We had no correct answers for last week's quiz. It is not a ca. 1923, 12-25hp Phoenix "All Weather saloon convertible". The make we were looking for is Stigler. August Stigler, at the age of 18, moved from Germany to Zurich, studying engineering at the Polytechnic Institute. After graduating in 1857, he moved to Milan in 1860 (or 1859 according to some sources) where he founded Officina Meccanica Ing. His sons Augusto II, Maxime and Charles joined him in the business which really took off when in 1870, they constructed a novel hydraulic elevator for the Hotel Costanzi in Rome. Meanwhile the Stiglers were working on a transition to electric motors and they installed their first electric elevator in 1898. By 1910, 10.000 Stigler lifts were in operation and by 1920 they had produced over 20.000. You can read more on Stigler elevators on The Elevator Museum website .
By this time the Stigler factory at Milan's Via Galileo was diversifying into electric vehicles, both commercials and passenger cars. Very little is known about them. The first model was exhibited in 1922. Production had ceased by 1925 and is supposed to have been quite small. Stigler cars were available with 2 and 4-door bodywork. The range was about 100 kilometres with an average speed of 35, and that's all the info we have. Does anyone know any more? Stigler was an international company by the thirties, but after the war the Italian branch was taken over by Otis. The Spanish branch was absorbed by Kone in the 1970's, but in Istanbul, Turkey, Stigler are still in the elevator business. We conclude with this nice picture of a Stigler elevator containing a Fiat chassis.
(text and quiz idea Jan-Bart Broertjes)