1901 Oldsmobile Model R Curved Dash Runabout

95ci Single-Cylinder Engine
7bhp at 600rpm
Single-Speed Planetary Transmission
Full Length Leaf Spring Suspension Front and Rear with Solid Axles
Single Mechanical Drum Brake on the Axle

*Veteran Car Club Dated
*1901 date providing early start for London to Brighton Run
*Perfect for Horseless Carriage tours
*Well-maintained, usable example

THE OLDSMOBILE CURVED DASH

Quite literally, a Curved Dash Oldsmobile was what the old popular song called "My Merry Oldsmobile." If ever a car was cheap and cheerful, it was the simple and very effective Oldsmobile Model R, single-cylinder runabout. Although the concept of mass production wasn't entirely new, Oldsmobile used the principle with the Model R to turn out 425 cars in 1901, approximately 2,500 in 1902 and an estimated 3,924 units in 1903. That production also made Ransom Olds a very wealthy man. The Model R's horizontal single-cylinder engine was mounted under the body and drove the rear axle via a chain from a two-speed transmission. Suspension was very basic, with transverse leaf springs front and rear. A floor mounted pedal operates the transmission break and throttle is also controlled by pedal. Steering was by a right-side-mounted tiller.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

The 'CDO,' as they're known, has been in the present ownership for more than a decade and was previously owned for many years by John 'Jack' Hanson of Manistee, Michigan, a noted brass era collector who passed just earlier this year. In Hanson's custody, the Olds was officially dated by Veteran Car Club of Great Britain and by merit of its early specification, was awarded a 1901 date. He had last used it on the famed London to Brighton Run in 2011. That event, one of the longest established of any motoring gatherings, brings together more than 400 cars each normal year, with the cars ordered by increasing age and the earliest starting first. This car's 1901 age provides its owner with the important advantage of being roughly within the first quarter of the pack, allowing them to get ahead of the traffic.

The car presents as an older restoration which provides a pleasingly patinated condition sympathetic to its era, while under the skin the running gear had proved to be reliable on a number of successful London to Brighton runs. The car remains in ready to use order and a particularly nice detail is a period Michigan license plate. This is an entry level Veteran car which provides its owner lots of opportunities, being eligible for Horseless Carriage Club and Veteran Car Club events among others. As one of the icons of early motoring, it could simply motor around as head turner on the road or conversation piece in any collection charting the history of the automobile.