Charles Metz was a bicycle manufacturer. His Waltham Manufacturing Company in Massachusetts made Orient bicycles, as well as chassis for a considerable number of early automobiles. He left the company in 1901 after a tiff with investors. Eight years later, he bought it back, in a desperate financial state and with a huge inventory of parts on hand. Metz conceived the “Metz Plan,” by which customers could purchase packages of parts for $25 each and build their own cars, one package at a time.

In six months, with the steady cash infusions, Metz had retired the debts of Waltham Manufacturing and become an auto manufacturer in his own right, offering cars completely built. In 1912 a new Model 22, with a 22 hp four-cylinder engine, was introduced, but it retained the simple friction-drive transmission of the earlier vee-twin cars.

Tidy and tasty, this Model 22 Metz is painted light blue with black fenders and accent striping. Its black cape top has a detachable windshield curtain. The seat is upholstered with wide-pleated black leather. The cockpit is cozy and devoid of instruments. At the rear is a jauntily angled luggage compartment. The four-cylinder engine drives through the friction transmission via dual chains to the rear wheels.

Thousands of customers of the Metz Plan built their own cars, a package at a time. This is a chance to acquire one completely built and enjoy it posthaste.