V.H. Kiblinger Horseless Carriage, 1907

              V. H. KIBLISGER HORSELESS CARRIAGE, 1907 Manufactured in Auburn, Indiana
Advertisements stated the selling price was $200.  The top speed was 30 mph and it got 30 mpg on gasoline.  The engine is a 2 cylinder opposed design with a planetary gear transmission not unlike the first model T's.  The sign on the back says, "Use Moboil only." This was the fore runner of today's Mobil Oil Co. trademark.
This carriage is perhaps the only one of its kind in existence.  The Museum in Auburn where it was manufactured has later ones with steering wheels, but none of this earlier model with the tiller.  Its estimated value is between $35,000 and $50,000.  The Auburn Indiana Museum would like to purchase it but doesn't have the finances at this time, so our museum is fortunate to be able to display it.
It was purchased in 1907 by a physician in Portland who used it to make house calls.  In the 1920 period it was purchased from a car dealer who sold it to a man in Gresham, Oregon, for $10 and a pocket knife.  The new owner intended to use the motor to power a saw in a lumber mill. Fortunately this was not practical, so it was stored unused.
In 1934, Earl Shirk of Mabton attended a diesel school in Portland, heard about the car and bought it.  He brought it to Mabton on a trailer, pulled by a 1929 Ford truck.  He found that it needed only minor repairs and it was the feature of many parades in Mabton, Sunnyside and Grandview for a number of years.
This museum was built by Mr. Powell primarily to display this rare old car.  It is loaned to the museum by Earl Shirk of Mabton, now 78 years young.  He still gets a twinkle in his eye when he tells of his race with a 1903 curved dash Oldsmobile in Yakima in 1935, 53 years ago.
He and Ed Powell were participating in a parade in Yakima that summer and while showing the car to interested bystanders, they happened to be near the Oldsmobile dealer who had one of the ancient '03 Merry old Oldsmobiles.  The firemen at the nearby fire station instigated the principals to perform an auto race on Walnut Street. So Ed and Earl lined the Kiblinger up alongside the Olds and with a bystander with a large white Stetson hat for a starter, and with engines roaring, off they went for a race for one block.  Earl says they beat the Olds handily (after all, it was 4 years newer, representing 4 years of rapid technological advance in the motor car).
But not to be discouraged, the Olds dealer asked for a repeat run for two blocks.  So they lined up again and Earl had Ed hold the spark control in a position that would cause the engine to overrun and certainly outspeed the Olds— he thought.  And it did just that,