Mark Osborne
Global Director of Motorsport
LOT 47 ¤
1921 Scripps-Booth Model B-39 Touring Chassis no. 45862
Sold for US$15,680 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 47¤
From the Minden Automotive Museum
1921 Scripps-Booth Model B-39 Touring
1921 Scripps-Booth Model B-39 Touring
1921 Scripps-Booth Model B-39 Touring
Chassis no. 45862
Chassis no. 45862
177ci Overhead Valve Six-Cylinder
Marvel Updraft Carburetor
44bhp at 2,600rpm
Three-Speed Manual Transmission
Live Axles with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
Rear Wheel Mechanical Contracting Band/Internal Expanding Drum Brakes
* Founded by an heir to the Scripps publishing family
* Little-known General Motors brand
* Overhead valve six-cylinder power
* Quality older restoration with little subsequent use
THE SCRIPPS-BOOTH SERIES B
James Scripps Booth had some inventive ideas for cars. He also had, as an heir to the Scripps publishing family, ample resources to make them reality.
His first idea was the Bi-Autogo, a two-wheel, 3-seat roadster that used retractable steadying wheels at low speeds and had a 45hp V-8 for power. He later conceived a tandem cyclecar, the Rocket, and a companion compact delivery vehicle, the Packet, both with 10hp vee-twin air-cooled motorcycle engine power.
Conventional 4-wheel automobile production followed with 4-cylinder Sterling engines in the Model C, soon joined by the Ferro V-8 engined 35hp Model D in 1916. A year later Scripps-Booth was acquired by General Motors. In 1918 it a 177 cubic inch overhead valve inline six-cylinder engine made by GM subsidiary Northway was selected as power for what became its Series B in 1920. After 1922 GM, now under the clear-eyed professional leadership of Alfred P. Sloan, could see no place in its hierarchy of models for Scripps-Booth and it was discontinued.
It ended a brief but eventful history of less than a decade that produced some high quality, lavishly finished, trimmed and outfitted cars with very good performance and, in its early vee radiator years, handsome design.
THE CAR OFFERED
This 1921 Scripps-Booth Model B-39 Touring Car was restored for the Minden Automotive Museum in 1970 by Antique Auto House (John Berquist) in Loveland CO. It has been preserved and, if its odometer showing only 5 miles is an indication, sparsely used since then, fifty-six years ago.
Finished in rich blue with black fenders, it has black upholstery and interior trim and a black top. Wood spoke wheels with varnished spokes and light-yellow rims and hubs carry 32x4 Firestone Non-Skid tires. The nickel radiator and headlight rims are, even for the period, subtle, signifying a car that doesn't need to trumpet its quality. Equipment includes a Moto Meter and rear-mounted spare. It has been carefully preserved during its years in Minden and even under the hood is clean and dry.
It would not have been unreasonable in 1921-22 to argue that Scripps-Booth should have been numbered among the survivors of Billy Durant's acquisition sprees, but Oakland, Oldsmobile and old-reliable Buick got the nod. This car is a rare opportunity to remedy that rational, but unfortunate, outcome with an example that is well-restored and ready to be recommissioned.
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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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