1909 Overland Model 30 Tonneau

Claude E. Cox, a recent college engineering graduate, was hired by Charles Minshall, president of the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute, IN in 1902. He was tasked with designing and overseeing the production of a new automobile. Cox had very little experience with automobiles, especially considering his age and the infancy of the automobile marketplace. His only previous automobile experience was a four-wheeler he had devised out of a motorized tricycle for his senior thesis project. Despite this lack of experience, he came up with an advanced little car for its day.

In the fall of 1902, on a coffee break, Minshall and Cox came up with the name, Overland. The Overland Auto Company was organized on March 31, 1906. John North Willys, an auto dealer in Elmira, NY, took over the Overland Company for the 1908 production year. Production of the Overland continued until 1927 when it was superseded by the short-lived Whipped. The company, however, continued production under the Willy's name. The Overland name returned in 139 for a line of low-priced four-cylinder vehicles, but this was a short-lived endeavor. It later evolved into the Willys Americar by 1941.

This Overland Model 30 Touring Tonneau is finished in navy blue with a black leather interior and is fitted with brass accessories. Power is from a four-cylinder engine offering 30 horsepower and mated to a planetary transmission which is located in the rear, just ahead of the differential. It is currently on display in the William E. Swigart Jr. Automobile Museum collection. It was donated in mid-May 2004 by Dennis Milstein, of Gladwyne, PA. It is one of only 4,907 Overlands produced in 1909. While in Mr. Milstein's care, the car was given a meticulous restoration

The car's original owner was J.V. Bollinger who purchased it in 1909, from the Overland dealer in Fort Scott, Kansas, for around $1,000.