|
The Best of of the EJ Cole Motorcycle AuctionMarch 20-21, 2015 - Las Vegas, Nevada |
Sold for $165,000 on March 21, 2015 This 1906 Indian Tri-Car is perhaps the most charming machine of the E.J. Cole Collection, combining pioneering technology with old-world charm, and giving perhaps the clearest visual link to motorcycling’s 19th century heritage when steam travel, early automobiles, and pioneering motorcycles, were visibly cousins. This Tri-Car is in remarkable, original condition, right down the upholstery, and features front-wheel springing as well as leaf springs for the passenger. The primary drive is a rare option, with the engine shaft sprocket replaced by 16 hardened rollers which act on the countershaft sprocket… which means the engine runs ‘backwards.’ This semi-gear-driven primary drive is enclosed in a handsome aluminum case, and was nicknamed the ‘cornshucker’ drive, as when worn, it tended to whine, and was only offered in 1907-08. This is perhaps the only Tri-Car in the world that retains its original chair and upholstery, and this machine has provided the pattern for several replicas for Tri-Cars which had lost their chairs. |
| 1907 INDIAN TRI-CAR WITH SEDAN CHAIR | |
|
As early as 1906, the Hendee Manufacturing
Co. offered a ‘tri-car’ for customers looking for a little company with
their motorcycling. The concept of the passenger seat behind a rider
made little sense at the time, unless a ‘tandem’ configuration was
copied from the bicycle world. An elegant solution was sorted in the
earliest days of motoring, as three-wheeled moto-cars actually predated
their two- and four-wheeled cousins – in fact, the very first
‘automobile’ was Cugnot’s steam-powered Fardier of 1769, a trike of epic
proportions, which also recorded the first motor-vehicle accident when
it knocked a substantial hole in the local armory’s brick wall. The
three-wheeled path was well laid before 1906 when an Indian could be
ordered with a lovely, deep-button upholstered Victorian easy chair
between the two front wheels. The same chassis could be ordered with a
tradesman’s float in place of the chair, or even as a ‘triplet’ with a
passenger saddle behind the ‘camelback’ fuel tank, and a pair of extra
handlebars emerging from the driver’s saddle… very bicycle indeed. The year 1907 was a big one for Indian, with the arrival of Charles Gustafson in the engineering department, as an assistant to Oscar Hedstrom. Gustafson was already at the forefront of American motorcycle design, having overseen the development of the Reading Standard V-twin, with mechanically operated valves for both inlet and exhaust. Indian had yet to adopt this system, and hiring Gustafson was a smart technical move for the company's future as the popularity of motorcycling increased, and international competition came to the fore. The first year of the Isle of Man TT was 1907, and the opening of the Brooklands race track, and Indian would soon make an enormous impact on both of those venues, and change the course of motorcycle history. |
