Stanley Register Online Cars of Record: 1950-1955
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Last update:
4/29/22


Some Stanleys have been around for quite a long time.
In some cases, they've been in the continuous care of hobbyists and preservationists for more than half a century.

These photos celebrate cars which exist today but have been enjoyed for many years.
I find it amazing to note that of these 17 cars, 8 remain in the same family or collection, over 60 years later.

chassis
133

engine
378

model


body
stick seat runabout

image source - Antique Automobile, Vol 17 #3

It's not known when George Syriac acquired this car, but he had clearly restored it by the time of this photo at the Old Strubridge meet in 1953.
After passing through a few other hands, the current owner comissioned a spectacular Charlie Johnson restoration,
    which resulted in best-in-class honors at Pebble Beach in 1997.
Today it resides in New Hampshire.

chassis
link

engine
455

model
(Type A)

body
stick seat runabout

image source - Berkshires Week

This car has been in continuous use by the same family since 1939.
In 1943, Hugh W. and Ray Kirkpatrick restored it, and in 1953 they displayed it at the Williamstown, MA bicentennial celebration,
    where this photo was taken.
It has some 1903 mechanical features and the body and 70" wheelbase of 1902.
Today the car resides in Vermont and is still driven regularly.

chassis
716

engine
926

model
B

body
runabout

image source - Tim Martin

Carl Ranta already had his car restored by June of 1951, when he successfully negotiated the Mount Wachusett hill climb.
He passed away in 1975, and this car's present location is unknown.

chassis
845

engine


model
CX

body
 runabout

image source - 1955 Lakeville photo set

This beautiful early '50s restoration by Earle Eckel made regular appearances at tours and meets for many years.
It's now owned by his grandson and still gets regular exercise at Hershey and elsewhere.

chassis
1223

engine


model
CX

body
runabout

image source - 1954 Glidden Tour photo set

Early New England collector Glen Gould started with 1909 E2 #4539  in 1949.
Soon after, he acquired and restored this nice CX.
The car remains in his collection, housed at the Wells Auto Museum.

chassis
3497

engine


model
H5

body
gent

image source - postcard

The exact date of this photograph is unknown, but the museum for which it was a souvenir closed about 1954.
The original owner was reportedly a doctor, who added the creature comforts somewhat unusual for this sporting car.
The car was restored as early as 1953.  It's a superb example of a factory Model H5, and has served as the pattern for many fine re-creations.
It remains in the same family today.

chassis
3595

engine


model
EX

body
runabout

image source - 1955 Lakeville photo set

In 1907, Ed Hunter picked up this EX from the Grappotte dealership in Watertown, NY
1n 1925, K. B. Foster bought it from Hunter.
In 1953, the car moved from New York to Bennington, VT., where Edmund J. Beagle maintained and operatored it until 1972.
After Foster's passing in 1992, the car was treated to a full restoration and was shown and driven by Foster's son.
Following 87 years in the same family, this superbly-provenanced car left the US for England, where it now participates in shows..

chassis
3719

engine
226

model
H5

body
gent

image source - eBay

In 1954, Paul Tusek took this Model H5, recently purchased from James Melton, to England with a team of other early American cars.
They competed in the first Anglo-American Rally (there was only one more).
Here he is taking off from a starting line, probably at Prescott.
The little roadster was popular with the crowds, but finished last in points, and in fact was unable to complete the rally.
Later fully restored by Morris Kunkle, and then by George Hughes, it now resides in Pennsylvania.

chassis
3768

engine


model
H5

body
gent

image source - Antique Automobile, Sep. 1951

In May 1908, a Mr. Hamm of Troy, NY bought a brand-new Stanley Model H5.
A few years later, he sold it to a Mr. Roberts, who courted his wife in it.
Roberts experienced some leakage, and was not mechanically minded, so the car was put away.
Murray Brown found it some time during World War II, and had it covered with hay to protect it from scrap drives until he could pick it up.
Brown mostly restored the car, using a painstaking paint and varnish approach documented in a 1945 Bulb Horn article.
By 1951, T. C. Marshall had purchased it and finished the restoration.
It has remained in the Marshall Collection ever since.

chassis
3923

engine
F-891

model
F

body
5-pass

image source - HCC Gazette, 1954 No. 4

James Melton sold this car to the Thompson Products Museum in 1944.
After resting there for nearly 40 years, Charlie Johnson traded them a rare flat-hood Stanley for it, and did one of his typical superb restorations.
He has put lots of miles on it since, and continues to run it regularly.

chassis
4213

engine


model
EX

body
4-pass

image source - eBay

Dean of Steam, T. Clarence Marshall, in his recently purchased EX, in this photo dated August 13, 1950.
Remaining in the collection to this day, this fun and energetic car can often be found in this very same spot,
    being fired up for a drive by the Friends of Auburn Heights Preserve.

chassis
4521

engine


model
E2

body
runabout

image source - 1955 Lakeville photo set

R. Gardner King brought this very nicely restored Model E2 to the 1955 Lakeville steam meet.
After passing through other hands, including Carl Amsley's, it ended up in Colorado.
Until recently, it was on display in Estes Park Museum.

