1920 Stevens Duryea Model E

The Duryea Motor Wagon Company was founded in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in 1895 by brothers Charles E and J Frank Duryea, and was the United States' first dedicated to the manufacture of gasoline-powered cars, having tested its first such automobile - also America's first - in 1893. A Duryea driven by J. Frank and his brother in 1895 won the Chicago Times-Herald contest, the first automobile race held in the United States. A year later, production of the Duryea automobile commenced, making them America's first commercially produced car. On the subject of 'firsts,' a Duryea automobile was the first vehicle in America to be recorded in a car accident when in 1896, a New Yorker named Henry Wells hit a cyclist. The cyclist broke his leg, and Wells spent a night in jail.

In 1896, two Duryea motor cars were shipped to the United Kingdom for the first London to Brighton Emancipation Run, one of which, driven by J Frank, was the first to arrive in Brighton, crossing the finish line more than an hour ahead of its next competitor. Duryea's participation in this event marked the first appearance of American motor vehicles in Europe.

During the years 1902 to 1904, Stevens-Duryea Model L cars set six records in competitive events, including races at Providence, Rhode Island, and Ormond Beach, Florida, a 500-mile New York to Boston trek, and hill climbs at Eagle Rock Hill in New Jersey, Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, and New Hampshire's Mount Washington.

The brothers had a falling out, and the partnership dissolved, with Charles E. moving to Reading, Pennsylvania, where production of Duryea motor cars recommenced in 1900. J. Frank aligned with J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company of Chicopee Falls, where his new prototype, originally built under the Hampden brand name, commenced production in 1901 as the Stevens-Duryea.

The first Stevens-Duryea automobile was a tiller-steered runabout riding on wire wheels and equipped with a twin-cylinder, horizontal engine offering five horsepower and priced at $1,200. The company produced sixty-one cars in 1902 and four hundred and eighty-three in 1903. Development was ongoing, and significant changes in 1904 resulted in a new designation, the Model L. It used a tubular chassis and was powered by a horizontal twin engine with six horsepower and installed amidship. It had fully elliptic springing, wire wheels, a three-speed-plus-reverse gearbox, and tried-and-true tiller steering. The Model L weighed 1,300lb (590kg) and sold for $1,250.

Further development resulted in a four-cylinder model for 1905 with 20 horsepower, while a 50-horsepower shaft-driven six arrived the following year, the final year of runabout production. Still in its infancy, the company had fostered a reputation for its high-quality motor cars that were accompanied by equally impressive price tags, ranking among the more expensive vehicles on the market. Production approximately 100 cars per year, the company specialized in large touring cars and limousines.

Production stopped in 1915 due to financial problems, and the Stevens-Duryea plant was sold to the New England Westinghouse Company, which need the facility for war work. After World War II, the name and rights of Stevens-Duryea were acquired by several former employees, and production restarted in 1919.

The new 1919 Stevens-Duryea vehicle was known as the Model D and came equipped with a six-cylinder engine delivering 46 horsepower. The Vestibule Limousine and Sedan body styles were priced at $9,500, well above the average wage of $3,300 in the United States. The company limped along through the 1920s under various changes of ownership and reorganization, eventually shuttering its doors in 1927.

The 1920 Stevens-Duryea Model E rested on a 138-inch wheelbase and was equipped with an inline six-cylinder T-head engine offering 80 horsepower and backed by a three-speed selective gear transmission. The seven-passenger Tourer and Close-Coupled Sport Tourer listed at $8,000, while the four-passenger sedan and Vestibule limousine listed for $9,500.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2022