1913 Metz Torpedo # 19189

1913 Metz Torpedo # 19189

1913 Metz Torpedo # 19189

As identified by Metz Specifications compiled by Franklin B. Tucker (“Antique Automobile”, March-April 1967) this was the 888th out of 4648 cars produced for 1913. On March 12, 1913 the Commonwealth of Kentucky (that’s “State of Kentucky” for those not from Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania or Kentucky) issued a Certificate of Registration to J.A Robinson of Waddy, Kentucky, certifying ownership. A Certificate of Registration would again be issued by Kentucky on March 2, 1918 to what I decipher to be “J.A. Robentson” of Waddy, Kentucky. The records that came with the car next identify it as being registered to Leo E. Hogan of Park City, Kentucky, on March 27, 1972. Mr. Hogan’s estate sold the car to Marshall “Jack” Armstrong of Meredith, New Hampshire (from whom I purchased the car), in November 1999.

Photographs of the car from April 1972 show the car painted canary yellow with black fenders and radiator shroud. Restoration of the car was started in January 1979 by Mr. Hogan, during which it was painted the current vermilion with black fenders and white pinstripe.

As for how this car came to be a “Torpedo”, it is currently an enigma. As identified by F.B. Tucker, the “Torpedo” body style was not offered in 1913. The “Torpedo” body style not appearing until the 1914 model year. However, it is known that “Torpedoes” were built during the 1913 production. Most notably, three (3) “Torpedoes” (identified by F.B. Tucker as “1914” model cars) being entered in to the Glidden National Tour in July 1913. [Note: Metz was the winner of the Glidden Tour that year.] The engine number identifies this car as being early 1913 production, well before the Glidden Tour. The body matches the design of the Number 6 car of the Tour with the exception of the Glidden Tour cars having “Prest-O-Lite” tanks, whereas this car has a carbide generator – standard equipment for 1913 production Metz cars. As this car was already in Kentucky four (4) months before the start of the Glidden Tour, and the Glidden Tour cars bore Massachusetts registration plates, we can surmise it is not one of the Glidden Tour cars. The Kentucky registration certificates of 1913 and 1918 do not shed any light on the matter as Kentucky merely identifies the cars as a “Metz made by Metz Motor Co.”, with no mention of body style or type, and no mention of color. Was the turtle deck an option for the “Roadster” in 1913? Was the turtle deck added at some unknown date between 1913 and 1972? The question is open to debate, although the car does look to this neophyte to be in its original configuration as delivered from Metz.

The original brass manufacturer’s identification plate, as described by F.B. Tucker, is missing. However, included in the paperwork for the car (not attached to the car) was an enamel oval radiator medallion of the form identified for later production (particularly for the Model 25, but also seen on pictures of the Model 22 Fore door), i.e. white background with black lettering “METZ WALTHAM-MASS-USA”.

A few tasks still need to be tackled before the restoration Mr. Hogan started will be complete. At some point of the car’s life, the engine, transmission and drive chain splash shields were lost and will need to be replaced. The hardware to hold the headlight lenses to the rims has also gone missing and needs to be replaced, and I need to fix the latch on the taillight lens. The roof bows are only useful as patterns. The headlight and taillight rims need to be re-plated. Should the cowl lights also be plated nickel, or left brass? I need to recreate how the exhaust brake looked and was connected, and re-plumb the headlights (or convert to electric?). I note that the steering column is designed to accommodate a lever for control of spark advance. However, there is no sign of the car ever being equipped with a lever for manual control of spark advance. The magneto (Bosch DU4) is not equipped for a spark advance lever. Ideas, helpful hints, direction to parts, etc., can be sent to me: David C. Adams at dcamcpuffin@aol.com.

Attempting to identify a car and we need your help!

I attached images of the components I think point to Metz origin. If you feel I am correct in my guess, could you venture an approximate date of the chassis? (I know that the car has been highly modified.) If you feel that it is not a Metz, would you have any idea what it might be? Thanks for any help you can give.
Paul
pjr5456@yahoo.com

1914 Metz Roadster #23382

1914 Metz Roadster #23382

More information coming soon.

