Restoring the Long-Lost Sorg Engine

Unusual design is the hallmark of this early, little-known and rare engine.

By Leslie C. McManus
Updated on August 13, 2021
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Photo by Karen Laginess
The restored Sorg engine. Owner Ed Laginess opted to retain the original patina. When the engine was sold at a 2021 auction, it had no serial number plate.


When a partially disassembled engine turned up at a February 2021 auction, it almost immediately caused a buzz in the gas engine collector world. The auction listing’s humble description – “flywheel engine missing parts” – gave no indication of the engine’s rarity. A photo showed little more than a piston and cylinder lying on top of the engine. But serious collectors pegged it as one of only a very few Sorg engines – if not the only Sorg – known to exist.

Today, the engine belongs to Ed Laginess, Carleton, Michigan. Ed was the successful bidder in the February auction. Marv Hedberg, Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, restored the engine for him. A unique design feature – the piston remains stationary, and the cylinder reciprocates – leaves no doubt that the piece is a Sorg Oil-Gas engine.

A close up of a machine.

The Sorg was a shoo-in for a collection that specializes, as Ed’s does, in engines with mechanical oddities. Some 35 years ago, six photos of the engine got more than a few second looks at a 1985 Rice Lake, Wisconsin, show. Ed saw the photos and tried to find the engine’s owner but the engine basically disappeared.

Fast-forward to a 2021 auction, when Ed was the successful bidder, and then skip ahead to mid-June, when the Sorg made its debut at the Coolspring Museum Summer Exposition in Pennsylvania.

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