Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 83 ¤
1924 Brooks Model 2 Steam Sedan Coachwork by American Auto Body Co. Chassis no. 24032 Engine no. 25009
Sold for US$35,840 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 83¤
1924 Brooks Model 2 Steam Sedan
1924 Brooks Model 2 Steam Sedan
Coachwork by American Auto Body Co.
Chassis no. 24032
Engine no. 25009
Coachwork by American Auto Body Co.
Chassis no. 24032
Engine no. 25009
113.1 ci Twin Cylinder Double Acting Steam Engine, 550 psi
18bhp
Direct Drive
Live Axles with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
External Contracting Band, Internal Expanding Shoe Rear Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes
* A rare steam car built in Ontario
* One of no more than 170 built
* A beautiful Harrah's restoration
* Fascinating side story of financial manipulation
THE BROOKS MODEL 2
Oland J. Brooks was a financier, which goes a long way to explaining why his steam car represented the best of everything then (in 1923) known about steam cars. Built in Stratford, Ontario, Brooks offered nothing new but, in retrospect, seems to have rendered his steamer to the high standards he set for it. Engineer Eric Delling, whose winding road through steam and gasoline is by itself a fascinating story, designed it.
With 550 psi of steam pressure the double-acting two-cylinder engine should have been enough to keep up with the now highly developed gasoline competition. Steam's inherent limitations, however, hampered its practicality including long warm up time, a thirst for water to feed the steam system and the innate incompatibility between a propulsion system based on water and the freezing weather of Canada and upstate New York.
The Brooks kept at it for three years and built some 170 cars. It offered several body styles and when Harrah's swapped two of them on this chassis the mounting holes lined up perfectly
A 2016 Hagerty article took a deeper look and inferred that the circumstances seemed more like a stock scheme than a serious automobile manufacturer. Brooks raised millions, his sales force spent more time selling stock than on selling cars and any production numbers were at best optimistic, if not wholly fabricated.
Brooks was not the first stock kiting scheme linked to a car company, and it was far from the last. The Delling-designed Brooks Model 2, however, was sound and serious.
THE CAR OFFERED
This 1924 Brooks Model 2 Steam Sedan was acquired in 1969 by Harrah's from Mrs. S.G. Loewen in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Restoration was started in 1974 and completed in 1976.
The body is fabric over a wood frame (like a Weymann body) and finished in olive with black steel fenders, hood and fabric covered roof. The interior is grey velour cloth. It has APCO electric windshield wipers, Monogram drum headlights and varnished wood spoke wheels with 32x 4½ tires. This is a quality Harrah's restoration that has been maintained consistently and continuously in the collection since it was completed. The paint, chrome, upholstery, interior, interior trim, gauges and boiler room under the hood are clean and presentable if showing the restoration's age. The chassis is restored to the same as new standards.
It has not run in years, and it is imperative not to steam up the system without a comprehensive check of the boiler and the entire steam system and engine. But when it is running and refreshed cosmetically it has a fabulous story to tell and is one of very few built and even fewer which survive.
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| ¤ | No Reserve |
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