Aside from some engine work and a second set of hard-rubber tires, the amazing Motor Buggy runabout is almost entirely original.
It has outlived two generations of the Mertes family, and now belongs to the grandson of its original purchaser.
The Motor Buggy still runs, and apart from an engine repair and a new set of tires, is in completely original condition. When Ken Mertes drives it, he is using 107-year-old brakes!
An estimated 3500 customers ordered a Sears car between 1908 and 1912. The car could either be picked up at the Chicago factory, or delivered by rail, which is how Jon Mertes got his. According to the family, this was the 39th car built that first year. When notified that it was at the train station, they had to hitch up the horses to the wagon and go get it, then assemble it when they got it home. It 's been going strong ever since.
It’s got the original brakes on it and it’s never been repainted and never even had a good cleaning, really. The only other major change to it, is the tires were worn out on the front and almost worn off on the back and we took the wheels up to a buggy maker in South Dakota and he put new rubber on the wheels.
1908, of course, was the first year of the Model T Ford, and the year that Sears jumped into the car business. Its little high-wheeler, dubbed the Motor Buggy, had advantages over the Ford.
“One advantage they had over the Model T’s was they had a gas tank under the front seat,” Mertes noted. “When the Model T’s got low on gas they’d have to back up a hill, but that didn’t happen with the Sears… They were a very utilitarian vehicle, but they were still behind the times.” They also cost about $100 more than the Sears.
Mertes chuckles when trying to describe how it feels to handle the ancient buggy with tiller steering, a high center of gravity, primitive brakes and nothing to hold onto or keep you strapped in if things get hairy.
“It’s rickety to drive. Everything you’ve ever known about driving a car doesn’t apply,” he says. “It doesn’t even have a conventional steering wheel. You’ve got to toe the clutch all the while you are moving. In a regular car, you let off the clutch, but in this you’ve got hold it in…"
https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2015/06/1908-sears-motor-buggy-still-in.html
https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-of-the-week-1908-sears-motor-buggy?et_mid=757690&rid=235914604
