1928 Isotta Fraschini...A Wonderful Piece of History
This Chassis was built in Italy in 1928 and was delivered to Lebaron in the United States. Lebaron produced this Convertible Coupe Boat Tail with a single seat rumble seat. The car is equipped with the 8ASS engine, a super eight of a 160 horse power. A standard horse power was 120HP.
This car was introduced at the New York Auto Show in 1928 and was purchased by Harry Williams and his wife Marguerite Clark, of Patterson, Louisiana. Harry Williams was an aviation pioneer, besides having an air mail service and passenger service. He also teamed up with Jimmy Weddell to build race planes in the 1920's and 1930's. They won many trophies with the likes of Rosco Turner and other aviation greats. These planes were called "The Weddell Williams Racers".
Marguerite Clark was a silent movie star and a star of the stage. Reference: "Marguerite Clark America's Darling" of Broadway and "The Silent Screen" by Curtis Nunn (TCU Press).
Harry Williams was an adventurer and like things fast. The following was related by the curator of the Harry Williams Museum in Patterson, Louisiana:
Harry was driving the Isotta through the Louisiana country side and was stopped in a small town for speeding. He was taken down to the court house to pay the fine, which was $10.00. Harry said "O Kay, here is $20.00. I'll be back through town later and don't bother me."
This car is a wonderful piece of history and has been unknown to the automobile collectors. This will be the first time in public since the 1930's. This car only has 22,000 original miles and was previously owned by collector Jim Thomas of Florida since the 1960's. Jim was also a judge at Pebble Beach.