmings. As for 1910, that's only the date, you're right.

Harking back to the possibility of human error I alluded to before, I think I'd lean toward muddled miscommunication on the part of the writer of the photo cutline, and, I think the car is likely a Bellefontaine.

That said, then, EXTINCT? Anybody know of one surviving?

 

The Manufacturing Industry in Iowa
The Iowa Insurance Story
Gasoline Tractor
The Amazing Monocoupe
The Early Automobile
Automobiles
Mason. Maytag. Colby. Three of nearly 50 brands of cars manufactured in Iowa.

Interior of the Colby Motor Company
Colby Red Devil, ca. 1913
Mason automobile
Interior view of the Mason Motor Car Company
1909 Maytag touring car

View all artifacts »
Investigation Tip:
The story of your pathway is found many ways. Look in several different places - an article, a document or a photo. Find clues. Dig deep.

So what does a Colby car look like? See the Colby Collection of photographs from the University of Oklahoma Library.
Cars designed by Frederick and August Duesenberg were known for speed, style and luxury.
Agricultural transportation has seen dramatic changes from the 17th Century to present.
Experiments, dead-ends, and temporary successes. Iowa isn't the only state to enter and exit the car manufacturing industry.
What is a radiator emblem and how does it represent trends in automobile manufacturing?
View all side trails »

Automobile Manufacturing in Iowa
After it had been proven that a gasoline engine could replace a horse to power a buggy down a road, mechanics and designers in almost every state began building automobiles. Many of these people formed companies that lasted about a year or so, sometimes building only one car. Others were more successful. It's estimated that there were over 2000 car manufacturing companies in the United States, and nearly 50 brands of cars were made in Iowa.
Starting Young
A young German immigrant named Frederick Duesenberg came to the United States in 1885 when he was seven years old. His widowed mother immigrated to Iowa bringing her family of seven children with her. Frederick grew up on the family farm. When he was seventeen, he worked in Rockford repairing farm machinery. Three years later he opened his own bicycle business. He liked bicycle racing and became a champion cyclist. He enjoyed racing so much that he would compete against horses as well as other cyclists. About this time he and his brother August "Augie" designed and built a gasoline motor. By 1902 Fred had his own business in Des Moines running an automobile supply company.
Edward Mason of Des Moines discovered the Duesenberg brothers' skills and employed them to design a car. Soon the Mason Motor Car Company was producing and selling automobiles. The automobile was advertised with great flair. To prove the car's uphill performance, the company planned a stunt that was sure to attract attention. George Mason and Fred Duesenberg drove a shiny new Mason car up the Capitol hill and up the State House steps! The car was thereafter advertised as the "hill-climber."
The Maytag
Frederick L. Maytag, who had been a washing machine manufacturer since 1900, was impressed with the Mason car. He bought the Mason Company, and the Duesenbergs moved to Waterloo. They continued to work on the Mason-Maytag automobile until 1915 when the company stopped producing autos.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Duesenberg brothers moved to New Jersey where they built motors for the war effort. After the war, they made expensive, custom-made racing and passenger cars. Based in Indianapolis, the Duesenberg cars and motors gained fame on the race track and the highway.
Colby Motor Company
Mason City entrepreneur, William Colby, founded the Colby Motor Company in 1910. The first Colby, a five-passenger touring car, took to Mason City's streets on November 12, 1910. It performed to all expectations and was fast enough to earn a speeding ticket for its test driver.
Colby equipped his cars with premium materials and an engine designed to withstand Iowa's winters. Colby automobiles were put through endurance tests over the state's rutted, muddy dirt roads. The cars passed the tests with flying colors, including a 658-mile run from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Helena, Montana.
Colby also participated in the newly developing dirt-track car races being held throughout the Midwest. Billy Pearce, a Colby driver on the racing circuit, broke many track records and won trophies for the company. He died in 1911 while racing the Colby Red Devil in Sioux City. The car was repaired but never raced again.
The Colby Motor Company was short-lived. A competitive auto market, company mergers and later reorganizations put the company out of business in 1914. Nine hundred Colby cars were manufactured, but only a few have survived. One has been carefully restored and is displayed at the Kinney Pioneer Museum in Mason City, Iowa.
****************A little off topic but thought it might be interesting***********

 

I believe I have found a car worthy of this thread. I hope.

It is called a "MAJA", pronounced "may-a", from about 1908. It is a "sister" car in more ways than one to a well known car. It appears that it was produced for the American market. It was lighter than it's sibling by quite a bit owing to vanadium steel. There was mention of a race car and some passenger versions at the Solons of the day.

