Founded in 1900 in Puteaux, a suburb west of Paris, Establishments Prunel produced well-designed automobiles and have the distinction of being the first gasoline-powered cab introduced in London in 1903. Early models such as this Model F Cabriolet featured the popular “coal scuttle” front end, and utilized reliable engines from Aster and De Dion-Bouton. The dash-mounted Louis Febvre brass oiling system allowed the driver or navigator to manually supply oil to the single-cylinder engine on a regular basis.

Prunel supplied three cars to the Express Motor Company in London. The new vehicles replaced not only the horse-drawn cabs of the 1800s, but also the electric-powered cabs of 1897 and 1898. Prunel and other small manufacturers enjoyed several years of prosperity in the London taxicab trade before being overwhelmed in 1906 by the 500 Renaults introduced by the General Cab Company.

This circa 1902 Prunel, chassis 296, came to the US in 1962, where it was restored by Kornhoff in New Jersey and awarded first prize at the 1964 AACA Fall National meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Model F was exhibited at the Briggs Cunningham Museum in Costa Mesa, California, in 1970. Its owner at the time was collector Joseph Gest of La Jolla, California. Subsequent to being displayed at the Cunningham Museum, Gest donated the car to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

This Prunel was acquired by the Mullin Collection in 1990. With beautiful hand-formed wood fenders and an interesting provenance of museum displays and collector ownership, this Prunel is sure to delight its next owner at many concours or early car rallies.

*Please note that this vehicle is titled as F296.

*Please note that all of the Lots in this Auction have been in long-term static storage at the Mullin Automotive Museum and may not be currently operational. They will require mechanical attention and in some cases significant restoration prior to any road use.

*Please note that this vehicle's model year is circa 1902.