1905 Thomas Flyer

Sold for $220,000 at 2015 RM Sotheby's Hershey Auction.
Thomas was a Buffalo, New York manufacturer created by Erwin R. Thomas. From 1903 through 1918, they produced automobiles with their landmark achievement being the winners of the epic 1908 New York to Paris race. Their first production car was the single-cylinder eight-horsepower Model 17. The following year, in 1904, a new 'Flyer' model was introduced powered by a three-cylinder 24-horsepower engine and was available with either a tonneau or limousine body. This was followed a year later with four-cylinder models. Later in 1905, Thomas joined Franklin as one of the first American manufacturers to build a six. 1906, the company competed for both the Glidden Trophy and the Vanderbilt Cup.

Between 1904 and 1905, the E.R. Thomas Company shipped more than 600 vehicles.

This particular example is a Model 25 Five Passenger touring car. It is believed to be the car that William Harrah coveted but was never able to buy. It was on exhibit in Albert Garganigo's Princeton Auto Museum in Massachusetts in the early 1960s. The museum closed in 1963, and shortly thereafter, it found its way with the majority of Garganigo's cars to Eugene Zimmerman in Pennsylvania. It spent some time in the Imperial Palace collection before it was purchased by Harold Coker in 1999.

The engine displaces 432 cubic inches and is rated at 40 horsepower. It has intake valves above the exhaust valves in what could be called an F-head. The cylinders are separately cast without detachable heads. The exhaust valves operate conventionally from a camshaft on the left side, but the intake valves are 'atmospheric,' relying on pressure and vacuum at the appropriate parts of the combustion cycle, working without any mechanical activation. The carburetor is located on the right, below the chassis frame, and out of sight. The fuel-air mixture then ascends through a long copper conduit up and over the engine to be deposited above the intake valves. An exhaust cutout is fitted in aid of maximum performance but also for effect. There is a three-speed manual transmission, double-chain drive, and two-wheel mechanical drum brakes. The aluminum-cased, three-speed progressive transmission is separate from the engine, located approximately amidships.