Spotlight on Collections: Buick Model 10

Talk about “sporty.” Imagine driving around town in this Buick Model 10, which was made right here in Amesbury by the Clark Carriage Company. John H. Clark & Co. made Buick Model 10 bodies in large numbers in the early 1900s as part of their move from carriages to automobiles. John H. Clark and Thomas Clark started their carriage business in 1882 in a two-story wooden building located on Carriage Hill, complete with a storage building and blacksmith shop.

Ink drawing, on vellum, from around the year 1900, signed by W.H. Clark. Donated to ACM in 2021. (Click to enlarge.)

In 1885, William Durant of Flint Michigan was the largest single carriage and vehicle maker in the country. He would order a carriage of the latest style to be made by James Clark of Amesbury, and have it shipped to his company in Michigan, so that it could be used as a model for his carriages.

Durant had no interest in the horseless carriage industry. He could not imagine anyone wanting to ride in such a loud and smelly contraption. That is until his friend David Buick, of the Buick automobile, persuaded him to take a ride in his car.

After that ride, Durant was so impressed that he purchased a controlling interest in Buick Motor Co., which quickly became the foundation of Durant’s new conglomerate company known as General Motors.

Back in Amesbury, John H. Clark & Co. manufactured high-grade carriages and did a very successful business building Broughams, Rockaways, Surreys, Goddards, Phaetons, and Top Buggies. When senior partner John H. retired in 1904, the business was carried on by Thomas Clark and his brother James W. The firm name was changed to The Clark Carriage Co.

With his newfound confidence in Buick, William Durant convinced the Clark Carriage Co. of Amesbury, to begin building auto bodies for the Buick Touring Car. Then in 1910, Clark Carriage Co. sold all their finished carriages and stock to T. W. Lane & Sons, and changed over to making automobile bodies, limousines, landaulettes, and touring cars for Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. The horseless carriage was here to stay.