Smithsonian Automobile Collection

This introductory text is pulled from the1957 Smithsonian Publication "Automobiles and Motorcycles in the U.S. National Museum"written by curator Smith Hempstone Oliver.

At present a large number of collections of antique automobiles exist in the United States. Most are small, reflecting the discoveries of private collectors; but more than a few are large, representing considerable effort by either individuals or organizations. None contains so many actual automotive milestones, however, as that housed in the U. S. National Museum, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C.

This collection includes, for example, the Duryea car, built in Springfield, Massachusetts, which is universally considered to be the first American automobile driven by an internal-combustion engine. For those who endorse the claim of Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers, it also includes the first vehicle produced as a result of their genius. Neither of these cars would be of much use to the collector who might wish to operate them, but they are the two most important very early gasoline vehicles built in this country.

As most of us know, the internal-combustion-engine vehicle was not the first self-propelled vehicle to travel the public road. Long before the appearance of the first Daimler, Benz, or Duryea gasoline automobiles, steam wagons of various forms were built. Recent acquisitions of the Smithsonian's National Museum that come under this heading are the Roper steam velocipede of the late 1860's and the Long steam tricycle of 1879-1881. While much more recent than the Cugnot three-wheeled gun tractor of 1770, still preserved in Paris, these are very early as far as American development is concerned, and are of unusual interest in themselves. Probably the most elusive of automotive treasures are the early racing cars, which were always few in number. The hazardous nature of their use saw to it that few remained for many years. It is astounding, therefore, that the Winton "Bullets" Nos. 1 and 2 both are to be found in the Smithsonian collection. These machines share with Henry Ford's "999" and the Peerless "Green Dragon" the honor of writing the first chapters in the romance of automobile racing here, a story still being lived on the concrete of Sebring and the bricks of Indianapolis.

Less spectacular, but no less important, are the examples of the first models of such well-known American automobiles as the Oldsmobile, Franklin, Cadillac, and Autocar. These were among the very first cars offered to the buying public by their makers, and on their acceptance the industry was destined to rise or fall. Ask any collector to choose which car in the Smithsonian collection he would like to own, and he would name the Simplex. With the Mercer Raceabout and the Stutz Bearcat, the chain-drive Simplex Speed Car is the most sought after of early automobiles. It represents all that is grand in the cars of the brassbound era a truly mighty engine and beautiful, clean lines. Only a few of these cars remain today, and this is one of the best.

Regardless of the tides of human fortune, the really worthwhile early machines are being preserved. So many important relics from the dawn of the industry have already disappeared that now, more than ever, must those remaining be saved, to be marveled at by future generations.

Search term: automobiles Set Name: Automobiles Set Name: Transportation Clear All

Balzer automobile tire, 1894

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
ID Number
TR.181658 [dup1]
catalog number
181658
accession number
35051

1913 Ford Model T Touring Car

Few people could afford the Model T when it was introduced in 1908. But Ford’s moving assembly line increased production volume, and prices fell dramatically from $850 to $260 by 1925.
Description
Few people could afford the Model T when it was introduced in 1908. But Ford’s moving assembly line increased production volume, and prices fell dramatically from $850 to $260 by 1925. The Model T gave personal mobility to more than 15 million rural and urban Americans and ushered in the automobile age. Light and powerful, it had a three-point suspension that could negotiate rough roads, and parts were available at dealers in small and large communities across America. This car belonged to Harvey W. Locke, a designer and inventor of cameras and camera parts in Rochester, New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
used date
1913-1935
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
TR.311052.01
catalog number
311052.01
accession number
120103

Rauch & Lang Electric Automobile, 1914

The Rauch and Lang Carriage Company of Cleveland, Ohio built this automobile in 1915. The car was donated to the Smithsonian in 1929. Rauch and Lang cars were expensive vehicles and were often owned by rich urban women.
Description
The Rauch and Lang Carriage Company of Cleveland, Ohio built this automobile in 1915. The car was donated to the Smithsonian in 1929. Rauch and Lang cars were expensive vehicles and were often owned by rich urban women. According to a 1913 Washington Post article, Rauch and Lang automobiles were easy to drive, and the company's product was "the one best adapted for driving by women and children." This electrically powered automobile is a four-passenger brougham, with plum-colored upholstery, solid tires, and a tiller for steering. The Smithsonian's example was donated to the collection by the wife of William C. Gorgas, who had been Surgeon General of the Army and died in 1920. It is likely that she used the vehicle rather than him. Like a number of automakers, notably Studebaker, the Rauch and Lang Company started out making coaches and carriages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914
previous owner
Gorgas, William Crawford
maker
Rauch & Lang Carriage Co.
ID Number
TR.309622
catalog number
309622
accession number
106301

