While at first blush an outlier within the Mann Collection, the 1904 Oldsmobile is present for a simple reason: The collection included nothing from the first decade of motoring, and it does meet the Manns’ original criteria—two seats, and an emphasis on clean and beautiful lines. There is very little on a “Curved Dash” that does not belong there: an engine, and a simple carriage-like wooden body atop to carry the passengers. Propulsion is via a single-cylinder engine, with pumped recirculating cooling, delivering power through a planetary transmission. A single hand lever directs the power to low, high speed, or reverse gear, with a throttle control on the floorboard.

It is motoring at its most elemental, appropriate to its time, and represents, in many ways, the bare seed from which the grand automobiles of the Classic Era eventually developed in the United States.

Engine number 21238, the Manns’ car is a 1904 Model 6C, of which, as of 2015, the Curved Dash noted only about 142 known survivors, less than half the earlier and more common Model R. It was formerly part of the collection of Sterling Walsh of Hampstead, Maryland, a well-known longtime member of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA). Mr. Walsh restored the car in the early 1970s, with the mechanical portion of the restoration reportedly handled by the great George Green of Lambertville, New Jersey, for decades the most knowledgeable authority on the “Curved Dash” Oldsmobiles. Beginning in 1975, the car was displayed in AACA National competition, eventually earning its Grand National First Prize.

The Oldsmobile remained in the Walsh Collection until Mr. Walsh’s passing in 2014, and the following year was acquired by Sam and Emily Mann. It has since remained on static display within their collection, and today presents in lovely condition, with only minor aging to its cosmetic finishes; paint, interior, and brass trim all still show extremely well, a testament to the excellent quality of the restoration and to the care thereafter in its Walsh and Mann ownerships.

Marking the genesis of the American automobile and the forefather of all the grander things that would come, this is a wonderful specimen of the “Curved Dash,” a genuinely iconic motor car eligible for any number of early motoring events.