Bailey Electric Phaeton Victoria (1908)

Edward Bailey took over his father’s carriage building company and began producing cars from 1898 until 1915 out of a factory in Amesbury MA.

The Bailey Electric Phaeton was introduced in 1907. The motor was built by a 60-volt General Electric with a double chain drive that powered the rear wheels. The car came with Exide batteries with an option to upgrade to Edison batteries.

At the time, Thomas Edison was heavily involved in manufacturing batteries for electric cars. The Edison batteries allowed the car to had a 100-mile range which was double the range of the Exide batteries and they could by charged in half the time.

The car could be purchased for $2000 with a cost of a penny per mile to operate.

The Bailey Electric was the first electric car to travel 1500 miles from Boston to New York City to Chicago. The car travelled at an average speed of 21.5 MPH with no repairs or replacement parts required during the journey. A Bailey Electric also participated in an endurance run through four New England states and even climbed up Mount Washington in NH.

Electric cars were quieter, cleaner, and easier to operate than gasoline and steam powered cars and were often marketed towards women.

This Bailey Electric Phaeton Victoria was the second of two electric cars owned by the Anderson's. Isabel Anderson was an automobile enthusiast and was the first woman in Massachusetts to receive a driver’s license.

Many affluent women of the era had a footman’s seat which was often located at the rear of the vehicle.

The car’s nickname was ‘The Good Fairy’.