1903 Orient Buckboard #528B

In March 2006 Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum acquired our 1903 Orient Buckboard from collector George Albright of Ocala, FL. This was indeed a “barn find”. The Buckboard was disassembled and was missing tires, had two badly damaged fenders and came with steel rims of unidentified source. The photos reveal the Buckboard as it is now on display in the Tellus museum. The finished product is a culmination of much painstaking search for authentic parts to produce a car as original as possible.

Only one of the two damaged fenders was repairable. The second fender had to be scrapped and a new one (made to look 100+ years old and a match to its three brothers) was created by a “maestro in all things wood”, Jim Eller. We contacted an Orient expert and collector in west Florida (who was elderly then and we have subsequently lost all contact with) who directed us to authentic wood rims. The painstaking task of the wooden wheel construction, and indeed the majority of the work on our Buckboard, was accomplished by Bob Burns and Randy Harris.

We were frustrated in locating authentic tires. As others on this website have mentioned, we contacted Coker tires. Coker tires that fit the wood rims were finally settled upon as being “the best we could do”, but these tires are black. Worse, the tires have an inauthentic button tread rather than being smooth. If anyone has a suggestions or comments on more authentic tires it would be appreciated.

Prior to placing the Buckboard on display the engine was started and run. Bob Burns insisted on this as an attempt to prove to ourselves, more than anyone else, that the buckboard had indeed been assembled, wired, and plumbed correctly. Bob and Randy determined starting the engine would be the “litmus test”. No one was more surprised than us when. . . IT RAN! We made a video to prove it.

The Buckboard was delivered from Bob and Randy’s workshop to the Tellus Museum which opened January 2009. In the museum’s Science in Motion Gallery the Buckboard is presently comfortably retired in climate controlled comfort for the enjoyment of our visitors. The Buckboard’s immediate neighbors are a 1908 Indian Motorcycle, 1903 Holsman, 1899 Locomobile the 1903 Wright Flyer replica. . . and the list goes on.

Check us out at tellusmuseum.org. Better yet, please come visit Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum to see a beautiful original example of a 1903 Orient Buckboard. We are located north Atlanta on I-75 at exit 293 in Cartersville, GA.

Brock Cooney, Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum

1903 Orient Buckboard #528B

 

1903 Orient Buckboard #528B

1903 Orient Buckboard #528B

1903 Orient Buckboard #528B

Orient Surry 1906/7 #3481

Information coming soon…

Orient Surry 1906/7 #3481

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277 D

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277 D

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277 D

9/14/09

Just to bring you up to date with our exploits with the 1904 Orient Buckboard as we get ready for the London to Brighton on 1 November.

Last Saturday we took part in the 104th Brighton Speed Trials.  The event takes place on the seafront in Brighton and has been running since 1905 when the winning car was a 90hp Napier which completed one kilometre in 23secs.  The course was shortened to 1/4mile in 1970 and the current record stands at 8.9secs.  I am happy to report that we recorded a time of 46secs with a terminal speed of 22mph.

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277 D

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277 D

2009 London to Brighton Run

I bought the car from David A. Kolzow in March 1999 after responding to an advert in Hemmings Motor News of the same month/year. Mr Kozlow is an antique vehicle expert who bought the car from the estate of Vernon Betz in October 1990. Mr Kozlow was the third owner of the car, having tried to buy it from Mr Betz while he was alive.

Mr Betz had bought the car as a ‘barn find’ from the family who bought it new in 1904. That was in 1947. Mr Betz then restored the car as a museum piece and kept in in his bedroom! I have letters and copies of newspaper articles that came with the car to verify all of this. The car appears in Chris Bamford’s ‘Roster of Orient Motor Buckboards and Kindred Vehicles’ which he sent to Orient owners in July 1995. The Roster lists cars alphabetically by owner and my car is listed under KOZLOW SR.

I imported the car to the UK in July 1999 believing it to be ready to run and entered it for the London-Brighton that year. It transpired that, although we could get the engine to run, the tolerances were far from correct and it suffered enormously from overheating. We started the event but did not get further than Buckingham Palace. We attempted to cure the overheating and did some more testing during 2000 with sufficiently encouraging results to enter the car again for the London to Brighton, but suffered big end failure before getting across the start line. Do be aware that we had driven the car a reasonable distance to get to the start!

