1908 Success Model C Auto Buggy

The Success Auto-Buggy Manufacturing Company was founded by John C. Higdon in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906. They emulated a buggy design Higdon had created in 1896. They were essentially a buggy with a 2/3 horsepower single-cylinder engine mounted on the right side of the wooden frame and body driving the rear wheels through a chain drive mechanism. These high-wheeled gasoline-powered buggies appealed to skeptical farmers who had to traverse deeply rutted tracks. Success was one of the few high-wheeler manufacturers to adopt the steering wheel and mount it in the middle of the boxy body in front of the buggy seat, just where a farmer would have sat when driving a horse. This helped make the transition easier and the prospect of driving something that did not require being fed after the journey was completed. In keeping with its buggy persona, the Success High Wheeler had a center-pivot front axle for steering.

In 1907, the company augmented the side-mounted single-cylinder engine with a more conventional horizontally opposed two-cylinder unit mounted below the floorboards. It drove through a planetary gearbox to a double chain drive to the rear wheels. In 1907, the engines were rated at ten horsepower. In 1908 and 1909, that figure rose to 12 horsepower. 1909 would be the final year of production for the Success Company.

This example is a 1908 or 1909 Model C with an opposed twin-cylinder engine. It has been owned by the Miller Carriage Collection for many years and is largely original and unrestored. The wood body and frame are sound, and the upholstery on the buckboard seat and dashboard appears original. There is a pair of kerosene side lights.

In 2013, the car was offered for sale at Bonhams Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for $18,400, including the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2013