History of the Early American Automobile Industry

1891-1929

Chapter 23

1915

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1915 was a boom year!  The industries and the country as a whole certainly needed one. Across the board, production of automobiles and accessories increased  to an all time high. Factories were now on double shifts and several were working three. Workers, hours were being nine hours with ten hours pay. Studebaker had gone to eight hours with no decrease in daily wages.

The farmers were harvesting their biggest crops in years and were begging for cars. Agencies in the midwest were complaining to their suppliers for lack of cars because the farmers were getting them. Europe was now in the midst of the Great War and England and France had turned all of their companies into making war materials and did not have the facilities to manufacture automobiles. Large orders for trucks and cars came pouring into the makers here for them and exports were far above any recent years.

State and local roads were being constructed in every section of the country and transcontinetal roads were in the process of being made by the Federal Government. The Lincoln Highway that was going from New York City to San Francisco was well under way. The Dixie Highway from Chicago to Miami, that began a year earlier, was finished by October and the first tour from Danville, Il to Miami got underway. Another Dixie Highway began to take shape. Tourism was one of the biggest promoters of the automobile industry and local and state automobile clubs were now making much longer distant tours.

New companies were being formed to alter touring models that could be used for sleeping and for hauling overnight camping supplies.

The 1915 issues of the Motor Age Magazine promoted "America First" to show the great places for tourist to visit in this country. Of all the attractions that were shown in these isuues, nothing could be more appealing than the Stone Face on Mt. Wilson in California. Yellowstone Park was opened for automobile touring with four entrances.

Another craze was the jitney vehicles. The jitney was a private owned vehicle that was for bus service. They came in all passenger sizes and the jitney owner was licensed by the city and had set fares during the day which was usually five cents. At night the driver could rmove his city badge and charge whateever he wanted. The jitney started in Europe and by the beginning of 1915, the jitney service caught on in a big way and soon almost every city of any size was clamoring for the service. Streets became crowded with them and street car owners were up in arms about their taking money from them while making streetcars harder to manuever in the streets.  By fall, the fad for jitneys cooled off to the point that the owners were not making enough profit to keep them running and they disapeared as fast as the they had risen. Jitneys were made by several automobile makers including Studebaker.

Some of the most notable failures were Krit, Briggs-Detroit, and Knox. All four had their assests sold. Stevens-Duryea ceased production of cars, but kept making special orders and parts. The cyclecars had seen their day and only one new company, Sterling, was started. Some of the cyclecar manufacturers went into light cars and the rest became a name in the Defunct Automobiles category.

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1915 Gulf Gasoline Advertisement

A major portion of the companies began making the following year's models as early as January and by July, they went on sale as such.  Some models did not make it to the end of the year. To avoid any confusion, the manufacturers shown here began and made these models in 1915

This shows how eary in the year models were being made for the next years models.

Ross

In 1915, The Ross and Young Machine Company, Detroit, MI, who had been making automobile parts for some time, entered the automobile manufacturing phase of the business with their Ross model. The Ross Automobile Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $300,000. It was a V-8 with a 115-inch wheelbase. The 1916 model wheelbase was increased to 130 inches that was priced at $1,850 with more body styles. Later that year, the company was in trouble mand needing money, it was reorganized, but chaos set in. The V-8 was dropped for a six in 1917, but later changed back to the V-8. In February, 1918, the company was sold.

1915 Ross Touring Automobile with Top Down

1915 Ross Touring  Automobile with top in Place

1916 Ross Automobile Advertisement

Remington

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

A new four-cylinder car known as the Remington makes its appearance this season in roadster and touring forms. The chassis upon which both cars are mounted is the same, with the exception that 30 by 3.5 tires and demountable rims are used on the touring, while the roadster has 30 by 3 tires with clincher rims. The motor is a four-cylinder block-cast,   3.25 by 5 unit power plant, with three-point suspension. All the valves are on the right side and are inclosed by a detachable cover plate. The wheelbase for both cars is 106 inches. Both the touring and roadster bodies are fully equipped. The dash is of Circasian walnut, with all the instruments mounted upon it. A long cowl is used
and advantage is taken of its length to house the gasoline tank, which has a capacity of 12 gallons. In the touring body a robe rail formed by an adjustable strap is used.