Cadillac Tonneau, 1903

This Model “A” Cadillac was built in Detroit, Michigan during the Cadillac Automobile Company's first year of production in 1903.
Description
This Model “A” Cadillac was built in Detroit, Michigan during the Cadillac Automobile Company's first year of production in 1903. This Model A has a rear-entrance tonneau (car with open passenger seating) and a one-cylinder, water-cooled engine built by the Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Company. It originally sold for $850.
The Cadillac Automobile Company was one the United States' early auto manufacturers. The company began its history as the Henry Ford Company. When Ford left the firm in 1902, the assets were left unused. Rather than liquidate the company, engine manufacturer Henry M. Leland convinced its investors to continue to make automobiles using Leland’s engines. Leland became one of the driving forces behind Cadillac in its early years. He was a precision machinist and a prolific innovator, and he became president and general manager of the company in 1904. Cadillac was one of the early proponents of making cars with interchangeable parts, which helped streamline the manufacturing and production processes. Cadillac introduced the electric self-starter as standard equipment in 1912, making automobiles easier to start for everyone. In 1909, Cadillac became associated with General Motors. The company became a GM operating division in 1917.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903
contributed
Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
reconditioned
Buckley, Ralph
Associated Name
Leland, Henry Martyn
maker
Cadillac Motor Car Company
ID Number
TR.308217
catalog number
308217
accession number
71005

1931 Ford Model A roadster

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Ford Model A was one of the most publicized and best-selling cars in America. It was sporty, attractive, well-built, and smooth-running compared to the Model T, which it replaced in the 1928 model year.
Description
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Ford Model A was one of the most publicized and best-selling cars in America. It was sporty, attractive, well-built, and smooth-running compared to the Model T, which it replaced in the 1928 model year. Thousands of people were eager to see for themselves that "Henry's made a lady out of Lizzie," and they stormed Ford showrooms when the Model A debuted on December 2, 1927. In less than two weeks there were 400,000 orders, and Henry Ford could not keep up with the demand for his latest "gift" to an increasingly mobile nation. Despite the onset of the Depression, Model A production remained strong at 1,261,053 cars in 1930 but fell to 626,579 cars in 1931, the last year that the Model A was produced. Donald E. Wolff donated this restored 1931 Ford to the Smithsonian in 1974.
In the early 1920s, the plain, utilitarian Ford Model T far outsold other new cars and gave millions of working Americans the advantages of personal mobility. But by the mid-1920s, Ford's market share was shrinking because other automobile manufacturers offered stylish, sophisticated cars at low prices and enticements such as buying on credit. Henry Ford decided to replace the Model T with a new car that would attract as much attention as the "Tin Lizzie" once had. The much-anticipated 1928 Ford Model A was chic and sporty, and it had mechanical features that the Model T lacked: a three-speed, sliding-gear transmission, four-wheel brake system, and hydraulic shock absorbers. Sales were strong, but Ford never again dominated the new-car market as it had at the height of the Model T's popularity; Chevrolet, Plymouth, and other makes proved to be formidable rivals in the 1930s and beyond. In the 1932 model year, Ford replaced the Model A with a new line of cars featuring V-8 engines.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
TR.335243
catalog number
335243
accession number
315444

Riker Electric Automobile, ca. 1900

Andrew Riker was one of several electric vehicle enthusiasts who rose to prominence in the early automobile manufacturing industry. In 1884, when Riker was a teenager, he designed and built a three-wheeled electric tricycle.
Description
Andrew Riker was one of several electric vehicle enthusiasts who rose to prominence in the early automobile manufacturing industry. In 1884, when Riker was a teenager, he designed and built a three-wheeled electric tricycle. Four years later, he established the Riker Electric Motor Company in Brooklyn, New York to manufacture motors and dynamos. The Riker Electric Vehicle Company, which he founded in 1899, built more than a dozen types of electric cars and trucks. In the early 1900s, most cars were small and open, but the owners of the Smithsonian’s ca. 1900 Riker electric demi-coach, Herbert and Martha Wadsworth, were born to wealth and could afford a large, enclosed car, even though it was at the upper end of the price range. Herbert inherited vast acres of farm land in upstate New York, and he managed a creamery and flour mill. Martha’s father, Henry Blow, developed mining interests in Missouri and became a leading figure in the industrial and commercial development of St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth spent the winters in Washington, D. C. and mingled with the city’s social elite. In 1902, they built a Beaux Arts mansion on Washington’s fashionable Dupont Circle. They equipped it with modern conveniences: electricity in every room, dual steam radiator and forced air heat, a refrigerated room cooled with ice, and the most up-to-the-minute form of urban transportation, an electric automobile. Working with their architect, they designed a ground floor tunnel that substituted for a porte-cochere (exterior shelter over a driveway). With no tailpipe emissions, the Riker rolled safely and silently through the depths of the mansion, and it carried Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth through Washington’s winter weather in relative comfort. An “automobile room,” one of the first indoor garages in Washington, was equipped with battery charging equipment and a car wash to keep the Riker ready for use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
inventor
Riker, Andrew Lawrence
maker
Riker Electric Vehicle Company
ID Number
TR.310470
catalog number
310470
accession number
118161

