Coachwork by Healey & Co.

- Sporting Example of the Rare Locomobile Model 38

- Fitted with Its Original Custom Roadster Coachwork by Healey & Co.

- Presented in Highly Original Condition

- Preserved for Nearly 80 Years in Single Family Ownership

- Ideal Candidate for Preservation Class Display

- Formerly the property of legendary collector Mark Smith

Supplementing its distinguished Model 48, Locomobile’s companion six-cylinder offering was designated the Model 38. Built using the same high-quality components as the 48, the Model 38 utilized a slightly smaller 140" wheelbase chassis with power delivered from a 425 cid engine producing a robust 63 hp. Exclusivity was ensured with production Model 38s priced from $4,400 to $5,700. While most Locomobiles carried conservative sedan, limousine, or open touring bodies, the example offered here represents the firm’s sporting side, fitted with custom roadster coachwork by Healey & Co. of New York City. Healey & Co. was founded in 1849 and built high-quality carriages and coaches before applying their craft to automobile bodies. At one point employing future design stars such as Justus Locke and Christian Bohman, the firm’s custom-body building had ceased by the mid-1920s.

This Locomobile offered here, chassis 10865, was originally purchased by R. Bleeker Rathbone, an insurance executive from White Plains, New York. Locomobile began marketing their 1916 models as early as May 1915 and notably, Mr. Rathbone’s Locomobile is listed in the 1915 New York registration book.

In about 1930, 10865 was purchased from a junkyard in Rockville Centre, New York by a teenage Donald Cardwell. Mr. Cardwell named the Locomobile “Pegasus” after the hero’s horse on a 1920s radio show. The radiator badge with the name and the Pegasus hood ornament remain on the car today. Mr. Cardwell would drive Pegasus around Long Island, on summer vacation in the Poconos, and to college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Donald Cardwell’s brother Richard, at the age of 99, told of their most historic journey in the Locomobile: Donald, Richard, and their father Allen drove it from their home in Long Island to the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago – and a souvenir badge from that event remains on the license plate carrier today. By 1938, Pegasus was put into storage and did not see use again until after WWII. In 1947, Mr. Cardwell decided to return his car to the road and, from period news and club reports, it is known that 10865 participated in collector car events for a couple years before last being registered for the road in 1949.

In 2009, sixty years after its last use, Pegasus was extracted from the Cardwell carriage house in Massapequa, New York, when the family sold their cherished heirloom to renowned antique car collector Walter McCarthy. Upon hearing of the Locomobile’s existence from Mr. McCarthy, Mark J. Smith immediately pursued the car and soon acquired it from his friend. From 2009 until his passing in 2021, Pegasus had a position of prominence among Mr. Smith’s unrivaled collection of original antique and classic automobiles. Its preserved condition was celebrated at the Antique Automobile Club of America museum when displayed in the 2017 exhibition, Garage Finds: Unrestored Treasures that Survived Time, but it has not been shown since, providing the next owner with the opportunity of presenting in popular preservation classes.

Chassis 10865 is presented in highly original condition, finished in a blue-green tone that may well be its original paint. The car boasts its original tufted leather upholstery, original side curtains, and an original top boot cover fitted snugly over the lowered top. Styling elements of the custom Healey & Co. roadster coachwork include a rumble seat concealed below the tapered rear deck, dual rear-mounted spares, and a fold-down windshield, all working in unison resulting in an attractive, sporting design.

Importantly, documentation showing this car was first registered in June 1915 makes it eligible for Horseless Carriage Club of America events. Offered here, this 1916 Locomobile Model 38 Custom Roadster presents its next owner with opportunities ranging from preservation in its time capsule condition to touring in the only example of this custom-bodied design.