In January of 2019, it was Ben Burnham-Fleck’s idea to get some Cole’s together for the 110th anniversary of the company. We targeted to get 5 Cole motor cars together at the Gilmore Car Museum pre-1942 showcase event. Well, we ended up having 9 Cole motor cars in attendance and it was a wonderful time! Read the Gilmore Industry Standard Magazine article at this link.
The event took place on May 18th of 2019 and the owners got together for a dinner on the Friday evening before and a few Cole cars participated in the pre 1942 tour the day before. The nine Cole’s were on display for the day and Ben was giving people rides in his 1923 Cole Coupe. One of the highlights of the day was when Leroy Cole arrived and he was shown the 1909 Cole High Wheeler! Leroy had searched for a Cole High Wheeler for 
decades as he ran the Cole Motor Car Club of America. Leroy was also presented with an award for being the ‘Greatest Cole Booster’ with his dedication to the preservation of this automobile marquee. Each owner was given a commemorative pennant to remember the event by.
The nine Cole’s in attendance spanned the entire range of the company from 1909 – 1925 and spectators were excited to learn about the cars and the features that they had. Many expressed their amazement at the quality and style that the Cole’s represented. The cars that were in attendance were:
- 1909 Cole High Wheeler
- 1911 Cole 30 Roadster
- 1913 Cole Series 9 Touring Car
- 1915 Cole 8 Roadster with the first Cole V8
- 1917 Cole Toursedan with body by Springfield
- 1919 Cole Toursedan with Westinghouse Air Springs
- 1923 Cole Two Person Sedan Test Car for Balloon Tires
- 1924 Cole Royal 7p Sedan with Westinghouse Air Springs
- 1925 Cole Brouette with Body by Willoughby which was Mrs. Cole’s personal chauffeur driven auto
The Gilmore Car Museum will also have a special exhibit of 7 Cole Motor Cars and rare signs, artifacts, and documents from the history of the Cole Motor Car Company. This exhibit runs now through October 31st of 2019 and is a great opportunity to experience the cars and learn about the company. This is the largest exhibit about Cole ever put together by a museum and it really offers great exposure to the Cole history and the cars.
Here are pictures of the cars and of the event.
