WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

In the fall of 1924, E.T. Stotesbury purchased a 1925 Locomobile Model 48 chassis and had it refitted with a custom town car body and a collapsible roof made by the Derham Body Company (formerly the Derham Carriage Works) on Lancaster Avenue in Rosemont, PA. The Derham brothers designed it so that the car looked like a Phaeton when the top and all of the windows were lowered. Upon delivery, Stotesbury shipped the car to New York, where new fenders, a Rolls Royce style hood, a radiator and custom appointments (including the initial "S" on the radiator) were added.

It is likely that this car was used by Eva Stotesbury, as Mr. Stotesbury tended to prefer the Peerless, Chrysler and Buick models for his own cars. It probably was sold in 1928, when Eva obtained a new Rolls Royce as her main vehicle.

In 2004, Clark Rittersbach of Platinum Classic Motorcars in East Rochester, NY completed a painstaking restoration of the original 1925 Stotesbury Locomobile. Various attributes were reconstructed in the spirit of the original Stotesbury style.

The restored car weighed 5,330 lbs., was 142 inches long and had a 525 cubic inch, 6 cylinder steam engine that would produce 95 HP at 2,200 RPM.

Photo Sources: John Deming, Jr.; the Hershey Auction 2005; ConceptCarz.com. Additional information provided by the Lower Merion Historical Society, Platinum Classic Motor Cars, the Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, PopularMechanics.com, ConceptCarz.com, John Yunis, and John Deming, Jr.

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