Charlie Chaplins 1917 ? Locomobile picture Wanted

[Mark Gregory]

I was reading a book about Charlie Chaplin and his car was a Locomobile 1917 ? I tried looking for a picture but cannot seem to find one . Could someone post a picture of the car for me ? Where did the Locomobile stand as far as prestige in cars manufactured ? Did it have more of an English design as Chaplin was for England ? I understand he was the highest paid person in America in 1916 . $10,000 per week or in 2017 dollars about $12,000,000 per year . Eggs were 25 cents per dozen if the puts things in perspective . Thanks 

Edited April 14, 2017 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[dibarlaw]

Many of the custom cars for Hollywood royalty such as Chaplin were done by the Don Lee studio. One may check on that lead. I remember in one of my Floyd Clymer books that had some reference to the Don Lee Company.

[C Carl]

Lets see about the eggs. Two bits/dozen by the same conversion factor would be the equivalent of about $6.50 ! I had heard from the old folks back when I wasn't one , that for those who didn't produce their own food , it was rather pricey. Yes , they mostly had no bananas ! If you made a Nickle or dime an hour , a living came hard. My Dad swung a hammer in a luggage factory for a while during the depression. 12 - 14 cents an hour. Oops ! Gotta run to the grocery store to load up for tomorrow. Oh , yeah. I think some top level entertainers these days are earning in excess of $12,000,000. Shoulda' been ME , drivin' that Boo -ga - tee !   - Carl

Edited April 14, 2017 by C Carl
Mathematical correction (see edit history)

[Mark Gregory]

I never knew that car showrooms would commission to have a fancy showroom built . Interesting about the Don Lee Company thanks dibarlaw .

http://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat2001001179.asp

[Rusty_OToole]

 Locomobile was made in Bridgeport Connecticut, it was the most expensive car made in America. Usually chauffeur driven, they were cars for millionaires, tycoons and movie stars.

 

A Locomobile 48 model had a six cylinder engine that displaced 525 cu in and developed 90HP. In those days a Ford had 20HP and if you had a 40HP car, that was a powerful car. Multiply these numbers by 10 for a modern comparison.

 

Locomobile rode on a wheelbase of 142" almost 3 feet longer than a Chev Suburban. They cost $7500 which would be about $140,000 in today's money.

 

See a 1920 Locomobile in action. Locomobile changed very slowly, so this would be practically the same as a 1917. Remember every Locomobile was custom built to order.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[C Carl]

Pics I shot inside Don Lee , 'Frisco.  - CC

 

[Grimy]

Carl, you know better:  DON'T CALL IT 'FRISCO'!!!!  :-)

 

George

[C Carl]

Yeah , I know. Isn't that the attitude that overly protective Easterners , recent arrivals , take upon settling into the Barbary Coast ? But I am sure that Tony Bennett would never have sung : "I left my heart in good old 'Frisco" , although it has the proper amount of syllables ? But wait a minute ? Tony Bennett ? East Coasterner , right ? To make amends for my indecent liberties , I include those pics I shot while hangin' out in Ritchie's shop last year in 'Vegas. To bracket Charlie's '17 Loco' between the '20 Rusty gave us , here's an enormous '14 Loco' Limo'. Now this thing is much bigger than the pics present it to be. I'm sure it is over 7' high. There is another of these. I posted under Pre-16 below last year , and the guys came up with another grey one , previously thought to be unique by some. You will get a kick out of it , siting on Westinghouse hydro-pneumatics. I think it shows the scale better also. George , I am frustrated in my attempts to get on the road now. I am planning on visiting my nephew in San Carlos , and want to visit you across the  bridge. I am sure you know some nice drives we can take in the hills. We can look over the Bay , and look across to 'Fri , oops , I mean "The City".    -  C' Carl

 

[C Carl]

O.K. , I brought the grey one to the top way , way down under Horseless Carriages (Pre-1916). Check it out , guys.  - Carl

[Rusty_OToole]

Look how small it makes that 1 ton truck look lol.

[C Carl]

Yeah , that cast aluminum body with the seam in the roof is quite advanced compared to anything else I know of from 1914. It is probably accurate to say that most people living in 1914 remembered the world as a horse-drawn one. That and steam trains and the wonder of the new flying machines. Then along comes a contraption like this ! How incredibly modern ! Fast , if you could find a road to do it. Comfortable and luxurious. Just doesn't get any better than that !   - Carl

[John_S_in_Penna]

9 hours ago, C Carl said:

Pics I shot inside Don Lee...

