Since publishing our review of the forthcoming Dragone auction last week, we have received some comments which demonstrate the passion with which enthusiasts unravel the history of old cars. The 1911 Mercer Type 35 Toy Tonneau deserves a more close attention. Alan Ballard is a knowledgeable man with a 1911 Mercer catalogue in his collection and believes the Dragone car to be a Type 30M. The catalogue only lists the 35 in 'Raceabout' and 'Runabout' form, but there must have been more. For example, this December 1911 Mercer advertisement shows 4 and 5-seater torpedo bodied cars. We understand that type 30M was the 1910 model designation for the Toy Tonneau with the L-head beaver engine and this car is in fact, according to Austin Clark, a type 35 because of its T-head four cyclinder engine and identical chassis components as in the raceabouts. Mercer originally carried over their advertising from the previous year designating this as a type 30M, but this car is in every way a type 35 and Mercer may not have taken the time to create new advertising for the 1911 model year for the Toy Tonneau. Finally the Standard Catalogue of American Cars (Beverly Rae Kimes/Henry Austin Clark) lists for 1911 the Model 35 Raceabout and Toy Tonneau. So like always there's more under the sun.
Alex Dragone has shared salient facts about engine and wheelbase which satisfy him that his car is indeed the only known Toy Tonneau with Model 35 specification. The other Toy Tonneau known has the much smaller L-head engine. The car pictured above has exactly the same engine as the Raceabout with its Flechter updraft carburetter allowing 200 rpm tick over and 1800 rpm "on occasions when it becomes necessary to obtain maximum speed quickly" (Mercer owner's manual). Ignition is twin-spark Bosch magneto firing on two plugs per cylinder . It is effectively the Raceabout yet with 4 seats and a 6 inches longer wheelbase.
The car was found in 1948 by Henry Austin Clark who said that ‘the Mercer was the finest car produced in America.’ It was the legendary Mercer Raceabout that brought the name to such prominence and at the heart of the car is the legendary 60HP T-head engine. Designed by Finlay Robertson Porter, a self-taught engineer from Ohio, he struck a perfect balance with 300 cubic inches – anything smaller and it would not have achieved the extraordinary racing successes and anything bigger would have sacrificed reliability.
(Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy Dragone auctions)