Vanderbilt Cup Races

One of my favorite cars on Long Island was the 1908 Simplex Speedcar restored and owned by the late Walter McCarthy for 22 years from 1984 to 2006.

One of the treasures in the Walter McCarthy Archives is a binder documenting Simplex automobiles  and their owners as of 1993. The binder was originally compiled by Edgar L. Roy and then updated by Warren G. Kraft and Walter McCarthy. Here are some images of the 1908 Simplex Speedcar and additional information since Walter sold the automobile in 2006.

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick

Bonham's 2021 Profile of the 1908 Simplex 50hp "Speedcar"

THE SIMPLEX MOTORCAR

Simplex has long held a reputation as the ultimate American sports car of its era. With examples being owned by just about every important collector as long as the hobby has existed, Simplex enjoys a status few other automobiles can rival. Representative of one of the most exciting periods of automotive history the Simplex fully deserves its reputation as one of the world's greatest cars.

The origins of the Simplex brand are in the Smith and Mabley Manufacturing Co. of New York. S&M was the American importer for the unrivaled Mercedes brand as well as FIAT, and CGV. With a desire to avoid the huge import tariffs that made already expensive foreign cars almost unsalable, S&M moved to produce C.G.V. cars in America. The C.G.V. exercise was a failure and S&M set about to build its own car based heavily on the Mercedes-Simplex. Producing a fine automobile using the Mercedes as a pattern, the S&M Simplex of 1904 proved moderately successful though still prohibitively expensive.

The S&M operation changed hands and a new plan was conceived. A more powerful and refined version of the S&M would be developed again along Mercedes lines but with a larger engine. The new model, now called just Simplex, would be powered by a T-head four cylinder with an ALAM rating of 50hp. At 600ci it was one of the largest four-cylinder engines ever to power a production automobile. The massive new motor was fitted to a robust dual-chain-drive chassis with a four-speed selective transaxle.

The brutish motor combined with a superb chassis and four tall gears resulted in a performance machine with few rivals. The Simplex proved successful on the track and became the plaything of the ultra-wealthy in America. The 50hp would prove a success with nearly 250 examples produced over its nearly decade long production run—not bad for a chassis costing nearly $6,000 in 1910.

Simplex's performance would immediately cement its reputation as a sporting icon; no car exuded strength, speed and masculinity more than the Simplex. Some would argue a Mercer Raceabout was the superior sports machine, but the reality is that they are machines of a different era and at half the engine capacity and with shaft drive, the Mercer does not have the features that define this more primitive era.

Simplex's mythic reputation would continue into the first days of the collector era. When the hobby began to take shape in the 1930s the Simplex again was the most desired marque. Early collectors dreamed of finding one of these great machines languishing in a barn, and Simplex cars would become prized members of some of the major early American collections. George Waterman, Henry Austin Clark, Edgar Roy, Sam Bailey and Briggs Cunningham were a few of the pioneering collectors who owned and extensively used these automobiles.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

This massive titan of the early motoring era is understood to be the earliest surviving example of the legendary Simplex marque. Chassis 211 is recorded as having belong to, and likely originally delivered to, Robert M Janney of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania who kept the car from 1909 until 1912. There is no known history of the car from Janney's ownership until what is believed to be the chassis was discovered by early Brass Era enthusiast Al Hood in 1957. The largely apart and incomplete project would be acquired by Landis, North Carolina collector O.A. 'Ote' Corriher in 1962. Corriher would keep the unfinished project in his garage for 22 years before selling it to Walter 'Wally' McCarthy of New York. McCarthy was determined to bring the early Simplex back to its former glory. A period correct 50 horsepower Simplex engine was acquired from Long Island collector Henry Austin Clark in 1984 while ads were placed in enthusiast and club publications to diligently track down the other elements of the car that had been lost to time.

Upon completion, the car was actively toured and enjoyed during McCarthy's tenure with the car before selling it to Passport Transport found Robert Pass in 2006. The penultimate owner, a southern California enthusiast who acquired the car from Pass in 2007, reported the car to be a fantastic touring car in which he would enjoy several thousand miles on various tours. The Simplex was shown at he 2007 Amelia Island Concours and then later that year completed the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance and graced the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance a few days later. After numerous events, the necessity of a mechanical rebuild snowballed into a complete restoration. As reported by the previous owner, the restoration was completed by a variety of experts in Southern California, including various mechanical refurbishment by Bob Mosier, interior work by Tom Rice—a former apprentice at the Nethercutt Collection, and paint by Harry Nicks of Nicks Old Car Specialty in Redland, California.

Upon completion of the restoration, the Simplex was displayed at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the car was prepared for sale — a process detailed in an episode of Wayne Carini's show Chasing Classic Cars — and acquired by the Clem and Mary Lange Collection in August of 2012.

A massive and imposing machine, it is replete with many rare details including a correct Simplex carburetor and Bosch B magneto. At every turn, one is astounded by the sheer scale of each element of the car—from the nearly Jeroboam sized jugs to the massive 40 gallon fuel and 13 gallon oil tanks, or from the lighthouse-sized Solar Flare Type 796 acetylene headlamps to the gargantuan dual chain drive—it is easily to feel practically dwarfed by it. Amply capable of modern-day highway speeds, this Simplex would make for an excellent ride from which to experience any number of big Brass events such as the Glidden or FARTS tour.