- Archetypal Maxwell runabout
- Correct and quality restoration
- Ideal for one- and two-cylinder tours
- "A splendid little car"
Jonathan Maxwell had worked at both Olds Motor Works and Detroit's
Northern Manufacturing Company. A trained machinist and engineer,
he was invited to join industrialist Benjamin Briscoe in a new
automotive venture in 1904. Leaving the Motor City, they took over
the factory of the Mobile Company of America, a defunct steam-car
manufacturer, at Tarrytown, New York. John D. Rockefeller provided
most of the start-up capital for the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor
Company.
Maxwell designed what the late historian Beverly Rae Kimes
described as a "splendid little car," with a water-cooled
twin-cylinder engine with mechanical intake valves, the latter
being novel at the time. The two-speed planetary gearbox was
typical of the era, but shaft drive was a forward-looking feature.
The new Maxwell sold well and was considered, at $750 for a
runabout, very good value. Nearly 1,000 cars were produced in the
first year. In 1909, sales manager Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey
persuaded Alice Huyler Ramsey to drive three female friends across
the country to San Francisco in a Maxwell, becoming the first women
to make the journey by car. That year Maxwell achieved third place
in the industry.
In 1910 the 10 hp Maxwell Model A evolved into the 11 hp AA,
gaining four inches of wheelbase in the process. A quality
restoration, this car presents well in red with black fenders and
broad accent striping. The seat is upholstered in diamond-pattern
black buttoned leather. The varnished wood dashboard bears a single
instrument: an eight-day jeweled-movement clock. The horizontally
opposed twin-cylinder engine is water-cooled and ignited with a
Splitdorf ignition system. The lighting comprises a Maxwell No. 4
script brass taillamp and No. 27 acetylene headlamps, fueled by a
carbide generator on the left running board.
A natural for one- and two-cylinder tours, it is an archetypal
Maxwell from the company's earliest years.To view this car and
others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM
website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/hf19.
