Back to back: 1907 American Underslung vs 1907 Renault

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Spectacular cars will be attending The Bonhams Auctioneer’s corner at Amelia Island on March the 5th with lots of Prewars, ranging from a rebuilt 1897 Benz Mylord Coupe to a recently rediscovered Lancia Dilambda ‘Town Car’ of 1932 with all the dust of decades still on its body. And there’s quite a lot in between them.

For the sake of comparison we decided that the two sports cars / racers seen here would be excellent contenders for our little ‘back to back’ evaluation. Both date back to 1907 and both come with massive four-cylinder engines (7.5 and 7.8 litres respectively) mated to four-speed gearboxes and quite a few ingenious solutions in the mechanical field.

The 1907 American Underslung 50hp Roadster is often named ‘the oldest existing Sportscar in America’ with its famous underslung chassis and wheels of large diameter. This particular car was sold to oil and gas businessman Frank Deemer, who used it for his honeymoon (historical pictures are there) and bought several more Americans with underslung chassis’ later on. Deemer passed away in 1959 at the age of 89 after which the car went to Walter Seeley, who started work on a comprehensive rebuild which would take him several years. The ‘Honeymoon Roadster’, as the car was known in the Deemer family, was eventually delivered to Frank Deemer Junior in the autumn of 1968. Since then a couple of owners have followed, receiving a ‘freshen up’ in more recent times and a more extensive overhaul of the rear axle, gearbox and brakes.

The American is definitely a rare car with a rare history, including all the proof and documents it could have. The only thing missing is perhaps a slice of sporting heritage?

Over to the Renault then, for some compensation. This is a 1907 Renault Type AI 35/45hp Vanderbilt Racer as it was famously commissioned by Willie K. Vanderbilt for racing. Vanderbilt is believed to have secured 10 orders to Renault, paying $150,000 for a batch of racing cars. Each of these were identical mechanically but would vary slightly in coachwork details. Five are known to survive with the car here being one of them. Remarkably perhaps, the racing history of this car is still mostly unknown. We assumed it was raced in some of the Vanderbilt Cups, but the seller states “After examining countless period photos there is strong evidence of this being the car driven to victory by Louis Raffolovitch in the Brighton 24hrs of 1907. It is the only car with an original large fuel tank with oversized filler neck that is clearly seen on the winning car.”

Rediscovered in 1946 by opera singer and classic car enthusiast James Melton. Several (racing driver) owners followed and the gearbox and leather interior were the last bits to be rebuilt/restored, back in 2016.

These are both exhilarating cars, which won’t come cheap either. But what’s your favourite?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Pictures courtesy Bonhams Auctioneers.

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