Lot 618: 1900 Crestmobile 7½hp Buckboard

Based at Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Crest Manufacturing Company first produced gasoline engines before venturing into car production, ‘manufacturing all the parts to construct automobiles’. Crest first demonstrated its capability to do so in 1900, offering a three-wheeler initially, but by 1901 had settled for a four-wheeled, front-engined design to become known as the ‘Crestmobile’. The first Crestmobiles were for the most part single-cylinder, chain-driven two-seaters - Models A, B and C - all of which had air-cooled engines although of varying power outputs. Shaft drive had been adopted by 1903 and a new 8½hp single-cylinder model introduced in 1904, but Crest was slow to adapt to changing expectations within the emerging market for powered transport, where multi-cylinder designs were becoming the norm, and folded in 1905.
Although most of Crestmobile’s output was single-cylinder models, the company did produce a small number of twin-cylinder automobiles both in its early years and towards the end of production in 1904/1905. The Crestmobile buckboard offered here is powered by an air-cooled ‘flat twin’ ambitiously rated at 7½hp in the listings of 1900 and known as the ‘Duplex motor’. It has ‘automatic’ inlet and mechanical exhaust valves, with induction via a bronze-bodied side-draught carburettor. The engine is mounted in a Dykes A Type tubular chassis, and drives the 26” solid-tyred rear wheels via an epicyclic transmission and chain final drive. Other noteworthy features include central tiller steering, two Solar front lamps and a similar tail light. Although recently repainted, the vehicle has been in museum storage for many years and has not been run for some time. Offered with C&E Form 386 confirming UK duties paid, it represents an exciting opportunity to acquire a rare - and possibly unique - early ‘Brighton’ car.