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An Adelphia dream
Finding a unique car is something we all dream about, but then reality sets in and you want to restore the car in the best possible way. But information is scarce and other cars are not easy to find. This is more or less the status of Jonny Eriksson from Sweden who has an unusual car called Adelphia. Car? Well, it's a rusty chassis with a radiator, bonnet and steering wheel. Jonny is looking for more information and hoping there is a survivor somewhere in the world who can help him so that he can recreate the bodywork, as well as other bits, more accurately.
Adelphia
In the summer of 1920, the Winfield Barnes Company of Philadelphia announced their Adephia automobile as one that could not fail to impress with its luxurious yet powerful appearance. According to their sales brochure, they invested much of their fortune in experimentation and road tests before they were satisfied enough to produce the perfect car. It resulted in a lack of money, and the actual production and delivery took a few months longer than expected. Prompt delivery was not the only promise they made and failed to keep. "A demonstration convinces you at once that the Adephia is your kind of a motor car", they wrote, but it clearly did not bring the success they were hoping for.
Herschell-Spillman engine
The car was named the Model 48 (this was also the only model produced) with the radiator style of a Rolls-Royce and was powered by a 39 hp Herschell-Spillman four-cylinder engine (3 ½ " by 5 " cylinders). Herschell-Spillman was best known for their carousels but also produced engines for various automobiles such as Dixie-Flyer and Abbott-Detroit. It had a three-speed gearbox of its own design and it only braked with rear wheel brakes to stop the Goodrich 32" tyres on artillery wheels. Only a few Adelphias were produced before production ceased a year later in 1921 and the factory was auctioned in July of that year.
Jonny's Adelphia was imported into Stockholm by American Express in 1921 and three years later, in 1924, it moved 100 km north to the town of Gävle. In 1928, the car was removed from the register and less is known about it. It remained in a barn in the countryside and has not stood the test of time completely undamaged. Eighty years passed before anyone heard of the Adelphia again. And now, 15 years later, it has moved from the barn to the loving care of a new keeper. Completely rusted and in parts, most of it was found in the barn, but the chassis was in the woods next door and a tree had to be cut down to get it loose. The positive thing is that it all seems complete. And we have to stay positive to finish a project like this successfully.
The Greek word 'Adelphia' means brotherhood so we hope that something from the 'PreWarCar brothers' can help Jonny and make this his perfect car.
Published:
Tuesday June 7th, 2022
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Comments
Jonny Eriksson
12 June 2022, 11:48
David Grimstead
13 June 2022, 21:06
Jonny, well done. You having confirmed that, it is now worth saying that although the Adelphia does not seem to have come to the UK at all, quite a few Alsace-4 were imported and sold here by the VIGO Trading Company, Vigo St., Regents St., London W1 between at least 1920 and 1923. They had a “Service Depot and Repair works at Belsize Place, Hampstead, London NW. There is a big colour advert (a drawn red car!) for them in the Motor Owner magazine June 1920. Georgano says the Alsace was at the 1920 London Motor Show and, in British papers, garages were advertising them being readily available for sale in spring 1920. Several UK garages had them in stock for sale that year priced at £595 but “shop-soiled” cars were down to £275 in late 1923. Some chassis probably got British-made 2-seater bodies. Alsace-4s turned up second hand for some time after that. Unfortunately, unlikely much left of them here now.
I would think that both cars were versions of the Piedmont 4-30, the Adelphia with a slightly shorter chassis perhaps to reduce cost, so they probably used some common components, although when sold as Piedmonts, some if not all were said to have had, I think, a Continental engine of similar spec to the Herschell-Spillman. You can search the Hathitrust website for “Piedmont 4-30” to find a full side view and specification; I copied it but not the page address.
By the way, I think I read that there are only three or four of that Piedmont model still in existence. Rare indeed, so once again best of luck with restoration. DG.
Read more
I would think that both cars were versions of the Piedmont 4-30, the Adelphia with a slightly shorter chassis perhaps to reduce cost, so they probably used some common components, although when sold as Piedmonts, some if not all were said to have had, I think, a Continental engine of similar spec to the Herschell-Spillman. You can search the Hathitrust website for “Piedmont 4-30” to find a full side view and specification; I copied it but not the page address.
By the way, I think I read that there are only three or four of that Piedmont model still in existence. Rare indeed, so once again best of luck with restoration. DG.
