This 1908 Holsman auto buggy is a high wheel runabout built by the Holsman Automobile Co. of Chicago, Illinois. It is little more than a horsedrawn buggy powered by a small centrally-mounted petrol engine. High wheeler cars evolved in the mid-West of America in the first decade of the twentieth century and show the transition from the horsedrawn vehicle to motor vehicle.
Designs of early horseless carriage bodies bore close similarities to the smaller, four-wheel horsedrawn carriages of the late 19th century such as the buggy and phaeton. This was reflected in the common terminology in body styles, as well as materials, methods of production and the skilled tradesmen needed to build them including the body builder, blacksmith, wheelwright, trimmer and coach painter.
In the first years of motoring, high-wheel vehicles were more practical for country travel than the ordinary low-wheeled cars, especially over rough uneven roads and for climbing hills, lifting out of holes and negotiating sticky mud and clay which would clog up the small artillery wheels of standard early cars. The high wheel vehicles were more comfortable and the solid rubber tyres more reliable than the early pneumatic ones. The enclosed bodies were popular with doctors and the piano box types with prosperous farmers. Soon, others involved in country travel such as land agents and travelling salesmen were buying high wheelers. The vehicles were very basic but beautifully finished with buggy-style fine lining, though the speedometer, headlamps and tail lamps were optional extras. The main advantages of the high wheel motor buggy (or auto buggy) were cheapness, durability, simplicity and ease of repair and maintenance compared with the low wheel touring cars also available at the time. Contemporary advertising emphasised the simplicity of the vehicles" "Rides like a carriage - No freezing, No punctures, No odours!".
High-wheeler automobiles were as successful in America as their horsedrawn precursors. In Australia, where similar types of road transport satisfied similar conditions and demands, high wheelers were also readily accepted (at least as far as the tariff restrictions on imported goods would allow). While some auto buggies were made locally in Australia, the great majority were imported from America by manufacturers or their agents.
The firm, Larke, Hoskins and Co., were the New South Wales agents for the Holsman auto buggy while in Melbourne they were exhibitied at the 1909 and 1910 agricultural shows by the Tarrant Motor Company.
"The Australasian Coachbuilder and Wheelwright", March 15, 1907, p.292.
Grant, Andrew, "Development of the High Wheel Motor Buggy", unpublished paper, 1982.
Information provided by Diane L. Burghardt, Connecticut, USA,
Assistant Curator, Science & Industry