Model T Coupe, 1924

The Ford Motor Company manufactured this Model T Coupe in 1924. When Henry Ford entered the car business in the late1890s, he was one of a slew of inventors and entrepreneurs trying to break into the business.
Description
The Ford Motor Company manufactured this Model T Coupe in 1924. When Henry Ford entered the car business in the late
1890s, he was one of a slew of inventors and entrepreneurs trying to break into the business. By the early 1900s, there were hundreds of small companies producing a small numbers of cars for rich Americans. Ford’s adoption of the assembly line produced a relatively reliable and cheap automobile in large enough quantities to sell more than 15 million Model T's from 1908 until 1927—making it the most popular automobile of the time. This car has a 1922 engine numbered 6,179,956. The museum purchased this Ford Model T coupe in 1970 from a member of a Model T club.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
ID Number
TR.330370
catalog number
330370
accession number
288671

1898 Winton Automobile

This is the first production car that Alexander Winton sold.
Description
This is the first production car that Alexander Winton sold. One of America’s earliest automobile manufacturers, Winton had repaired and sold bicycles in the 1890s, then began producing gasoline cars in Cleveland for affluent Americans who wanted to try the new thrill of driving. Robert Allison, a retired machinist in Port Carbon, Pennsylvania, purchased this car. Winton vehicles became known for their quality and rugged durability; Alexander Winton fielded several race cars in the early 1900s, and H. Nelson Jackson made the first transcontinental automobile trip in a 1903 Winton touring car. The Winton Motor Carriage Company made cars until 1924. The Winton Engine Company, a successor company, donated the 1898 car to the Smithsonian Institution in 1929.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1898
maker
Winton Engine Company
ID Number
TR.309601
accession number
105119
catalog number
309601

1904 Columbia Electric Automobile

Dr. John Oscar Skinner, superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., drove this runabout from 1906 to 1932. Physicians and affluent women in many cities bought electric cars because they were clean, quiet, comfortable, and easy to operate.
Description
Dr. John Oscar Skinner, superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., drove this runabout from 1906 to 1932. Physicians and affluent women in many cities bought electric cars because they were clean, quiet, comfortable, and easy to operate. Cities and larger towns had power grids that provided electricity to recharge car batteries. But electric cars were expensive, and electricity rates were high. Maintaining batteries was a complicated, hazardous task often left to a commercial garage. Low mileage between charges and the absence of electric power in rural areas further limited the market for electric cars as Americans drove longer distances.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1904
maker
Electric Vehicle Co.
ID Number
TR.310575
catalog number
310575
accession number
123348

1964 Chrysler Turbine Car

As America soared into the Jet Age, Chrysler touted the possible advantages of aircraft-style automobile engines over piston engines. In 1963 and 1964, Chrysler assembled 50 automobiles with turbine engines for consumer testing.
Description
As America soared into the Jet Age, Chrysler touted the possible advantages of aircraft-style automobile engines over piston engines. In 1963 and 1964, Chrysler assembled 50 automobiles with turbine engines for consumer testing. Special turbo motif bodies made by Ghia in Turin, Italy visually highlighted the futuristic promise of jet power. Three families in the Baltimore area and one in the Washington area took turns driving this car. The turbine engine was smoother and simpler than piston engines, but poor fuel efficiency, high emissions levels, and a peculiar lag when accelerating helped to kill the chances of a mass-produced turbine-engine car.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1964
maker
Chrysler Corporation
ID Number
TR.328002
accession number
272376
catalog number
328002
serial number
991245

