Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 70 ¤
1918 Glide Light Six-40 Touring Chassis no. 10435 Engine no. 99665
Sold for US$13,440 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 70¤
From the Minden Automotive Museum
1918 Glide Light Six-40 Touring
1918 Glide Light Six-40 Touring
1918 Glide Light Six-40 Touring
Chassis no. 10435
Engine no. 99665
Chassis no. 10435
Engine no. 99665
230.1ci Rutenber Inline Six-Cylinder
Updraft Rayfield Carburetor
45bhp [23.4 NACC hp]
Three-Speed Manual Transmission
Live axles with Semi-Elliptical front and ¾ Elliptical Rear Springs
Rear Wheel Mechanical Contracting/Expanding Drum Brakes
* Exceptionally rare marque built in Peoria, Illinois
* 45 brake horsepower Rutenber six
* Bought from Harrah's in 1978
* Never restored but sound and complete
GLIDE LIGHT SIX-40
Built by the Bartholomew Company in Peoria, Illinois, the appealingly named Glide owed its existence and its longevity to Bartholomew's successful coffee- and peanut-roaster manufacture. Auto manufacturing began in 1903 with a motorized carriage. In 1906 it introduced its first four-cylinder. Never lacking for horsepower, Glides had 36 and 40hp from the beginning of their automobile production.
The company never made more than about 500 cars a year and utilized bought-in engines, usually from Rutenber. Quality was never an issue and profits, with a successful coffee- and peanut-roaster business for support, were seemingly never a concern. Production continued until 1920 and, according to Beverly Rae Kimes and Austin Clark, Jr.'s Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 when J.B. Bartholomew declined to make more than a few hundred cars a year the company's dealers decamped to other marques who could supply their customers.
Glide built its last cars in 1920 and quietly faded away leaving a few extremely well-built, equipped, finished and powerful cars for astute collectors to look for.
THE CAR OFFERED
This 1918 Glide Light Six-40 Touring was acquired for the Minden Automotive Museum at the Harrah's auction in Reno in April 1978. These were milestone affairs as Harrah's, much as the National Automobile Museum is doing today, rationalized its collection. These sales gave other collectors who did not have Harrah's reach and network an opportunity to feed off the collecting system Bill Harrah built.
With its nominally 45 brake horsepower six-cylinder engine this Glide was something of a find for Minden's Ted Bacon. It has the Rutenber L-head six, Rayfield carburetor and artillery wheels with 34x4 tires and is, by any standards, a largely original and unrestored car.
The paint is a functional and protective black rather than the Maroon or Meteor Blue that were standard Glide colors. It seems to have been simply preserved by Harrah's or the Minden Museum. The upholstery and top are old and probably original. The engine and chassis are aged as might have been found in a barn in the 60's.
All of that makes this a particularly intriguing project with multiple potential outcomes ranging from a simple recommissioning to make it run, drive and stop to a long-term progressive restoration to celebrate the Glide's rarity, history and performance.
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Lot symbols
| ¤ | 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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