Engine – Teetor-Hartley T-Head Inline Six-Cylinder
Transmission – Four-Speed Manual
Horsepower – 60 HP at 1,600 RPM
Chassis – Underslung Frame
Survival – Sole Known Surviving Model 642 Roadster

“The One Car That Does Not Go Out of Date”

The American automobile originated in Indianapolis in 1906, during a period when manufacturers were still establishing the mechanical arrangements that would define their products. The company initially offered a conventional chassis designed by Harry Stutz, but it was Fred I. Tone’s underslung construction that gave the American its enduring identity. By positioning the frame beneath the axles, Tone lowered the body and center of gravity while retaining ground clearance through large-diameter wheels. The resulting proportions were therefore an expression of the automobile’s engineering, establishing the low stance that distinguished the American from many of its contemporaries.

American developed this construction across a range of four- and six-cylinder automobiles, marketing its products as “The One Car That Does Not Go Out of Date.” Early roadsters emphasized the chassis with comparatively spare bodywork, leaving occupants exposed above the low frame. As the range developed, the company introduced more substantial bodies that incorporated greater accommodation without abandoning those underlying proportions.

The Model 642 emerged during this final stage of development. Powered by a Teetor-Hartley T-head six-cylinder engine producing 60 horsepower, it transmitted power through a four-speed gearbox. Its roadster body brought the cowl, doors, and rounded rear deck into a continuous composition. Compared with the earlier roadster form (represented by the Singleton Collection’s 1908 American), the Model 642 demonstrates how the company’s sporting automobile had evolved toward more integrated coachwork.

The company’s financial collapse in 1914 ended that development. The Model 642 consequently belonged to the last period of American manufacture, and this roadster is the sole known surviving example.
The car remained connected with former American employees during its early life. Michael A. Watkins eventually acquired it and, in 1947, sold it to J. Marvin Lowe of Little Rock, Arkansas. Lowe approached the American as a usable automobile, fitting a Continental engine and conventional rims that accepted modern tires. He shortened and curved the fenders to accommodate the revised wheel equipment, but retained the original chassis and most of the bodywork. With these adaptations, he drove the roadster almost daily and regarded it as his sports car.

Lowe retained the American until 1962, when it was acquired for Harrah’s Automobile Collection. It remained there until 1976, subsequently passing through Joe Loecy to American Underslung specialist Bob Barrett in 1977. Sam and Emily Mann later acquired the roadster from Barrett with the agreement that he would oversee its mechanical restoration. The surviving original bodywork and wooden framework supplied the foundation for this work, with the Manns’ in-house facility completing much of the cosmetic restoration in pale blue-grey. Leydon Restorations rebuilt the replacement Teetor-Hartley engine, while correct-type American wheels with 41-inch tires reinstated the car’s earlier proportions.

Completed in 2013, the roadster received the Charles A. Chayne Trophy at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and appeared at Amelia Island the following year. Preserved alongside the collection’s 1908 American, the Model 642 documents the Underslung's evolution from an exposed early roadster into a more fully integrated six-cylinder automobile, completed just as the manufacturer’s brief history came to an end.