1919 Pan Model 250 Touring

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 2024

The Pan Motor Company of St. Cloud, Minnesota, was founded in early 1917 by Samuel Conner Pandolfo. He started selling stock in the company to local businessmen and had a sweet deal for himself about the amount of cash he would take from the sale of stock.

Well, after 10 prototypes had been built in Indianapolis with Continental engines, the Pan factory in St. Cloud started construction. But before series production could begin, Pandolfo was indicted after some FTC complaints sprouted up against him. He ended up getting 10 years in prison after siphoning $7.5 million off from the $9.5 million in stock he sold to 70,000 people.

After he went to prison, they actually did start to build some cars. About 737 were completed before the company went bankrupt in 1921, and this one is powered by an inline-four that was built in-house. It has been in the same collection for over 75 years, and you can see more about it here.