Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 32 ¤
1927 Overland Whippet Model 96 Coach Coachwork by Briggs Chassis no. 96-2794 Engine no. 96-28472
Sold for US$15,680 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 32¤
1927 Overland Whippet Model 96 Coach
1927 Overland Whippet Model 96 Coach
Coachwork by Briggs
Chassis no. 96-2794
Engine no. 96-28472
Coachwork by Briggs
Chassis no. 96-2794
Engine no. 96-28472
134.2ci L-Head Inline Four-Cylinder Engine
Single carburetor
31bhp at 3,000rpm
Three-Speed Manual Transmission
Live Axles with Semi-Elliptic Leaf Springs
Four-Wheel Bendix Mechanical Drum Brakes
* Junior line of Willys Overland
* One year only manufacture
* High output 2.2 liter engine
* Quality Harrah's restoration
THE CAR OFFERED
There is a difference of opinion here: Is this a Willys Overland or a Whippet?
Harrah's researchers credit Overland. Beverly Rae Kimes and Henry Austin Clark, Jr. in their authoritative 1996 Standard Catalog have a separate entry for Whippet while crediting its Overland genesis. The 1970 seller of this car, John H. Eidemiller of Ames, Iowa, called it a Whippet, which might be determinative.
Undeniably, Whippet was a brand extension for Willys Overland, a smaller, lighter car with a high performance 2.2 liter engine. It produced more horsepower per cubic inch than any other American car in 1927. Priced at $675, customers responded by buying 110,000 Whippets in the first year. As well-received as it was the Whippet couldn't defy the financial downturn that began with the 1929 Wall Street crash. Whippet production ended in 1931.
Harrah's Automobile Collection acquired this 1929 Whippet Model 96 Coach in 1970 from John Eidemiller in Ames, Iowa. It was represented then as complete and having only 22,000 actual miles. Today its odometer shows only 22,581 miles.
Subsequently restored at Harrah's, the color is a rich Apennine Blue with black fenders, aprons and leatherette roof. The interior is a striped velvet in light brown. It has a Stewart Warner drum speedometer, top-hinged windshield, rear-mounted spare and 4.75/5.00-19 tires on body color wood spoke wheels. The leatherette covered roof extends forward to create a full width windshield visor.
Paint, nickel trim, engine compartment and chassis are in very good condition for the restoration's age. The upholstery does show some age and stretching, and there is a chip at one corner of the windshield.
John North Willys company, Willys Overland, and his salesmanship were important factors in American automobiles during the first three decades of the last century. His salesmanship set standards for selling cars that still are followed today, as a Whippet Handbook excerpt in this car's file illustrates. It sounds like the sales manager of a mega dealer giving instructions to a new hire.
The car and Willys salesmanship will be a century old next year and getting this Whippet back on the road is a good way to celebrate the anniversary.
Additional information
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| ¤ | No Reserve |
| Unless indicated by the ¤ symbol next to the lot number (or bearing an explicit statement such as "No Reserve" or "Without Reserve"), which denotes no reserve, all lots in the catalog are subject to a reserve. The reserve is the minimum hammer price that the seller is willing to accept for a lot. This amount is confidential and does not exceed the low estimate value. |
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