1908 Columbia Electric

Sold for $66,000 at 2012 RM Auctions at Amelia Island, Fla.
Sold for $76,661 (£58,650) at 2019 Bonhams : Goodwood Members Meeting.
Colonel Albert Pope enjoyed much success as a bicycle manufacturer, eventually becoming the nation's largest producer. Following this success, he turned his attention to the automobile. In 1896, he completed an experimental electric car. The following year, he hired Hiram Percy Maix to head the motor carriage department of the Pope Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Before the century's close, the company had built several hundred more electrics under the Columbia name.

The Electric Vehicle Company was started by Isaac L. Rice in New York City. His goal was to build electric taxicabs, which he successfully managed to do, putting several dozen in service and proving their worth during the City's blizzard of 1899. Financier William Collins Whitney took notice and bought the company. Needing a manufacturing base, Collins approached Colonel Pope. The result was the Columbia Automobile Company of Hartford, organized in 1899.

For 1902, the company had nine models of Columbia electrics, including a Victoria and Runabout, plus several other body styles. In addition to the electrics, they also had a single Mark VII gasoline runabout.

In 2012, the car was offered for sale at the RM Auction's Amelia Island sale. It was estimated to sell for $50,000 - $90,000. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $66,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2012