1911 Chalmers Model 30 Pony Tonneau

The Chalmers Motor Car Company was founded in 1908 when Roy D. Chapin invited Hugh Chalmers of the National Cash Register Company to join him in acquiring the E.R. Thomas-Detroit Company, manufacturer of the famous Thomas Flyer, to form Chalmers Motor Company. The company flourished building expensive cars through the 1910s but faltered during the 1922 postwar recession. Walter P. Chrysler combined Chalmers with the Maxwell Automobile Company in 1922 to become the basis for the Chrysler Corporation. The Chalmers factory on East Jefferson Avenue was used as a manufacturing building for the now-demolished Chrysler Jefferson plant.

The engine was designed by Howard Coffin, and its 4-cylinder cast-in-block engine features a ball-bearing crankshaft and overhead intake valve with side exhaust valves (F-Head). The body is the same as a roadster body from the front of the car to the rear of the front seat. It is lower than the touring car body of the same year. It rides on a 115-inch wheelbase, and the low height made it a sport-touring car. The original purchase price was $1,600.

This Model Thirty has its original chassis frame, engine, and Pony Tonneau body. The Chalmers was originally restored by its owner at the time, the late Leslie Henry. Ownership later passed through the hands of John McAnlis, Bob Hannaford, and finally, Ted Beebe of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Mr. Beebe performed the car's current restoration, during which time its engine was rebuilt for touring with higher-compression pistons and hardened valve seats. At that time, the car was given an electric starter, full-flow oil filter, and a new Dick Runyan radiator, as well as hydraulic brakes in the rear and electric lights for road safety.