As the American craze for bicycles died off in the late 1890s, the companies that had built them turned to other products to stay afloat. One of these companies, located in Racine, Wisconsin, ended up producing a motorcycle and then the Mitchell automobile, which was launched in 1903. While the company experimented early on with such advancements as two-stroke engines and air cooling, they eventually settled on a car of conventional design, with water-cooled engines and shaft drive. As production continued, four- and six-cylinder models were made available, along with a short-lived V-8 and a V-12.
One of their more unusual models was the 1912 Model 5-6 Baby Six, which was an unusual early attempt at a “downsized” automobile. It was a car that had great quality and power and the prestige of a six-cylinder engine but in smaller and more affordable form. It was a fine little Brass automobile with nice performance, and it positively drove the company’s copywriters into hysteria.
Story by RM Sotheby’s
