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During the November 2016 Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance, this 1920 Anderson convertible roadster, owned by S.C. collector Paul Ianuario Sr., will be added to the National Historic Vehicle Register.
Photo by Carroll Foster
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Anderson vehicles came with features and options not offered by competitors for decades, including a V-shaped, dual-pane rearview mirror that eliminated blind spots, a floor-mounted headlight-dimmer switch and electric windshield wipers. Nearly 100 years old, all the original equipment in Paul Ianuario Sr.’s convertible roadster still works, right down to the dashboard clock, which still keeps accurate time.
Photo by Carroll Foster
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Growing up in North Augusta, South Carolina, car collector Paul Ianuario Sr. always enjoyed working on cars. When he purchased his Anderson convertible roadster in 1989, he was delighted to find it was in perfect working order and had all the original equipment, including this tool kit in the driver’s side door.
Photo by Carroll Foster
POP QUIZ: Name the first company to manufacture automobiles in South Carolina.
If you answered BMW or Volvo, you’re off by several decades. The correct answer is Anderson Motor Company. From 1916 to 1925, the Rock Hill manufacturer produced luxurious, colorful alternatives to Henry Ford’s mass-produced, all-black Model T. The nameplate of every Anderson proudly proclaimed, “A little bit higher in price, but made in Dixie.”
While the company built more than 5,500 cars before closing its doors, only a dozen Anderson vehicles remain worldwide. Fortunately for vintage car buffs, a collection of these made-in-S.C. automobiles will be on display Nov. 4–6 at the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance.
“We’re proud to pay tribute to a century of South Carolina automotive heritage this year with a spotlight on these rare Anderson Motor Company automobiles,” says festival president Carolyn Vanagel.
As part of the celebration, a 1920 Anderson convertible roadster owned by Laurens Electric Cooperative member Paul Ianuario Sr. will be added to the National Historic Vehicle Register—a rare honor bestowed on just 13 other cars.
“It’s the only unrestored Anderson, it’s the oldest drivable Anderson and it’s the only convertible roadster, which was the high-water mark of the Anderson Motor Company,” Ianuario says with pride. “It was a custom-designed, patented body style—no other company built one like it.”
Led by businessman John Gary Anderson, Anderson Motor Company produced cars with elegant hardwood trim and premium leather seats. Some models featured electric windshield wipers, power convertible roofs and floor-mounted headlight-dimmer switches decades before the competition, but the price of all that innovation was part of the company’s undoing, Ianuario says.
“A cheap Anderson was in the neighborhood of $2,000, and you could buy a Model T Ford for $400 or less,” he says. “Anderson refused to compromise his standards of workmanship or the quality of the materials he used, and, hence, he could never become competitive.”
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The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d’Elegance takes place Nov. 4–6 at Port Royal Golf Club. For more information, visit hhiconcours.com. Can’t make it to the festival? The State Museum in Columbia (scmuseum.org) has a 1922 Anderson touring car on permanent display, and the Museum of York County (chmuseums.org/myco) has its own 1921 Anderson showcased at the Cotton Factory Plaza in downtown Rock Hill.