1955 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon

In the 1950s, the station wagon became a staple of America's new suburban landscape and a ubiquitous extension of the suburban home.
Description
In the 1950s, the station wagon became a staple of America's new suburban landscape and a ubiquitous extension of the suburban home. This car reveals how one family adopted a mobile, active lifestyle and how station wagons shaped family life.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, station wagons evolved from small wooden buses to wood-trimmed utility vehicles that carried people, luggage, and recreational gear at rural estates, country clubs, and private schools . Strong demand for used "woodies" among postwar, middle-class families alerted manufacturers to a larger market. The introduction of all-steel bodies eliminated maintenance of wooden panels, and sales soared. Sedan-type styling made the station wagon look at home in suburban driveways. Imitation wood decals preserved the rural, elitist look of the 1940s.
Suburban families found countless uses for their station wagons: taking children to school, picking up lawn and garden supplies, carrying home project materials, and enjoying day trips and vacations. The station wagon quickly became a symbol of family activity and intimacy in the outdoors. It served as a mobile living room at drive-in theaters, a mobile dining room at drive-in restaurants, and a home on wheels during camping trips.
Nancy Harder, a southern California housewife, drove this car to schools and doctors with her five children. She and her husband George used it extensively. On family outings, the cargo area was filled with picnic baskets, rubber rafts, beach towels, skis, hula hoops, tricycles, radios, and, of course, the family dog. On vacation trips to national parks, this area served as a playpen. When the children were older, they learned to drive this car, and George taught them to wash and polish the exterior and vacuum the upholstery.
After the children were grown, George used the station wagon to commute to work and haul materials for do-it-yourself projects. It also served as a spare car when the children came home from college.
Date made
1955
user
Harder, Nancy
Harder, George
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
1989.0211.01
accession number
1989.0211
catalog number
1989.0211.01
serial number
U5LY-125372

Sears Model P Light Delivery Car, 1911

This Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Model P sold for $445 in 1911 and bears serial number 2785. The Model P originally had a removable rear seat so it could serve as a four-passenger motor surrey, but the museum's car would have served as a light-delivery wagon.
Description
This Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Model P sold for $445 in 1911 and bears serial number 2785. The Model P originally had a removable rear seat so it could serve as a four-passenger motor surrey, but the museum's car would have served as a light-delivery wagon. This Model P was donated to the museum in 1965 by Truly Nolen from Tucson, Ariz. Nolen painted the name of his extermination company on the truck's side and used it as a mobile advertisement.
This vehicle has a two-cylinder, opposed, air-cooled engine and is rated at 14 horsepower. Internal parts are lubricated by a mechanical force-feed oiler in combination with a splash system. The finned cylinder castings are cooled by twin fans. There is a tiller for steering. There are two small levers on the steering column that control the carburetor and the spark. A six-gallon gas tank under the seat supposedly held enough gasoline for 150 miles of travel. A pair of oil side-lamps serve as headlights. The wooden-spoke wheels carry 38 by 2 inch solid rubber tires.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1911
maker
Sears
ID Number
TR.325991
catalog number
325991
accession number
256032

1914 Chevrolet roadster

The 1914 Chevrolet Royal Mail roadster represents the early years of a make that a decade later would become the low-priced, mass-market leader in General Motors Corporation's varied array of cars.
Description
The 1914 Chevrolet Royal Mail roadster represents the early years of a make that a decade later would become the low-priced, mass-market leader in General Motors Corporation's varied array of cars. In 1914, Chevrolet cars were redesigned to compete with Ford and other makes vying for the low-priced market, which comprised working class and middle-class Americans. The Royal Mail and its larger companion, the Baby Grand touring car, were the first Chevrolet cars priced under $1,000. The Royal Mail body was considered streamlined and attractive. Its four-cylinder engine featured an overhead valve design, a Buick innovation that increased power; the OHV design reappeared on other GM cars during the next several decades. Alton M. Costley, a businessman who owned a Chevrolet dealership near Atlanta, donated this car to the Smithsonian in 1978.
The 1914 Chevrolet Series H roadster, marketed as the Chevrolet Royal Mail, is an open car with a folding top and folding windshield. Like many "streamlined" cars of the day, its styling is smooth and uninterrupted and flows from front to back without projecting hardware or accessories. The gasoline tank is external, but it has a pleasing elliptical shape that complements the body. The hand-cranked engine has four cylinders and an overhead valve design.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914
maker
Chevrolet Motor Car Company
ID Number
TR.336719
catalog number
336719
accession number
1978.1027
serial number
11505

