To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Open Roads, Fall event, 11
- 20 November 2020.
Estimate:
$150,000 - $175,000
- Only known example with original body, engine, chassis, and
hardware
- Three owners in 70 years; part of the Barney Pollard Collection
for 40 years
- Showing less than 42,000 miles, believed to be original
- Excellent tour car, AACA National First honors
- One of very few Loziers eligible for CCCA events
Henry Abram Lozier was a Cleveland bicycle manufacturer. Having
sold his company for $4 million, Lozier started development on
gasoline engines and set up the Lozier Motor Company at
Plattsburgh, New York, to manufacture marine engines and launches
in 1900. By 1902, Lozier further experimented with steam and
gasoline power as it looked to enter the automotive market, which
led to a 30-35 hp four-cylinder tourer being introduced in 1905
with a hefty price tag of $4,500. A six-cylinder car debuted in
1908, and sixes soon became the mainstay of the company.
Ralph Mulford scored Lozier's first competition success in 1907 and
rolled up an enviable record of wins through 1911, including the
1911 Vanderbilt Cup and 2nd in the inaugural Indianapolis 500. In
1910 and 1911, Loziers won more road races and broke more 24-hour
records than any other single make using a combination of ingenuity
and legendary durability. Lozier developed a braking system using
pressurized water to cool hollowed brake drums, leading to the
claim that its brakes were "impossible to burn out."
For a time, Loziers were the most expensive cars in the United
States, competing with Peerless and Pierce-Arrow and priced nearly
five times what most Cadillacs cost in 1910. New management and a
Detroit plant in 1910 failed to ignite sales figures, while a
smaller, four-cylinder Cadillac competitor, the Type 84, did not
fare well either. Following a bankruptcy sale in February 1915, the
new owners returned to production of a high-performance
six-cylinder Type 82 on a 136-inch wheelbase. Production amounted
to some 200 cars and another 153 the following year.
This 1915 Type 82 Lozier is the only example known to have survived
complete with original body, chassis, engine, and nearly all its
original hardware. Purchased in 1951 by legendary Detroit collector
Barney Pollard, it remained in his collection until the family sold
it four decades later, some ten years after his passing. A
registration certificate found in the seat documents ownership back
to Middletown, New York, in 1923.
Fully restored nearly 20 years ago, it won an AACA National First
in 2003 and was shown at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance the
following year. It has been on display at the Champlain Valley
Transportation Museum in Plattsburgh, where Lozier originated,
since that time. It still features its original electric starter,
and an electric fuel pump has been unobtrusively fitted for
reliable long-distance travel. An ideal tour car eligible for CCCA
events, its stately presence and six-cylinder performance is sure
to impress.To view this car and others currently consigned to this
auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/0620.