Jonny Eriksson
14 June 2022, 11:03
David,
is it possible that you send all the information you found to my email?
popmaskinen@gmail.com
Thanks,
Jonny
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is it possible that you send all the information you found to my email?
popmaskinen@gmail.com
Thanks,
Jonny
Jonny Eriksson
08 June 2022, 09:41
Hi David!
Thank you for your knowledge but I'm very sure it's an Adelphia. I have registration paper that says adelphia. I also have old newspaper ads where they sell an Adelphia in Stockholm in May 1921. I think that if the production ended in October 1920 and an Adelphia would be sold in Stockholm, it would probably take 3 months just to get it to Stockholm. and with some delays maybe...
By the way, my top bow holders do not match Alsace, but they do match the Adelphia picture, etc. the radiator does not feel the same either.
Could you send all the info you have about Winfield and Barnes co and the Adelphia project? Either here on comments so we can all take part of the information or on my email popmaskinen@gmail.com
All the Best,
Jonny
Read more
Thank you for your knowledge but I'm very sure it's an Adelphia. I have registration paper that says adelphia. I also have old newspaper ads where they sell an Adelphia in Stockholm in May 1921. I think that if the production ended in October 1920 and an Adelphia would be sold in Stockholm, it would probably take 3 months just to get it to Stockholm. and with some delays maybe...
By the way, my top bow holders do not match Alsace, but they do match the Adelphia picture, etc. the radiator does not feel the same either.
Could you send all the info you have about Winfield and Barnes co and the Adelphia project? Either here on comments so we can all take part of the information or on my email popmaskinen@gmail.com
All the Best,
Jonny
David Grimstead
08 June 2022, 19:42
Jonny,
Thank you. Never any question that what you have is an Adelphia not an Alsace. But it is striking, the almost matching specification and common supplier names for both cars and the fact that both were evidently made in Philadelphia, the home of Winfield Barnes.
Confirmation that they came from the same manufacturer, at least indirectly, can be found in Marián Šumen-Hreblay’s Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry, where the entry for the Adelphia brand says: “USA 1920. Winfield-Barnes Co., Philadelphia. Built for export only. Plant sold by receivers June 1922. Built by Piedmont.”
And for the Alsace brand: “USA 1919-1921. Automotive Products Corp. New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Built by Piedmont Motor Company, Lynchburg, Virginia and Simms Motor Car Company, Atlanta Georgia. For export only. Passenger cars.”
That seems to confirm the connection from Piedmont Motor Company through the Alsace and its link to Adelphia, but not how much of the manufacture and assembly of either car Winfield Barnes did. Piedmont “supplied” a lot of cars which all looked the same bodily from the radiator back and had similar chassis. Mostly what changed were external features and detail changes to batches of chassis components during production of each model – like your radiator.
Not much more useful information I can add to the Adelphia story but let’s hope it means there are lots of suitable spares for you to find!
Good luck!
David G.
Read more
Thank you. Never any question that what you have is an Adelphia not an Alsace. But it is striking, the almost matching specification and common supplier names for both cars and the fact that both were evidently made in Philadelphia, the home of Winfield Barnes.
Confirmation that they came from the same manufacturer, at least indirectly, can be found in Marián Šumen-Hreblay’s Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry, where the entry for the Adelphia brand says: “USA 1920. Winfield-Barnes Co., Philadelphia. Built for export only. Plant sold by receivers June 1922. Built by Piedmont.”
And for the Alsace brand: “USA 1919-1921. Automotive Products Corp. New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Built by Piedmont Motor Company, Lynchburg, Virginia and Simms Motor Car Company, Atlanta Georgia. For export only. Passenger cars.”
That seems to confirm the connection from Piedmont Motor Company through the Alsace and its link to Adelphia, but not how much of the manufacture and assembly of either car Winfield Barnes did. Piedmont “supplied” a lot of cars which all looked the same bodily from the radiator back and had similar chassis. Mostly what changed were external features and detail changes to batches of chassis components during production of each model – like your radiator.
Not much more useful information I can add to the Adelphia story but let’s hope it means there are lots of suitable spares for you to find!
Good luck!
David G.
Jonny Eriksson
09 June 2022, 12:58
HI David!
