NOTE: This page has its own
Table of Contents at bottom of
page.
WELCOME from your site host Herman S. Minges, II.
Your visit is most welcome and I hope rewarding in some way. Because of limited room, time and personal interest, this site is devoted to the 3 Cylinder Duryeas (1898-1907). Images of Pre 3 Cylinder Duryeas and Post 3 Cylinder Duryeas, along with other information, will be posted as room and time permits.
Charles had two brothers, Frank and Otto. Frank was very instrumental in the development of the earlier (pre 1898) Duryeas and Otto stayed with Charles after Charles and Frank split in 1897. For all students doing papers on the pre 1898 and post 1907 Duryeas or the life of Frank and Otto, I recommend that you do additional research. All of the information I have on the concept, design, development and first successful test run of the first Duryea automobile (1892-1893) is posted in this web site. All information I have on the Duryeas before 1898 and after 1907 is also posted in this web site.
In the course of constructing this web site, I hope to initially accomplish three things: One, to locate all existing 3 Cylinder Duryeas and make personal contact with there owners. Two, to get a picture of their car and post it in this site. Three, to post in this site enough images and information to be helpful to those trying to determine the period of a particular 3 Cylinder Duryea and hopefully to help people like myself get their 3-cylinder Duryeas restored correctly.
With the exception of the 1893 car, all dates of existing/surviving cars were determined by the car owner and submitted with photo. Please check the list of images in " Articles and Images " ; all cars on this list that actually existed as of June, 1996 will have a " (A) " suffix. Please keep this in mind while viewing site.
About Your Site Host
Your site host is a member of the Horseless Carriage Club of
America and a member of the of the Antique Automobile Club of
America. He has been restoring, maintaining and operating antique
automobiles since 1961. In addition, as of this writing, he has
physically examined 8 Duryea automobiles including five
3-cylinder Duryeas and is currently restoring a 1902 form floor
up.
Welcome 3 Cylinder Duryea Owners
Owners can have images of their cars posted in this site.
Please check section below "How many Duryeas are left and where are they?" and let me know if you can help complete that section. We all know how much oil a 3 Cylinder Duryea can sling, so lets keep that oil checked.
Herman Minges, II
This section contains my personal notes. The order in which automobiles are listed is not significant.
Sixteen 3 Cylinder Duryeas have been located as of January 1997. Please help if you can. Send E-Mail or Fax.
NOTES ON 3 CYLINDER DURYEAS:
Duryea 1: 4-wheeled vis-a-dos - North
Carolina USA - (HSM) - (cyl.3) - running
Duryea 2: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Indiana
USA (PCK)- (cyl.3)
Duryea 3: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Florida
USA (G&AC)- (cyl.3) - running
Duryea 4: 4-wheeled Phaeton - New
Zealand - (cyl.3)
Duryea 5: 4-wheeled Phaeton -
Boyertown Museum Pa. USA - (cly.3)
Duryea 6: 4-wheeled Phaeton (P.01) -
Boyertown Museum Pa. USA - (cyl.3)
Duryea 7: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Berks
County Historical Society Pa. USA - (cyl.3)
Duryea 8: 3-wheeled Wagon - Illinois
USA - Bring Home The Duryea - (cyl.3) - ( E.Date.)
Duryea 9: 4-wheeled Phaeton -
Tennessee USA (MK) - (cyl.3) - not running (former Ca. car)
Duryea 10: 3-wheeled Phaeton - National
Automobile Museum- Reno, Nevada
Duryea 11: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Doncaster,
England (AJG)- (cyl.3)
Duryea 12: 3-wheeled Trap - Michigan
USA - Henry Ford Museum- (cyl.3)
Duryea 13: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Ohio
USA (DB) - (cyl.3) (Prev HFM)
Duryea 14: 4-wheeled Phaeton - Indiana USA (CW.C - (cyl.3) -
(K-Auc)
This car was sold at the Kruse Labor Day Auction (1996). It was
billed as a 03 and color was yellow. If anyone knows who brought
this car, would you please let me know.
Duryea 15: Surrey (extra long wheel base) - (cyl.3) - British
made NEED LEADS on this car.
Duryea 16: - Beijing - Surrey (cyl.3)
- steering wheel
Duryea 17: - Germany - (cyl.3)
NOTES ON PRE 3 CYLINDER DURYEAS:
Duryea B1: Henry Ford Museum(Y 1896-cyl.2) USA
Duryea B2: Smithsonian (Y 1893-cyl.1) USA
NOTES ON POST 3 CYLINDER DURYEAS:
Duryea A1: Boyertown Museum Pa. USA - (cyl.2 Buggyaut) (R.P.)
