Lot details
Registration No: BS 8537
Chassis No: 4372
Mot Expiry: June 2011

Born in 1845, Thomas B. Jeffrey emigrated from Stoke, Devon to Chicago, Illinois at the age of eighteen. A talented engineer with a flair for innovation, he began his career in the world of precision telescopes before progressing via a stint at the US Patent Office to a partnership with R. Philip Gormully. Founded in 1878, the Gormully & Jeffrey Manufacturing Company soon became renowned for high quality bicycles including 'The Rambler' model (which utilised flared tubing and molten brass brazing at its frame joints). The firm went from strength to strength over the next few decades a process helped by Jeffrey's invention of the clincher rim tyre (patented during 1882) and by the turn of the twentieth century was America's second largest bicycle maker.

Like many of his rivals on both sides of the Atlantic, the expatriate Englishman saw enormous potential in the internal combustion engine. Jeffrey built his first car, a rear-engined prototype christened The Rambler, in 1897. Encouraged by positive reviews at the 1899 Chicago International Exhibition & Tournament and the first National Automobile Show in New York, he decided to become a motorcar manufacturer. Selling his stake in Gormully & Jeffrey to the American Bicycle Company allowed him to finalise the $65,000 purchase of a factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin (which had previously housed the Sterling Bicycle Company) on 6th December 1900. The following year saw Thomas B. Jeffrey and his son Charles T. Jeffrey experiment with front-mounted engines and steering wheels as they assembled their Model A and Model B Rambler prototypes.

However, when the first publicly available Rambler motorcars emerged from the Kenosha plant in 1902 they were altogether more conventional and sales friendly - sporting engines mounted under their seats and tiller steering. The $750 Model C Open Runabout and $850 Model D (the same car but with a folding roof) proved an instant success. Based on a channel section steel chassis equipped with all-round full-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and rear-wheel mechanical brakes, they were powered by an 8hp single-cylinder 98 cu in (1.6 litre) engine allied to two-speed manual transmission. Utilising trembler coil ignition and thermo-siphon cooling, the pair drew praise from the contemporary press for their build quality and keen pricing. The Jeffreys followed Ransom Olds' example and installed a formalised assembly line to hasten production (only the second marque to do so).

With agents in Europe as well as America including Messrs. Davis, Allen & Co of Tabernacle Street, London, sales blossomed to 1,350 cars in 1903 and 2,342 cars a year later (though, by then Ramblers could be had with front-mounted engines and steering wheels). With every passing season the Jeffreys' designs became more reliable and sophisticated. Single-cylinder engines made way for twin- and four-cylinder powerplants as the cars grew in size and price. Among Rambler's 1907 offerings was a 40hp model costing $2,500 and weighing 2600 pounds. Thomas B. Jeffrey died whilst holidaying in Pompeii on March 21st 1910. Charles T. Jeffrey took over the business thereafter and rebranded its products from 'Rambler' to 'Jeffrey' during 1914 in honour of his father. Having survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (sister ship to the Titanic) by a German U-boat in 1915, Charles T. Jeffrey chose to sell the family concern to Charles Nash during August 1916. His parting shot - the Jeffrey Quad - was typically advanced featuring four-wheel drive, four-wheel brakes and four-wheel steering not to mention making a valid contribution to the Allied effort in World War One.

According to information supplied by the vendor, this particular example is one of two Rambler motorcars that were supplied new to Australia in 1904. Some one hundred and six years later, the sister car now belongs to the Royal Automobile Club of Australia and is destined to remain Down Under due to its protected status. The subject of an older restoration, chassis number 4372 - the other half of the pair - is still highly presentable. Finished in red with black upholstery, it has recently been imported to the UK and road registered as 'BS 8537'. Carrying a Veteran Car Club of Australia dating plaque as well as an acetylene lighting set, it is offered for sale with sundry paperwork and MOT certificate valid until June 2011.