Whaddyacallit #297 - Solved! 1899 Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout

[Ray B.]

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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Thanks!

[Ray B.]

Experts?

[Ray B.]

Pros?

[Arunas]

American? I think it must be very early.. probably not younger that 1905..

[Ray B.]

American, yes.

[Arunas]

Maybe also powered by steam?

[Ray B.]

Sorry. I know who made it and when. And that's all.

[Arunas]

Was it made by a company?

[Ray B.]

I don't know. Probably not.

[Paul Jaray]

From Cleveland?

[Paul Jaray]

Kelsey & Tilney Autotri Runabout from 1899 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[Ray B.]

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?

[Paul Jaray]

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!

[Ray B.]

Wow!

[ftg3plus4]

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.

[ftg3plus4]

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.