According to a copy of a letter on file that had been written by Albert Procter’s daughter, Ethel, he had begun experimenting with building a horseless carriage in 1898, at about the same time that motivated power took hold in the brains of many other American inventors.

Unlike contemporaries, such as Duryea and Ford, Procter, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, had no intention of building more than one automobile. He wanted something for his personal use, and so, with typical Yankee ingenuity, he built one. It took him nine years, but by 1907, he had constructed the car shown here, a simple wooden carriage with full-elliptical suspension, which, over the years, employed several different engines as motivating power; initially, a small single-cylinder unit was utilized, which was later replaced by a 10-horsepower twin from a 1903 or 1904 Ford Model A.

Ethel Procter eventually sold her father’s automobile to a gentleman in Marblehead, Massachusetts, who donated its Model A engine to the war effort during World War II. The now-powerless little car was eventually sold to a collector in Rhode Island, in whose ownership it was listed when the entry on the “Proctor” (sic.) was published in Beverly Rae Kimes and Henry Austin Clark Jr.’s Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942 in 1985.

By that time, however, the Procter was part of Richard Roy’s collection, having been acquired five years prior, in 1980, from the car corral here at Hershey. His acquisition is featured in an article published in the Gloucester Daily Times on November 14, 1980, a copy of which is on file. With his typical fascination and tenacity for detail, Mr. Roy set about researching the car, locating a copy of the Ethel Procter letter (which is on file) from Essex County, Massachusetts, automobile historian Hayden Shepley. After determining that a Ford Model A engine was the correct unit for the car, he set about locating one and eventually purchased a proper specimen in Australia. That engine, number 1771, is installed in the Procter today.

The car remains otherwise original, including its wooden bodywork and metal fenders, both of which are solid and show evidence of their original maroon finish. The leather interior is believed to be original, albeit stiff and missing several buttons. Much of the original brass trim appears to be present throughout as well. The Procter has not been in running condition for many years and will require mechanical restoration to be put back on the road.

The early years of American motoring were filled with dreamers, and this charming car is the result of one such man’s imagination and craftsmanship.