Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the White Motor Company produced an astounding variety of products throughout its 80-year history as a manufacturer, including automobiles, trucks, tractors, sewing machines, bicycles, roller skates, and machine tools. Without question, the company’s most important contributions to the automotive landscape were the approximately 10,000 steam-powered cars it built between 1900 and 1911.

In 1906, White patented the flow motor, an important technological development that allowed a steam car to be driven automatically for the first time. The following year, the company debuted the immense Model G at the New York International Auto Show, a car that marked the beginning of modern regulation in steam car technology. It featured a 30 hp two-cylinder compound engine; factory sales literature boasted of its “absolute noiselessness of operation” and “genuine flexibility of control.”

Primarily designed to provide generous passenger capacity and comfort, the Model G was typically built in touring and limousine body styles. These imposing cars – nearly nine-feet-tall with the top raised – appealed to an elite clientele who demanded the ultimate luxury conveyance. Original Model G owners included millionaire industrialist John D. Rockefeller and Wild West showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Even President William H. Taft purchased several White steamers for the White House fleet. In total, White built 902 examples of the Model G.

The first owner of this 1907 White Model G was Kern Dodge of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in 1880 to a prominent industrialist family, Dodge received his early education at the Germantown Academy and earned his mechanical engineering degree at Drexel Institute in 1901. That same year, he co-founded Dodge & Day, a company that specialized in engineering, shop equipment, and management. Later in life, he served in Naval Intelligence during WWI, on the Board of Managers for the Moore Institute of Art, Science, and Industry, and as Philadelphia’s Director of Public Safety. A Thomas Eakins portrait of Dodge is held in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Always fascinated by the latest technological advances, Kern Dodge bought his first car, a Mobile Steamer, in 1899. This was soon followed by a Woods Electric in 1900 and a Locomobile steam runabout in 1901. In 1907, after sampling various models from Autocar, Winton, Oldsmobile, and Packard, Dodge purchased this White Model G “Roi des Belges” Touring for $3,700. According to various accounts, the body was originally painted Brewster Green with matching green leather and a black top.

According to Barron H. Bohnet’s article, “Kern Dodge: Pioneer Automobilist,” published in the November-December 1978 issue of Antique Automobile, the White “… turned out to be a fine car, very dependable and powerful and he became quite fond of it. Other cars in his garage came and went but he kept the sturdy White, storing it in the back of his machine shop until the late 1920s before parting with it.”

Dodge kept the White until at least 1933, when it was displayed at the opening of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia’s science and technology museum. It remained on display there until 1936 and was later relocated to the museum’s roof.

Francis Victor du Pont acquired the White from the Franklin Institute while he was serving as a Delaware State Highway Commissioner. He retained the car until the late 1940s, when it was sold to T. Clarence Marshall of Yorklyn, Delaware, a former Stanley dealer and renowned steam car collector.

Around 1949, Marshall sold the car to Dr. John P. Miller of Newtown, Connecticut, a collector who owned several important classics including a Mercedes-Benz SSK. Miller promptly restored the car, painting it a dramatic, nearly unrelieved white, as was the trend at the time with White steamers. In 1950, he took the Model G on the Glidden Tour and was awarded the Thomas McKean Tour Trophy for outstanding tour car. When Miller returned to the event in 1954, he received an award for the best White. That same year, the Model G was famously depicted on a trading card for Topps’s “World on Wheels” series.

In 1955, the White was present at the Lakeville Steam Tour in Connecticut, a major event in the early steam car hobby. The meet was the subject of an article called “Steam Lore” published in the October 1955 issue of Bulb Horn, which contains author Stanley Ellis’ impression of riding in the Model G: “Up hill and down dale with no faltering to the tunes of a mammoth steam calliope mounted on the running board. What greater pleasures can life afford?”

In 1963, Miller finally sold his prized White to Louis R. Biondi, an avid collector of antique automobiles and one of the founding members of the Connecticut Historical Automobile Society. Remarkably, the Model G remained in Biondi’s collection for the rest of his life. It was sold only after he passed away in 2009, whereupon it was acquired by another Connecticut antique car collector, Richard King.

Mark Smith acquired the White in 2015 and ever since it has been a proud display in the showroom of his private museum, Midland Motors, a historic buggy factory located in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia. Except for its 1950s-era repaint, the Model G remains in largely unrestored and intact condition. It is widely regarded to be the most complete and original of the four known examples that survive today, one of which resides in the legendary Henry Ford Museum.

A magnificent American antique with a rich, well-documented provenance and tremendous presence, this White Model G is among the most significant steam cars ever offered for public sale. For the collector who maintains a passion for important early motor cars, this is a unique prize.

*Please note that this Lot, like all vehicles in this Auction, has been in long-term static storage and may not be currently operational. It will require mechanical attention prior to any road use.

Gooding & Company presents and conducts the Estate of Mark Smith Auction under the authority of John J. Rendemonti, Executor of the Estate of Mark J. Smith, duly appointed by the Circuit Court of the State of New Hampshire, Probate Division, Case Number 312-2022-ET-00072. The Estate has compiled available title and/or registration paperwork for the Vehicles offered in the Auction and will provide such paperwork to the Buyer if it is available. However, as set forth more fully in the Conditions of Sale, neither the Estate nor Gooding makes any representation or warranty with respect to any existing certificate of title or registration with regard to any Lot in the Auction. Any Lot may be sold on a Bill of Sale. By participating in this Auction, all bidders and buyers recognize that Estate and Gooding have expressly disclaimed all such warranties concerning the availability or sufficiency of any title or registration documentation.