1905 REO Two-Cylinder Detachable Tonneau

Ransom Eli Olds was successful in selling his Curved Dash Oldsmobile, but when he resisted dropping it in favor of a more modern, expensive automobile he was forced out of his own company by his principal investor, Samuel Smith, and his sons, Frederic and Angus, who were managing the Olds Motor Works. The Smiths felt the future lay in larger, more expensive cars, while Olds were committed to more economical vehicles. Unable to use the Oldsmobile name, he started a new company using his initials.

In August of 1904, Ransom E. Olds founded the Reo Company. The REO Company manufactured automobiles and trucks from 1905 through 1936. The first REO car was completed that October and exhibited at the New York Auto Show in January 1905. This 16-horsepower, twin-cylinder car sold for $1,250, and it was soon joined by a smaller single-cylinder sibling, with an engine just half its size and priced at $650. By 1906, sales had surged past Oldsmobiles.

In 1907, the REO Company was one of the top four automobile manufacturers in the United States, based on sales. After 1908, the demise of the REO Company began due to competition from Ford and General Motors.

This particular two-cylinder REO was built soon after manufacture commenced on October 15, 1904. It wears an older, well-cared-for restoration. It has correct and authentic brass, including a center-mounted spotlight with a dash-mounted carbide generator, a running board-mounted Sunlyte carbide generator for the Gray & Davis headlights and matching side lights and taillights, and a clock, speedometer, and bulb horn.

To make the vehicle safer for modern driving, the car has been fitted with brass electric turn signals. A modern electric starter was added for convenience and stress-free driving.

It is believed that this car was in the previous owner's family for over five decades. It has been in California since the 1950s.

Power is from a horizontally opposed L-head two-cylinder engine displacing 35.4 cubic inches and offering 16 horsepower. There is a two-speed planetary transmission and two-wheel mechanical drum brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2014