To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The
Elkhart Collection event, 23 - 24 October 2020.
Estimate:
$150,000 - $200,000
- A significant style in American automotive design history
- Formerly owned by D. Cameron Peck and Lindley Bothwell
- Featured alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the film Chaplin
- Wonderful period accessories, including Windbreaks rear
windshield
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
J. Frank de Causse's Sportif for the Locomobile Model 48 chassis
was one of the most significant designs in early automaking, noted
for its low, sleek, and dramatic lines, inspired by European
coachbuilding. Few survivors are more lovingly presented than this
Sportif, which was part of two of this country's most famous early
automobile collections.
One of hundreds of cars preserved by D. Cameron Peck, a Chicago
dairy heir and early AACA president, it joined his stable in 1940,
when it was only a 20-year-old used car acquired from a carriage
house on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It was eventually sold by him
in 1947 to California citrus rancher Lindley Bothwell. The
Locomobile resided at Bothwell's legendary Rancho Riconada
alongside many significant Brass Era racing cars until 2004. It was
repainted by the Bothwell family in 1992 for a starring role
alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the film Chaplin. Today a wonderful
"Little Tramp" radiator mascot commemorates the car's turn before
the cameras.
The Sportif has never been fully restored, and it is believed the
body has never been off the chassis, with the only major work
performed being the 1992 paintwork and a newer top. Much of the
interior is a replacement that is antique itself, with some of the
original leather remaining; the body number is stamped both on the
structural body wood and on the sills. Wonderful accessories
include a Windbreaks rear windshield, an original California-made
accessory likely fitted by the Bothwells. A selection of tools is
included, along with a lighted Chaplin film sign and a 1920
Michigan license plate. At cataloguing the car had recorded 30,831
miles, believed to be original.
This is a superior Sportif-meticulously presented, very original,
honest, and sure to delight any enthusiast of well-loved
Classics.To view this car and others currently consigned to this
auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20.