1917 Locomobile Model 48 Chauffeur Coupe

This automobile was owned by the Day Family for 59 years. Commissioned by Mr. Day as a gift for his sister, it was designed by J. Frank deCausse and built by Healey & Co of New York City in 1916. The tapered rear end of this distinctive car gets its name from the streamlined shape of a World War I battleship. The price tag was $7,353, roughly equaling about $137,000 today. Mrs. Day-Boyce was shy about being chauffeur-driven around Wallace, Idaho, so the car accumulated a mere 2,400 miles during the family's ownership. After Mrs. Day's death, the car was stored in her silver mine until it was purchased in 1975 by The Harrah Collection in Reno, Nevada. It has been in a private collection since 1981.

This 1917 Locomobile Model 48 Gunboat Cabriolet was ordered by Eugene Day of Wallace, Idaho, as a gift to his sister Eleanor Day Boyce on the occasion of her 50th birthday. Delivery occurred on December 23rd of 1916 to a dealer in Spokane, Washington, with a chassis price of $4,600 and its 'Special Cabriolet Convertible Body' adding another $2,650 to its cost. Its one-off coachwork was designed by J. Frank de Causse who led Locomobile's Custom Body Department following his tenure at Kellner in Paris.

The coachwork was created by Healey of New York with several unique features, including a single door on the right side providing access to the passenger compartment equipped with a forward-positioned driver's seat and a pair of adjustable lounge seats for passengers. The cabriolet top allows the car to be configured as an enclosed coupe, an open cabriolet, or with the roof open above the driver. A single person can operate the top, thanks to the roof assembly which employs concealed springs to counter-balance the weight of the mechanism.

For fifty-eight years, the car was cared for by the Day family chauffeur, who stored it in a heated building or a silver mine shaft, protecting it from the elements. It passed to Harrah's Automobile Collection in 1975 and was then acquired by enthusiast Stephen Dean in September 1981. While in Mr. Dean's care, a restoration began in 1986, with gray wool fabric being new old stock material acquired by Phil Hill in Paris. During a 1988 trip to England, Mr. Dean acquired specially tanned leather produced for exterior applications from Connolly and used this to finish the convertible top. The car was finished in midnight paintwork with black fenders highlighted with cream wheels and trim. Upon completion, it was displayed at the 1996 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and returned in 2007, where it received a second-place class award.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2021