Lot details
Registration No: BF 4901
Chassis No: 45-1964
Mot Expiry: June 2009

Like the Duesenberg brothers, Louis P Kissel and his sons emigrated from Germany to America during the late nineteenth century. Based in Hartford, Wisconsin the family started out making agricultural implements and stationary engines before founding the Kissel Motor Car Company on June 5th 1906. Marketed as `Custom Built' to emphasise the fact that they contained far fewer proprietary components than most rivals, Kissel cars (or Kissel Kars as they were initially known) soon developed a reputation for engineering integrity and quality. Progressing from four- to six-cylinder engines in 1909, the company adopted electric starters four years later and was among the pioneers of back-lit instrumentation. Able to field a versatile range of commercial as well as passenger vehicles, Kissel gained considerable publicity in 1915 when Miss Anita King (a.k.a. `The Paramount Girl') drove one of its tourers from coast-to-coast; the car in question being daubed with messages from the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco to their `Big Apple' counterpart. Keen that the marque should be associated with glamorous cars rather than just glamorous drivers, New York distributor Conover T. Silver pushed for a sports model to rival the likes of the Stutz Bearcat and Mercer Raceabout. Entrusted to William L. Kissel and chief designer J. Frederich Werner, the project evolved through two prototypes to become the sensation of the 1918 New York Motor Show. Christened the Kissel Silver Special Speedster as a nod to Conover T, the newcomer was based around a `double dropped' ladder frame chassis equipped with all-round leaf-sprung suspension (semi-elliptic front, three-quarter elliptic rear) and contracting band rear-wheel brakes. Extravagantly styled with a distinctive arch radiator, high scuttle, raked windscreen, single cut-away door and full flowing wings, it could be had in a variety of eye-catching colours including Metallic Blue and Kissel Chrome Yellow.
The latter hue became synonymous with the Speedster and inspired readers of the Milwaukee Journal to nickname it the `Gold Bug' (though, some sources attribute the soubriquet to the publication's vice-president, W.W. `Brownie' Roland). Descended from a line of master German coachbuilders and credited with crafting cars for Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czar Nicholas prior to joining Kissel, J. Frederich Werner endowed the Speedster with two notable `surprise and delight' features. The first was a steering wheel mounted on double arc runners that slid upwards at the press of a spoke so as to facilitate the driver's entry and exit, while the second was the provision of two extra seats which pulled out from the body's sides in much the same manner as a drawer (those game enough to use the additional pews were left suspended above the integral running boards). Redesignated the 6-45 for 1920, the `Gold Bug' was powered by a 285 cu in (4.6 litre) straight-six engine allied to three-speed manual transmission. Boasting a detachable cylinder head, centrifugal water pump, mixture of splash- and pressure-fed oil lubrication and modest 4:1 compression ratio etc, the sidevalve unit was quoted as developing 61hp @ 2,300rpm. Weighing in at a comparatively modest 29.5cwt, the 6-45 was reputedly capable of some 75-78mph and 13-16mpg. Fitted with distinctive wheel-hugging cycle wings for 1921, the `Gold Bug' swapped its novel `sliding drawer' seats for a conventional rumble one three years later. A favourite among contemporary celebrities, Kissel Speedsters were owned by the likes of boxer Jack Dempsey, Gladys George, James Montgomery Flagg, Virginia Flair, aviatrix Amelia Earhart, Al Jolson and racing driver Ralph de Palma. The `Gold Bug' remained in production until 1927 by which time the Hartford firm was fading fast. Of the approximately 35,000 Kissel cars built between 1906 and 1931, only 150 or so are known to have survived.
According to an accompanying ownership record, this particular example - chassis number 451964 - was just a year old when Rhode Island resident Charles T Bent bought it to take his newlywed wife on their Niagara Falls honeymoon. A staple part of Bent family life for thirty-seven years, the `Gold Bug' was even used by daughter Beatrice to commute to and from college before being sold to antique dealer Ralph Murphy in 1958. Acquired from the latter by long term admirer George Hall, the Speedster was subjected to a superficial restoration which sadly ran out of momentum. Passing to Eugene E. Husting of Boston Massachusetts thereafter, his stewardship not only saw the car repainted in its original Kissel Chrome Yellow livery but also garaged at the Veteran Motor Car Club of America's Antique Auto Museum. Wheeled out for various VMCCA meetings, chassis number 451964 caught the eye of `Bud' Catlett who snapped it up on behalf of his employer, William Harrah. Displaced from the Harrah Museum in September 1962 thanks to the arrival of a less decorative but slightly earlier 1919 `Gold Bug', the car then passed through the hands of C.S. Ehinger (1962-1969), Edmun L. Gibes (1969-1981) and Arthur Spanjar (1981-1987). Bought by the head of telecommunications for the Swiss Embassy in Washington, Alfred Koller, some twenty-two years ago, the Kissel was later entrusted to restorer Penn Dutch of York, Pennsylvania. Benefiting from an extensive `body off chassis' mechanical and cosmetic refurbishment programme, the rejuvenated `Gold Bug' duly won a First Junior award at the 1996 AACA-Show in Hershey and a Senior award at the following year's AACA-Show in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Thought to have covered a nominal mileage since, the Speedster was road tested by Michael Bowler of The Automobile magazine earlier this year: "With steering wheel controls for throttle and advance-retard, it starts easily and ticks over sweetly. The gears are rather noisy in first and second, but there is so much torque that gear-changing can be kept to a minimum - not a difficult box anyway. We trundled off down the main roads and were soon loping along at a steady 45mph with the hood down".
Summed-up by Mr Bowler as "a charming touring car" albeit one that is "more upper-Edwardian than Vintage", chassis number 451964 is believed but not warranted to be the sole known surviving 1920 Kissel 6-45 `Gold Bug' Speedster. Riding on wire wheels and brandishing a spring-loaded Halliday front bumper (patented 11th August 1914 by L.P. Halliday Co of Streater, Illinois), this ultra rare but iconic American sportscar is offered for sale with V5C registration document, copy instruction book and current MOT certificate.