Touring equipment for your Locomobile Touring car

[Ittenbacher Frank]

The Locomobile pleasure cars have often been advertised as touring cars, but I find few contemporary photos showing how they prepared their cars, especially where they stored the luggage. Ok, you will say: If you could afford a Loco, you ask your staff to take care of that, or you send your luggage by train, or you even load the whole Loco onto the train and you sit in the pullmann wagon. But this is not the answer to my question.

(By the way, I don't have staff and the car train business in Europe has been reduced to nearly zero, and the Loco would be too high anyway).

See what I found:

1. The American singer, dancer and actor Dustin Farnim went to Holland with his Loco in 1912. He obviously didn't mind scratching the paint by using straps for pulling a large suitcase against the passenger door. Please note the round suitcase inside the spare tires. I like that idea very much, does anyone have details about that?

[Ittenbacher Frank]

2. This Firestone Ad shows a nice way to store luggage.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

3. This Packard is well equipped with specially prepared suitcases. I assume you can step onto the rear suitcase?

[Ittenbacher Frank]

 

4. This Locomobile touring car shows two clamps for suitcases attached to the left running board:

[Ittenbacher Frank]

5. This device is probably not appropriate for a Locomobile:

[Ittenbacher Frank]

6. I assume you all have seen this Loco already: Very nice and professionally made but not easy to copy nowadays. The access to the doors is restricted, too.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

7. I nearly forgot to mention: Ms. Harriet White Fisher is my champion when loading her Loco for the world tour in 1909:

Edited May 7, 2023 by Ittenbacher Frank (see edit history)

[Ittenbacher Frank]

8. This Loco appeared at pebble beach with a luggage rack:

[Ittenbacher Frank]

9. Here is a 1912 Loco type L with some beautiful suitcases, but I doubt how practical these are...

[Bob McAnlis]

The photo above is marked as a Model L in the Catalog Book.  But it is actually a 1911 Model M 48.    This car was used in Europe after delivery as it was in a couple of Loco advertisements.    I have images I purchased from John Conde about 1990      Both sides of the same car at the factory.      I used these extensively when restoring my car.  

[1912 Caddy]

Not A Loco but my 1923 peerless Model 66 has a verry usefull trunk great for day trips

[Ittenbacher Frank]

4 hours ago, 1912 Caddy said:

Not A Loco but my 1923 peerless Model 66 has a verry usefull trunk great for day trips

oh yes, thanks, for sure very practible and useful. But how to do with the Locomobile dual spares at the back? That's why I thought about the round case inside the rims, see posting No. 1.

[1912 Caddy]

Did they all have spares in the rear? The one in picture no.7 could have been modified but spares on the side.

[alsfarms]

In reference to #6 picture. Not seeing the rest of that Locomobile, it is a 1911-12 maybe 1913 Model L or M. Access to the front seat drivers side would have been over the passenger seat not climbing over the shifter. This with 1911-12-13 Locomobiles, were the drivers side doors all just visual and non functional?

Al

[Bob McAnlis]

Picture #6 is quite definitely a 1912 M 48 7 pass touring. Right jump seat is visable. Yes, to my knowledge, on all the open 11 and 12 cars, the "driver's door" is just visual.    I don't know if that is the case with the closed cars where the body is wider and the shifter and brake are on the inside. None of the 11 and 12 closed cars in the literature  show the right side of the car.   The 1913 cars had the shifter and brake inside the body on all the models.

 

 

 

[Loco 90]

Here are a couple pictures of the trunk on Loco #17005. 

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Dear Ben, thanks for these photos! Can you share some experience, please? Is that suitcase waterproof? What is the base material, what is the inner lining? Is it hold in place with the leather straps only? The little recess at the bottom is for the valves and the rim's fixation pins?

[Loco 90]

Hi,

Tough to open with the number plate in the way. The 7passenger touring is large enough that I have never needed to use the trunk for storage. The lining appears to be wallpaper and the trunk is held on with 4 leather straps only. The cutout in the bottom is for the inner tube valve stems. I am not sure of its construction as it is completely covered. Probably built as waterproof but the leather binding is not so supple anymore.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Hallo everyone, more than a year passed and no more feedback on this topic?

Anyway, at least I continued searching and found a bit more of information:

Germany had made beautiful suitcases and travelling trunks, too. This ad is dated 1912.

 

Edited June 13 by Ittenbacher Frank (see edit history)

[Ittenbacher Frank]

This 1971 ad shows a nice old car and fashionable suitcases, but no idea how to store them properly on a car designed without a trunk.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Because I really need some additional storage space for touring with my 1916 M7 Locomobile, I have weighed up different solutions:

1.    Attaching a suitcase to the running board is basically possible, but in addition to restricting access to the entrance doors, it bears the danger of scratching the paintwork which I must avoid at all costs. Drilling holes into the running boards is also not an option. Making a clamping device that holds on the running board like a C-clamp could be an option, but there is still the risk of scratching the paintwork on the door. I don’t have a nice, usable, water-proof period-correct suitcase anyway.

2.    Converting the rear of the Loco in a way that a large suitcase can be fitted instead of the twin spare tires is no option because I need the spare tires!

3.    The more photos I found about these round suitcases which fit into the rims of the spare tires, the more I was hooked. This is the period-correct option I want! Not the lightweight hat boxes but a sturdy, water-proof device!