The touring car was known as the Narragansett and sold for $695. An eight-cylinder car was made as a two, four, and six passenger version that was known as the Greyhound with a common price tag of $1495. The Greyhound models were dropped in 1916 and only the Narragansett model was made. The cyclecars were not selling in 1917 and with shortage of materials, the Remingington factory closed operations.

1915 Remington Automobile

In 1914, Philo Remington, owner of the Remington Arms Company  and Remington Typewriter Company, made his third attempt to make a successful car. His first ar was the 1901 Remington that he called a complete failure and sold the company. His next one was at Charleston, West Virginia from 1910-1913. With Eliphalet Remington, he organized the Remington Standard Motor Company to manufacture automobiles and airplanes. He did succeeded in building a protype of a truck before he was sued for non payment of royalities for th patent of the engine. The company proceeded into bankruptcy in 1913. Finally, his third car was the 1914 Remington Cyclecar, which was considered to be one of the best on the market. It was powered by a twelve-horsepower , four-cylinder, water-cooled engine. The wheelbase was 100 inches and its tread was 42 inches. The engineer was Clarence Hollister, the inventor of the Hollister automatic transmission , which was a feature of the car. The standard equipment included a top, windshield, speedometer, electric starting, lights with a dimmer, aand horn. The price was $495.00

Sphinx

H. R. Averill, sales manager for the Pullman Automobile Co., York, PA, decided to strike out on his own in April, 1914. He wanted to make a good $700 touring car. After several months of raising capital for his new venture, and driving his prototype on  a run to Detroit, he was ready. His Sphinx Motor Car Company was capitalized and ready for production.

1915 Sphinx Automobile

The Sphinz was designed by E. T. Gilliard and was put into production at the end of the year as a 1915 model.  It had a 112 inch wheelbase, cone clutch and a three-speed transmission. The company was reorganized later that year as the DuPont Motor Car Company and the produced as a DuPont model.. The 1916 model was changed back to Sphinx. Total output for two years was 350 cars.

1915 Sphinx Automobile Advertisment

Later in 1916, Averill sold part of his factory to Pullman to build bodies. The rest of the factory was sold to a group that later made the Bell aautomobile.

Jones

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

Announcement of a new car comes from Wichita, Kan., in the form of the Jones Six, the product of the Jones Motor Car Co. The car is assembled from standard parts. The new car appears as a five-passenger, six-cylinder touring car of 118-inch wheel- base at $1,150. The motor is built by the Lycoming Foundry & Machine Co., and has T-head cylinders, 31/2 by 41/4.  The gearset is a four-speed selective type bolted directly to the motor, and is a part of the unit power plant. Final drive is through a single universal, inclosed in a torque tube, the drive taken through three-quarter elliptic springs. Tires are 34 by 5, and equipment includes Q. D. demountable rims with a spare on the rear. Starting and lighting is provided by a Leece-Neville system

1915 Jones Touring Automobile

Before this Jones model was put into production, there were twelve former companies that had been named Jones. But John J. Jones was different. He was an Iowa farm boy who worked in oil fields until he had enough money to buy a furniture store in Witicha, KS.  From there, he opened the Jones-Sparks Auto Exchange who were used car dealers. Then he became a Model T Ford dealer. He made over $125,000 by selling the Ford cars. Then, he decided to go one step further and make his own automobiles.

With the help of his former mechanic, Carl Evans,who helped him in the restorations of the used cars, they cme up with a medium-priced car that he was sure to be a very good seller. He invested most of the money that was necessary to get started. He established his Jones Motor Car Company in 1914. His car proved to be very successful and monyed men became interested and the firm was capitalized at $500,000 in 1915, production began. The capitalization fund was increased to $2,500,000 in 1917. 4,000 Jones cars were sold in the first six years. By this time he was also building the Jones Truck and his employees were over 900. His sales were world wide. But in 1920, the unexpected happened. It was a disastrous fire that demolished  two of his buildings and his automobile inventory. One week later, he resumed his business, but the fire and the post war recession killed the Jones automobile.

1914 Jones Automobile Advertisement

Bailey-Klapp

1915 Bailey-Klapp Automobile

The Bailey-Klapp, made by the Elwood Iron Works, Elwood, IN, was made as a prototype in 1915. It had an eight-cylinder motor and was to be offered as a touring and roadster models. Due the bankruptcy of the company, It never went into production. The rights to another car that the company was planning to make was sold to the Bimel Buggy Co., Sidney, OH, and went into production as the Elco.

