1893 Custom Built Steam Stage Coach

 This is from the souvenir booklet for the Melton Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut (1949)

This photograph of my parents is actually from the December 7, 1942 issue of Opera News. 

That was the date of my father's debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Tamino in "The Magic Flute." 

This is the car as it looks today. (Thanks for sending this, Mike.)

Back on April 2, 2012 I posted something about the oldest car in my father's collection, a 1893 custom-built steam stage coach.  Recently I had an email from Mike in Nevada, who is the current owner of this unusual vehicle!  One just never knows where cars formerly in the James Melton collection will turn up—and I'm always delighted to hear from their current owners.

This one, according to Mike, he bought five years ago. It had gone from Winthrop Rockefeller (who bought most of my father's collection from the Autorama in 1961), to Bill Harrah, to Bill Anderson, and now to Mike. 

Unfortunately, none of the sales records or inventories from my father's collection survived--so I don't know when my father bought the car, from whom,  or for how much.

I don't personally recall the car, as it stayed pretty much on display in the museum. Although I'm sure it ran; all of the cars in the collection did!  But it was not one of the cars my father drove frequently to meets, etc., like he did the 1907 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost and the 1913 Mercer Raceabout.  Those I do remember riding in frequently (and have photos to prove it). 

I wish I knew more about this unusual vehicle.