MARCH, 1972 N E w I L I ' T E R ISSUE NO. 24 Copy right @ 1972 (1ie Society 5!1 Automotive Historians PRINTING AND PUBLICATIONS OFFICE: P. 0. Box 6465, Marietta, Georgia 30060 John M. Peckham Guy P. Seeley, Jr .. G. Marshall Naul Richard B. Br igham R. Perry Zavi tz librarian President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer 675 Pinewoods Ave. Rd . 460 Ridgewood Crescent 10 Bryan Avenue 5 Queen Ann Ori ve 136 Park Lane Newark, De l . 19711 Troy, New York 12180 l~ariett a, Ga. 30060 London 63, Ont. Canada Malvern, Pa. 19355 PRESIDENT'S PARAGRAPHS The Committee for the selection of the winner of our first Cugnot Award has announced the winner, or more properly, the winner~. Mary Cattie, of the Philadelph i a Free Library, and Ervin Seltzer, the Commit­ tee Chairman, have informed us of a tie between Charles Bishop 1 s 11 La France et 1 11 11 L Automobile , Editions M. -Th. Genin; Paris, and G. N. Georgano•s A History of 11 Sports Cars , E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. The $100 award , donated by L. Scott Bailey, publisher of Automobile Quarterly, will be divided between the two authors and a suitable certificate will be presented to each . Not being able to read French, i cannot judge Charlie Bishop 1 s book, but I am very familiar with Nick Georgano•s worthwhile effort and assume that Bishop 1 s work is equally thorough and valuable. It looks as if this year•s judging will be even more difficult, since we have another book by Georgano and a spectacular one by Karl Ludvrgsen already published. These two, plus various articles and books that have yet to appear, give promise of a particularly good year in the field of automotive 1 iterature. Congratulations to Charles Bishop and Nick Georgano. John M. Peckham NEW MEMBERS Donald J. Summar, 607 West Lemon Street, Lancaster, Penna. 17603 T. Sloane Plamer, American LaFrance, Elmira, New York, 14902 Charles H. Hebb, 3607 Brookcrest Circle, Decatur, Georgia 30032 F. Donald Butler, 7687 Beaverland, Detroit, Mich. 48239 Allen M. Woodall, Jr., P. 0. Box 1640, Columbus, _eorgia 31902 Peter M. Skonky, 3311 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, Ill. 60618 Mrs . Robert Douglas Barr, 106 Park Avenue West, South Weymouth, Mass. 02190 Alex Farmer, 750 York Mills Rd., Penthouse #7, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada Walter B. Weimer, P. 0. Box 226, Wa~hington, Penna. 15301 Harrison P. Bridge, 50 Fernwood Road, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167 Sigmund Goode, 523 Commercial Street, Provincetown, Mass. 02657 William A. Cannon, 175 May Avenue, Monrovia, Calif. 91016 CHANGE OF ADDRESS Henry c. Hopkins, Jr., Avon Overseas Ltd., Bowater House, 68-114 Knightsbridge, London SW1 X 7LR, England. James C. Leake, P. 0. Box 1887, Muskogee, Okla. 74401 Mary M. Cattie, Free Library of Philadelphia , Logan Sq., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 Char les W. Proctor, 2337 La Linda, Newport Beach, Calif. 92660 . THE MAIL BAG Letters from Members The Portland Cyclecar I was amazed to see a picture of the Portland Cyclecar in Issue No. 23 of the Newslatter. Where did you find it? Here is what I have been able to find out about the Portland: The 1915 Portland City Directory has this entry: Portland Cyclecar Company, L. I. Thompson, President, 302 Corbett Building. The entry is not in the 1916 edition nor was it in the 1914 edition. Lewis I. Thompson was 42 years old when he died of heart disease in 1930. He was an architect and had gone to Hill Military Academy in Portland, and to Yale and Columbia Universities. He had formed the Portland Cycle car Company in December, 1913, with himself as president and C. J. McPherson as vice president. It was a closed corporation. · This article appeared in The Automobile, January 15, 1914: "The Portland is one of the unusual cyclecars employing a two cylinder two cycle V type motor, air cooled, and of 3~ x 3.67 inches bore and stroke. The feature of the car is the spring suspension. Three elliptic springs are placed in frpnt and two in the rear. The car propels through the rear springs, which tend to keep the belts tight. The car has a wheelbase of 96 inches and tread of 40 inches. The car complete sells for $400.00 with wire wheels and 28 x 2~ tires . The body is of the tandem type." There was a full size car being built in Oregon in 1916, but it was the Beaver, made in Gresham by the Beaver State Motor Company. It was not related to the Port­ land. The first Beaver was made in 1912. In addition, there was a Ford assembly plant in Portland. I