1905 Pope-Toledo Type IV Roi des Belges Tonneau

Pope-Toledo cars were manufactured between 1903 and 1909 and just 15 cars are known to exist today. The Pope Manufacturing Company was one of the larger car manufacturers, offering five primary lines of automobiles: the Pope-Toledo, the Pope-Hartford, the Pope-Tribune, the Pope-Waverley, and the Pope-Robinson as well as Pope motorcycles and Pope bicycles. Pope-Toledo hit the headlines in 1904 when Herbert Lytle piloted a 24-horsepower model to third place in the Vanderbilt Cup Race. Pope used this in period advertising, referring to this car as the 'Mile-a-Minute Car.'

This vehicle was once owned by the Ford family. The current caretakers bought this 40-horsepower Pope-Toledo in 1984. The car was shown at Pebble Beach in 1990 after having been completely restored. Though it is a 1905 model, it was built in late 1904. Accordingly, it has participated in the London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Club run a number of times. This Roi-des-Belges style was first seen on a 1901 Panhard et Levassor built by the Rothschild et Cie coachworks for Leopold II of Belgium at the suggestion of Leopold's mistress, Cleo de Merode. The double phaeton's bulbous sides are similar to a tulip and, continuing the garden theme, this car is painted in the color of a petunia.