thumb|Pope-Toledo 1906 emblem

thumb|Pope-Toledo Plant (1905)

The Pope-Toledo was the luxury marque of the Pope Motor Car Company founded by Colonel Albert A. Pope, and was a manufacturer of Brass Era automobiles in Toledo, Ohio between 1903 and 1909. The Pope-Toledo was the successor to the Toledo of the International Motor Car Company.

History

The 1903 Pope-Toledo was a four-wheel, front-engined, two-seater open car. It was powered by a straight 3 cylinder 182 cubic inch (2983 cc) engine with the then unusual feature of a detachable cylinder head. Valve operation was mechanical and the engine speed was governed at 600 RPM. Drive was through a 3-speed gearbox with chains to each rear wheel. The chassis was mainly wood with a steel sub-frame carrying the main mechanical components. The car had a wheelbase of and a track of .

The 1904 model was a larger touring car. Equipped with a rear entrance tonneau body, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for $3,500, . The vertically mounted water-cooled straight-4, situated at the front of the car, produced 24hp (17.9kW). A 3-speed sliding transmission was fitted. The channel steel-framed car weighed 2350lb (1066kg). This modern Système Panhard car had spark and throttle levers on steering wheel, a novelty at the time. In 1908, Bobby Sheldon brought a 1906 Pope-Toledo down the Yukon to Fairbanks, the first car brought to Alaska.

By 1907 the company models included limousines and seven seat cars. In 1909 the company was taken over by Richard D. Apperson of the American National Bank of Lynchburg, Virginia (and no relation to Apperson of Kokomo). The Apperson deal failed and the Pope Motor Car Company receivers sold the factory to Overland.

  • Pope-Toledo Type XII
  • Pope-Toledo Type VIII
  • Pope-Toledo Type IX
  • Pope-Toledo Type XV
  • Pope-Toledo Type XVII
  • Pope-Toledo Type XVIII
  • Pope-Toledo Type XXI
  • Pope-Toledo Type XXII

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File:Pope-Toledo, JBG 632, London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2008, 1904 Rear-Entrance-Tonneau (2997444072).jpg|1904 Pope-Toledo Model Rear Entrance Tonneau

File:1904 Pope Toledo Racer ALAM Handbook.jpg|1904 Pope Toledo Racer

File:Concours d'Elegance (20452262578).jpg|1904 Pope-Toledo Type IV

File:Year book - photo flashes showing Toledo's phenomenal progress, thriving industries and wonderful resources - DPLA - a52ce51482c7be68dd8b0554fb2a9ba7 (page 18).jpg|1904 Pope-Toledo Factory

File:1905 Pope-Toledo Model VII (16572180888).jpg|1905 Pope-Toledo Model VII advertisement

File:Herbert Lytle on a Pope-Toledo - 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup.jpg|1905 Pope-Toledo with driver Herbert Lytle for the Gordon Bennett Cup

File:1906 Pope-Toledo with poodle - Flickr - rich701.jpg|1906 Pope-Toledo Model VI

File:Gustaf Ericssons Automobil 9.jpg|1906 Pope-Toledo VI - Gustaf Ericsson

File:Stahls Automotive Collection December 2021 028 (1907 Pope-Toledo Type XV Touring).jpg|1907 Pope-Toledo Model VII

File:Nevada Rapid Transit Co 1906.jpg|The Nevada Rapid Transit line used multiple Pope-Toledos to take passengers between Tonopah and Manhattan

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See also

  • Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January, 1904)
  • Pope-Toledo at ConceptCarz
  • Fountainhead Museum - The Toledo - "An Automobile of Quality"
  • Toledos Attic Article - Toledos early automobiles
  • Bonhams - 1906 Pope-Toledo
  • Bonhams - 1904 Pope-Toledo

References