The story of this Doble Series E Roadster, chassis E-14, is one of technical brilliance, the pursuit of perfection, and a uniquely American journey through innovation, failure, and redemption. To understand the significance of this singular automobile is to understand the turbulent history of Doble Steam Motors itself – an enterprise born of bold vision and undone by its founder’s own contradictions.

The Doble brothers, most famously Abner and Warren, set out in the early 20th century to revive and perfect steam as a viable alternative to gasoline-powered automobiles. From the beginning, their ambitions were nothing short of audacious. By the time they introduced the Doble Series E in the early 1920s, they had delivered on promises that would sound fantastical today: a steam-powered car that could start cold in under a minute, accelerate silently to 75 mph, and run smoothly without a clutch or gear changes. These cars were engineered to standards that rivaled or exceeded those of the most prestigious marques of the day.

But behind the scenes, the business faltered. Abner Doble’s refusal to compromise on engineering, combined with chronic delays, extravagant development costs, and a cavalier approach to management, quickly strained the company’s finances. The situation turned dire in 1924 when a stock scandal erupted – Doble stock had been oversold by 850,000 shares by the F.G. Fox Company of Los Angeles. Though Abner Doble’s direct involvement was never proven, he was convicted of stock fraud. He avoided prison, and the conviction was overturned on appeal, but the damage was done. Doble Steam Motors was left starved of cash and credibility, with Abner’s reputation in tatters.

By the late 1920s, the company was floundering. Its brilliant cars were being built in ever-diminishing numbers, with deliveries slowing to a trickle. When the Besler brothers – William and George, sons of Central Railroad of New Jersey President William George Besler – acquired the remains of Doble Steam Motors and rebranded it as Steam Motors Corporation, Warren Doble departed for Germany to continue engineering work abroad, while Abner relocated to New Zealand to carry on his steam evangelism. In Emeryville, the Beslers attempted to keep the steam dream alive, pioneering modular boiler systems and even converting a Kaiser and Chevrolet to steam power after WWII. But the age of steam had come and gone.

Amid this upheaval, one car stood at the intersection of Doble’s greatest innovation and its unraveling. That car was E-14, a machine with a history as unique and complex as the company that birthed it.

Completed on March 31, 1924, E-14 was the very first Doble constructed at the newly established factory in Emeryville, California. Originally, the car featured a 142” wheelbase, rear brakes, and a conservative Phaeton body with a California top designed by Wellington Everett Miller – chief designer at the Murphy coachworks, who styled many of the early E-Series cars. It was delivered to its first owner, J.H. Bullard of Long Beach, California, who kept the car only a few years before it was sold to a used car dealer, a common fate for early Dobles.

In 1928, E-14 caught the eye of Dr. Seeley G. Mudd of San Marino, California. A remarkable man, Dr. Mudd was the son of famed mining engineer Seeley W. Mudd and the brother of Harvey S. Mudd, noted industrialist and philanthropist. Born in 1895, Seeley G. Mudd earned a mining engineering degree from Columbia University before attending Harvard Medical School. He went on to practice cardiology in Los Angeles and later worked with Linus Pauling before joining the faculty at Caltech, where he focused on cancer research. In his lifetime, he gave over $10 million to educational institutions and established a foundation that continues to promote academic excellence. He was also an automotive enthusiast of discerning taste.

According to contemporary accounts, Mudd had a friend who had ordered one of the first Duesenberg Model Js and was loudly proclaiming its unmatched performance. Mudd, inspired by a challenge, bet that he could acquire and improve a Doble to outperform the forthcoming Model J. Thus began his remarkable association with E-14 and with the Doble brothers themselves. Mudd acquired E-14 from a used car lot in Los Angeles and began an ongoing correspondence with Abner and Warren Doble. What began as technical discussions about his project soon evolved into broader conversations about possible business ventures and even financial investment in the company.

In summer 1928, Dr. Mudd shipped E-14 to Emeryville for a complete mechanical transformation. The chassis was lengthened to 151” by splicing in a new section at the firewall to accommodate a two-stage draft booster – a steam turbine that doubled the boiler’s firing rate, preventing pressure loss. A new and larger boiler was fitted, along with an upgraded firebox and a more powerful engine sourced from Abner Doble’s own car, E-24. Other mechanical changes included a 6” condenser in place of the original 4” unit, a foot throttle, new Gemmer steering box, an updated fan turbine, and massive four-wheel brakes that were actuated by rods instead of cables. Period documentation and close inspection reveal that virtually every cutting-edge Doble innovation of the time was installed in E-14, effectively turning it into a one-off experimental platform in private hands.

