Among the most elegant of all of Walter Murphy’s catalogued coachwork options for the Doble was identified as the Phaeton Deluxe, with a permanently fixed roof, in conjunction with sliding-glass windows. This five-passenger configuration offered the open sides of a phaeton with a secure, all-weather top. These special, Murphy-designed-and-built bodies were crafted in aluminum over ash timbers to the highest standards of style and quality.

Doble E-17 was delivered new to Mr. Endicott, a prominent sportsman in the city of Long Beach, California, upon its completion in October 1924. It was initially configured as a fixed-roof Phaeton Deluxe, though early photographs reveal that it was refitted with a conventional folding top in its early years. Barton Sewell, a wealthy Los Angeles resident, was the next owner of E-17, in whose custody it may have fallen out of active service, and into disrepair. Thankfully, the Phaeton was purchased circa 1940s by John O’Donnell of Long Beach, whose residence was a shack among the oil derricks of Signal Hill, where the car resided in a makeshift garage.

Significantly, Mr. O’Donnell also owned two additional Dobles, having acquired both cars from early Doble devotee Howard Hughes. Though Mr. O’Donnell did not operate or maintain his Dobles, the timing of his tenure of appreciative ownership likely spared each of them from an untimely demise. Chassis E-17 was later sold to collectors outside Southern California, and the beginnings of its restoration were attempted before it was acquired by Stan Lucas in disassembled condition and brought back to its original city of delivery.

The accompanying history file attests to plans being made by Mr. Lucas to restore E-17, and records hundreds of hours of work being carried out from 1997 to 2020 by various Bay Area-based specialists, including Len Campbell and R.R. Mathewson. A detailed quote was submitted by Boschan Boiler & Restorations of Carson to substantially reconstruct and outfit the boiler. Additionally, detailed restoration plans were submitted by the renowned Burlingame-based automotive artisan Bob Potts to restore the Doble’s coachwork, but the project did not progress to that extent. Taken all together, the file provides a helpful framework of much of the work that may lie ahead.

E-17 exists today as a partially complete restoration project, with its Westinghouse shock absorbers still in place from its early days. The completeness and viability of E-17’s boiler and engine are currently unknown, and close inspection is encouraged for all interested parties. Though there is work to be done, the rewards that await the enthusiast who returns this elegant Doble to the road are self-evident – as its imposing bare-aluminum coachwork silently attests.