Vehicle Description
As a young man, Raymond Stanley was undoubtedly the envy of his
classmates; his father and uncle owned an automobile company and
could build cars to order. The Stanley twins, F.E. and F.O., were
America's premier manufacturers of steam cars; their cars became
the standard to which all others were measured. Between 1908 and
1916, their Stanley Motor Carriage Company constructed no fewer
than three unique cars for F.E. Stanley's only male heir, all of
them to young Raymond's own designs. Raymond attended Harvard
University and earned his degree in Automotive Design, and his
talent came naturally, having grown up in the heart of the
business. He honed his skills by having his father supervise and
help achieve his designs to create magnificent one-off automobiles.
Raymond's first car was a non-production-looking version of the
famous Model H Gentlemen's Speedy Roadster, completed when he was
just 14 years old. Built on a short wheelbase and powered by a
10-horsepower engine (the full-size H was 20 horsepower), it took
Raymond to school and back, and he drove it to Maine in the first
summer. Raymond designed his next car specifically for himself, and
the factory pulled out all the stops. Choosing a 30-horsepower
engine, as used in the Model K Semi-Racer and the Model Z
nine-passenger Mountain Wagon, he specified a 118-inch wheelbase
chassis used by the Mountain Wagon and designed a sleek, low
two-seat roadster body. The car was completed in 1911, but Raymond
did not keep it long, selling it to Thomas Plant, a wealthy
businessman, on 25 April 1912. The car remains in existence today,
restored. The next special built to Raymond's design was lower and
longer still. It sat on a non-standard 130-inch wheelbase and, of
course, the powerful 30-horsepower engine. There was no glass
windscreen, only a Cambridge Windshield (also known as canvas cowl)
to direct the airflow over the cockpit. By 1913, Raymond had
changed the lighting to the newest style and raised the windshield,
eventually fitting two "portholes" for better visibility. He also
had a luggage platform added behind the cockpit, finished off with
a round tank at the rear. The car was fitted with novel combination
kerosene and electric side lamps and electrically ignited E&J
gas headlamps, which necessitated a battery box on the running
board. Production Stanley automobiles would not get these features
until a year later. The wheels were of standard 28-inch artillery
wood-spoke configuration but featured solid disc covers on both
sides. Unfortunately, Raymond's roadster did not survive. Its
steering gear proved to be a weak point, and on its second failure,
it catapulted Raymond and his passengers through a barbed wire
fence, with the front wheels stopping in a pond. Fortunately, there
were no serious injuries, but Raymond's father nonetheless ordered
the car be dismantled. That is where it might have ended, but for
the efforts of a renowned Stanley collector and restorer, Brent
Campbell. Campbell is the grandson of a Stanley factory employee
who had later worked for factory service manager Fred Marriott
(also the race driver who had set the 1906 land speed record for
Stanley); Campbell had previously acquired and restored the remains
of Raymond's 1911 Stanley special. Working from period photographs
of the original car, he spent years collecting appropriate
30-horsepower Stanley parts from the 1912 era. Choosing to
replicate the car's initial configuration before Raymond updated
the fenders and lighting, Campbell obtained a set of authentic 1912
fenders and early-type lights. Reproduction of the unique chassis
and body framing was undertaken by Mark Herman, a cabinet-maker
renowned for woodwork on early Stanleys. The skeleton was skinned
in aluminum by Don Irvine in Michigan and finished to a high
standard in two-tone gray with black accents and distinctive pale
yellow wheel discs. The body features gorgeous nickel trimmed
lamps, a nickel klaxon horn, dual carriage lamps, a full top, and
twin rear-mounted spares, just as it appeared in early period
images, copies of which are included in the file. The Special
Roadster was completed in 2016 and toured for a week that summer in
Rhode Island. It celebrated Independence Day 2017 by passing the
ultimate test: driving up New Hampshire's Mount Washington Auto
Road, the highest peak in New England, with an average gradient of
11.6%. On that occasion, Jay Leno was at the wheel, and the event
was captured on video by a 40-member production team wielding 12
cameras, one of them on a helicopter hovering overhead. The Stanley
Roadster repeated that feat on four occasions, chewing up the
challenging hill-climb with ease. A true unicorn, this remarkable
roadster presents a one-of-a-kind opportunity: the ability to
experience steam motoring as enjoyed by Raymond Walker Stanley.
Offers welcome and trades considered For additional details please
view this listing directly on our website
https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/7148-1912-stanley-special-roadster/