[Ittenbacher Frank]

With the dimensions given by the Locomobile’s Good-Year 25”-rim size, I started designing the wooden frame and cover. I didn’t want to use a folding flap with hinges, because this requires opening the spare wheel carrier before you can access the trunk. For the Locomobile, the turntable-principle seemed much more logical to me. I soon received a photo of such a trunk from a friend. His example looked a bit light and I couldn’t imagine how it was going to be water-proof, so I designed something with a double-lip-arrangement with felt guides in between, and a kind of gutter on the top half.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Only after I had almost finished my trunk, I learned that Mr. Wohlfeld of Philadelphia, USA, had invented this type of waterproof trunk before me! The waterproof rotating door of Wohlfeld’s Auto Luggage was patented in 1910.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

This 1912 ad is the most interesting piece I found: The arrow shows my point of attention! The waterproof tire trunk!

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Does anyone of you have such a little brass plate for me?

[Ittenbacher Frank]

This postcard shows exactly how the door opens and the sealing works.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

First, I contacted my wood-working friend to determine the work strategy. Then I bought water-proof glued birch wood, wood-glue, round-headed brass-screws, felt of various thicknesses, and so on. Next, I made full-size cardboard patterns for checking my ideas, and my friend helped me with his tools cutting the wood to size.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

The front, back and door are made of 12mm plates, the rain gutter is 6mm thick, and I planned to use two layers of 4mm bent around the circumference. I used hot water for supporting the bending.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Later I found out: one layer of 4mm, reinforced by a narrow piece as second layer with chamfered edges glued to the gap between the segments, is more than enough.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

The parts for the door’s pivot bearing were machined on the lathe, with a nice brass cover in the centre. I have also made the fittings for the lock out of brass, with inaccessible screws.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

I have prepared the lock fittings for the same size padlock that also Locomobile used to lock the spare wheel carrier. I still have this original YALE lock for my Locomobile, and it works as intended with the ignition key number L671. Incidentally, I would like to get a second one for my new trunk, who can give me a hint on where I can find one? It is of quite small size, the one on the right shown on this photo:

[Ittenbacher Frank]

The total height is 48mm (1 7/8”), the body width and height are app. 29mm (1 1/8”), the thickness 13mm (1/2”).

[Ittenbacher Frank]

The rims have two protrusions on the inside: one is the locking bolt to the wooden wheel, and the other, located very close to it, is the valve for the inner tube. I chose the lowest possible position for them at the bottom of the trunk (6:00-position), same as shown on the second photo of the 1918-Loco provided by Ben before. At this position, I made a corresponding cut-out in the wooden case, with two little copper drain ports at the lowest positions (just in case a water bottle in the trunk would start leaking or such an accident), and a brace to secure the trunk with leather straps and buckles at the tire carrier’s original fixing points.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

To the left and right of the cut-out for the valves were now two shallow recesses inside the case, which I wanted to use for two customised boxes for small spare parts. I also made these boxes from birch-wood, glued all around and additionally bolted with brass screws. Their lids are made of sheet metal and covered with velvet. The brass hinges are the same as used on piano covers. I found a shop selling these small, round shallow magnetic locks which are used on Ladies handbags, very suitable. Finally, when the two boxes are put in place and their covers closed, they perfectly blend in with the cut-out for the valve, giving you a kind of horizontal floor for filling the otherwise round trunk.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

For the precious content, I selected the most important spares for the Berling dual ignition magneto, made an inlay corresponding to the part’s shape, and covered it with velvet. It is easy to describe, but it took me quite a while to finish it.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13 by Ittenbacher Frank (see edit history)

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Now I can safely transport one magneto base plate complete with its fibre block, flat springs and platinum points, one pair of high-tension-pick-ups with their porcelain insulators and high tension safety-spark-device, a distributer shaft with its three carbon brushes, the Bakelite covers for both the magneto and battery points, the bolts with spring clips for holding these parts in place, and one each of the three screw sizes used on the Berling DD66 magneto. The second box is for the replacement armature, complete with bearings, one low- and two high tension coils, slipring and capacitor.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Using filler on the trunk’s rough surface and sanding it down, primer painting, final painting to make it watertight took longer than expected, because I had to do that totally tree times: Initially I had chosen a too tight a tolerance between rim and trunk, therefor I had to sand off more wood for reducing the outer diameter.

My plan for the felt seal worked very well: Because I could adjust the gap width around the upper perimeter of the trunk quite evenly to the required dimension, and the door remained sufficiently flat after machining, the felt guides the door nicely without binding, somehow like the guide channels on a car’s side window.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

When I tried to slide the new trunk into the rims, I found the glossy black paintwork was easily damaged, which I didn’t like. My suggestion to use artificial leather on the perimeter was immediately rejected: My sister who is a master tailor for historical garment insisted on using genuine leather hide of the best quality, thin and soft, which would be just fine for a Locomobile. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her so much about the Locomobile policy?

I bought a full cow hide and covered the entire outside surface of the trunk with it except for the area which is visible when standing behind the car. It is a shame you can’t see much of the leather with the trunk in place, but at least I know it is nice. By the way, I used several pieces of that cow hide for repairing some damages on the Locomobile’s original jump seats and dashboard cover which have been made of very similar leather.

(one note: I took the last photo before I removed the remains of the special glue used by the shoe makers. It is a great glue, you can easily peel that off)

[Ittenbacher Frank]

Finally, I was satisfied with the base body and door. Next came the question of interior decoration. I learned that the Mercedes Benz travelling trunks in the 1920’s were lined with black velvet. How can you beat that? I consulted my sister again. Considering Locomobile customers, we chose Leopard’s skin design and ordered a large piece of such velvet.

[Ittenbacher Frank]

It’s hard to discover the two small boxes!