1906 Mason Touring

The young, German-born Fred Duesenberg had acquired quite a name for himself in Iowa as a gifted mechanical hand. It was only natural that a wealthy backer would come to him in the early 1900s, seeking his help at building an automobile. The backer was Edward R. Mason, a Des Moines attorney, and the car that Fred created for him was the Mason, with an interesting overhead-valve twin-cylinder engine of square proportions (equal bore and stroke, 5 × 5 in.), good for 24 hp from 196 cu. in. It was installed in a beautifully engineered, heartily constructed car that achieved an excellent reputation for power and ruggedness. What it was not, however, was a big seller, and Mason eventually sold out to the Maytag washing machine family, which continued production (and employment of Fred Duesenberg) under their own name.

As history now knows, the Mason was no footnote, but rather the start of one of the U.S.’s prodigious automotive engineering talents – the first automobile designed by the great Fred Duesenberg for the motoring public.

According to Mason historian, George Hess, the Guyton car is one of approximately 25 automobiles produced by the company in 1906, and is the earliest known automobile designed by the Duesenberg Brothers. It was one of two shipped to an agency in San Diego, California, whose owner had planned to build his own automobile and had contracted with brothers Clarence and William Hunt of National City to build it. When the finances for the new car ran out, the brothers Hunt received the new Masons as payment for their work on the project. William Hunt obviously enjoyed his car, as a wonderful period photograph survives of him driving his family in the Mason.

Descriptions & pictures by rmsothebys & american-automobiles