Copied from the Motor  Age Magazine

CANNOT DRAW COLOR  LINE

St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 22—A St. Louis police court judge decided that owners and drivers of jitney buses in St. Louis could not draw the color line and should haul negroes when the latter sought to be conveyed in the motor cars. The decision was in the case of six negroes who had been arrested when they refused to vacate a jitney car after the driver had declined to carry them. The blacks were dismissed and the motorist warned that the color line could not be drawn, because the motor cars were public conveyances. It is thought the motor people will seek a decision from some higher court before opening their cars to the use of the negros, whom they say would drive away white patronage.

Stewart

The Stewart Motor Corporation, Buffalo, NY, was a maker of commercial vehicles who decide to build passenger cars in 1915.  They were built for two years before the Stewart Company concretated once again on its commercial trade.

1915 Stewart Touring Automobile

1915 Stewart Roadster Automobile

February 25, 1915
MOTOR AGE

Following the announcement some weeks ago of its intention to bring out a passenger car, the Stewart Motor Corp., Buffalo, N. Y., which, for a number of years
has been manufacturing commercial vehicles, has made known the details of its latest addition to the line. The Stewart passenger car is a six-cylinder selling at $1,950. The body design is unlike most cars now on the market. The hood swings gracefully from the rear to the forward portion of the car, the radiator being placed against
the dash, practice which is characteristic of Stewart commercial vehicles. The body itself is made of aluminum, thus reducing the car weight to some extent. An oddity in the way of body equipment is an automatic heating device for the tonneau, which is placed on the heel board of the tonneau seat and uses exhaust gas as the heating agent. Unusual roominess is credited to the Stewart body, which, with its two auxiliary disappearing seats, accommodates seven passengers. If desired the front seat. The chassis has a wheel-
base of 127 inches and mounted in it is a unit power plant consisting of a Continental 31/2 by 5 motor

Copied from the September, 1915 Motor Age  Magazine

The Stewart Motor Corp. now is producing a six-cylinder roadster in addition to the seven-passenger touring ear. The roadster is equipped with a Continental motor,
31/2 by 5, spiral-bevel gears in the rear axle, Timken bearing throughout and Westinghouse starter. It has a wheelbase of 127 inches, is equipped with 34 by 41/2
inch tires, non-skid rear, plain front. The body is of aluminum and the seat is 45 inches wide. An auxiliary seat also is supplied. Provision is made in the rear compartment for carrying a spare tire mounted on the rim, and luggage.

1915 Stewart Automobile Advvertisement

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Dudly Electric

Also was known as the Menominee Electric

The Menominee Electric Company, Menominee, MI, was the owner of the Dudly Tool Company of that city who was the maker of the Dudly Bug Cyclecar that failed in 1914.

1915 Dudley Electric Automobile Advertisement

Copied from the March, 1915 Motor Age Magazine

The first Dudly electric cabriolet which is to sell at $985 is to be sent to Chicago this week for demonstration purposes. If the new car finds favor the Dudly Tool Co. and the
Menominee Electric Co., both of Menominee, and interested in the matter, will be reorganized and the Dudly company, which heretofore has made cyclecars, will devote all its attention to the construction of electrics. The Dudly, it is claimed, will be the lightest electric car made, weighing only 1,600 pounds. The wheelbase is 100 inches; tread standard; the artillery wheels are 30 by 31/2. Evidently, it did not gain favor and was not put into production. The advertisement shows the only picture of the car and only appears in this book.

Hollier

Copied from the 195 Motor Age Magazine

The Lewis Spring & Axle Co., Jackson, Mich., has just announced an eight-cylinder five-passenger car to sell at the record low figure of $985, equipped. The car is known as the Hollier eight, and special emphasis is placed upon the fact that it is not assembled, but is manufactured complete in the Lewis factory. Equipped with a 3 by 41/2, V-type motor, with the two blocks of four cylinders set at 90 degrees to each other on an aluminum crankcase, the motor, in its general design, adheres to the recognized practice
for engines of this class. Suspension is at three points. Specifications of the chassis include a cone clutch of 12-inch nominal diameter, three-speed gearset, combination motor-generator for cranking and lighting, which if attached to the gearbox, floating rear axle with annular bearings, 40-inch cantilever rear spnugs, 112-inch wheelbase, and 32 by 31/2 tires on demountable rims. The equipment is in accordance with present-day requirements. The Lewis concern has been working on this car for about 8 months, but has kept the fact a profound secret until the present time. Active manufacture and distribution of the Hollier is to begin at once.

