The cars shown here, all on public display at 1956 Carriage Cavalcade at Florida’s Silver Springs, go a long way toward explaining how antique car bugs get that way.
For example, the 1903 Crestmobile was loaded with features that are now regarded as pretty modern: steering column shift, automatic clutch, an engine mounting resembling Chrysler Floating Power, and adjustable steering wheel. The 1925 Rickenbacker had four-wheel brakes—but the motoring public fell victim to a whispering campaign that this great safety advance was unreliable. The Rumpler Drop Car was an attempt to streamline the passenger car (racing bombs had been built much earlier). To people who love cars, these old-timers are automotive history.
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| Rumpler Drop Car (1918-21) is an early German streamliner. Rear-mounted engine has four cylinders, 60 mph top speed. |
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| 1913 Stutz Bearcat’s four-cylinder mill gets up to 80 mph; handling is truly sporty. |
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| 1913 Imp Cyclecar had two-cylinder air-cooled engine, cost $375, never sold well. |
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| Hispano-Suiza is powered by huge V12 engine that develops 220 hp unsupercharged. |
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| 1925 Rickenbacker sports roadster; this was first auto with four-wheel brakes. |
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| 1914 Overland speedster; only 50 were built. Note monocle windshield protecting driver. |
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| 1903 Crestmobile had steering column shift, adjustable steering wheel, automatic clutch. |
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| 1914 Baker Electric Roadster. It travels up to 100 miles at 25 mph on big batteries. |
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