Yes and thanks for your valuable information. I think Piedmont co. was the assembly factory. I wonder how many Adelphias they managed to assembly under such a short time. They started in summer (July?) 1920 and ended in october 1920. Thats only like 4 months.
All the best,
Jonny
Read more
Yes and thanks for your valuable information. I think Piedmont co. was the assembly factory. I wonder how many Adelphias they managed to assembly under such a short time. They started in summer (July?) 1920 and ended in october 1920. Thats only like 4 months.
All the best,
Jonny
David Grimstead
10 June 2022, 13:47
Jonny, a Winfield Barnes full page advert, with a perfect side view of an Adelphia, appeared on page 74 of the July 1920 Commercial American Magazine and was probably the only version W-B had time to print, although it was also published in Spanish (“El Automovil Americano”) and French magazines. It can be accessed at: h**ps://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2554676&view=1up&seq=312&skin=2021&q1=barnes
Note it says the Adelphia “is constructed” at their plant and a classified entry gave the address: “The Winfield Barnes Company 20th and Erie Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Exporters of automobiles, trucks and accessories.”
A Federal bankruptcy receiver was appointed in October 1920 when the company had $609,960 assets and $208,808 liabilities but the slump in money markets had left them only $757 cash. Its equipment was auctioned June 1921 “for very small sums” but bids for their two sites were not accepted. When finally sold in January 1922 they made $116,000, which was £31,000 over their valuation.
If you Google “20th and Erie”, Streetview shows one corner is occupied by a large two storey old brick-built factory, now a storage facility. Sales data says it was built in 1921 but was this where the Adelphia was built or was it at their second smaller premises on Cherry Street?
Read more
Note it says the Adelphia “is constructed” at their plant and a classified entry gave the address: “The Winfield Barnes Company 20th and Erie Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Exporters of automobiles, trucks and accessories.”
A Federal bankruptcy receiver was appointed in October 1920 when the company had $609,960 assets and $208,808 liabilities but the slump in money markets had left them only $757 cash. Its equipment was auctioned June 1921 “for very small sums” but bids for their two sites were not accepted. When finally sold in January 1922 they made $116,000, which was £31,000 over their valuation.
If you Google “20th and Erie”, Streetview shows one corner is occupied by a large two storey old brick-built factory, now a storage facility. Sales data says it was built in 1921 but was this where the Adelphia was built or was it at their second smaller premises on Cherry Street?
Jonny Eriksson
12 June 2022, 11:35
David!
Wow! thats wonderful information! Thanks alot!
-Jonny
Read more
Wow! thats wonderful information! Thanks alot!
-Jonny
David Grimstead
07 June 2022, 19:57
It may prove fortunate but as confusing for Jonny Eriksson as for me that his car was probably not sold uniquely as an Adelphia...
According to Georgano’s Encyclopaedia, Winfield Barnes $1695 export Adelphia only existed between summer and autumn 1920, but a car with a near identical specification and appearance, including a Rolls-Royce style radiator, was described in detail in the 1919 Chilton Automobile Directory as “The Alsace; a New Car for the Export Trade, being turned out by the Automotive Products Corporation of Woolworth Building, New York City” but “manufactured in Philadelphia” – suggesting they had it made by Winfield Barnes.
Automotive Products Corp. was allied with the American Steel Export Company and planned to sell the Alsace “through well established foreign distributors at certain trade centers.” It was right hand drive only, “parts utilized in its make-up are those which will give service in the hands of the average foreign user and upon which the replacement for renewals will not be difficult.” (NB: Alsace was a politically sensitive name in post-WWI Europe; Adelphia was a better export name.)
Just like the Adelphia, the Alsace engine was the 4-cylinder, 3.5 x 5 inch Herschell-Spillman, with honeycomb Rolls-Royce type radiator and thermo-syphon cooling, a Zenith carburettor, Bosch magneto and fuel-feed by Stewart vacuum. It was fitted with a Dyneto two-unit electric starter and dynamo, which charged a Philadelphia Diamond Grid 6-volt, 120-amp battery.
Its frame was 5-inch section with semi-elliptic springs front and rear; wheelbase was 116 inches and tread 56 inches. A Grant-Lees selective-type three-speed transmission drove via a fully–floating Hotchkiss-type axle, which was made by Stan Par as was the I-beam front axle. Rear wheel only brakes were 14 x 2 inch drums in wooden artillery wheels, these having demountable rims with a spare rim mounted on the rear body. Tires were 32 x 4 inch all round; non-skid at the rear and plain in front, either Fiske or Goodrich.
