Produced in Ohio from 1905 to 1913, the Stoddard-Dayton is an automobile today held in deserving reverence by Brass Era enthusiasts. Its product was beautifully built and advanced in its engineering, with powerful engines that boasted features such as inclined overhead valves and hemispherical combustion chambers, decades ahead of most other American automakers.

The car was a real performer, something of which Carl Fisher took advantage. Fisher was a man of many business interests, all of them intertwined; his main fortune came from Prest-O-Lite acetylene headlamps, but he was also one of the developers of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and, as it happened, the Indiana Stoddard-Dayton distributor. A Stoddard-Dayton driven by Fisher paced the first Indianapolis 500—product placement that, like the car itself, was ahead of its time.

This example honors the number 21 Stoddard-Dayton driven by Fred “Jap” Clemens to a 2nd-overall finish in the very first race held at the Speedway, the 100-mile Prest-O-Lite Trophy, on 19 August 1909. It had previously been owned by one of the most avid and famous early collectors on the West Coast, Art Austria of Venice, California. Mr. Austria collected many significant Brass and Nickel Era automobiles long before others caught the passion and from the 1930s into the 1960s was well-known for providing them to Hollywood.

The car was acquired from Mr. Austria’s collection by Buck Boudeman of Michigan, who sold it in 1978 to his friend Don Lyons as an intact 113½-inch-wheelbase chassis, engine, transmission, axles, and wheels. After restoration to the present configuration in 1984, the car remained in their ownership until John Muckel acquired it in 2009. It bears the autographs of racing legends Emil Andres and Lujie Lesovsky and is accompanied by an original manual and some additional literature.

Any of the nimble, speedy Stoddard-Daytons is a delight to drive—but few are more exciting than this one, which looks and feels ready for the Brickyard!