doubt that the Portland went on to become a full size car, or even if it was made after 1915. Richard Larrowe, Route 1, Box 900, Corbett, Oregon 97019 Letters to the Secretary Since becoming S.A.H. secretary, I have received numerous nice letters from many members, and I thank you for them, one and all. One of the nicest letters I have ever received came recently from Dr. Vicente Alvarez. As you will recall, he was severely injured at Indianapolis last year, when the pace car crashed into the press trailer. He was hospitalized for quite some time, but now is back in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In his letter he said, "the only news I have for you is to tell you that this is the first letter I have written in many, many months." He continued "I am still in trouble but feeling quite a bit better." He told of enjoying the beach. That is something which all of us in the cooler parts of the northern hemisphere envy during the winter months. He apologized for his poor hand writing, but frankly, no apology was needed. I am sure Dr. Alvarez would be delighted to hear from any of our members who will take a minute to write to him. Note his new address: Dr. Vicente Alvarez Caseros 751 - 3°.G Buenos Aires, Argentina We all wish you an early and complete recovery, Dr. Alvarez. R. Perry zavitz, 460 Ridgewood Crescent, London 63, Ontario, Canada SAH Newsletter No. 24 - Page 2 The Silver Knight - No End in Sight So you thought you had seen the end of Silver-Knight photographs for the S.A.H. Newsletter, eh? How is this dandy? It's a 1915 Silver-Knight, made by Willys, which I found in the old Willys-Overland files acquired by American Motors with the Kaiser-Jeep pur­ chase two years ago. We are not finding much, but when we come across a gem like thi~ one, we want to give it circulation - and we can't help wondering where it was taken , and who were the people in the car. Please return the print at your convenience. And keep up the good work. John A. Conde, 1340 Fieldway Drive, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48013 Editor Is Note: For the benefit of those who may have c6me; in_late, the activities of c. T. Silver, whose silver Speci~l aut~mobiles have beef+ pictured in ~ever~l issues of the Newsletter, will be featured in an article in a future issue~ All this has resulted from an inquiry made by a non-member (who has since become a member), w. Louis Barmmer, Stratford, Conn. Mr. Barmmer accompanied his letter with a remarkably accurate free hand sketch of the car as he remembered it from many years ago. This was published in Newsletter No. 17. Replies to this original inquiry have turned up quantities of material and photos of the cars of c. T. Silver, which were based upon Willys-Knight, Apperson and Kissel chasses - and there may have been others . SAH Newsletter No. 24 - Page 3 C. T. Silver and the Willys-Overland Co. July, 1913. The Overland Agency moves to 1739 Broadway, New York City. C. T. Silver is the distributor. December, 1913. Peerless sells its $1.8 million marble palace to C. T. Silver, who now handles Peerless and Overland cars on Broadway near ·56th Street. Silver sold his Newark branch. June, 1914, finds John N. Willys and C. T. Silver seated in a new Willys-Knight car for which Silver takes the New York agency. This car is the former Edwards Knight. Plant now moved to Elyria, Ohio, to occupy the Garford factory, also owned by Willys. September, 1914. A turtle deck Willys Knight runabout is shown. Silver now listed as agent for Overland', Garford and Peerless. January, 1915. ·MoToR magazine f's show issue mentions the custom Silver creations on bqth of his lines, which ~eenis to indicate a Silver-Peerless . The Blue Ribbon "Auto & Carriage Co : of Bridgeport, Conn., shows a Willys-Knight Basket Brougham, made : for C. T. Silver. This same car is shown in Feb­ ruary,, 1915, <itS a Willys-Knight Brougham, and is now .listed as a Willys-Overland product. March, 1915. A $2200 6-passenger Overland roadster, with body designed by C. T. Silver is shown .. May, 1915. New Overland cars introduced at a dinner for C. T. Silver's dealers and sub~dealers, at the Hotel Astor. The Willys..:.Knight became a full Overland product in July, 1915, with the introduction of the Willys-Knight Model 84. This was an Overland chassis and body with a Kni.ght engine built by the Wilson Foundry of Pontiac, Michigan. One Model 84 Silver-Knight sport roadster is known to remain in running condition in eastern Pennsylvania. The January, 1916, Houk Wire Wheel ad shows the hub emblem for C.