With an initial price of $650 (equivalent to $23,292in 2025), the Pope-Tribune was the cheapest and smallest model of the Pope automobiles. The factory was set up in the old Crawford bicycle factory and run by Harold E. Pope,[2] the colonel's son.[1]
A 1904 Pope-Tribune taking part in the 2009 London Brighton veteran car run
The first Pope-Tribune, a single-cylinderrunabout, was introduced in 1904. The engine displacement was 2128 cc with a bore of 133.35 mm and a stroke of 152.4 mm. The wheelbase was 1981 mm. [3] It was to the design of Gilbert J. Loomis, who made the Loomis automobile of Westfield, Massachusetts. Model II also had a front-mounted, vertical, single-cylinder engine (with a 4.5in bore and a 4in stroke), wheel steering, sliding pinion gearbox, shaft drive and a bevel rear axle with a differential.[1]
In 1905, the price of the car was reduced from $650 to $500, and a 12hp two cylinder model was added. Production continued until 1908, but by then the cars had become larger and more expensive. The final models, with four-cylinder engines, were a 16/20hp selling for $1,750 (equivalent to $60,469in 2025, and a 30hp for $2,750. The company closed in November 1908 and sold the Hagerstown factory.[2]
The model that is on display in the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, is an early model with a single cylinder and shaft drive.