1915 Hollier Automobile

Charles Lewis, former president of the Jackson Automobile Company, formed his Lewis Spring and Axel Company in Jackson, MI, and began to manufacture his Hollier in 1915. The hollier was designed by the company and was a 40-hp, V-8. It was a conventional car of its time and was made only as an open model. No closed cars were ever made. 1,000 cars were made in 1916, but this figure was never obtained again. Sales were not the best and the eight was droped for a six-cylinder in 1918. It was discontinued in 1918 because of the war, but resumed production afterwards until 1921 when the company closed down

1915 Hollier Automobile Advertisement

Schebler's 1908 12 Cylinder Car

1908 Schebler 12 Cylinder Car It was made for Schebler's use and never went into production

Motor view from above

MOTOR AGE ,March 25, 1915
Schebler's Car, 7 Years Old, Also Can Be Six

With fours, sixes and eights occupying the attention of the motoring public at the present time, it may come as a surprise to some to know that for the last 7 years George Schebler, inventor of the carbureter bearing his name, has been driving a twelve over the country roads of Indiana. But such is the case and the odometer shows that the car already has covered something like 30,000 miles. It is a most remarkable twelve at that, it being of the V type, with the valves in the head and with the cylinders set at 45 degrees. That is not uncommon practice, but Mr. Schebler, who directed the construction of the big motor, which was built by Philip Schmoll, of the company's engineering staff, has made it ambidexterous, if one can apply this term to a motor car engine, by being able to run it either as a six or a twelve. He can use either set of six cylinders, or he can use the entire dozen, depending on the character of the road over which the car is running.

1915 Schebler Carburetor

Monitor

Columbus, Ohio, April 26—The Cummins Auto Sales Co. has made the final announcement of the specifications of the new Monitor, which is to be manufactured by the company. The plans are to drop the manufacture of the eight-cylinder car and to devote all of the attention of the firm to the four. There will be one chassis with two bodies, a touring car and a runabout. The Monitor 4-30, as the car will be known, is to be built on a 108-inch wheelbase chassis. The car will be equipped with electric lighting and cranking units and will sell for $795 when equipped with the touring body. The motor has a bore of 31/2 inches and a stroke of 1/2 inches. It is manufactured by Golden, Belknap & Swartz. The motor is part of a unit power plant with multiple disk clutch and center control. The gearset is to be of the selective type, sliding gear. For ignition,
the Splitdorf high tension magneto is to be used. A 12-volt Disco electric generator and motor is to be used for starting and lighting.

1915 Monitor Automobile

In 1915, The Cummins Auto Sales Company became the Cummins-Monitor Company with Charles Cummins, H. P. Jeffers, and E. S. Cummins as principal owners. The firm's intention was to produce the Monitor V-8 to sell at $1,275 and a Monitor Junior for $675. When it was put into production, it was a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder was made for 1916. It was an assembled car with either Herschell-Spillman or a Continential engine. In December, it the company was renamed as the Monitor Motor Car Company. Company stock was offered for sale in 1917 to get money for a larger factory. 3,000 cars were made that year and a larger factory was acquired in 1919. Prices after the war were escalated and the sales dropped jdrastically. In 1921, the company was in receivership for non-payment of engines to Herschell-Spillman. The company was sold in 1922.

1915 Monitor Automobile Advertisement

Dort

Josiah  Dort was a partner with William Durant in their Flint Road Wagon Company when Durant decided to buy the Buick Company in 1904. Dort had no use for automobiles and stayed in the carriage business , but was always there when Durant need financial support. In 1915, he finally decided to enter into the automobile business and formed his Dort Motor Car Company. His slogan was " Quality Goes Clear Trough " showed in his first Dort automobile. Etienne Planche, who had helped Louo-is Cheverolet make his Chevrolet model, was the Dort engineer.

1915 Dort Automobile

From the begining, It was assembled in Canada as a Dort and by William Gray as a Gray-Dort. A four cylinder touring was the only model for 1916, but in 1917, a cloverleaf-roadster and a closed car was offered.

1915 Dort Automobile Advertisement

1917 Dort Automobile

The price of his automobiles were always around $1,000.. The largest production year was in 1920 with 30,000 being made. Dort sales began to slide in 1922 and by 1924, it was decided to close down production and call it quits.

