The 1909 Stanley Model R was the direct successor to the high-performance Model H “Gentleman’s Speedy Roadster,” continuing its legacy of advanced design and spirited performance. Powered by a 20 hp engine and built with lightweight, all-wood construction, the Model R was marketed simply as the “Roadster.” The 1909 catalogue claimed it was “intended for those who wish to hit up to a speed of 60 to 80 miles an hour on a good safe road, and still be able to run through city streets without danger of overheating or stalling.”

This example is believed to be one of just four genuine Model R Stanleys surviving today. While its earliest history is undocumented, by the late 1940s it was owned by Philip Andrews Jr. of Sacramento, California, and photographed in a 1949 issue of the Horseless Carriage Gazette, equipped with a rare, undivided rear seat and ironed for a full folding top.

In the late 1960s, collector Mike Simpson began a multiphase restoration. In the 1990s, Stanley expert Mark Herman built a correct roadster body, retaining the original front seat and adding a proper single rear seat. The car debuted at Pebble Beach in 1997. Stan Lucas acquired the car in 2002 and returned it to Pebble Beach in 2014. Maintained as a static display, it remains a remarkably authentic example of Stanley’s sporting legacy, featuring a correct U-type engine and gasoline-fired burner.