At this point we stripped the engine down and started measuring things very carefully only to discover that the internals were wider than the casing and probably not properly aligned. The engine stayed stripped until January this year when I found somebody I was happy to have do the work. On examination, we discovered both crankshaft halves were cracked: we had them repaired, a new crank-pin made to the correct width and new big and small end bearings fitted. The inlet/ exhaust valve was also correctly sized and an appropriate spring fitted. The carburetor was overhauled and tested before the engine was bolted to a rig and fired up . We have now fitted the engine to the car (see photos) but are experiencing some difficulty in getting it to run as well as on the rig as explained at the beginning of this email. All advice gratefully received!!

I have had the car dated by the Veteran Car Club here in the UK as 1904. The chassis number is 2277 and the engine number 2277D
With best wishes,
Keith Mainland

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277D

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277D

1904 Orient Buckboard #2277D

Metz for sale

Not much is known about this car it has been stored in a barn for about 50 years. We are attempting to obtain the engine number and will keep you posted. Please email slempy@mac.com if you are interested in the car. $5,000.00. If you have any information on the model please send a message to the comment section below.

Improved Orient Buckboard.

The Automobile

November 23, 1905

Page #579-580

Improved Orient Buckboard

Changes in the Orient Buckboard make the 1906 model a very different machine . from the earlier models of this simple, light, low-priced road vehicle for two persons. While retaining the vertical single-cylinder air-cooled motor, located over the rear axle, the drive, instead of being by direct spur gearing, is by friction wheel and disc to a countershaft and thence by two side chains to the rear wheels. This arrangement provides a very flexible transmission through all speeds from zero to the maximum without gears, enabling the driver to suit his speed exactly to the conditions of travel and the power of the engine. It also results in the avoidance of any noise of meshing gears.

The engine is rated at 4 horsepower, but is said actually to develop 5 1-2 horsepower. The cylinder dimensions are 3 1-4-inch bore by 4 1-4-inch stroke. The friction disc occupies the position of the flywheel on the fngine shaft and has a smooth metal face. The wheel which engages upon it is faced on the periphery with a special fibroid that has remarkable adhesive qualities. Pressure of this wheel against the disc is regulated by a ball thrust in the rear of the disc, which is operated by a left-foot pedal having a ratchet permitting of five different degrees of pressure.

The friction transmission permits of reverse motion at any desired speed up to the maximum forward speed, and is accomplished merely by shifting the friction wheel across the face of the disc to the opposite side. When the wheel is in the center of the disc it is in neutral position, but to prevent wear it can be moved back out of contact altogether. The position of the wheel with relation to the disc is regulated by a hand lever at the side of the car. The maximum speed of the buckboard, as regularly delivered, is thirty-five miles an hour, but special racing front sprockets can be supplied to increase the speed to more than forty miles an hour. A right-foot pedal actuates the brake.

Instead of being mounted directly upon the axle, as in earlier models, the engine in the 1906 buckboard is mounted on the rear of the frame, which is supported by four ip-inch full-elliptic springs on the axles. This reduces vibration to a minimum, and also increases the clearance of the machinery from the ground to ten inches instead of six. An Orient carburetter furnishes the gas mixture. Cooling is assisted by a four- blade fan mounted in front of the motor. A four-cell dry battery furnishes ignition current and a wipe contact Orient timer of French type regulates the sparking. Lubrication of the cylinder and bearings is by a sight-feed oiler operated from the seat.

A “duck back” covers the transmission machinery back of the seat and a hood and dash have been placed at the front, giving the machine a near approach to the form of the larger runabouts. The hood is a storage receptacle. There is also a light metal case beneath the machinery to protect it from dirt. Mud fenders are fitted above all wheels.

The weight of the car complete is 525 pounds. It has a wheelbase of 80 inches, and the seat comfortably accommodates two persons. The standard gauge or track of the machine is 42 inches, but for sections in which the road conditions require it, a tread of 56 inches—standard wagon tread— can be supplied. The body is of ash, natural finish, mounted on a truss frame. Axles are of  1-inch toughened steel. Wheels are 26 inches in diameter, fitted with 2 1-2-inch Goodrich single-tube tires.