1914 Twombly cyclecar

Cyclecars were small, inexpensive automobiles that resembled a cross between a car and a motorcycle. For a brief period in the mid-1910s, cyclecar enthusiasts believed that this type of vehicle offered the promise of personal mobility for the masses.
Description
Cyclecars were small, inexpensive automobiles that resembled a cross between a car and a motorcycle. For a brief period in the mid-1910s, cyclecar enthusiasts believed that this type of vehicle offered the promise of personal mobility for the masses. The two-passenger 1914 Twombly cyclecar cost $395, compared with $450 for a 1914 Ford Model T runabout. Its manufacturer, W. Irving TwThe famous factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania was not the original location of Milton Snavely Hershey's candy-making enterprise. M.S. Hershey had attempted a number of business ventures in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago before settling back in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the early 1890s, and opening a caramel candy making company. Twombly, was an airplane and automobile enthusiast who was attracted to the cyclecar fad. He established the Twombly Car Corporation in New York City in 1913 and served as a director of the Cyclecar Manufacturers National Association. Twombly claimed that his 1914 Light Underslung model could run at speeds up to 50 miles per hour and could travel 40 miles on a gallon of gasoline. Cyclecars attracted an avid following for about two years (1913-1915), but their usefulness was limited by weak, inefficient mechanical systems. Meanwhile the price of a Ford Model T continued to drop because of Ford's mass production methods. Soon it became evident that the Ford Model T fit the description of "a car for the masses" better than anything else on the road, and cyclecar sales declined. By 1915 Twombly's company was bankrupt.
The long, narrow body of the 1914 Twombly cyclecar held a driver and one passenger seated behind the driver. The wheelbase is 100 inches, and the tread is only 38 inches. The four-cylinder, 15-horsepower engine is water-cooled; most cyclecars had air-cooled engines. Friction transmission and chain drive provided power to the rear wheels. The Twombly cyclecar weighs only 700 pounds.
The cyclecar craze of the mid-1910s was an attempt to democratize automobile ownership by manufacturing cars that were smaller, less expensive, and more economical to maintain and operate than standard touring cars and runabouts. One headline about the advent of cyclecars proclaimed, "Poor Man's Auto is Here at Last." Scores of companies built and sold two-passenger cars with belt drive or chain drive transmission. Advocates claimed that a cyclecar was better suited to muddy or rutted roads because of its light weight and narrow profile. Some cyclecars, including Twombly, were so narrow that they had tandem seating (one seat behind the other). Unorthodox mechanical features installed on cyclecars included wooden brakes, friction transmission, and an air-cooled engine placed in the rear, but these systems did not work well. Soon it became apparent that the cyclecar was not a viable solution to personal transportation needs and could not compete with the mass-market Ford Model T. Despite its ultimate failure, the cyclecar fad reflects intense interest in the promise of motorized mobility and a quixotic, grass-roots effort to build small cars that were equal to standard production cars at a fraction of the cost.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1914
maker
Twombly Car Corporation
ID Number
1980.0558.01
accession number
1980.0558
catalog number
1980.0558.01
accession number
1980.0058

1912 Liberty-Brush Runabout

Like Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer Alanson P. Brush encouraged people of ordinary means to give up horses, bicycles, and streetcars and buy cars.
Description
Like Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer Alanson P. Brush encouraged people of ordinary means to give up horses, bicycles, and streetcars and buy cars. Brush emphasized small size and light weight as ways to reduce manufacturing costs and adapt cars to dirt roads that were alternately bumpy in dry weather and muddy in wet weather. Like Ford, he designed an automobile that was low-priced and suited to rural conditions. Introduced in 1907, the Brush automobile had a one-cylinder engine, a hardwood chassis frame, and tough, resilient hardwood axles and wheels. It featured innovations such as coil springs and shock absorbers, which smoothed the ride. The 1912 Liberty-Brush was a simplified version of the Brush runabout and was priced at $350. The Ethyl Corporation donated this Liberty-Brush runabout to the museum in 1976.
In the early 1900s, the automobile became more than a rich person's toy. Demand was strong among farmers, workers, and the middle class. Used cars provided a less expensive alternative to new ones, but problems with quality, reliability, and parts availability limited their appeal. Several car manufacturers introduced new models that were affordable, dependable and designed for everyday use on country roads or city streets. Because of its wooden chassis and wooden axles, the Brush automobile (1907-13) was exceptionally lightweight and resilient. The small, one-cylinder Brush appealed to many motorists because of its simplicity, relatively low price, and chassis features that were well suited to rural roads. Wider axles were available for use in the South, where a 60-inch tread fit wagon ruts on country roads. Brush cars were fairly popular, but the company's financial difficulties and competition from better automobiles brought an end to the venture in 1913.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1912
maker
United States Motor Company, Brush Division
ID Number
TR.335591
catalog number
335591
accession number
323572

