LOT 69
1914 Pathfinder Series XIV Model A Touring Chassis no. 300467
Sold for US$24,640 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 69
From the Clive and Janet Cussler Car Collection of Scottsdale
1914 Pathfinder Series XIV Model A Touring
1914 Pathfinder Series XIV Model A Touring
1914 Pathfinder Series XIV Model A Touring
Chassis no. 300467
Chassis no. 300467
281ci 4-Cylinder Inline Engine
42hp, Single updraft carburetor
3-Speed Manual Transmission
Leaf Spring Suspension
2-Wheel Mechanical Brakes
*Rare survivor of the Indianapolis-built automobile
*A truly unrestored and unmolested 110-year-old car
*Formerly displayed at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
*A unique automobile
PATHFINDER CARS
A cursory glance through the Standard Catalogue of American cars, shows that Indianapolis, Indiana spawned dozens of manufacturers no doubt all with the intent of competition success on home turf. Duesenberg, Marmon, and Stutz may be the best known, but there were many others and a few of those ventures were associated with one David Parry. Like others in the industry Parry had begun as a carriage manufacturer before venturing into horseless carriages. He held an interest in Overland for a while before selling that to Willys and forming the Parry Auto Company, certain that he understood how the automobile business worked.
1910 saw the arrival of the first Parry cars, a 35hp four-cylinder runabout and a 40hp four-cylinder touring, but that initial year saw heavy losses. Following reorganization, became simply The Motor Car Manufacturing Company, since they were uncertain what to name their product, they would build a New Parry for 1911 and 1912 before introducing Pathfinder branded cars. This latter entity lasted through to 1917. Priced at $2,185 the Model A Touring as being sold today included an electric starter and interesting details such as a sliding gas pedal, twin spares and electric lights.
THE CAR OFFERED
This Pathfinder is quite possibly the best-known example of its breed that remains and most likely the only one to have graced the lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which it did in 2019. Its invitation reflects the remarkable story and condition in which it survives to this day, being a true time-warp car and a natural choice for their Preservation category.
This 1914 example was first discovered by Theodore W. Holtorf in a basement garage in the Glen Art Theater in Glen Ellyn, Illinois in 1946. Then only a mere 34 years old, it had been modestly used, gauged by the fact that the tires had been fitted in 1918. Holtorf retrieved the car and placed it in a rented basement space where it remained for the next 64 years! In 2010 it passed to the former owner from whom Clive and Janet Cussler acquired the car.
In the collection, the Pathfinder has lived in the appropriate surroundings of the 'Goob's Garage' façade, a ramshackle old building retrieved in Mississippi, reconstructed for the Tupelo Automobile Museum, replete with all manner of old garage equipment.
Today, 110 years after it was made, this stands as one of the few examples that this Indanapolis manufacturer ever existed thanks to careful custodians such as the Cusslers and those that preceded them. A fascinating car by any stretch of the imagination, it carries many interesting details from its original trim to those century old tires and original Illinois license plates from 1914. While time travel still remains impossible, this is the next closest thing to a step back in time!
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