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Details
1922 VELIE TOURING CAR
Chassis No. 121271
Engine No. VS37216
Dove grey and black with leather interior
Engine: straight-six overhead valve, 224 cu. in., at 2,600rpm; Gearbox: manual three-speed; Suspension: front, half elliptic; rear, three-quarter elliptic; Brakes: two wheel rear. Left hand drive.
Velie were a firm of coachbuilders of Moline, Illinois who moved into car assembly in a small way in 1909, using proprietary components. Their first effort was a conventional four-cylinder car of 30hp. The firm was backed by the John Deere plow company and began distributing through the Deere farm machinery outlets. The founder, George Velie, died in 1928 and his sons decided that the way ahead was in aviation, in which they tried to move, without success, and the Velie company eventually closed.
The sharp angular design of the Velie is described in the sales brochure as the first authoritative example of the modern style tendancy - a harmony of symmetrical planes. It is arguable that a Velie may have lacked some of the merits of its mass-produced competitors, but ownership had a practical plus. At a period in American automotive history when roads were still none to well developed away from the big cities, a farmer could pick up the gasket, oil seal or cylinder head valve he needed at his local John Deere depot; one-stop shopping for car and tractor.
Apart from whatever merits it may have as an automobile, as part of American rural history the Velie deserves preservation, particularly since few survivors of this model are known. This example was sold new to a Virginia resident, and eventually found protectors in the Pettit Collection in the 1950s. It was restored and repainted grey and black with maroon rims and natural wood spokes. The leather is original and the car is very well presented. When last used two years ago, it was in good running order.
WITHOUT RESERVE
Chassis No. 121271
Engine No. VS37216
Dove grey and black with leather interior
Engine: straight-six overhead valve, 224 cu. in., at 2,600rpm; Gearbox: manual three-speed; Suspension: front, half elliptic; rear, three-quarter elliptic; Brakes: two wheel rear. Left hand drive.
Velie were a firm of coachbuilders of Moline, Illinois who moved into car assembly in a small way in 1909, using proprietary components. Their first effort was a conventional four-cylinder car of 30hp. The firm was backed by the John Deere plow company and began distributing through the Deere farm machinery outlets. The founder, George Velie, died in 1928 and his sons decided that the way ahead was in aviation, in which they tried to move, without success, and the Velie company eventually closed.
The sharp angular design of the Velie is described in the sales brochure as the first authoritative example of the modern style tendancy - a harmony of symmetrical planes. It is arguable that a Velie may have lacked some of the merits of its mass-produced competitors, but ownership had a practical plus. At a period in American automotive history when roads were still none to well developed away from the big cities, a farmer could pick up the gasket, oil seal or cylinder head valve he needed at his local John Deere depot; one-stop shopping for car and tractor.
Apart from whatever merits it may have as an automobile, as part of American rural history the Velie deserves preservation, particularly since few survivors of this model are known. This example was sold new to a Virginia resident, and eventually found protectors in the Pettit Collection in the 1950s. It was restored and repainted grey and black with maroon rims and natural wood spokes. The leather is original and the car is very well presented. When last used two years ago, it was in good running order.
WITHOUT RESERVE