Chassis – 23403
Engine – 572½ Cubic Inch T-Head Inline Six-Cylinder
Transmission – 3-Speed Manual Gearbox
Horsepower – 120 HP at 2,000 RPM

Production – Limited production; one of three known Twin-Valve Six Roadsters extant

“You Will Never Be Satisfied Until You Own A Six”

Founded in Connersville, Indiana, the McFarlan Motor Car Company emerged from a carriage-making tradition rooted in large-scale construction and bespoke production rather than industrial standardization. When Alfred Harry McFarlan introduced the firm to automobile manufacture in 1909, he did so within an existing culture of craft, scale, and mechanical self-sufficiency. Contemporary trade notices initially characterized the effort modestly, calling the car a mere “motor buggy” in 1909, but the automobiles that followed reflected a deliberate and highly resolved approach. From the outset, McFarlan produced large, expensive cars in limited numbers for a clientele that understood refinement in terms of size, mechanical capacity, and restraint rather than novelty or mass appeal. Annual production rarely exceeded a few hundred cars, and the company committed exclusively to six-cylinder power, treating displacement and durability as intrinsic components of quality.

Connersville itself proved integral to this approach. Established in the late nineteenth century as one of the nation’s earliest planned industrial centers, the town supported a dense network of skilled labor, machine shops, and supplier firms accustomed to low-volume, high-complexity manufacturing. Within this environment, McFarlan was able to pursue automobiles of exceptional scale and mechanical ambition without adapting its designs to the efficiencies demanded by mass production. The seriousness of the enterprise was affirmed early, when factory entries finished prominently at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 1910 Labor Day races, lending public credibility to a marque that otherwise relied little on promotion.

By the early 1920s, McFarlan had secured a narrow but deliberate position at the uppermost tier of the American luxury market. Prices rose steadily from approximately $2,000 at introduction to well over $6,000 by 1920, reflecting both the increasing complexity of the automobiles and the company’s insistence on mechanical substance. McFarlan’s engineering ambition reached its apex in 1921 with the introduction of the Twin-Valve Six. Designed and built in-house, the engine employed four valves per cylinder, triple ignition, pressure lubrication, and eighteen spark plugs. Displacing over 572 cubic inches and producing 120 horsepower, it was the most powerful passenger-car engine offered by an American manufacturer at the time. The company’s confidence—and its perception of the market it served—was arguably most clearly illustrated in 1923, when McFarlan displayed a specially finished automobile at the Chicago Automobile Show with exposed hardware plated in 24-carat gold. The car reportedly sold for $25,000, at a time when the average American home cost roughly $6,000.

Efforts to broaden the company’s appeal through lower-priced two-valve models during the mid-1920s strained resources without improving sales, leaving McFarlan increasingly exposed as competition intensified. Delayed restyling carried over from 1921, intensifying competition, and declining health among senior leadership converged at an inopportune moment. Although a lower, more streamlined design appeared for 1928, the intervention came too late. Following the sudden death of Burton Barrows—who had assumed day-to-day management as Harry McFarlan’s health failed—the company ceased operations. Later that year, McFarlan’s assets were acquired by Errett Lobban (E.L.) Cord of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg fame, bringing to a close one of the most technically ambitious low-volume luxury programs of the American prewar era.

It was within this final phase of the company’s existence, and at the height of its mechanical ambition, that the Twin-Valve Six Roadster was conceived—an unusual pairing of McFarlan’s most advanced chassis with one of its most restrained and sporting body configurations. Among the small number of McFarlan automobiles known to survive, just three are believed to be Twin-Valve Six Roadsters, placing this body style among the rarest expressions of the marque. Chassis 23403 was delivered new in 1926 and has since benefited from an unusually continuous chain of knowledgeable ownership, including early American collector Jack Passey and later Otis Chandler, whose stewardship helped anchor the car within the postwar preservation movement. Unlike many large luxury automobiles of the period that became static display pieces, this McFarlan has remained actively engaged within the enthusiast community, participating in long-distance touring and club events through organizations such as the Horseless Carriage Club of America and appearing publicly at venues including Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.