Duryea A2: Boyertown Museum Pa. USA - (Gem)
Duryea A3: Boyertown Museum Pa. USA - (cyl.2) (S.M.)
Duryea A4: Springfield Mass. USA (RS) - (cyl.2 Buggyaut) - not
running
Duryea A5: C. M., Cleveland Ohio USA - (cyl.2 Buggyaut)
Duryea A6: Nevada, USA - (cyl. 2 Buggyaut)
Duryea A7: Illinois, USA - (cyl. 2 Gem)
Duryea A8: Cleveland Ohio USA - (cyl.
2 Electa) - The Western Reserve Historical Society,
Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum
GENERAL INFORMATION:
For more specific information, see articles on specific year.
CHRONOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION:
Peoria Period - 1898 through 1899
Reading Period - 1900 through 1907
Charles decided in 1897 to go with the triple cylinder and it appears at this time that he built and successfully tested his first 3 Cylinder Duryea at Peoria, Illinois in 1898. It also appears at this time that two of these Peoria Period Cars have survived.
THE FIRST THREE:
Peoria Duryeas (3-cyl) made by Charles.
Ref: A quote made by Charles to a reporter for the Sunday Journal
Transcript dated 11-21-26. I believe this to be a supplement to
the Sunday paper.
The First 3 Cylinder Duryea was a three-wheeled Trap and was started in the summer of 1898 - picture courtesy Mel Moffitt, Peoria Public Library.
The Second 3 Cylinder Duryea was a 3-wheeler and sold to a plumber.
The Third 3 Cylinder Duryea was a 4-wheeler. A 6 passenger trailer was made at this time. The body for the 4-wheeler was made at a shop between Adams and Jefferson Street about 3 blocks south of Main Street. The car was sold to a man in Los Angeles and the trailer was sold to someone in Eureka California. Note (site host): no description of this 4-wheeler was given.
NOTE: Ref. Letter from Charles to employee
Material - courtesy Mel Moffitt, Peoria Public Library
QUOTE:
A picture of the first 3-cylinder, 3-wheeled Duryea. It was the first Peoria built Duryea. The only one I ever fitted a trailer to. Trailers were not popular. The exhaust and dust killed them and them and the dos-a-dos seat.
NOTE: Ref. Peoria Journal Star - July 21, 1899
Material - courtesy Mel Moffitt, Peoria Public Library
QUOTE:
The first four-wheeler automobile manufactured in this city was completed yesterday afternoon. It goes to a man in Pierre, S.D. The vehicle is a very handsome and convenient affair.
Duryea Furnishes
Two-Lever-Control:
NOTE: Ref. The Horseless Age - November 20, 1901, volume 8,
number 34
Material - courtesy David Berckmueller.
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
Reading, Pa., November 14 (Editor, Horseless Age).....In your issue of November 13 Mr. Rawson makes the statement that insistence upon our single-hand control is costing the company sales. We do not widely advertise the fact that we furnish a two-hand control when ordered, but such is the case, and we do not knowingly lose an order that could be secured by furnishing a separate lever. We have designs for and have built machines with cross-lever steering; one hand being used to steer and the other to operate the clutches. We may or may not embody in this arrangement the throttle in the steering hand which gives practically the advantage of one hand control, and is our preferred arrangement with the cross lever......Duryea Power Company.
Image43 Shows an early
three-wheeler with separate tiller - courtesy David
Berckmueller.
Image46(Z) Shows an early four-wheeler
with separate tiller - courtesy site host.
Image51 Shows a Surrey with steering
wheel and separate clutch levers - courtesy A.J. Gallagher.
TELLTALE SIGNS:
The image of the 1896 two cylinder
Duryea (courtesy of Henry Ford Museum) was put in this site for
visual reference. Note that the 1896 car has a
straight-frame/line design which Frank Duryea carried over to the
Stevens-Duryea. On the other hand, Charles changed to a curved frame for his 3 cylinder automobile
which lowered the center of the car and made it easier for the
driver to enter and exit. This curved-frame design continued into
the Reading Period and gives the 3 Cylinder Duryeas of this
design a very distinctive coach-like look. The Park Wagon and
Phaeton, pictured in the April 1, 1904 issue (page 78) of the
Cycle And Automobile Trade Journal, have a straight-frame/line
design but I do not know at this time if any 3 Cylinder Duryeas
of this design have survived.
Another distinctive characteristic of the 3 Cylinder Duryeas that I am familiar with, is the right rear axle. The right rear axle ( facing back of car ) spans the entire width of the car and the left rear axle slips back over the right rear axle a short distance. In one of the 1903 sales brochures, this axle configuration is referred to as being a large one-piece axle that connects both rear wheels in a simple, strong and efficient manner.
