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Puzzles, Games and Name That Car => Solved AutoPuzzles => 2009 => Topic started by: Ray B. on March 31, 2009, 10:07:34 AM

Title: Whaddyacallit #297 - Solved! 1899 Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout
Post by: Ray B. on March 31, 2009, 10:07:34 AM
(http://autopuzzles.com/RayB.stuff/wdyci297.jpg)

Ever seen this ?

If you did, please respond below and let us know the make and model of the car posted here.

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Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on April 06, 2009, 01:36:29 PM
Experts?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on April 14, 2009, 04:13:40 AM
Pros?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Arunas on April 14, 2009, 06:06:33 AM
American? I think it must be very early.. probably not younger that 1905..
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on April 14, 2009, 06:12:59 AM
American, yes.
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Arunas on April 14, 2009, 06:40:17 AM
Maybe also powered by steam?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on April 14, 2009, 01:10:27 PM
Sorry. I know who made it and when. And that's all.
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Arunas on April 14, 2009, 01:17:47 PM
Was it made by a company?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on April 14, 2009, 04:34:46 PM
I don't know. Probably not.
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Paul Jaray on May 17, 2009, 11:54:10 AM
From Cleveland?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Paul Jaray on May 17, 2009, 12:00:06 PM
Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout from 1899 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on May 18, 2009, 05:48:09 AM
You got it, to the extent of giving me a name (Autotri Runabout) I didn't know. Can you confirm this and can I include it in the topic's name?
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Paul Jaray on May 18, 2009, 06:07:15 AM
Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey was born into a well-to-do family living in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. He preferred being called Carl. In 1897, at age 17, he built his first car, a four-wheeler - and, when he entered Haverford College the year following, he constructed his second with a school chum named Sheldon Tilney. It was powered by a single-cylinder 5hp Buffalo engine, had two wheeles in front and one in the rear, and was dubbed Autotri. The boys decided to proceed into manufacture and got as far as designing an emblem, when their respective fathers intervened and sent their progeny back to their studies because the automobile was an 'instrument of the devil'. He made several other cars befor 1920, when Kelsey Motor Company was organized in Newark (New Jersey) with a factory in Belleville to produce cars.

The story of this man is quite interesting (and quite long) at the end of his life, when he was 80, he made the Skycar, a two-man helicopter!
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297
Post by: Ray B. on May 18, 2009, 07:44:49 AM
Wow!
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297 - Solved! 1899 Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout
Post by: ftg3plus4 on May 18, 2009, 09:03:05 AM
Ah, yes -- Mr. Kelsey, the guy behind the Motorette. I have an old Automobile Quarterly that contains a whole article about him. I'll have to see if this particular car is mentioned and/or pictured.
Title: Re: Whaddyacallit #297 - Solved! 1899 Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout
Post by: ftg3plus4 on May 19, 2009, 07:07:06 PM
Yep, sure enough, there's a small picture of it, along with other early cars of his, and there's a brief mention in the article text... but you really have to be paying attention in order to make the connection between the two.