The Maja was a car from the Benz stable, a German company. I found very little on this car.

Are there any survivors and what else can we find out about this car.

Vintageride

 

Here is Blanchard Chamberlain:

Blanchard Gail Chamberlain

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=650><TBODY><TR><TD class=gr bgColor=#dcd0cf vAlign=top width=315 align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=315><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cbc0bf vAlign=top align=center><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=315><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#dcd0cf vAlign=top align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Birth: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>Jul. 5, 1891
Bellefontaine
Logan County
Ohio, USA
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Death: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>Jul. 1, 1955</B>
Bellefontaine
Logan County
Ohio, USA
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2></B>
Married Helen Stokes abt 1918. Father of Charles, Helen and William.

</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>Burial:</B>
Bellefontaine City Cemetery
Bellefontaine
Logan County
Ohio, USA
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2 align=left></B>
Created by: Robert "Rob" Weller
Record added: Aug 25, 2007
Find A Grave Memorial# 21145244
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD class=gr bgColor=#dcd0cf vAlign=top width=315 align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=315><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cbc0bf vAlign=top align=center><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=315><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#dcd0cf vAlign=top align=left><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#dcd0cf vAlign=top align=left><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=315><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=center></B>
[SIZE=-1]Added by: [SIZE=-1]Deb Allison [/SIZE][/SIZE]
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=center></B>
Cemetery Photo

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></B>

 

Sounds like CASE CLOSED. Good sleuthing there, HJ!

 

The Conrad Motor Carriage Company of Buffalo, NY was incorporated in April 1900 with a woefully inadequate capital stock of $25,000. During Christmas 1901, a "large Conrad delivery wagon ran for a week making deliveries for a large Buffalo department Store. It did the work of three horse-drawn vehicles without trouble. A similar wagon carried mail from the main post office in Buffalo to the Pas American Exposition."<SUP>[2]</SUP>
In 1902, the Conrad Motor Carriage Company began manufacturing gasoline cars. The company failed in July 1903 and declared bankruptcy in August 1903.<SUP>[3]</SUP>
Bently describes the technical details of the Conrad. The "1903 Steam Model 65 Special [was] powered by a two-cylinder, six hp engine located amidships under the frame and enclosed in a special hood. "A 20 in. boiler (at rear) produced super-heated steam from 650 copper tubes at 160 psi, water being stored in a 35 gallon tank. Eight gallons of gasoline fed the burner which had a patented pilot light to keep up a head of steam. Weight of this buggy was 1,004 pounds with a two-passenger panel back seat body and full tanks. One of four models (two of them commercial vehicles) with a price of $800 - $2,500."<SUP>[4]</SUP>
The 1903 Steam Model 65 Special was priced at $850.





I know I mentioned this one before, but was pretty sure I didn't have a picture.
Not Extinct, but pretty rare as there is only one I know of in England.

 

amazing thread! i can;t stop reading this

 

Good hunting, Gary, on the ultra-rare Conrad! Many of the very early ones are HARD to find any info on, for sure. I'm reminded of the steam-powered Lutz of 1898, with the ONLY example kept in the original carriage house where it was built in Logan, Ohio. I think I finally located a photo of the car. I'll dig for it.

 

The one and only extant steam-powered car to bear the name, the Lutz
steam car is one of the centerpiece attractions of the Hocking County
Historical Society and Museum, Logan, Ohio. The car was built by Logan
native Henry Lutz, a self-trained engineer, machinist and inventor, in 1898.

For anyone on vacation this summer or fall in the Hocking Hills, Seven
Caves region, and wishing to see this ultra-rare car, the Hocking County
Historical Society consists of some six buildings (including the original
machine shop that houses the Lutz). The old Lutz family homeplace is the
main building and is located at 64 N. Culver Street at Market Street, right
where Zanesville Avenue enters the city of Logan, Hocking County, Ohio.
I don't have an email address, but the phone number is 740/385-6026.
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1903 Conrad
Conrad Motor Carriage Co. Buffalo, NY
1900-1903

 

Lacakwanna Motor Co.

Buffalo, NY

1904

The Conrad Company made mainly steam cars, light 2-cylinder vehicles with side-tiller steering and single chain drive. In 1903 they introduced two gasoline engined cars of 8 hp and 12 hp, both with 2-cylinder engines, three speeds, and single chain drive. They [sic] were out of business by the end of 1903, but one of their gasoline engined models was exhibited by the Lackawanna Motor Co. at the 1904 New York Show. However, this latter company concentrated mainly on engines.<SUP>[7]</SUP>