This rare 1902 Autocar Runabout visits Portland Motor Club en route to a permanent museum home

It’s not its age that makes this 1902 early automobile unique, although it is one of only 56 known to exist from all of its manufacturing years. They were manufactured for fewer than 15 years before the company switched over to making trucks exclusively. What makes this primitive motor car so interesting is that it has been in the same family since it was new! The article referenced below follows its auto-geneological path from great, great grandfather to its current owners. It has spent its last couple decades in quiet obscurity in a shed in Biddeford Pool, Maine. The family decided that it was time to find a permanent and appropriate home for a car of this historical significance and rarity as part of a permanent historical automobile collection perhaps even here in Maine. Great great grandson Will Borders of Chicago came out to Maine one February weekend to assist in relocating the vehicle to Portland Motor Club where it will stay until its future plans are assured.

In the meantime, Portland Detailing did a fantastic job gently cleaning it up so it can feel comfortable in the company of its relatively futuristic descendants (anything would look futuristic compared to this motorized buggy). The clean up was so impressive that Portland Detailing got a call from the owner of a 1904 Autocar wondering how they made it look so good! It turned out that he was one of three people involved with tracking the location and existence of any known Autocars and he revealed that, according to their compiled list, there are only 56 of them out there including the ones that are part of such collections as The Smithsonian Museum and The Henry Ford Museum.

Please make sure to visit the article by Emma Bouthillette at the Portland Press Herald’s website for much more information and more detailed photos.

This 1902 Autocar has been in the same family since it was new!