Mystery Friday Foto #4 Solved: A Mystery ALCO Touring Car
Adam in New Hampshire challenged you to identify this early touring car.
Identify;
- The year, make and model
1911/12 ALCO Six with a custom body. By 1910 ALCO did away with chain drive in favor of live rear axles and why you don't see the chain drive like the 1909 ALCO Black Beast racer.
- There is an alleged link to the Motor Parkway/Vanderbilt Cup Races- What is it?
While the mystery photo does not picture Willie K Vanderbilt Jr. at the wheel, this allegedly was a custom bodied ALCO built for William K, Vanderbilt Jr. Although VanderbiltCupRaces.com does not have any record of Willie K. owning an ALCO as the newspaper articles assert (see below comments for newspaper clippings).
Comments (4)
Congrats to Steve Lucas, Art Kleiner, Kelly Williams and Ariejan Bos for identifying the ALCO.
Greg O.
Closeup
Unable to confirm, there is an online statement that NY plate #31665 was registered to William K. Vanderbilt Jr. in 1912.
A 1910 Detroit Public Library photo of the ALCO booth at a trade show shows a bare chassis with the usual chain drive gone by that year.
Comments
I think that might be a 1910/1911 ALCO Custom “Tourabout” which was built on an ALCO racer chassis. Rumor has it that it was custom ordered by Willie K. and was delivered in 1912.
1912 Alco custom model 6.
Connection: Modeled by Willie K. Vanderbilt, Jr. after Alco’s raced in the Vanderbilt Cup Races. Both attached articles are from 1912.
William K. Vanderbilt in his 1911 Alco six. It was delivered in raceabout form. After about a year, he had it rebodied to his own design.
My guess is that it is a circa 1909 Alco with a sporty body. It clearly has the Berliet style wheel hubs (the text unfortunately unreadable), but the radiator filler tube is already American style. The cover in front of the rear wheels is only for the front part of the rear springs, no sign of a chain. The engine seems to a 6 cylinder, judging by the length of the hood. Interesting are the front wings, which remind of the wings used on the 1905 Mercedes racers.
On the basis of my information I do not believe that the car was a former race car, but I cannot exclude that.
Here’s Willie K.‘s 1912 NY registration for the 31665 plate on the car in the photo.