1926 Ford Model T roadster

The National Museum of American History has a strong collection of early automobiles. The collection documents the great diversity of the early industry.
Description
The National Museum of American History has a strong collection of early automobiles. The collection documents the great diversity of the early industry. It includes electric-, steam-, and gasoline-powered vehicles and runs the gamut from unique one-offs like the Duryea to mass-produced vehicles like this 1926 Ford Model T.
When Henry Ford got into the car business in the late 19th century, he was one of a slew of inventors and entrepreneurs trying to break into the business. In the 1900s, there were hundreds of small companies making small numbers of cars for rich Americans. While large numbers of these early companies went out of business, the Henry Ford Motor Company dominated the U.S automobile market. More than 15 million Model T's were sold during its years of production (1908–1927), making it the most popular automobile of the time.
The Model T was cheap by comparison to other early automobiles and that, coupled with its availability, made motoring an option for many who had been initially priced out of the market. Price, and quantity of vehicles produced, reflected Ford's adoption of the moving assembly line and mass production techniques. The company's well-publicized success influenced the ways large American manufacturers produced goods of all kinds in the 20th century. Still, though Ford was a production leader, it was not an innovative marketer. In the 1920s, General Motors—afraid that the automobile market was hitting saturation point—introduced the annual model change, designed to encourage buyers to regularly trade in their cars for new ones. The strategy was successful and General Motors sales soared as Ford's plummeted. The company stopped producing Model Ts in 1927.
Date made
1926
founder of Ford Motor Company
Ford, Henry
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
TR.333777
accession number
305326
catalog number
333777

1967 Pontiac Grand Prix

As high-speed, limited-access highways were built across the nation in the 1960s, exploring America in a "king of the road" like this 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible became the ultimate driving experience.
Description
As high-speed, limited-access highways were built across the nation in the 1960s, exploring America in a "king of the road" like this 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible became the ultimate driving experience. In 1967 Guenther and Siewchin Yong Sommer set out to see America and visit as many natural and historic sites as possible. During the next 32 years they drove this car 150,000 miles, visiting 251 national parks, monuments, memorials, forests, historic sites, historic parks, seashores, recreation areas, historic trails, and scenic areas. They stayed on the road as long as a month at a time, sometimes sleeping in the car. The Sommers drove to all 49 continental states, including a trip to Alaska on the old Alaska Highway. Mrs. Sommer donated this all-original Pontiac to the Smithsonian in 1999.
More horsepower, style, comfort, and the pleasures of driving-these were the qualities that appealed to owners of "performance cars" like the Pontiac Grand Prix in the 1960s. Americans were devoting more time to leisure activities on and off the road, and fast, sporty luxury cars became popular among drivers of all ages. Pontiac's performance models helped define this market. The Grand Prix typified this era with its sleek shape, rakish fenders, and optional 428 cubic-inch V-8 engine, as well as the race car heritage of its name. Pontiac manufactured the Grand Prix convertible only in 1967.
date made
1967
maker
General Motors Corporation
ID Number
1999.0328.01
accession number
1999.0328
catalog number
1999.0328.01

1963 Corvette Sting Ray Convertible

Sports cars combine the performance of a competition car with the ride of a family car. The Chevrolet Corvette, introduced in 1953, differed from European sports cars in its coupe styling and automatic transmission.
Description
Sports cars combine the performance of a competition car with the ride of a family car. The Chevrolet Corvette, introduced in 1953, differed from European sports cars in its coupe styling and automatic transmission. American motorists liked the combination of looks and performance in a car that was more “family” than “competition” but delivered the thrill of the Indianapolis 500 on the interstate. The rakish Corvette Sting Ray, introduced in 1963, had more aerodynamic styling, and it became an iconic “think young” car. This car was owned by Gwendolyn Cafritz, a Washington, D. C. philanthropist and society hostess.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
maker
Chevrolet Motor Car Company
ID Number
1986.0784.01
catalog number
1986.0784.01
accession number
1986.0784
serial number
30867S100360
3783244GM862

Autocar, 1901

The Autocar was designed by Louis S. Clarke, president and engineer of the Autocar Company, in 1901. This automobile is believed to be the first shaft-driven car constructed in the United States.
Description
The Autocar was designed by Louis S. Clarke, president and engineer of the Autocar Company, in 1901. This automobile is believed to be the first shaft-driven car constructed in the United States. In November 1901, this car was driven from the factory in Ardmore, Pa., to the auto show in New York City's Madison Square Garden in just over six hours. The 1901 Autocar has a water-cooled shaft-driven two-cylinder horizontal-opposed engine with a selective sliding-gear transmission.
The Autocar Company began life as the Pittsburg Motor Car Company in 1897. In 1899, the company moved to Ardmore, Pa., and changed its name to the Autocar Company. The Autocar Company began to make trucks as well as cars in 1907 and switched over to making trucks exclusively after 1911. In 1953, the White Motor Car Company bought a controlling interest in Autocar and moved the company to Exton, Pennsylvania. In the 1980s, Volvo bought the name, and the company changed hands again in 2001 with the purchase of the brand by the GVW Group. Since 2001 Autocar has produced heavy trucks for severe-service use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1901
designer
Clarke, Louis S.
contributed
Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
restoration
Rite-Way Auto Painters
White Motor Company
maker
Autocar Company
ID Number
TR.307257
catalog number
307257
accession number
68520