Although the unique bas-relief style design depicted in image 50 has, over the years, become synonymous with the 3-cylinder Duryea, the design was not used on the sides of all 3-cylinder Duryeas produced between 1898 and 1907.
WATERLOO, IOWA USA:
Based on newspaper articles and sales brochures sent to me by
Robin Ventner, Grout Museum in Waterloo, Iowa and Pat Alling,
Public Library of Waterloo, it seems clear to me that the
Waterloo Motor Works was founded in 1902 to build engines and
produce 3 Cylinder Duryea Automobiles of which only 4 or 5 were
produced. The styles to be offered in 1903 were to be the same as
the styles offered at the Reading, Pennsylvania Plant ( Duryea
Power Company ). Research is being done at this time on the
Reading, Peoria and Coventry sites.
COVENTRY, ENGLAND:
Information thus far courtesy of Costa Maoudis and A. J.
Gallagher.
Factory still standing on the Folleshill Road. Targeted search:
1902 through 1908
Estimated production at this time - less than 151 units.
Ref. Horseless Carriage Gazette. Article by David Hales.
UPDATE: The Duryea factory in Coventry was demolished not long
ago.
UPDATE: For more information on the Coventry Duryeas see Duryeas
1903-1904 in article 2.
PEORIA, ILLINOIS USA:
Targeted search: 1898 through 1900
Estimated production at this time - less than 20 cars
READING, PENNSYLVANIA USA:
SALES BROCHURES:
QUOTES FROM SALES BROCHURES:
1901 brochure....Terms net f.o.b. Reading, Pa., payable 20% with order, balance when delivered.
Second-Hand Machines(1901 brochure)....We frequently find opportunity to exchange one of our machines for a different size, an older pattern, or another make, so we are often able to offer a bargain in a second-hand vehicle. Purchasers wishing a good machine at a low price may therefore often secure a bargain. Write for descriptions.
If you are doing research on a particular vehicle, the two quotes above contain more information than might appear at first glance.
DURYEA POWER CARRIAGES (Coventry, England):
Material - courtesy A.J. Gallagher
STOCK PROSPECTUS DATED JULY 29, 1902:
Quotes from Prospectus:
Referring to cars shipped from the U.S.A....Mr. Sturmey has held the agency for the Duryea Power Company for the last eight months for the purpose of thoroughly testing the actual running of the cars, and those he has delivered have given satisfaction.
Referring to Charles and events after the Brighton to London Run....Having since fully completed the most thorough further working experiments and test, he founded in the year 1900 the Duryea Power Company, at Reading, Pa.,U.S.A., and his latest cars have been recognised by the Hon. C.S. Rolls and other experts as the best in America.
STYLES PICTURED IN PROSPECTUS:
DURYEAS ABROAD:
It is stated in 1905 Duryea literature that buyers had been found
in Great Britain, Japan, China, South Africa and Mexico.
Image of a 3 Cylinder Duryea Surrey in Old Japan.
DURYEA INVENTORY, February
1907:
Pennsylvania Trust Co., receivers for
Duryea Power Company from Feb. 15 to June 25, 1907
NOTE: material courtesy Ralph Dunwoodie.
Lowest serial no. on second hand machine was #195. Highest serial no. on incomplete vehicle was #346. Highest serial no. on body frame was #351. On the list was a wagon with a rotary valve engine (replaced with standard engine) and a Double Victoria.
There was a car listed as " new " but it was a 1905 that someone had made a down payment on and never made final payment. The car never left the factory.
THE YEAR 1908:
Sometimes physical probability and historical accounts conflict.
It makes matters even worse when historical accounts of the same
subject are contradictory themselves. This brings us to the year
1908. Were there any 3 Cylinder vehicles produced (started and/or
completed) and/or sold in 1908? At this time, I believe that a 3
Cylinder Duryea was sold in 1908 but the possible production of
one is unclear to me. At this point, I am going to leave this
matter in the hands of the historians. If anyone has any evidence
that a 1908 Three Cylinder Duryea exist today, please let me
know.
LETTERS OF CHARLES E. DURYEA:
Anyone doing research on a particular vehicle
should read these excerpts from letters carefully.
QUOTE FROM LETTER:
.....I had already been operating in Peoria, Ills., in a small way for over two years and brought with me the assets accumulated there. These represented an investment of $10,000.00 cash plus much time, so I was to have $10,000.00 of the $25,000.00, for these assets. The time they would save assured a splendid return. I was assured that the $15,000.00 would be used solely to produce a number of " simple cars " with which to prove cost of production in small lots, salability at a profit and satisfaction to the customers and further assure that, the three things shown, I would be given all the men, money and tools required for mass production by contracting for the parts and assembling.
