Post Sale Update: This Lowther sold for $8,000 after 4 bids on eBay.
In the late 40s, when Indian was in its death throes, they partnered with the Lowther company of Joliet, Illinois. Lowther had already been producing scooters with a slogan of “Park Avenue Scooters with the Main Street price”. Indian rebadged an existing Lowther scooter and called it the Stylemaster – I featured one for sale over five years ago. The Stylemaster platform was presumably used for other models, but it’s tough to find information on them. According to the seller of this three-wheeler, this is one of 8 prototypes built before Indian went out of business.
I’ve only found one other example of the 3-wheeler, though the seller conveniently includes the above scan of a brochure. Each example was supposedly “made differently in order to find out which combination people would want to buy”, and the seller states that “this bike was reportedly used in a large bakery for the general manager to get around on.” This bike uses a Crosley 3-speed transmission and impressively, everything is said to work. It’s highly original except for the recovered seat.
Find this potential prototype for sale in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania with bidding up to $7,500