1908 Holsman Highwheeler

Sold for $45,100 at 2010 Gooding and Company - Pebble Beach Auctions.
Based in Chicago, Illinois, Henry Holsman produced Holsman high-wheelers from 1903 through 1910. They may have been the first automaker to build a high-wheeler. The design made it easier to drive over the challenging rural roads of the day. Production during their first year was an impressive 327 units. This increased to 687 the following year, followed by 1,113 vehicles for 1905. This increase in production created a need to expand their plant capacity and to continue working 24 hours a day.

By 1910, his company had entered into receivership. Henry Holsman then moved west to Plano and began producing a vehicle similar to the Holsman, which he called the Independent Harvester.

This Model 10-K Highwheeler is the only known example still in existence. By the late 1940s, the car was still in regular use when it was found on the street in Glendale, California. The car was purchased for $200 and would remain in single-family ownership for the next six decades. The grandson of that buyer would keep the car in good running order and believes that the paint and fenders are original.

This vehicle has period-correct brass bail-handle side lamps, a center-mount brass acetylene headlamp, and a bulb horn. Steering is by tiller and there is original diamond-tufted leather seating.

In 2010, this car was offered for sale at the Gooding & Company auction in Pebble Beach where it was estimated to sell for $80,000 - $120,000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $45,100 including the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2010

Sold for $38,500 at 2015 RM Sotheby's Hershey Auction.
The Holsman Automobile Company of Chicago, IL was formed in 1903 by Henry K. Holsman and his associate, C.H. Bryan. Their high-wheeled vehicles were popular, especially amongst Midwestern farmers, as they could traverse over difficult terrain and through high water. The early Holsman vehicles had a 7/8-inch manila rode for the drive belts. This setup proved problematic in wet weather, so they eventually switched to a canvas-covered chain.

Although many other high-wheel manufacturers evolved into what became conventional car design, with smaller wheels and pneumatic tires, Henry Holsman stuck to high-wheelers exclusively. His company entered receivership in 1910. He made another attempt at a high-wheeler with the Independent Harvester in nearby Plano, Illinois, in 1911, with even less success.

This high-wheel Holsman was delivered new to a doctor in Penn Yann, New York. The current caretaker is its third owner, who purchased it roughly two decades ago from the second owner in Cortland. It was restored shortly after the acquisition.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2015

Sold for $27,500 at 2015 RM Sotheby's Hershey Auction.
This Holsman Model H-11 Touring was purchased by William Ayers of Sussex, New Jersey in 1908. It was delivered to him off a train from the factory in St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Ayers was a salesman for the Honesdale Shoe Company. Mr. Ayers removed the Holsman's rear seat and used the car to haul footwear around Sussex County.

Mr. Ayers's son, R.D., later inherited his father's Holsman, which was then passed to his brother. In April of 1964, it was acquired from its original owner's family by Richard Roy, a resident of the Sussex County town of Branchville. At the time of purchase, the car was in well-preserved as-acquired condition, including a re-installed rear seat. The car was restored in the late 1960s after which it was entered in the 1964 AACA Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania, finishing 2nd in Class 2. The car is believed not to have been shown publicly since but has remained in the Roy Collection for over 50 years.

This Holsman has a leather interior, and brass headlamps and hubcaps. The 100.5 cubic-inch twin-cylinder engine produces 12.8 horsepower and there is a two-speed manual transmission with reverse.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2015