Copied from the March, 1915, Motor Age Magazine

The plan of the Pontiac Chassis Co., Pontiac, Mich., a new concern whose incorporation was announced last week, to build for the trade, chassis minus bodies and tires. The
customer receives the chassis in this form, mounts his own design of body and top, puts on the tires, and then sells the completed car under his own name. The chassis is built for assemblers only, and it is stated that by this method, the small assembler is enabled to produce a car at as low a price as the large manufacturer. The authorized capitalization is $100,000, and it is said that other Detroit and Pontiac capital is intereste

The first design of chassis to be produced by the Pontiac concern, which i doing its assembling in the plant formerly occupied by the Flanders Mfg. Co., now out of business, is a 25-horsepower type using, the Perkins  L-head engine, small four-cylinder engine with cylinders in a block and three-speed gearset in unit.
There is nothing unusual about the chassis or its power plant, conventionally accepted practice being adhered to in its construction. The specifications include a floating rear axle with annular ball bearings and roller bearings, this being a Salisbury unit. The wheelbase is 106 inches; pressed-steel frame construction is followed with a taper to the front; the front springs are semi-elliptic, while the rear set are of cantilever form, attaching at two points to the frame, shackling to the rear axle. The drive is by the Hotchkiss method and the drive is taken through the springs.

Hercules

The Crown Motor Car Company, Louisville, Ky., bought the Ohio Falls Motor Car Company in 1913 and moved its company Albany, IN. . The Crown company had made a cycle car in 1913. Shortly thereafter, the Crown Motor Car Co., was reorganized as the Hercules Motor Car Company. The oficers of the new company were B. F. Lamber, resident; A. B. Lambert as Vice-president; and C. H. Lambert as secretary-treasurer. Its product waa the Hercules with a cyclecar price at $490.00. It was not a cycleca.r. It ws a tourung car on a 100 inch wheelbase with a 54 inch tread. It was a 20 HP with a 100 inch base and standard 56 inch tread.

1915 Herucles Automobile

The Hercules barely made it into production before before trouble set in. C. F. Lambert and his son, A. B. Lambert were indicited on stock and deposits manipulations. Even tough a hundred cars had been made, the squabbles continued and stories in the press killed the Hercules. Its assets were sold to its former owner, the Kentucky Wagon Company  where it was made with its new name, the Dixie Flyer.

Mecca

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

The Times Square Automobile Co., of New York and Chicago, has put on the market an assembled car called the Mecca. The concern, until now, has marketed rebuilt and used cars. The car is brought out to meet the demand of those wantinga new car at a low price. It is made in Detroit. The car is assembled from parts made by well-known concerns and standard specifications will be found throughout. The power plant is a four-cylinder Golden, Belknap & Swartz product, having a bore of 31/2 inches, with a stroke of 43/4 inches. The whel base is 104 Inches. The speed range of the vehicle is from 3 to 50 miles per hour. Steering is by adjustable worm and gear and either left or right drive may be secured as desired. The standard body is a five-passenger touring with streamline design. In addition there is a roadster or raceabout of two-passenger capacity. The cars are finished in what the makers call Mecca blue, which is a blue somewhat on the shade of what is commonly known as royal. The car is sold with full equipment, including two electric headlights equipped with dimmers, electric tail-lights, silk mohair one-man top, two-piece rain-vision windshield, tire holders, extra rim, pump and warning
signal.

1915 Mecca Touring Automobile

The Times Square Automobile Company, NYC, NY, a seller of used cars, decided to make a car of its own in 1915 . They named  it after the Broadway area surrounding Times Square known as the Mecca of the theater world.  The first one was a four-cylinder cyclecar that was priced at $450 and was shown at Cyclecar Dealers Show in Boston in 1914. Times Square made the car in Teaneck, NJ and the company was named the Mecca Motor Car Company. None were made. In mid 1915, Times Square changed its mind and decided not to have a cyclecar and to let some other company build it. The Princess Motor Car Company in Detroit was contracted to build its version and trimed with the Mecca  name. It was sold as a Mecca for the 1916 season. Mecca disapperaed at the end of the year.

1915 Mecca Automobile Advertisement

Copied from the 1915 June Motor Age Magazine

Stop, Look, Listen!

