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The ReVere Motor Car Corporation
The ReVere Motor Car Corporation was founded by Adolph Monsen in Logansport, Indiana and manufactured passenger cars and America’s first supercars from 1918 to 1926. The ReVere automobiles utilized the four-cylinder Duesenberg walking beam engines sourced from the Rochester Motors Company. ReVere would be forced to file for bankruptcy after severe mismanagement at the hands of its manager, Newton Van Zandt, who died of a heart attack before he could be arrested. They would be remembered for their advanced engineering and novel designs.
The 1918 Duesenberg ReVere Long Tail Walking Beam Racer
ENGINE: Four-Cylinder Rochester Duesenberg “Walking Beam”
HP: 106
VIN: 359
RACING NO.: 7
CARBURETOR: Stromberg M-4
SPEEDOMETER: Jones, NY, USA
WATER METER: W. B. Jarvis Co., Grand Rapids, MI
SHOCK ABSORBER: Andre Hartford, Standard Model
FUEL GAUGE: U.S. Gauge Co., NY, USA
Photo Caption: “Because of World War I’s interruption of racing, things were nearly at a stand-still for the sport in 1918. One significant fact is that the Revere, as well as the Roamer and Wolverine, had their racing debut. These three cars were powered by the new Duesenberg “walking beam engine.” These cars were very successful in the next few seasons.”
By Kevin Burkettt
Pharos-Tribune Editor
“Dick Shappy, owner of several East Coast nightclubs and Dick Shappy Classic Cars in Rhode Island, explained why he decided to reconstruct a 1918 Revere Duesenberg Racer: “I’m not normal.”
Shappy came to own what was left of the contents of the Logansport ReVere plant’s inventory after it was auctioned off, giving him a treasure trove of parts, plans, original marketing materials and even what is believed to be the only surviving original owner’s manual for America’s Incomparable Car.
“I had a complete chassis with an original Duesenberg walking-beam engine that once belonged to Adolph Monsen,” Shappy said. “I had done some research to recreate the ReVere raced in Indy 500 and came across an original body. So we used that to recreate the body panels.”
Shappy said that the vast majority of ReVere bodies have been lost to time. He’s fortunate enough to also have a roadster body that was removed from the chassis being used for the recreation of the 1918 Revere Duesenberg Racer.
Shappy has been restoring classic cars and motorcycles for years. His collection includes a 1911 Cameron Roadster and 1917 Indian motorcycle. He even purchased a 1911 Osgood Bradley Trolley that later served as the Veterans Square Diner in West Warwick, Rhode Island for more than 50 years until it was eventually abandoned.
“I’ve been trying to save things all my life,” Shappy said.
“Right now, I’m $200-$300 thousand dollars in on the ReVere project. I’m about to pick up the car from another shop and bring it back here to complete. It’s probably 90% done and should be finished in 2 ½ to 3 months,” Shappy said in a July 2017 interview.
Shappy crossed paths with Jay Leno as well, who has a 1922 Revere and once placed an ad in a trade magazine looking for parts. That led to a meeting at Leno’s California shop in 2003.
Shappy, like Leno, considers his work a hobby.
“Sometimes I take money from one project to complete another. The upside of all this is that the dollar value is almost always higher than the cost. But this is primarily a hobby. I do work with museums sometimes to display classic cars and motorcycles, but this is my own work - I’m not really what you’d call a classic car dealer.”
“It’s just a shame that so much of this history has been thrown out over the years,” Shappy continued “Whenever I get a chance to save some of it, it’s just a thrill.”
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