1932 Packard phaeton

This 1932 Packard phaeton is one of several luxury cars in the Smithsonian collection. It was first registered to Layton R. Colburn, sales manager at a Packard dealership in Washington, D.C. In 1933, Colburn sold it to Franklin Q.
Description
This 1932 Packard phaeton is one of several luxury cars in the Smithsonian collection. It was first registered to Layton R. Colburn, sales manager at a Packard dealership in Washington, D.C. In 1933, Colburn sold it to Franklin Q. Brown, Jr., a Harvard-educated business administrator who had moved to Washington to take a job with the Public Works Administration. Brown later was employed as a railroad examiner for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and as an economist with a New York investment banking firm. In the early 1960s, after the Packard no longer served as Brown's primary transportation, he drove it at his summer home on Martha's Vineyard. Brown donated the car to the Smithsonian in 1978.
The 1932 Packard Model 902 phaeton is a long, low, open car with a folding top. The body is black and has four doors. The car is rather massive at 4,300 pounds. The straight eight-cylinder engine developed 110 horsepower. Accessories include dual horns and a windshield wiper.
In the early years of the Depression, the market for luxury automobiles shrank. By the early 1930s, Packard's annual production was only a fraction of its output at the height of the expansive, extravagant 1920s. But the company held onto a small, elite market, including the rich and famous as well as less affluent motorists who appreciated Packard's engineering advances and refinements. In 1932 Packard tried to broaden its market by introducing a moderately priced Light Eight in addition to the Standard Eight (shown here). This attempt to enter the mid-priced automobile market was unsuccessful because of high production costs. A loyal following of repeat customers enabled the company to survive the Depression and compete successfully with rivals Cadillac and Lincoln. Production by several other competitors in the luxury class-Cord, Duesenberg, Franklin, Marmon, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrow-ceased during the 1930s because of diminishing sales and financial difficulties.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
maker
Packard Motor Car Company
ID Number
TR.336637
accession number
1978.0587
catalog number
336637
serial number
50160

Brawner-Ford 'Hawk' racing car

After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965.
Description
After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965. Several iterations of Brawner’s Hawks competed between 1965 and 1969. These speedsters not only were on the cutting edge of engine design and aerodynamics, but they also launched the career of racing legend Mario Andretti with five years of success behind the wheel of Hawks. Andretti drove a Hawk to a third place finish in the Indianapolis 500 with Rookie of the Year honors and continued to claim the 1965 USAC National Championship. The following year Andretti drove a Brawner Hawk to his second consecutive USAC National Championship. When Brawner’s Hawks were retired from competition at the end of the 1969 season, Andretti had driven a Hawk to his first Indianapolis 500 victory and a third USAC National Championship. At the 1969 Indianapolis 500, the STP Hawk No. 2 was designated as Andretti’s backup car, but when faulty hubs led him to crash his four-wheel-drive Lotus Super Wedge, his crew prepared the car that would be dubbed “The Cinderella Car” to race. Andretti took an early lead but soon fell back because the car was running hot. He drove on to lead 116 out of 200 laps, including the all-important last lap, and took the checkered flag. Andretti finished out the season driving the Hawk No. 2 and claimed the third of his four USAC National Championships. The STP Hawk No. 2 represents Mario Andretti’s only official Indy 500 win, STP CEO Andy Granatelli’s first Indy 500 win, and the mechanical tradition of innovation and excellence of the car’s creator, Clint Brawner. Most of the Indy cars had sleek, cigar-shaped bodies while the Brawner Hawk had a larger body with a flat bottom and the oil tank in front with the oil tubes running down the sides along the bottom, all of which created downforce. The STP Hawk No. 2 is one of the most iconic and significant cars in auto racing history. It represents cutting edge aerodynamics, innovative rear engine design, and the mechanical legacy of Clint Brawner.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1968
maker
Ford Motor Company
Clint Brawner
Garrett Corp.
ID Number
TR.336463
accession number
1978.0418
catalog number
336463