To avoid accidents to motor cars at many of its grade crossings on Long Island, the Long Island railroad has started the erection of large signs along the main roads warning tourists to be careful at these crossings. These signs are not placed immediately in advance of the crossings but on the main roads leading out of New York so that the motorist is impressed early with the necessity of care at the grade crossings. With such signs 50 feet long and 10 feet high, there is no question but that they will attract at least a percentage of the attention of the motoring public and a considerable reduction in accidents should result.

This sign-board scheme should bring better results, and it is  hoped that many other railroad lines will actively take up the work of the Long Island road. True the Long Island road has worse conditions to contend with than the majority of other lines, in that it operates in a very thickly populated section and has nearly 1,000 intersections of highways. Today flagmen at crossings have not been sufficient; in fact, where the grade crossing remains there is no precaution that is a positive assurance against accidents, as some drivers seem bent on certain suicide if their method of driving can be taken as any criterion of their thoughts. The careless driver we will have with us always and nothing can be done to stop him from taking chances with his life and the lives of those that ride with him.

Until all grade crossings are eliminated there will be accidents, and while the present action of the Long Island road is commendable and will accomplish good, it will not remedy the evil entirely. This, combined with the crossing bill and the danger lights at night, will do good work. What is needed is better signs before reaching the railroad crossing. The present danger sign a few yards from the crossing is useless for motor car purposes. It did its service in horse days but is inadequate today.

Safeguarding the grade crossing is not all that must be done to eliminate the accidents that result at places where the highways cross the tracks of common carriers. The motoring public must be educated. The doctrine of Safety First must he preached daily. The railroad official is his motoring brother's keeper. There are hundreds of car drivers that do not consider the risks they run in attempting to cross tracks when a train is approaching and in speeding over crossings without obeying the Stop! Look! Listen! sign. Their education of the dangers with which they flirt will be a slow, tedious and disappointing task.

Copied from the June, 1915, MotorAge Magazine

The Hupp Motor Car Co. took occasion at its dealers' convention just closed to reveal a national service coupon plan which is being put in effect at once. The plan is, briefly, that a coupon book is issued to the purchaser of the 1916 model Hupmobile, this being good for 50 hours of service labor on the car, same to be performed at any Hupmobile dealer's garage or any other authorized shop not a dealer in any part of the United States or Canada. The coupon book contains 100 coupons, each good for Vi-hour of service labor, but only ten of them, or 5 hours, is available in any 1 month. That is, when a car is purchased, the buyer receives 10 months' service along with it. The idea of distributing the coupons over 10 months is to assure the car being inspected and adjusted monthly.

The service plan contemplates a wide-spread organization of what are to be called service representatives. These are repair shops, garages or other places where
service can be rendered, but they are not dealers, in that they do not have any cars on hand. They will be placed in the various existing dealers' territory by the dealers themselves. A form of contract has been provided so that the dealer in any district can go out and sign up service representatives, and these are to redeem the service coupons just as the dealer or distributor would. The Hupp company will redeem all coupons at the rate of 50 cents an hour, when they are sent in by the dealer performing the service along with an itemized bill of the time and labor given to the car owner in exchange for the coupons.

Disco Electric Starter Advertisement

Thomas

In 1914, the Thomas Motor Car Company was sold lock, stock, and barrell at auction for $51,000 to C. A. Finnegan of the Empire Smelting Company in Depew, NY. After giving it some thought , Finnegan decided to continue making the automobile in a factory across town from the present one. The sales were very small, mostly on orders, until 1918, when it closed for good.

1915 Thomas Automobile

Buffalo, N. Y., June 19,1914, Motor Age Magazine

The E. B. Thomas Motor Car Co. is again active in the motor car field and announces a $4,000 touring car called model MF. It is a six-cylinder model. The Thomas company proposes to build only about fifty of these cars yearly but each car will be a distinctive job built to the tastes of the purchaser. The bodies will be made in the Thomas factory.
thermo-syphon cooled and oiled by constant level splash. A multiple exhaust system is used to reduce back pressure. It is fitted with a 12-volt Disco cranking and lighting system, and 32 inch  tires, extra rim on rear carrier, muffler cutout, robe rail, etc.

