Boyce Motometer for a 1916 (?) Cadillac

[Guest Macpak1]

A friend of mine is emptying one of his outbuildings and I find this Boyce Motometer with a Cadillac logo that is from around 1916. Says it was made specifically for the Deleware Motor Co. in Wilmington, DE.

 

My question is this. What are these things worth? Looks original, and is in really good shape.

 

Any and all information would really help.

 

Steve

[Mark Shaw]

$75 - $100 range on eBay...

[wayne sheldon]

Sometimes, I really hate sticking my neck out on these things. I don't like to appraise another person's junk er stuff.

Motometers are really tough to appraise. There are so MANY variations that affect the value a lot.

The fact is, that Boyce Motometers can run anywhere from $5 to nearly $2000. People that see one sell for $500 to over $1000  don't like being told that theirs is only worth $30. Sad, but all too often true. I would say that Mark Shaw's (not picking on him, he is essentially correct) estimate is actually a bit high for average models in average condition. Some types of items tend to sell for slightly high prices on eBad. Just the nature of buying and selling there.

Yours, is particularly difficult for one reason (but more on that later).

The approximate vintage of your meter is early '20s. Value is based upon a combination of rarity versus desirability. A Packard meter, for instance, is very common. For some reason, a lot of people really liked the winged radiator emblem they used in the Packard/Boyce meters, so they kept them. Probably thousands of them survive. I myself have probably seen more than a hundred of them. Although extremely desirable, especially to owners of '20s Packards, they can often be had for under $100.

But first. The emblem on yours is for a Cadillac. The bezel is on upside-down, which may indicate that it has been changed? Or it could have been that way since it was first put on a car? The bezel, being upside-down may not affect its value much. A note here. Meters to many dealers, both automobile and after-market supply dealers, were sold by Boyce as standard meters along with separate front plates to be installed by the dealer. 

However, Cadillac meters are far more rare than Packard meters. There are a lot of Cadillac owners that do have proper Cadillac meters for their cars. There are also quite a few that do not have one. A Cadillac meter should be worth a bit more than a Packard meter (based only on me looking at hundreds of Motometers through the years, not exactly a scientific evaluation). I recently saw a nice Cadillac Motometer sell for about $150 at a swap meet.

But now, it is later. The unusual feature of your Motometer is that it has a dealer's name on it. That makes it very rare (I have only seen a couple dozen like that in the many hundreds I have looked at, although at least a couple of them were Cadillac meters). That puts it beyond just the scope of antique automobiles, and into the circle of advertising collectibles.

I don't generally collect advertising collectibles, although I do have a few things (especially for Paige because I have one and Studebaker because I used to have one). So I really cannot say what yours is worth based upon the specific dealer's collectability (that can make a huge difference). Some Google research into their history may help you with that.

 

I would guess, just an educated guess, mind you. Yours should be worth about $200 based on both the Cadillac emblem and the dealer's name. Maybe more if you can find someone with an early '20s Cadillac originally sold by that dealer (if they do not already have one).

As for the standard model with a standard Boyce plate? They often sell on eBad for under $100. And can sometimes still be had for about $30.

Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

[Ivan Saxton]

Though it is probably easy enough to restore proper function if you know how, I have never seen those directions.  Because the red indicator fluid is up to the top of the tube it is probably wildly inaccurate; and that may affect market value.

[trimacar]

Here's an old thread about repair.  I believe the value in yours is in the nameplate, Boyce Motometers are common, but it's a little unusual to see a specific dealer named on the plate.