Mark Osborne
Global Director of Motorsport
LOT 86 ¤
1903 Duryea Three-Wheel Phaeton Chassis no. 861 Engine no. 210
Sold for US$112,000 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 86¤
Ex-George Waterman and Winthrop Rockefeller's Petit Jean Mountain collection
1903 Duryea Three-Wheel Phaeton
1903 Duryea Three-Wheel Phaeton
1903 Duryea Three-Wheel Phaeton
Chassis no. 861
Engine no. 210
Chassis no. 861
Engine no. 210
215ci Horizontal Inline Three-Cylinder
12 Horsepower
Semi-Elliptical Leaf Spring Live Rear Axle, Reversed Elliptical Leaf Spring Front Axle
Rear Wheel Mechanical brake
* Important example of Charles Duryea's motor vehicle concept
* Comprehensively restored
* Ingenious single hand control tiller steering
* Known history since 1963
THE DURYEA AUTOMOBILES
At the dawn of the automobile era there were at least two, and perhaps three, Duryea brothers involved in building motorized vehicles. The better-known pair, Charles E. Duryea and J. Frank Duryea, built their first internal combustion vehicle in 1893 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Charles departed for Peoria, Illinois and a bicycle-making business but J. Frank persisted in Springfield and in 1895 won America's first automobile competition, organized by the Chicago Times-Herald. A Duryea also was the first to complete the inaugural London-to-Brighton Emancipation Run in 1896.
J. Frank Duryea remained in Springfield, eventually forming a partnership with the Stevens Arms & Tool Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts to produce the Stevens-Duryea automobiles. Charles saw a different vision and looked beyond Peoria to find backers. Charles's automobiles were typically steered by means of a single front wheel and tiller steered. His tiller integrated most of the important functions beyond steering to include throttle and transmission control and could be manipulated from either seat. In 1900 he settled (for a while at least) in Reading, Pennsylvania where the Duryea Power Company built three-wheel phaeton body runabouts with underseat-mounted water-cooled engines and tiller steering.
THE CAR OFFERED
This 1903 Reading-built Duryea 3-wheel phaeton is one of the most rare and unusual vehicles in the National Automobile Museum collection. It is an early creation of one of the imaginative, creative Duryea brothers, in this case Charles E. Duryea. It is an elegant personal carriage, with an unusual physical layout sporting a high-quality old restoration with an impressive provenance.
It is powered by a horizontal inline 3-cylinder engine making an impressive, for the time, 12 horsepower. It rides on wood spoke wheels with white pneumatic tires and is complete with Dietz kerosene lighting. The driver and one passenger have a leather upholstered seat while a rear-facing platform accommodates one or two occasional passengers or luggage. The body is elaborately fluted with carved details, and a leatherette top provides some weather protection.
The layout with a single steering front wheel lets the body sit low on the tires for easier entry and exit than afforded by normal for the time runabouts with traditional buggy construction. Its appearance is unusual and remarkable, visibly different from most of its contemporaries' high seating on a platform body above the engine, transmission and suspension.
It was acquired by the Harrah's Automobile Collection from Winthrop Rockefeller's Petit Jean Mountain Museum of Automobiles in 1976. Rockefeller had acquired from pioneer early car collector George Waterman in Rhode Island in 1963.
Finished in dark green, the carved body side fluting is highlighted by crimson red coachlines while the chassis, suspension and wheels are rich burgundy. The restoration, which may date back to Waterman's ownership, is still in excellent condition with only a few use-related chips and scrapes on the steering linkage. The upholstery and top are very good, particularly considering the restoration's age.
Subject to verification of its year of manufacture by the Veteran Car Club in Great Britain, it would be a prominent entrant in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. With an empty weight of only about 800 pounds its 12hp 3-cylinder engine should make it a contender for an early arrival in Brighton. It is unlikely to have another similar to it at the iconic event's start in London's Hyde Park and historically it commemorates the "first finisher" in the London-Brighton Run in 1904 by Charles Duryea's brother J. Frank Duryea.
It has been on extended museum display and will need comprehensive mechanical recommissioning, but little attention to its well-preserved cosmetics.
Additional information
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