It had full crowned fenders fitted to a body that was “5-passenger, straight line, and has a one man top.” It was available painted deep red, Rolls Royce Blue or Cobalt Blue, with black enamelled fenders, splash-pans and shields. The windshield was slanted but fully adjustable and the upholstery was “leatheroid.” The Alsace weighed 2600lb and the ex-Philadelphia factory price in 1919 was $1485.
Subject to Winfield Barnes “changes in design or any improvements” caveat, all very similar but Georgano describes the Alsace and its 1921 photo as “in fact a Piedmont built for the export market” by the Piedmont Motor Company of Lynchburg, Virginia, which was supplying many badge-engineered cars at the time but failed during 1922. Although Georgano makes no connection between Alsace and Adelphia and gives no indication the Piedmont/Alsace was made in Philadelphia, the Chilton Directory and Winfield Barnes brochure seem to identify Alsace and Adelphia as essentially the same 19.6-h.p. car, both made some time between 1919 and 1922 in Philadelphia. Was Winfield Barnes assembling these export cars for Piedmont or just using their parts and assembling them for others?
Read more
According to Georgano’s Encyclopaedia, Winfield Barnes $1695 export Adelphia only existed between summer and autumn 1920, but a car with a near identical specification and appearance, including a Rolls-Royce style radiator, was described in detail in the 1919 Chilton Automobile Directory as “The Alsace; a New Car for the Export Trade, being turned out by the Automotive Products Corporation of Woolworth Building, New York City” but “manufactured in Philadelphia” – suggesting they had it made by Winfield Barnes.
Automotive Products Corp. was allied with the American Steel Export Company and planned to sell the Alsace “through well established foreign distributors at certain trade centers.” It was right hand drive only, “parts utilized in its make-up are those which will give service in the hands of the average foreign user and upon which the replacement for renewals will not be difficult.” (NB: Alsace was a politically sensitive name in post-WWI Europe; Adelphia was a better export name.)
Just like the Adelphia, the Alsace engine was the 4-cylinder, 3.5 x 5 inch Herschell-Spillman, with honeycomb Rolls-Royce type radiator and thermo-syphon cooling, a Zenith carburettor, Bosch magneto and fuel-feed by Stewart vacuum. It was fitted with a Dyneto two-unit electric starter and dynamo, which charged a Philadelphia Diamond Grid 6-volt, 120-amp battery.
Its frame was 5-inch section with semi-elliptic springs front and rear; wheelbase was 116 inches and tread 56 inches. A Grant-Lees selective-type three-speed transmission drove via a fully–floating Hotchkiss-type axle, which was made by Stan Par as was the I-beam front axle. Rear wheel only brakes were 14 x 2 inch drums in wooden artillery wheels, these having demountable rims with a spare rim mounted on the rear body. Tires were 32 x 4 inch all round; non-skid at the rear and plain in front, either Fiske or Goodrich.
It had full crowned fenders fitted to a body that was “5-passenger, straight line, and has a one man top.” It was available painted deep red, Rolls Royce Blue or Cobalt Blue, with black enamelled fenders, splash-pans and shields. The windshield was slanted but fully adjustable and the upholstery was “leatheroid.” The Alsace weighed 2600lb and the ex-Philadelphia factory price in 1919 was $1485.
Subject to Winfield Barnes “changes in design or any improvements” caveat, all very similar but Georgano describes the Alsace and its 1921 photo as “in fact a Piedmont built for the export market” by the Piedmont Motor Company of Lynchburg, Virginia, which was supplying many badge-engineered cars at the time but failed during 1922. Although Georgano makes no connection between Alsace and Adelphia and gives no indication the Piedmont/Alsace was made in Philadelphia, the Chilton Directory and Winfield Barnes brochure seem to identify Alsace and Adelphia as essentially the same 19.6-h.p. car, both made some time between 1919 and 1922 in Philadelphia. Was Winfield Barnes assembling these export cars for Piedmont or just using their parts and assembling them for others?
I found this. just as you thought it seems like the Alsace were the precursor of the Adelphia car.
Best wishes,
Jonny