1915 Oakland 37 Speedster - latest acquistion

Hi all,

I just purchased this car. I saw the proportions and I had to have it. 112" Wheelbase. I love the V-Radiator and side shifters. Well balanced. This car resided in NZ for quite sometime, now sits in my garage in Rhode Island. Joe P, come over and take a lookie.

It looks like a NZ registration tag below left headlight. The registration year would be shown on that. Oakland seems to have been fairly common here.

Yes, very nice lines and a pretty car....so many attempts at speedsters go awry in the design and construction phase, but as you say, this one has a very nice period balance......

Very nice Tom, can we have a peek under the hood?

Now you need to sell that "T" Speedster Tom.

Now you need to sell that "T" Speedster Tom.

Oh my, nothing so drastic, Tom!! All I am trying to do is help you out with space issues, as you know it would fit nicely in my garage... Mrs. Mack loves the Oakland, BTW.

That's one nice looking car. Congrats.

Very nice!

That is one well-designed speedster. Just the right proportions. When you get a chance, can upload a picture of the rear of the car? I'd like to see the gas tank/trunk/spare tire. So many speedster designs seem to give up at this point and end up looking ragged. Your car handles it very well.

Nice looking car, I would like to see some photos of the rear deck as well. That looks like it was well designed.

Here are some photos of the car, along side the 1913 Oldsmobile Defender. Olds WB is 116" and the Oakland is 112".

Very nice, Thank you.

Testing out a suction cup mount for my camera.

Nice! Tom

I especially like the parts where you can hear the sounds of the motor.

Dwight

LOL... I liked it when he was shoulder checking to make sure the camera was still there! Looks like the suction cup worked... nice riding car too.

Thats just to much darn fun.

Enjoy that car.
It used to belong to my Dad in NZ during the 1980s and 90s. It goes pretty quick ... I fondly remember the confused look of folks in other cars as we passed them on the NZ highways. Definitely a fun car - except a bit breezy when going at speed. Sorry I don't have any of the photos of it at the time to upload. But I'm glad its gone to someone who appreciates it. :)

That's a very nice job with the gas tank and rear deck. It isn't easy to work out a design that looks comfortable on a 112" chassis. It appears well finished enough to almost be real.

The guy who built it is still around in NZ. I had some correspondence with him when this first appeared here.

The style was influenced by the Mercer Model J, and he was unaware, until I told him, just how small the Mercer was. He had always thought it was quite a big car, but if course the Mercer wheelbase is only 108" and it is on 32 x 4 tyres.

Nice car Tom, certainly a different piece from your "T" or American-LaFrance speedsters.

Al

On 8/26/2018 at 7:32 PM, nzcarnerd said:

The guy who built it is still around in NZ. I had some correspondence with him when this first appeared here.

 

The style was influenced by the Mercer Model J, and he was unaware, until I told him, just how small the Mercer was. He had always thought it was quite a big car, but if course the Mercer wheelbase is only 108" and it is on 32 x 4 tyres.

Would you be able to put me in contact with the builder?  

1 minute ago, Tom Laferriere said:

Would you be able to put me in contact with the builder?  

I will see what I can do.

I have decided to sell this great Speedster after 7 years of ownership and enjoyment.  I am asking $34,500 and its located in Smithfield, RI

Chassis no. 383999
Engine no. X75381

40 hp, 192.4 cu. in. Northway L-head inline four-cylinder engine, three-speed manual transmission, solid front axle, semi-elliptical front and 3/4-elliptical rear leaf spring suspension, and rear-wheel drum brakes. Wheelbase: 112 in.

Oakland is well-remembered as one of the founding marques of General Motors and as the parent of the “junior” Pontiac. Its Brass Era models were noted for their attractive styling, relative lightness, and good performance, especially evident in the Model 37 of 1915 – a fine basis for speedster bodywork, with a rakish vee’d radiator that added a bit of extra dash.

According to Oakland historian Wayne Koffel, this particular Model 37 was an export model, shipped as a knocked-down kit of parts to either Australia or New Zealand, where it was assembled for that market. Its status as an export model explains the anachronistic features such as right-hand-drive, which had by 1915 been obsolete on home-market Oaklands for two years.

The car’s history is known back to the mid-1960s, when it was acquired at a Vintage Car Club of New Zealand rally in Hawkes Bay by Bob Mansbridge. After several years of planning but not accomplishing the restoration, he sold the car to fellow enthusiasts Roger and Diane White, who took on Mansbridge’s dream of rebuilding the Oakland in the mold of a Mercer Raceabout.

The original tourer body was changed out for this dramatic speedster coachwork, with a body, tank, and mudguards that the talented Mr. White crafted himself; he also cast his own monocle windshield, mounted on a lowered cowl with a mahogany dashboard. He learned panelbeating at a local technical school in order to make the seats from scratch, while the rear of the body was formed by a boatbuilder friend. The steering column was shifted back by rotating the spring hanger, the gearshift was relocated outside the car for the proper look, and the rear springs were moved atop the frame, to lower it and produce a more rakish appearance. Several period photos accompany the car, showing it both as-found and in use following its completion.

Upon its completion, “Oaky” was driven by the Whites in the 1972 International Rally and in many other events in their home country over the next several years, recognized by the various badges found on the car today. It was eventually sold in the late 1980s in favor of a more practical classic for their growing family, and wound up being sold in Auckland to an American serving in the Antarctic; the Whites recalled hearing that the new owner flew it home to the States aboard a C-130 Hercules.

Eventually the car was inherited by a gentleman in Long Island, who sold it to the current owner several years ago. The owner reports that the car runs and drives well, and strongly, and that it has been wonderfully fun to own and enjoy. Durable and well-engineered in the best Oakland tradition, it boasts the highly compliment to be given a Brass Era speedster: it is as well-proportioned and attractive as the Mercer that its body apes.