Like all great pieces of art, the Marmon Sixteen was one man’s vision of perfection. Automobile pioneer Colonel Howard Marmon created a triumph of pattern-making and foundry technology, containing at its heart an all-aluminum V-16 engine on a state-of-the-art chassis. With 200 horsepower from over 490 cubic inches, the car was capable of out-accelerating a Duesenberg Model J at only one-third the cost, making it as much of a performance bargain as a $5,000 automobile could be. Its crisp styling by Walter Dorwin Teague Jr. embodied the lean sportiness of the age. Just 75 examples of the model remain in existence. They stand as one of the definitive statements of engineering and performance from the Classic Era and among the finest driving automobiles of the decade.

Only three Sixteens are known to have been built with truly custom coachwork: A one-off Victoria by Hayes, which has been recreated but no longer survives in original form, and a pair of open Phaetons built by Waterhouse, both of which do, fortuitously, remain.

The Phaetons were ordered by Colonel Ezra Parmalee Prentice and his wife, the former Alta Rockefeller, daughter of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, the richest person in the United States. Both cars were delivered as LeBaron-bodied seven-passenger sedans; once in Waterhouse’s hands, the original coachwork was removed and the chassis lengthened to 153 inches in wheelbase, then fitted with custom seven-passenger Phaeton bodies, designed and crafted with Waterhouse’s typical skill. In fashion typical of the conservative American aristocracy, no badging of any kind was allowed on the exterior of the cars, with the Marmon name on the hubcaps blanked off.

It was always common for the Rockefellers to maintain and retain their automobiles, and Colonel Prentice appears to have adopted the family trait. Both cars remained in the original ownership for decades.

This example, serial number 16 146 768 with engine 16 766, was sold from the Colonel’s estate in 1957 to the early Sixteen enthusiast and historian Edmund L. Robinson. Mr. Robinson restored the car, refinishing it and rebuilding its mechanical components while keeping the top, interior leather, and carpets original. The Marmon was featured in various magazines during Mr. Robinson’s ownership, most prominently in the Fall 1968 issue of Automobile Quarterly. A second, full restoration was eventually completed in 1975 by Robert Gassoway of New Jersey, following a fire that damaged the driver’s compartment, though fortunately left the rest of the car unscathed.

After two decades of ownership, Mr. Robinson sold the restored Waterhouse Marmon in 1977 to prolific Arizona dealer Tom Barrett, who passed it to Thomas E. “Gene” Storms of California the following year. Mr. Storms continued to improve the car, including installing correct dashboard instruments, acquired from the stores of the Briggs Cunningham Museum. The car remained in Storms' ownership until 1990, then returned to Barrett’s hands, and after a fresh cosmetic restoration was sold by him to the present collection in early 1991.

Offered today from only its fifth owner, the Marmon retains an older restoration in attractive overall condition, with its black paint striped in red and red leather interior wonderfully complemented by a tan canvas top. It would lend itself well to any number of concours events, where its status as a coachbuilt Sixteen would undoubtedly draw many admirers. It would also be ideal to take on tours, where its smooth sixteen-cylinder power—second only in its time to the Duesenberg—and vast interior will provide much enjoyment, whether the owner is a Rockefeller…or not.