1906 Stevens Duryea Model R Touring

J. Frank Duryea, known for building one of America's first gasoline engine automobiles with his brother, Charles, in 1893, joined the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Co. in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in 1901 to produce Stevens-Duryea automobiles. The Model R was their first four-cylinder car and was produced from 1905 to 1908. The 20-horsepower engine is equipped with a selective sliding gear transmission with three speeds. The wheelbase is 90 inches, and the tires are 30 x 3.5 inches. The car weighs 2,000 lbs and sold new with a top for $2,600. The standard color was Brewster Green, but for $300 less, it would be delivered in primer, allowing the owner to have it painted any color. This car, along with another like it, was in the San Francisco dealer's showroom in April 1906 when the earthquake destroyed most of the city. Both cars have survived and are among the eight 1906 Model R cars known today.