Simplex '50' Racing and Touring Car, 1912

This Simplex '50' is an early example of a type of car marketed as a touring car that could also be raced.
Description
This Simplex '50' is an early example of a type of car marketed as a touring car that could also be raced. Thus it is an example of what came to be termed, in the 1940s, a "sports car."
American automobile racing is characterized by many widely divergent types of racing, each type having its own distinct history. Many aspects are/have been unique to each racing type: the general design of its participating cars, its sanctioning organization, its funding sources and owner-participants, the types of courses raced on, the different designated classes within an overall design, the official rules governing design details of the cars (rules that usually change every few years), and an enthusiastic base of fans who are often uninterested in the other types of motor racing. A century-long and complex history explains these distinctions and their genesis. A "fascination with speed" is only the seed of the story of each type and explains very little of what was seen in the past, or what is seen today, on race tracks around the United States.
"Sports cars" came to the US as a post-World War II phenomenon. Ex-servicemen who had been based in England began bringing British sports cars to American soil in 1948. Auto dealerships selling such makes as MG, Triumph, and Jaguar - and Porsche from Germany and Ferrari from Italy - opened in the US for the first time. These cars were typical of European engineering for two-door performance cars: light, agile, many with small or medium-sized engines compared to general US custom, and right at home on curving, twisting roads where a driver could test his or her cornering skill.
The provenance of this Simplex is not known in detail, nor whether it has a racing history. In 1922, it was registered to a Dunbar Adams of Bay Shore, Long Island; in 1929 it was given to the Smithsonian by a Mr. and Mrs. John D. Adams of the same town. The car has a stock Simplex '50' chassis with a 'skeleton' body - meaning, a sporting as distinct from a commodious body - by the Holbrook Co. (A customer purchasing a chassis-and-engine from an auto manufacturer and a body separately for fitting-on by a body manufacturer was a common practice in the first decade of the 20th century, though a rapidly declining practice by the mid-1910s.) The car is red (the semi-official color for American cars in international races of the time), with a four-cylinder engine and chain drive.
The car was repainted and reupholstered by a contractor to the Smithsonian in 1950. At that time, Harvey Firestone, Jr., donated the seven 33-inch x 5-inch tires now fitted
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1912
contributed
Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
through
King, George S.
maker
Simplex Automobile Co.
ID Number
TR.309549
catalog number
309549
accession number
104418

1934 Ford Roadster

Streamlined cars of the 1930s appeared to be on the cutting edge of machine age technology and symbols of modernity and speed. Automobile manufacturers discovered that modern styling attracted motorists as much as mechanical performance.
Description
Streamlined cars of the 1930s appeared to be on the cutting edge of machine age technology and symbols of modernity and speed. Automobile manufacturers discovered that modern styling attracted motorists as much as mechanical performance. In 1933, Ford redesigned its recently introduced V-8 engine car, adding curved fenders and a slanted radiator grille. The rakish, slightly restyled 1934 Ford became the “star” of Ford’s pavilion at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Styling and promotion boosted Ford sales, which had fallen precipitously during the Depression. The donor’s father drove this car in Philadelphia between 1934 and 1944.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
1972.299295.01
catalog number
330736
accession number
299295
serial number
18765982

1926 Stutz sedan

The 1926 Stutz sedan introduced two trends in American automobile design: longer, lower cars, and safety features built into the body. The redesigned "Safety Stutz" was noticeably lower than "high hat" sedans of the 1910s and early 1920s.
Description
The 1926 Stutz sedan introduced two trends in American automobile design: longer, lower cars, and safety features built into the body. The redesigned "Safety Stutz" was noticeably lower than "high hat" sedans of the 1910s and early 1920s. Its safety features included a low center of gravity, which helped prevent skidding, swaying, and tipping over; a wire-glass windshield, an early effort toward shatter-resistant glass; narrow front corner posts for better visibility; and reinforced runningboard side bumpers. The body sat low on the chassis because a worm-gear differential made it possible to place the drive shaft below the rear axle. Some new-car showrooms featured a 1926 Stutz mounted at a 45-degree angle to show how far the safety car could lean without tipping over. Stutz sales literature extolled the car's "road-adhesiveness" and compared it to "a strong magnetic attraction exerted by the earth upon the car's wheels."
The worm-gear differential used in the Stutz automobile was not widely adopted by car manufacturers, but the lengthening and lowering of sedans continued for decades and had a great impact on styling, manufacturing, and sales. Safety glass became common in the late 1920s and 1930s, but wire glass was replaced by two-layer glass with consolidating material between the layers.
Eugene Fatjo purchased this car in 1926; he lived in Santa Clara, California, and worked at the Bank of America. Fatjo's granddaughters, Katherine F. Harrington and Candace M. Harrington, donated the Stutz to the Smithsonian in 1994.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926
maker
Stutz Motor Car Company
ID Number
1994.0278.01
accession number
1994.0278
catalog number
1994.0278.01

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