1910 Chalmers-Detroit Model K '30' Touring Car

226ci 4-Cylinder F-Head Engine
30bhp
3-Speed Sliding Gear Transmission
2-Wheel Mechanical Brakes
Live Axles and Leaf Springs Front and Rear

*Lovely Patina
*One of the most respected mid-sized touring cars
*Sophisticated engine that develops strong power
*Good looking car from the height of the brass era

THE CHALMERS

Initially, Chalmers automobiles were produced under the Thomas Detroit name. E.R. Thomas had funded a lower priced car he could sell under the Thomas name, but when the venture fell apart, the cars sold as Chalmers-Detroit starting in 1908. Under the new name they gained immediate market acceptance. The cars were offered in the $1500-$3000 price bracket and had good features and performance. The company management was a bit divided over which market direction to go, however. Run by namesake Hugh Chalmers as well as Howard Coffin and Roy Chapin, the latter two wanted to produce less expensive cars for the growing $1000 car market. Chalmers, though, had grander visions, wanting to make a higher-quality, performance oriented car. Chalmers eventually ended up with sole control of his company, when Coffin and Chapin persuaded JL Hudson to fund a new car company under their investor's name.

Chalmers was now free to produce the cars he wanted to make. After the marque had distinguished itself on the racetrack, the resulting success and reputation had given the Chalmers Company an impressive list of owners including the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, J. Herreschoff, and the soon-to-be Packard chief engineer, Jesse Vincent. In 1910, the name of the company was officially changed to the Chalmers Motor Car Company; by then it had risen to become one of the nation's most popular builders and by 1915 was building 20,000 cars annually.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

The Chalmers seen here was purchase alongside the White in David City, near Omaha, Nebraska on what must have been an extremely cold late January day in 1993. The seller was Leo Bongers, who had amassed more than 100 of all sorts of cars, a dozen motorcycles, automobile parts and signs etc. and on his death it all had to be sold. Photos from the day of sale show remarkable vehicles such as this literally lined up outside in the sun, and press reports chart thousands of people attending the auction.

The presents well in lightly weathered condition which gives the car a very authentic look. Little is known about the vehicle's history outside of its purchase by the Spains but it makes for a fine example of a Brass era automobile.