Het wereldwijde magazine en verkoopplatform voor liefhebbers van klassieke auto’s, door liefhebbers.
Het wereldwijde magazine en verkoopplatform voor liefhebbers van klassieke auto’s, door liefhebbers.
The name Maxwell is associated with nimble economy cars, not with roaring racers. Yet there may be a very few knowledgeable readers around who know about this experimental racer with its opposing twelve! (loyal Ferraristi had to wait another 65-70 years for a similar product from Maranello; in the same sixties era the Zuffenhausen fans had to do with half this kind of engineering). We have not been able to find out the facts and figures of this pre 1910 hitec, but look at the detailing and the transverse twin tower radiators..! And note how wide the chassis has been made to fit the opposing 12... We asked early engineering expert David Greenlees; his thought is that the car is a 1904/5 experimental racer. Who will fill in the blanks? [email protected] (Bob Green Collection)
UPDATE II by Kit Foster:" In 1906, Jonathan Maxwell built two cars to contest the Vanderbilt Cup race on Long Island. One was a straight eight, made
from two T-head fours mounted end-to-end. It suffered engine destruction during practice. The other was your feature car, a flat twelve composed of six opposed twins. Incomplete at the time of the race, it was entered for the 1908 Dewar Trophy race at Ormond Beach, Florida, which was canceled. The car seems to have
disappeared after that. All this and more is explained in "The Mystery of the Racing Maxwells" by Joseph S. Freeman, Automobile Quarterly Vol. 37 No. 3 March 1998).
The quayside location must be the Maxwell plant on the Hudson
River at Tarrytown, New York, north of Manhattan. Built by John
Brisben Walker for his short-lived Mobile steamer, it was later
acquired by General Motors. Its last car, a Chevrolet, was built
there in (I think) 1996."
UPDATE I by Dick Trenk:"In this photo I see the arm of a gate at the left side. The little wood gateman's shack looks like one at the original Brooklands track. The River Wey could be on the right side and the roadway could therefore be the main entrance (under the outer banking) into the original track which opened in 1907."