JUMP SPARK:
NOTE: ref. The Anatomy Of The Automobile (Dr. A.L. Dyke, 1908)
Duryea Vehicles
Material courtesy David Berckmueller
The information in the above reference material does not mention a year model or the number of cylinders in the engines; but based on the date of the publication, reference to the 3-wheelers and use of the phrase " One hand does it all ", I am reasonably sure this article is on the 3 Cylinder Duryeas.
It just simply says ( page 176) that Duryeas would be equipped with Jump Spark instead of the preferred make-and-break system if so ordered.
Information in the above mentioned reference material also helps explain the magneto drive pulley referred to in the 1902 sales brochure. See section on " Duryeas in 1902 ", article 2.
ENGINE BLOCK AND EXHAUST
CHANGES:
On a recent trip to the Boyertown Museum, I had the privilege of
meeting Kenneth D. Wells, II and Paul Hafer. I also had the
opportunity to compare the engine in their 1904 Phaeton with any
earlier engine in their other 3 Cylinder Duryea. The 04 engine
had the exhaust chamber/manifold on the bottom of engine and the
early engine had the exhaust chamber/manifold on the top of
engine. I crawled under the car with the early engine and could see no way to attach a
exhaust chamber/manifold to the bottom of this engine. There also
is a distinct difference in the engine block casting on top side
of the cylinders. It is obvious to me that the block was changed
at the same time the exhaust chamber/manifold was moved to the
bottom of engine. In my opinion, this change took place in late
1901 or early 1902. Knowing Charles' ways as I do, he probably
had the design for this new block ready in early 1901, may be
even by late 1900. The patterns for this new block were probably
made and first blocks poured in late 1901 or early 1902. If
anyone in Berks County, Pa. has the desire and interest to help
in this matter, it would be nice to know when and where the first
of these new blocks were poured.
RADIATORS:
3 Cylinder Duryeas had two basic radiator designs. One consisted
of a large water tank and heat was radiated through the surface
area of the tank. The second consisted of a reservoir/tank and a
remote nest of cooling coils that helped radiate the heat. The
location of the tank, reservoir and cooling coils changed often;
but these changes can help determine the approximate date of a
vehicle. It also appears at this time that Charles started
experimenting with water pumps on the 1904 models. In later
years, the total weight and passenger capacity of the vehicle
played a part in whether a water pump was installed or not.
The coiling coils on some 4-wheeled vehicles were recessed into the front seat box and some were what I call in this web site out-front. By out-front I mean they were completely in front of the body and visible from the side of the vehicle. Some vehicles had the cooling coils under the body.
PATENTS:
Already issued (US):
Ref: Sales Brochure dated August 15, 1903
Material courtesy Robin Ventner, Grout Museum
No. 649,441, May 15, 1900....No. 653,224, July 10, 1900....No. 655,922, August 14, 1900....No. 657,526, September 11, 1900.... No.664,841, January 1, 1901
OBSERVATION (car color and upholstery) by Rhea, Charles
Duryea's oldest daughter.
Material courtesy of Jonathan D. Fuller ( great great grandson of
Charles E. Duryea ) and family.
I seldom drove a finished car. The finished cars were to be sold. The unfinished cars had a first coat of gray paint; the leather upholstered seats and back were thrown in, and off I would go with a schoolmate.
NOTE (site host): The "first coat" of paint that Rhea was referring to could have been an undercoating or primer coat. In the preparation of my own car body for repainting, I uncovered a base coat that had a charcoal to medium gray color and very odd properties for a paint. Every solvent I used on this base coat dissolved it quickly.
NOTE:
Below you will find 22 body styles that I actually have
pictures
of and 4 I do not, for a total of 26 styles. I am sure this list
will
grow with time. Speciality units like the Gun Carriage are not
included.
TRAP:
LIGHT DELIVERY:
PHAETON:
VIS-A-DOS: (all 4-wheeled)
SURREY: (all 4-wheeled)
TONNEAU: (all 4-wheeled)
HANSOM: (all 4-wheeled)
PARKWAGON: (all 4-wheeled)
BROUGHAM: (all 4-wheeled)
WAGGONETTE: (all 4-wheeled)
DOUBLE VICTORIA: (all 4-wheeled)
Papa's Barn - Fayetteville, N.C.
NOTE:
Many references are only named and acknowledgments only made
within articles and with images. General References are listed
below.
GENERAL REFERENCES (may or may not be named within articles):
LANGUAGE CONSULTANTS:
William G. Warren
CONTENTS THIS PAGE:
Welcome (top of
page)....................How Many And
Where?
3 Cylinder Duryea Automobile........ Sponsors
References
.................................... 3-cylinder Duryea Body Styles
![[Home Icon]](buthome.gif){kind=small}