Detroit Electric stands tall among American electric cars. The longest-lived of all early electric nameplates, it produced various models from 1907 until 1937. The earliest were built to a design by George M. Bacon that featured dual chain drives to the rear axle, a chassis layout in use from 1907 until 1911, when the company began testing other drivetrain designs. Only two Detroit Electrics equipped with dual chain drive are known to have survived. The car offered here is the eldest and, indeed, the earliest Detroit Electric of any kind remaining in existence.

This Model D, Type K Brougham was originally finished in black with a matching chassis and maroon cloth upholstery, according to electric car historian Galen Handy’s research. The Auto Equipment Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, first sold it to prominent local capitalist Charles Gardner in May of 1909. Several days after acquiring the car, Mr. Gardner apparently parked it in his barn with the controller left at high speed, which started a fire that damaged the Detroit and leveled the barn. The car was subsequently repaired and restored and is believed to have been part of the Ken Mathis collection in Houston, Texas, during the 1960s and 1970s, and later owned by Robert McDanel of Abilene.

Presented today in charming and well-patinaed condition, this is a fascinating piece of Americana and perhaps one of the most desirable of all American electric cars, as the earliest known survivor of what was the most famous US-built electric car of the early automotive industry and one of only two surviving with dual chain drive.