- Tidy and tasty Metz Plan roadster
- Friction transmission with chain drive
- Quality restoration
Charles Metz was a bicycle manufacturer. His Waltham Manufacturing
Company in Massachusetts made Orient bicycles, as well as chassis
for a considerable number of early automobiles. He left the company
in 1901 after a tiff with investors. Eight years later, he bought
it back, in a desperate financial state and with a huge inventory
of parts on hand. Metz conceived the "Metz Plan," by which
customers could purchase packages of parts for $25 each and build
their own cars, one package at a time.
In six months, with the steady cash infusions, Metz had retired the
debts of Waltham Manufacturing and become an auto manufacturer in
his own right, offering cars completely built. In 1912 a new Model
22, with a 22 hp four-cylinder engine, was introduced, but it
retained the simple friction-drive transmission of the earlier
vee-twin cars.
Tidy and tasty, this Model 22 Metz is painted light blue with black
fenders and accent striping. Its black cape top has a detachable
windshield curtain. The seat is upholstered with wide-pleated black
leather. The cockpit is cozy and devoid of instruments. At the rear
is a jauntily angled luggage compartment. The four-cylinder engine
drives through the friction transmission via dual chains to the
rear wheels.
Thousands of customers of the Metz Plan built their own cars, a
package at a time. This is a chance to acquire one completely built
and enjoy it posthaste.
Please note that this car's correct chassis number is 26925 and it
is titled as such.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/hf19.
