D. Cameron Peck, Evanston, Illinois (acquired from the estate of the above in 1947)
Frank H. Miller, Glendale, Ohio (acquired from the above in 1947)
Philip Peterson, Worcester, Massachusetts (acquired from the above by 1974)
Current Owner (acquired from the above in 1979)
Chassis: 3817
Engine: 3523
One of the Most Iconic Models in the History of American Motoring
The Sole Type 56-A Traveler Extant; The Largest-Ever Underslung Known Provenance Dating Back to the Original Owner
Participated in the Spirit of ’76 Transcontinental Tour from Seattle to Philadelphia
Correct, Original Example Professionally Restored to Exacting Standards
Charles A. Chayne Trophy Winner at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®
499 CID L-Head Inline 4-Cylinder Engine
Single Rayfield Carburetor
50 HP (Rated) at 1,000 RPM
4-Speed Manual Gearbox
2-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes with Transmission Brake
Front Solid-Axle Suspension with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
Rear Live Axle with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
There is no mistaking the sight of an American Underslung. The sporting and innovative design, produced by the American Motor Car Company of Indianapolis, has made the Underslung a car that has been coveted by collectors for decades. The brainchild of designer Fred Tone, the front and rear axle placement above the frame rails created a sleek, racy profile. An exceptionally large set of wheels created enough ground clearance for the low-slung body to negotiate the primitive road conditions of the era.
The low center of gravity resulted in superior handling and a striking and aggressive profile that is as exciting to view today as when it was introduced. Straddling the chassis is a 50 hp L-head engine, shifted through a four-speed manual gearbox. With its exceptional power and superb cornering capabilities, the American Underslung is often considered among the earliest sporting American cars, predating even the Mercer Raceabout and Stutz Bearcat.
Originally offered as a roadster, by August 1908, Tone had designed a modified four-passenger, close-coupled touring body with two semi-divided bucket seats. This model, with its long, flowing lines and sweeping fenders, was named Traveler after General Robert E. Lee’s famous horse. The model proved so popular that it remained American’s top-of-the-line offering until the company’s demise in 1914.
Beginning in 1912, American offered the Traveler in two distinct versions: the four-passenger Type 54 on the 124" wheelbase and the six-passenger Type 56 on the 140" wheelbase. Priced at $4,250 and $4,500 respectively, these cars were fully equipped and beautifully finished, with elaborate black and gold pinstriping, nickel plating, exposed cast-aluminum floorboards, and a magnificent eagle on the radiator.
The new Type 56 was the largest and most dramatic of all the Underslungs. With its wheelbase a full 16" longer than the Type 54, it featured a full rear door, jump seats, and the largest wheels ever fitted on an Underslung at 41". American’s sales literature described the Type 56 as “a big car of huge power. This great, graceful machine stimulates your love of motoring. Imagine your thrill of mastery over this extraordinarily sensitive and powerful piece of mechanism. A touch of the throttle and the big motor responds. You fly sixty, seventy miles an hour with ease – carefree!”
For the 1913 model year, the big Traveler was updated with electric headlights, its inset cowl lights were redesigned to include ventilation inlets, and it was rechristened the Type 56-A.
This Type 56-A Traveler, the sole example known to survive, has a rich, well-documented provenance that can be traced back to its original owner, Courtney Willits, a meat dealer and slaughterhouse operator based in New Boston, Illinois.
Mr. Willits collected his new American in late 1912 and used it regularly until 1925, when it was retired from everyday use and kept for special events. In 1934, at the old-time celebration in Galesburg, Illinois, the Underslung appeared in a parade carrying Will Rogers – a former Traveler owner.
In August 1936, Mr. Willits drove his Underslung in the pioneer parade at the Mercer County centennial in Aledo, Illinois. As reported in the Rock Island Argus, “The machine is in good condition and has tires of size 42 by 4 ½ inches which are 20 years old. The auto is right hand drive and is being kept as a relic.”
After Mr. Willits passed away in 1945, his wife offered the Underslung to the most prominent classic car collectors of the day: celebrated opera tenor James Melton and Mr. D. Cameron Peck, heir to the Bowman Dairy fortune. The car’s history and sale are documented in the Davenport, Iowa, newspaper The Democrat and Leader, which published the article “Milkman Outbids Singer For Courtney Willitt’s Famed Red American Traveller Auto” on September 14, 1947.
The article begins: “Willits likened himself to a king on a mythical throne when he perched on the high leather seat behind the walnut steering wheel of his 1912 American Underslung Traveller. The shining red auto, with its patent leather sidewalls, was the finest machine that residents of this river town had ever seen…”
Later in the article, Willits’ wife describes the negotiation process: “Melton immediately answered me and bid $550. I then wrote to Mr. Peck at Evanston, Ill., who, after learning the machine was in perfect condition, offered me a price which was greatly in excess of Melton’s offer. Melton didn’t raise the dairyman’s bid.”
Despite the high price paid, Mr. D. Cameron Peck didn’t keep the Underslung for long and it was sold to Frank H. Miller of Ohio. Soon after acquiring the Traveler, he had noted restorer Ralph Buckley paint it Orleans Blue and then drove it from Ohio to Philadelphia to participate in the 1948 Glidden Tour.
In 1949, Mr. Miller wrote an article – “My 1913, Type 56, American Traveler” – for Antique Automobile, detailing the car’s exceptional originality:
“It has taken me thirty-five years of wishing and hunting to become the proud owner of my youth’s desire, an American Underslung Traveler… It had been laid up with less than 7000 miles on the speedometer, and the original 1913 Illinois license plate and fabric tires were still on the car. I drove her over 100 miles on the old tires without trouble… There was not one speck of rust on the entire car; in fact the finish on the underside of the fenders, where the light had not reached it, was as clean and bright as the day it was applied. The original tan Burbank top, while soiled, was still intact, and does not leak to this day. The cast aluminum running and floorboards show no wear whatever. All the instruments are in perfect condition and are mounted on the toeboard with the exception of the twin clock and speedometer unit which is mounted above the cowl.”
Mr. Miller kept the Traveler in his collection until 1974, when it was sold to Philip Peterson of Worcester, Massachusetts. Two years later, he entered the car in the Spirit of ’76 Transcontinental Tour from Seattle to Philadelphia, a major event that attracted many leading American collectors. In its coverage of the tour, The Bulb Horn reported that “the entries were probably the greatest assemblage of touring automobiles in history.”
Since 1979, the Underslung has been in the hands of the current owner, a knowledgeable Southern California collector. Early in his ownership, he entered the Traveler in several Brass Era rallies, including the famous Modoc Tour, and then beginning in the late 1980s embarked on an exacting restoration. This multiyear process was initiated by Clyde Wade, the former director and general manager of Harrah’s Automobile Collection, and completed by Scott Andrews, another noted restorer of antiques.
Faithfully presented in its original color scheme of American Red with black accents, the Traveler has been selectively displayed since its comprehensive restoration was completed. Not only was it shown to great acclaim at the Ironstone Concours d’Elegance and awarded the Charles A. Chayne Trophy at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, it has also been loaned to the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, for continued display.
Of the 27 American Underslungs known to survive, only eight are original Traveler models, making the example offered here, the sole remaining Type 56, a very rare automobile indeed. This impressive 56-A Traveler, representing the zenith of the American Motor Car Company, is well documented and brilliantly restored to provide years of enjoyment to the next caretaker of this significant early automotive treasure.