ONE of the oldest surviving cars in the world, the 1898 Riker Electric Car, will be auctioned during Monterey Car Week, starting on August 9. Built by electric car pioneer Andrew L. Riker, the car won three of America’s first car races, setting a blistering pace of 64 km/h. The then state-of-the-art vehicle also competed in static shows, and was exhibited alongside the famous Lohner Porsche at the 1900 Exposition Universalle Internationale in Paris, where it won the gold medal. Not just a fast and pretty face, the car was then used until 1930 by Riker’s wife, Edith Riker. After her death it was gifted to the Henry Ford Museum. The Riker family bought it back in 1985. This 121-year-old electric vehicle ticks all the boxes for car investors and Monterey’s auctioneers do not even want not to guess what it might fetch under the hammer.