The cylindrical gasoline tank at the back of the seat has a capacity of 3 1-2 gallons, sufficient for a run of about 100 miles. In recent tests this machine is asserted to have traversed 121 miles in 6 3-4 hours on a consumption of four gallons of fuel and 1 3-4 pints of oil and, on another day, was run 93 miles in 5 1-4 hours on three gallons of gasoline and one pint of lubricating oil. Immediately following these tests it ascended Old Boston Rock in Boston, an elevation of 562 feet, and climbed the flight of thirty- five stone steps at the top having an official grade of 32 per cent. On the reverse it climbed a grade of 22 per cent.

The Orient Buckboard has been designed especially to adapt it to rural mail service and use by telephone, telegraph and electric lighting companies, but is equally suitable for country use by private owners as a quick and inexpensive means of transportation.

The sales department for these little cars, as well as for the larger Orient automobiles, has just been removed from New York city to Waltham, Mass., where the factory and general offices of the builders, the Waltham Manufacturing Company, are located.

Metz ” 22″ Wins Glidden Trophy

1913

The Medical Herald

Page# 479

 

Walter Metz 1913 Glidden Tour Team Vehicle

 

 

Metz ” 22″ Wins Glidden Trophy.

Over roads that would test any make of car, and particularly the big high powered gear transmission car, the Boston team of three Metz cars of the gearless transmission ‘ type, demonstrated their ability to negotiate anything in the line of rough country that any automobile could be driven over, in the long grind on the Glidden tour from Minneapolis to Glacier National Park, Montana, and entered the last control with a perfect score, and the winner of the Glidden and Anderson trophies. The famous cup of the Classic and American automobile road contest, comes back to the city in which it originated, and which the donor, Charles J. Glidden, claims as his home.

The winning of the three Metz cars not only brings fame to the makers, but honor to Boston, and added prestige to the gear- less transmission type of automobiles.

The winning of these trophies was of such a decided character that there was no doubt left in the minds of the judges that the cars had shown exceptional durability, and the drivers splendid judgment.

Over some of the long prairie trails the big cars plowed up to their hubs in gumbo, and made bad weather of it, and several times on the trip, the Metz team was actually compelled to leave the road and make a detour through the fields to get around some of the large, high powered cars which were ditched or stuck in the ooze.

The Metz team being obliged to start last on the tour was badly handicapped and had all its difficulties and obstacles ahead of it so that its perfect scores at each control were all the more remarkable.

Just before the control at Minot, N.D., was reached one of the cars struck a concealed rock and smashed a wheel, which necessitated reshipping a spare wheel and naturally some time was lost, but in this case the car was driven over the roughest kind of roads at the rate of 33 miles for the last hour, and arrived at the control with minutes to spare—a wonderful test for the little machine and its driver.

If ever a comparison was a test between the gear type of transmission and the friction driven car, it was had on the Glidden tour just ended, and the gearless type of transmission came out with fiying colors.

At every control the drivers of the Metz team, which included Mr. Chas. H. Metz, president of the Metz Company, and his son, Walter Metz, were .given a most enthusiastic reception. They were feasted and entertained several times on the trip, and at the big pow-wow arranged by President Hill of the Great Northern road, they were the center of attraction and were critically examined by the Indian chiefs. An Indian interpreter gave the little cars a characteristic name when he called them “the little iron bronchos from the east.”— From Publicity Department, Metz Co., Waltham, Mass., July 23, 1913.

1914 Metz 22 # 2607

California Trolley and Railroad Corporation

On December 5, 1997  Rod Sohn and Frank Dorr, CTRC volunteers, drove to Groveland, California to pick up a completely restored 1913 Metz roadster donated to CTRC by Mr. Brattmiller in memory of his wife Cleo. This unique early American automobile was manufactured in Waltham, Massachusetts.

This antique vehicle can be seen at the Trolley Barn on the grounds of the History Museums of San Jose, California.

1914 Metz 22 # 2607

1914 Metz 22 # 2607

1914 Metz 22 # 2607