Brougham

Electric cars represented a significant part of the automobile market in the earliest days. As today, electrics suffered from a lack of range. However, in urban applications, their convenient operation was superior to steam cars, which required a long wait to build up steam and hand-cranked gasoline engines, which were difficult and dangerous to start. Kettering's invention of the electric starter in 1912 spelled the end of electricity and steam as viable alternatives to gasoline engines for the next century.

The Detroit Electric car was built by the Anderson Electric Car Company and subsequently the Detroit Electric Car Company from 1907 to 1932. Another fifteen cars were assembled until 1939 along with some refurbished cars. During the entire period, 12,690 cars were produced, of which only 1,450 were built after 1920 as electrics dropped from fashion. The cars had an advertised range of 80 miles between charges. The top speed was only 20 mph which was considered adequate for city driving. Women were the primary customers.

This B 95 Brougham has spent many years in museums, including the Sloan Museum in Flint, Michigan. It is one of only 48 Detroit Electrics built with the Roth brother's motor rather than the Elwell Parker motors typically used. Only three are known to survive.

This vehicle was purchased by the current owner in 2010 from Bill Mitchell of the Mitchell Bentley Corporation. It had been in the Mitchell Museum and been on loan to the Sloan Museum in Flint, Michigan, for many years.

While it was purchased as a 1922, further research found it to be a 1925 due to the rare Roth Brothers motor, only 49 were ever produced using it from late 1924 through early 1925. This car was shipped April 9, 1925, and was sold in Philadelphia. It is one of only three cars known to exist with the Roth motor. Mitchell had been told by the previous owner that the first owner was a relative of Thomas Edison, but it cannot be proven true.

The paint and interior required some work, but to make this unique car drivable, it was necessary for the current owners to restore the major battery compartment, mechanical and electrical work, and wheel work.