While the chassis was being re-engineered, the body was also undergoing transformation. At Murphy, the original California top was removed and replaced with a folding convertible top and a lower windshield, giving the car a sleeker, more modern appearance. The bulky Haverhill headlights were swapped for streamlined bullet-style units from C.M. Hall. These updates brought visual flair to match the car’s evolved performance. But Dr. Mudd was not finished.

Soon after the Phaeton rebody was completed, Mudd decided he preferred a true two-passenger roadster. E-14 returned to Murphy for a third time, and the commission was assigned to Franklin Q. Hershey, a gifted designer with a growing reputation among Murphy’s elite clientele. Hershey retained only the front doors and cowl from the previous version and reimagined the rest of the body, incorporating sweeping fender lines that would later appear on his celebrated Peerless V-16 sedan. Painted in Mulberry – a deep blue with purple highlights – and fitted with elegant wheel covers and a folding soft top, the result was a triumph of custom coachwork.

“That was the finest thing we ever did at Murphy,” Hershey later recalled. “We were all so pleased.” When the finished car was presented to Dr. Mudd at the Murphy plant on a Saturday morning in 1931, “every car nut in Hollywood was there – Gable, Cooper, Wallace Beery.” Mudd was so thrilled that he lent the car to Hershey for the weekend. “I never went to bed,” the designer said. “I drove it all weekend and delivered it to Dr. Mudd on Monday morning.”

Yet within a year or two, Mudd decided that the big steam roadster was too cumbersome for the increasingly congested traffic in Los Angeles. He commissioned Bowman & Schwartz to build him a one-off Duesenberg coupe and sold E-14 to William “Bill” Besler, who by then had assumed control of Doble’s Emeryville operations. A steam visionary in his own right, Besler had taken possession not only of the physical plant, but of Doble’s patents, leading to extraordinary experiments that included a steam-powered airplane, flown successfully in 1933 at Oakland Airport.

E-14 was retained at the Emeryville facility and meticulously maintained by Barney Becker, the Besler boiler department superintendent. Becker made several modifications over the years, and Besler drove the car extensively – even leasing it to Bendix Aviation during WWII to study the feasibility of a steam-powered jet engine starter. Noted designer and engineer Walter Dorwin Teague was assigned to care for E-14 during this period and later recalled, “The Doble was a very striking looking car…In spite of its heavy weight – about 5,000 pounds as I remember – the acceleration was quite impressive and completely silent so that the sensation was like being pulled by a giant rubber band.”

Eventually, the project was shelved and the car returned to California. By 1945, Besler had driven E-14 across the country seven times before finally selling it to Becker for $5,500 – a nominal sum for a man who had cared for and coveted the car for years. Becker drove the car regularly for the next four decades, commuting 35 miles each day from Walnut Creek to Emeryville and even displaying it at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® on three separate occasions during the 1950s. He repainted the car a reddish brown, and it was even profiled in Auto Sport Review, which wrote, “If you should spot a classic-looking metallic maroon roadster at your favorite stoplight and are tempted to drag with it, let a word to the wise be sufficient. Don’t. Unless you want to waste a lot of gas…the 1924 Doble will have begun its disappearing act ‘way down the street.”

Following Becker’s death in 1985, his widow sold E-14 to Allen Brasel of San Mateo. Brasel preserved much of the car’s character, but in preparation for the 1997 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® – where steam cars were celebrated – he restored the body, repainted it in the current dark red, and replaced Becker’s modified instrument panel with a correct-style dashboard. Soon after, he sold the car to Stan Lucas, in whose world-class steam car collection it remains to this day.

E-14’s saga has been recognized by historians and enthusiasts alike. Automobile Quarterly’s Jonathan A. Stein writes, “Thanks to the many lives of E-14, this car is certainly blessed with the most colorful history of any Doble made.” Jim Crank, in his authoritative tome, The Doble Steam Car, describes it as “not only the most famous Doble, it’s the only one to have been driven much of its life and remain largely un-restored.”

In many ways, the story of E-14 is the story of Doble Steam Motors. During the company’s darkest hours, Dr. Mudd’s investment and commissions helped keep it afloat, funding payroll and facilitating technical advancement. Ironically, it was Mudd’s eventual disillusionment with Abner Doble’s broken promises and extravagant invoices that led him to walk away, selling E-14 to Bill Besler, the very man who would inherit Doble’s legacy. Preserved by just three devoted owners since WWII, it stands today as the ultimate expression of Abner Doble’s extraordinary vision and is arguably the most significant example of this mythical California marque.

Few automobiles can lay claim to such a profound impact on the fortunes of their maker. Fewer still can boast a history that is as rich, storied, and enduring.