I remember reading somewhere once that at the first half of the twentieth century, there were more American car companies just starting with the letter A than there are total today. It’s also a time in the history of the automobile when people were still trying to figure stuff out, resulting in clever solutions for engineering problems that are relatively basic today. Because of these tidbits, I always love hearing about ancient oddballs, and this 1913 Metz fits the bill. Metz was founded by Charles Metz in Waltham, Massachusetts, and manufactured automobiles from 1908 to 1922. The Model 22, like this one, was advertised as the winner of the “Glidden Tour,” a series of reliability tests for new cars. At a starting price of $475 (slightly less than $13,000 today), the Model 22 was competitively priced and practical. You can find this one here on eBay, where the current bid at time of writing is $17,000.
Equipped with an impressive-for-the-time 22.5 horsepower water cooled inline four-cylinder, power was sent to the rear wheels through an innovative and bizarre two-speed direct-drive friction transmission, by the use of several rotating discs. This Metz looks fantastic, and rightly so, because it’s been museum displayed since 1991. No word on how well it runs, if at all, or how much of that 22.5 horsepower is left.
There’s no visible rust on the body or frame, which is fantastic for anything made out of metal that was built before World War I. The glass, tires, and fabric all look nice, if covered in a layer of dust, natural for anything that’s been on display for 30 years.
The seller is open to answering any questions and seems to have an extensive collection, so it sounds like this Metz is coming from a caring home. If you wanted to display it, all you gotta do is give it a good once-over with some Windex or something. If you want to drive it, there’s probably gonna be some mechanical work involved. Luckily pioneers like this Metz aren’t too terribly complex, so you might be able to make it work by yourself, but I keep getting flashbacks to Jay Leno’s pioneering oddballs like this and sometimes he had to 3-D print new parts. Or, heck, just toss in an LS. Everything will fit an LS. Problem solved.
A better solution for this one might be a B&S (Briggs and Stratton). A garden tractor motor should have 22 HP!
Keep in mind, that with the low octane gas and low compression, 22 HP was pretty impressive. The huge 1913 Cadillac only had 50HP. So no, cars didn’t always come with LS engines sorry!
The “transmission” was a CRT and very simple. The engine turned a large disk, the other disk was perpendicular and drove the rear end. The gear ratio depended depended how far from the center the engine disk drove the driven disk, so so had an infinitely variable gear ratio in forward and reverse. The Carter Car and others had a similar system. (if the system let one upload photos, I’d include a diagram) I do wonder what happened on muddy roads!
Same concept used in walk behind snow blowers to this day. The “gears” really are distances from the center of the disc.
My first Snapper Comet riding mower had the same drive system ..
Well, isn’t this interesting? I have one of these, too! And I intend for it to go to auction this Summer. Mine is prettier, runs, and is in original colors with proper pinstriping (which this one lacks). Also, for the record, these have THREE, not two forward sped detents, though if you hold the selector lever, you can drive with any intermediate ratio you choose (kind of like a primitive CVT) – this technology is STILL in use in snowmobiles! Let me know if you’d like one fo these cuties.