At that time, the Americans do not wish to differentiate between production car and competition car. Stearns claims in due right the superiority of his vehicles. A new model is proposed each year. The 1905 40HP and the 1907 60HP can be equipped for seven-passenger touring, open to all the winds in the style of the time.
The legend tells that a Stearns 60HP was the first gasoline car to reach the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado and that such a feat was achieved with seven passengers on board. However, it is clear that the cars from this brand had all the qualities to tackle the mountain roads.
On October 5 in Philadelphia, Bonhams sells one of the few surviving examples of the Stearns 60HP Seven Passenger Touring of 1907, lot 265 estimated $ 650K.
The assumption that the first owner of this car was living in Denver is plausible. It belonged in the 1960s to a couple in Montana who was passionately collecting the wonders hidden in the Rocky Mountains. It was restored by a subsequent owner, modeled on images of original advertisements, paving its way to the Concours d'Elegance.
We preview the upcoming Bonhams auction at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia http://t.co/yTac1O9ZEI pic.twitter.com/jAOePa1tRE
— Sports Car Digest (@SportsCarDigest) September 25, 2015