The Automobilists: 1906

must have bought this one used!

If that is a sanitation worker in the left background, he's probably excited that the car produces zero emissions of a different kind!

is what they were after traveling 11,000 miles sans windshield.

What else can be said. In this case, literally.

Once again Percy and David are rebuffed by the Holland Tunnel. And the Oyster Bar was close, so very, very close.

The numbered street sign is illegible, but the other one seems to say Jerome Ave. If so, the combination of that and Huber's Hotel seems to mean that the photo was taken in the Bronx at the site of the future Yankee Stadium.

[Huber's Hotel was at Jerome Avenue and 162nd Street. - Dave]

Both men look worse for wear after their months-long adventure. This New York Times article from 1908 details the East-to-West half of their grueling trip, their detour (turn left at the Sierra Nevada range), and a list of things they'd do differently next time. That included taking TWO Winchester rifles to ward off wolves, a vehicle with much higher clearance and a lot more food (they went without eating for four days at one point).

Note the searchlight on the hood. Came in handy at night for targeting all those wild and woolly critters out there.

The rifle seems to be an accessory that has gone by the wayside. Pity.

The Reo, like a lot of early automobiles, used chain drive (a heavier-duty version of what you'd find on a bicycle) to turn the rear wheels. The canvas slung under the car would have kept the chain from getting tangled up with underbrush. The chains were lubricated with grease, which would explain the oil spots.

If that is oil under the vehicle, fortune rode and finished with them. And I do like the holstered rifle accent.

Try riding into NY with a rifle hanging on your car now.

Interesting to note that not only is the vehicle a right hand drive but each wheel has five valve stems.

[Those are tire clamps -- retainers that hold the tire on the wheel. - Dave]