chassis
5002

engine
U200

model
R

body
roadster

image source - Bulb Horn, 1950, Vol 12 no 5

Phil Andrews owned this car by 1950, though it suffered the indignity of small-diameter wheels,
    typical of the days before the widespread availability of replacement tires in early sizes
His son sold it to Mike Simpson, who did more than one restoration on the car.
It remains in California today, in a private collection.

chassis
5012

engine
6-13

model


body


image source - Mervin Allatt papers, courtesy of Jay Williams

This photo, showing a Maine license plate of 1951-1955, is labeled "Page C. Anderson, 11 Kendall St., Portland, Maine".
Although it was found in the effects of early Stanley hunter Mervin Allatt, the car was acquired by rival early Stanley hunter Donald Randall.
It passed back and forth between the Anderson and Randall families, but it has never left the state of Maine.

chassis
5195

engine
6-172

model
60

body
4-pass

image source - HCCA Gazette, 1952 #2

Lloyd C. Partridge of Chicago owned this beautiful toy tonneau in 1952.
It was later purchased by Kenneth Butler, who installed a most ungainly wooden windshield frame, and sidemounted spare,
    and exhibited it in his "Time Was Museum" in Mendota, IL.
It remains in Illinois today, having been freshly restored in 1993 by Howard Johnson, who reinstalled the graceful brass-framed windshield.

chassis
5250

engine


model
60

body
toy tonn

image source - HCCA Gazette, 1952 #2

The Packard Brothers, early Stanley aficionados, assembled a collection in the '30s and '40s.
A 1950s visit to their location was described, and perhaps embellished, in Stanley Ellis's Smogless Days.
This car remains in the family, and was undergoing restoration in 2010.

chassis
5967

engine


model
62

body
Runabout

image source - HCCA Gazette, Spring 1953

Ray Nelson found this car in about 1949, and spent 2 1/2 years restoring it to this fine condition.
An early example of a car with significant new wood, the entire body and cowl were fabricated during the restoration.
Since Nelson lived in N. Hollywood, he was able to make this one of the few Stanleys that appeared in multiple movies.
One was "Rascal", in which the car appeared in a vigorous race scene and ended up being driven into a pond.
    Couldn't have been very good for the burner...
The movie that many more will remember is "The Great Race," in which Natalie Wood actually drove this car under steam.
It passed through newspaperman Scott Hall's hands, when it was the subject of a great article in Road and Track, May 1982.
Today it still lives in California.

chassis
6029

engine


model
70

body
Touring

image source - Dayton, OH Daily News, Jan. 6, 1952

In 1952, Jack Price bought this car from the widow of its original owner, in Findlay, OH, for $70.
It had been stored since 1922.
This is what it looked like when he got it.
He painted it and did some incomprehensible mechanical work, and it hasn't been altered since.
Today it lives in Illinois.

chassis
6520

engine


model
74

body
4-pass

image source - 1954 Glidden Tour photo set


image source: flickr, clgoss77

Frank Gardner bought this, his second Stanley, in 1946.
He restored it, having it fitted with manual controls after a bout with polio during the restoration.
He drove it frequently throughout his life, one of his passengers a fascinated young Brent Campbell.
Today Campbell treasures his time as the car's custodian, and drives it regularly in the northeast.

Couldn't resist including a recently discovered photo, from nearly the same angle, taken at an antique car show 54 years later, in 2008.
The condition of that front tire attests to this car's regular enjoyment.

chassis
6819

engine


model


body
roadster

image source - Bulb Horn, Jan.1955

As Paul Tusek drove #3719 through the British Isles on the first Anglo-American Rally, this English-bodied car came out to visit the entourage.
By that time it had already been owned by Mr. Hunter for almost 20 years, and it sported a water-tube boiler of his own construction.
Beautifully restored today, it remains, remarkably, in the same family, now a tenure of over 75 years.

chassis
7204

engine


model
65

body
4-pass

image source - eBay

Many photos still exist of the September 1951 race between these two fine cars, from Chicago to New York,
  to "determine which was superior, gas or steam."
One is on the page of my favorite Stanley photos.
But this photo was taken in July, before the race started, and is the earliest one known of this car.
Today it is based in Colorado and still driven on steam tours.

chassis
7274

engine


model
78

body
roadster

image source - Bulb Horn, Jan 1951

This is the only known survivor of this model, and in fact is one of only two 20hp roadsters to survive from
    the aluminum-bodied late non-condensing period.
Here it is taking part in the 1950 Glidden Tour.
The car is still in the Marshall Collection today, and due to its significance, the Friends of Auburn Heights Preserve decided to have it restored.
Through the generosity of Friends board members and committed donors, it was treated to a no-holds-barred restoration in 2011 and 2012,
    and is now the jewel of the Marshall Collection.

chassis
7644

engine
6-1307

model
607

body
4-pass

image source - restoration website

This car's was exported new to England, and has a long history there.
Here it is in storage in the early 1950s.
The current owner has nearly completed its restoration and the car was on the road again in October 2012.




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