Rare 1908 Sears Runabout Now on Display at Museum of Automobiles

Jill M. Rohrbach, travel writer
Arkansas Tourism

A rare 1908 Sears Runabout has been donated by a Hot Springs family to the Museum of Automobiles, located on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton.

Introduced in the summer of 1908, this roadster features a two-cylinder engine, 14 horsepower, friction disc transmission, Schebler float feed carburetor, and under-seat gravity-feed fuel tank. Sold by Sears Roebuck & Company of Chicago, Ill. via catalog, it was delivered by rail at a cost of $375.

The car was donated to the museum by the current directors of the C.J. Horner Company of Hot Springs. The directors, R.J., Barry, Paul and Jim Horner, are the grandsons of C.J. Horner, the founder of the company. C.J. Horner acquired the car in 1939.

Horner was born in Hot Springs in 1883. He was the son of a German immigrant who had arrived in the U.S. shortly before the Civil War, served in the Union forces and relocated after the war to Hot Springs for the familiarity of its European flavor.

In 1907, Horner founded the company that bears his name. The mainstay of the business is ready-mix concrete, sand, gravel and building materials. It is the oldest continuous concrete producer in Arkansas. Today, the C.J. Horner Co. owns plants in Hot Springs, Malvern, Arkadelphia and Hot Springs Village.

Horner’s Sears car was stored and preserved in the basement of his youngest daughter, Alma Claire and is now on display at the Museum of Automobiles.

The museum has more than 50 cars on display, ranging in age from 1904 to 1967. "We rotate some new cars in periodically throughout the year," Buddy Hoelzeman, museum director said. "Eight to 10 cars per year are changed out. We’re continually looking for new cars because we have a lot of return visitors to Petit Jean."

The museum consists of 22,500 square feet of display space and a gift shop. Other auto-related collections on display are antique gas pumps and gasoline equipment, and license plates. The museum also has a small gun collection display and antique arcade machines, including a player piano.

Founded by the late Winthrop Rockefeller, The Museum of Automobiles was opened in 1964 with his collection of antique and classic cars. Following Rockefeller’s death, the museum building and grounds were given to Arkansas State Parks. A non-profit organization was formed to reopen the Museum the following year. Several of Rockefeller’s personal cars are on exhibit. The museum also hosts two car shows and swap meets each year, where collectors buy and sell cars, car parts, and anything related to the hobby.

The museum, located at the eastern entrance of Petit Jean State Park on Ark. 154, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, closing only on Christmas Day. Admission is $7 for adults, $6.50 for seniors aged 65 and older, $3.50 for students aged 6-17, and free for children under six accompanied by an adult.