Beginner Brass – Old Cars Weekly

The owners of brass cars probably have more fun than anyone else in the hobby, even if brass cars themselves might make up its most complicated era of automobiles.

The brass era is typically considered as that period from the dawn of the automobile age through the end of 1915. Part of the appeal of cars built in that period is the fact that convention had not yet taken hold in the automotive industry. The internal-combustion engine’s future wasn’t quite clear, and so steam and electric vehicles were also being promoted. However, even the gas-engine cars presented a wide range of choices. The “1908 Handbook of Gasoline Automobiles,” for example, details everything from a single-cylinder Cadillac coupe at $1350, a two-cylinder Northern touring at $1600, to a water-cooled two-stroke three-cylinder Elmore touring at $1750 and an air-cooled four-cylinder Franklin runabout at $1750. It also lists an air-cooled four-cylinder Knox Stanhope at $2500 and a water-cooled six-cylinder Thomas touring at $6000. An incomplete list from just one year, it hints at the difficulty facing a would-be automobile-owner in 1908. A first-time brass-car owner could easily face the same predicament today since it remains possible to find nearly anything within a range comparable to that of 112 years ago. To narrow the choice, the smart choice for a new brass buyer could be an entry-level brass car such as the Model T Ford or the E-M-F 30.