1913 National Series V Semi-Racing Roadster

The National Motor Vehicle of Indianapolis built great cars in their time. It initially opened as an electric car manufacturer, but by 1906, the firm was building large and expensive gas-powered cars. In 1909, Nationals raced and placed well on the dirt at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway. National fielded three cars for the inaugural 1911 500-mile race on the brick-paved Indy track, with one finishing seventh. In 1912, a National piloted by Joe Dawson won the second annual Indy 500 averaging 78.2 MPH.

A 1917 National brochure claimed that the National cars entered in races were 'the regular product such as were sold every day,' which meant that 'every National motor must duplicate in efficiency and power the performance that was evidenced' during races. 'We want you to 'get' this,' exclaimed the National advertisements, 'it is worth knowing.'

In 1913 and 1914, National cataloged a Speedway Roadster and a Semi-Racing Speedster on their 128-inch wheelbase four-cylinder Series V frame. The sporty two-passenger Series V Semi-Racing Roadster has a 450 cubic-inch T-Head inline 4-cylinder engine, single Stromberg carburetor, 3-speed sliding gear selective manual gearbox, internal expanding rear drum brakes, rigid front axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs, and full-floating rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs. It retailed at $2,750.

Until the current owner discovered this 1913 National Semi-Racing Roadster in the Blue Mountains, it was believed there was only one Semi-Racing Roadster in existence from their five-year-long production run (1910-1915). This vehicle is 100 percent original and had 22,000 miles on it when the current owner purchased it from the first owner in 2000. The roadster is one of 60 custom-built Nationals produced in 1913.