Locomobile Model 48 History

The Model 48 was Locomobile's flagship and its defining car: a large, hand-built luxury automobile powered by a 429-cubic-inch (roughly 7-liter) straight-six engine. Introduced in 1911, it earned a reputation for quality of materials and workmanship that ranked among the very best in the world, and a price — around $10,000 fully coachbuilt — to match.

Sold as a bare chassis, the Model 48 wore custom bodywork from America's finest coachbuilders, with some examples even featuring fittings from Tiffany Studios. It was the car of choice for wealthy buyers who wanted American engineering rather than an imported marque, and it remained in the catalog with remarkable continuity for nearly two decades.

When Durant Motors acquired Locomobile in July 1922, it kept the Model 48 in production as the prestige top of its range, building the now-dated but still superbly made car right up to the company's collapse in 1929 — making the Model 48 both the marque's high point and the last link to its golden age.