General Information

Serial #

210

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

SHEET METAL/ CAST IRON/ LEATHER/ WOODEN WHEELS/ ORIGINAL SOLID RUBBER TIRES WITH WOODEN SPOKES, ORIGINAL LEATHER AIR-CUSHIONED SEATS AND DASHBOARD, WOODEN STEERING COLUMN AND WHEEL, CONVERTIBLE RIBBED ROOF. RUNNING BOARD TRIMMED IN CHROME

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

467.0 cm

Width

167.0 cm

Height

183.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

1000.0

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Automotive vehicles

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Bartlett

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Stratford

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

1916-1920

Canada

Car designed by R.C. Bartlett from Northern Ontario (Porcupine ? now Timmins). He formed the Canadian Bartlett Automobile co. Ltd. in 1914 first in Toronto before moving to Stratford in 1916. The company ceased to operate in 1917 because it could no longer receive the parts from its suppliers during the war. The firm then declared bankruptcy. The car was found on Manitoulin Island by Gordon Smith and was a fine unrestored car. Smith traded it to Kavanagh. Good example of a Canadian-designed car. It was marketed only in Ontario, and was sold directly from the factory to the customers for $975.00. Advertising was done by word of mouth. See Supplementary Information for details about Bartlett's life.

Function

Owner driven passenger vehicle for general transportation.

Technical

Barlett designed Canada's first air suspension system and four wheel brake system. The four -wheel braking system consisted of regular brake drums and bands plus spikes that poked through the tires into the ground when the pedal was applied. Cars of the era had problems with their pneumatic tires being chewed to shreds on Canadian roads. Bartlett used solid tires and put the air cushion between the chassis and the body. According to Glenn Baechler, the car is a correct car because it has been discovered recently (2011) that Rex Bartlett built a second model without the air bags. The car we have is perhaps one of the 25 that were completed in 1916. THe first Bartlett in 1914 were equipped with the rubber spring suspension and were rated at 25-30 HP. In 1915, when sales of the first cars were falling, Bartlett brought out the smaller 20 HP touring. To sell for $755.00. This is our car.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

N/A

Missing

From CA of 08/27/1997 by Serge Ouellette: Yes - missing rear tires, generally poor condition, require research to evaluate better

Finish

GREEN-DARK/ BLACKROOF/ BLACK FENDERS

Decoration

WHITE STRIPPING