 

Great pictures of the old showroom, Carl!

Am I correct that the building is in good repair and taken care of?

 

In 1917, Locomobile was indeed one of America's most expensive cars.

According to my Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942,

Pierce was in the same price class, but its top end (for the Model 66)

went even higher.  Here is a sampling of the high-priced cars for 1917:

 

Pierce-Arrow $4800 to $8000  [equivalent to $90,000 to $150,000 today.]  

Locomobile  $4600 to $6500   [$86,000 to $122,000, but their prices may

     have gone higher, since they were an early purveyor of custom-bodied cars.]

Cunningham  $3750 to $5000

Daniels  $3750 to $5000

Packard  $2865 to $5650

Cadillac  $2240 to $3910

Peerless $1960 to $3350

 

Can you imagine an American car today--and a routine

everyday body style, not a sports car--whose CHEAPEST

model was $90,000?

Edited April 14, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[motoringicons]

Although not Charlie Chaplin's Locomobile, here is the Locomobile 48 used in the movie Chaplin and driven by Robert Downey who played Chaplin. I remember seeing this car in the Bothwell collection when I was a kid. By the way, the movie Chaplan is worth seeing. Well done and lots of great cars-many of which came from the Bothwell collection and other prominent SoCal collectors.

 

http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1920-locomobile-48-sportif/

Edited April 14, 2017 by motoringicons (see edit history)

[motoringicons]

Here is a Youtube video about the movie. In this video, there are some scenes with the above pictured Locomobile 48.

 

 

[Grimy]

10 hours ago, C Carl said:

George , I am frustrated in my attempts to get on the road now. I am planning on visiting my nephew in San Carlos , and want to visit you across the  bridge. I am sure you know some nice drives we can take in the hills. We can look over the Bay , and look across to 'Fri , oops , I mean "The City".    -  C' Carl

 

Hi Carl, I'll send you a PM with my short "away" schedule.  Let's go for a spin in my New Toy (even after 15 months, it's still 'new' to me, despite 1,800 miles in my first 10 months of ownership, and affords more smiles per mile than any other car I've ever had, the 1918 Pierce-Arrow 48-B-5 5-p touring.  Like the Loco 48, it's 4.5 x 5.5 bore and stroke for 525 cubic inches, BUT the 5th series had dual valves (4 valves per cylinder) which resulted in a 40% bhp increase to at least 110.  It stands 7'8" with top up (measured on the high side) although the Salesman's Data Book says 7'4".  Its base price at Buffalo was $6,400 and closed cars were substantially more (>$8,000).  Since most people don't have the inflation calculator accessible, I usually describe the cost as that of SEVENTEEN new Model T Ford touring cars.  Here's a photo from almost 10 years ago before I acquired it--but had been drooling over it since 1998.

[Grimy]

My apologies for hijacking the thread in favor of Pierces, but the Loco-Pierce competitive instincts run strong on both sides... :-)

[Rusty_OToole]

How many American cars were there in this ultra luxury class? Pierce Arrow was the leader in number of cars made and sold. But there was also Locomobile and McFarlan building cars with 500 cu in or larger engines, with a $5000 or larger price tag. Were there any others in this heady realm in 1917?

[John_S_in_Penna]

4 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

... $5000 or larger price tag. Were there any others in this heady realm in 1917?

 

My posting (#12) lists a few, such as Daniels and Cunningham,

which are seldom at even the biggest shows these days.

[Rusty_OToole]

There were those whose top of the range models edged into Locomobile and Pierce territory but were there any like them that started at $4500 and went up from there? I would have thought the Packard Twin Six but John S says they were priced $2000 lower.

[A. Ballard 35R]

The most expensive 1917 Packard Twin Six is shown as the model 2-35 Imperial Limousine with a price of $5,150. All of the other models especially the 2-25's were considerably less expensive. Also, with a bore and stroke of 3x5 they did not come close to the 500 cu. in. mentioned above.

[lump]

Due to recommendation from Motoringicons, the wife and I watched the movie "Chaplin" tonight. Great movie, well worth watching! Thanks!