Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 139
1909 Stoddard-Dayton Model 9A Five Passenger Touring Engine no. A3724
Estimate: US$60,000 - US$80,000
Lot 139
1909 Stoddard-Dayton Model 9A Five Passenger Touring
The Audrain Concours Auction|4 October 2024, 17:00 EDT|Newport, Rhode Island, International Tennis Hall of Fame
1909 Stoddard-Dayton Model 9A Five Passenger Touring
Engine no. A3724
Engine no. A3724
251.3ci OHV Inline 4-Cylinder Motor
Single Updraft Carburetor
35bhp
3-Speed Sliding Gear Manual Transmission
4-Wheel Leaf Springs with Live Axles Front and Rear
Rear-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes
*Excellent performing brass era car
*Great looking and advanced overhead valve engine
*Renowned quality and performance
*Sporting compact touring body
*Lovingly restored and maintained
*Eligible for all brass era events
THE STODDARD-DAYTON
The Stoddard family of Dayton, Ohio were successful entrepreneurs with interests in paint and varnish manufacturing and farm equipment. The patriarch's son, Charles Stoddard, became convinced of the future of the automobile and, being a logical, progressive businessman from a successful family, carefully investigated the then competing technologies, gasoline, steam and electric. After deciding that gasoline had the best chance of success, he contracted with the Rutenberg Company in Chicago for a supply of engines and began to manufacture the Stoddard-Dayton automobile.
The company's position was in common with many of its competitors: to build large, heavy, reliable, luxurious automobiles. Stoddard-Daytons were just that. The smallest car the company ever built (aside from those built by its Courier subsidiary) was an 18hp four-cylinder. They would eventually go up to a 70hp sleeve-valve six.
After a few years of experience with the Rutenberg-built fours, Charles Stoddard designed a T-head four rated at 35 horsepower for the 1907 models. One of the new 35hp Stoddard Daytons finished the Glidden Tour with a perfect score and it was a Stoddard-Dayton that not only won the first race held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909 but also served as the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race pace car in 1911.
In 1908 H.J. Edwards, an experienced engineer from England, was hired and given a free hand to design Stoddard-Dayton's next engine, a powerplant which has forever secured the company's place in automotive history. Introduced in 1909, the next Stoddard-Dayton was a 4.75 x 5-inch 36hp four, a configuration that was in itself not unusual. Its valve layout, however, set it apart. In an era when mechanically-operated intake valves had only recently superseded "automatic" intake valves sucked open on the intake stroke and T-heads were only just yielding to simpler and more compact L-head valve positioning, Edwards' design for Stoddard-Dayton was a true cross-flow head with inclined overhead valves and hemispherical combustion chambers.
The first Model 9 Stoddard-Dayton engines used an ingenious valve actuation system with a single camshaft in the crankcase and only a single pushrod and rocker arm pivoted in the center of the head to operate both valves. Exhaust valve operation was conventional with the pushrod pressing down on the valve. The intake valve, however, was opened when a low place on the lobe allowed a spring on the pushrod to pull down on the positively-fastened pushrod and the other end of the rocker arm.
The Stoddard-Dayton layout was efficient in terms of moving parts, but imposed large friction loads on the valve gear which had to constantly work against the pressure of the intake valve opening springs and would be refined for future years. In 1912 Stoddard- Dayton added a huge 70hp Knight sleeve-valve six-cylinder to its catalog—but the Stoddards had sold out to Ben Briscoe in 1911 and the company succumbed when U.S. Motors went under in 1913.
THE CAR OFFERED
This early example of the brief production run of the marque is a Model 9A, which was built on a 105-inch wheelbase and was offered in three body styles by the company, a Brougham, a Victoria and this 5-passenger Touring. As new, these grand motorcars set their purchasers back some $2,000 for this very handsome sports touring car.
The car's history is not exhaustively charted but it is known to have been prized by some noted collection owners, including the late William G. Lassiter of West Palm Beach, Florida, and the present estate collection from which it is offered today.
Aesthetically, the car has the appealing look of a restoration that was carried out properly and to a high standard some time ago, and that has then mellowed through its path of use on tours. Work carried out on it to assist such events has included the fitting of a self-starter.
Its presentation is replete with a brass framed windshield, period style brass side and head lamps, and a dashboard with period Stoddard branded fuel pressure gauge and Stewart Warner speedometer.
Stoddard-Dayton is a marque that has always been coveted despite their fleeting existence, examples such of this with their interesting technical side and good looks show precisely why they have retained such appeal. This would make an excellent car for Horseless Carriage Club or similar veteran car tours.
Additional information
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