Hal

Hary A. Lozier had separated himself from his much loved Lozier Company that he had formed eleven years earlier over a disagreement with the decision that the company had made to make a lesser expensive model. He decided that he would would make a model that he wanted. Using  former practices that had been followed by such well known makers of using their initials, he named his model  the Hal. His model made its entrance at the 1916 New York Automobile Show,

1915 HAL Touring. Automobile

1915 Hal. Automobile Advertisement

1917 H. A. L. Automobile

1916 HAL Touring  AutomobileIt

It was powered by a V-12 engine. and production began in June in Cleveland. Its original price was to be $1,750, but was raised to $2,100 and each year it became more expensive. Lozier had left the company in 1916 for reasons of ill health. As with almost all of the makers, the continuation of the war in Europe did great damage to the Hal Company. The were able to make onlt ten cars a day. Rumors persisted that they would join with the Abbott Corporation that had just moved from Detroit to Cleveland. This did not happen because the Abbott Company went bankrupt shortly after its move. In February, 1918, Losier declared bankruptcy and all assetess were sold.

1918 Hal Automobile Advertisement

August 1, 1915 White Automobile Advertisement

This advertisement was a cleaar indication of what was taking place in the industry. A price war was going on between the lower of makers and every advertisement stated that their product was the best in the country and at the cheapest price. But trying as hard as they could, no one was able to beat the Ford Company in prices. The Ford cars were never a great car by any means. It was simply the cheapest one that any one could afford. For the 1915 season, Ford sales were 350,000 units, more than the most of the other companies combined.

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Copied from the August 1, Issue of the Motor Age Magazine

For 15 years too many of our engineers and designers have commuted to European factories to pick up what they believed to be the final syllable in foreign engineering and to incorporate it in their own cars. For a decade and a half this policy has continued, but today we are in a new regime. Today our engineers cannot go to the European factory, and if they could they would not find new car models to study. The net result is that our engineers, in not a few factories, are standing on their own feet and instead of being poor copiers are today real creators, building cars that even Europe did not build, and if a few of her brightest engineers had similar conceptions of design they failed to incorporate them in their cars.

Today, we are on the threshold of an era of American pioneering in engineering work. Our factories were the first to adopt the V motor as a factory standard model in large outputs; our engineers were the first to adopt the twelve-cylinder V motor into standard models; and, in short, our designers are more aggressive in pioneering and developing work in motor design than they have been since the opening years of the century

No longer is it America aping Europe, but today, Europe is watching very closely what America is doing. This healthy engineering condition is bound to have a salutary influence. America is now measuring her stature, not only against such motor car pioneering countries as Germany and France, but
against the entire world.

Europe is looking more to America today and taking her more seriously both from an engineering and production viewpoint because Europe is looking to our factories for raw materials, as the storehouses of Belgium are empty and it will be years before Belgium can take her old place of supplying the majority of castings, forgings and other parts that the makers of France, Germany, England, Italy and other manufacturing nations have used. America must supply this need. American engineering talent is needed more today than ever before to keepthe tide of motor car engineering moving onward while Europe
is spending her engeries on the battle line.

Are the eight and twelve-cylinder cars here to stay?  This question is being asked in nearly every dealer's place every hour of the day in nearly every city and town in the country. The answer is not an easy one, not one that can be formulated in a day or a week, but one that will require months and perhaps a few years to answer. The impression is gaining rapidly that the V-type of motor in eight or twelve cylinders will gain very rapidly in cars listing at $1,000 and over. In this field the multiplication of cylinders means a reduction in cylinder diameter to the range of 2 1/2 to 31/2 inches, which is being seriously viewed as the best diameter for greatest efficiency. The question of stroke remains one that can be handled by the engineers as varying conditions are to be met.

In many manufacturing circles the inquiry for twelve-cylinder cars is a quite unexpected one. One year ago the V motor was an unknown factor in America. Echoes of its performance in Europe reached us and a few of the European models found American buyers, but the engineering fraternity never had taken it seriously. Today the V motor is not questioned but has been accepted. The question now asked, is, which is the better, the four, the six, or the V-eight and the V-twelve? This is amazing
progress for 11 short months and is proof of how eager the American buyer is for something new, provided it carries with it the desired performance.

Today, some cars sell on appearance, some sell on performance and some sell on specifications. These three methods of sales are but an answer to the whims of the buyer. The V motors come under the performance classification. From the announcement of new V models, those concerns that have been successful have taken up the cudgel of demonstration. It is the Missouri policy. This performance argument has been the convincing one and the fact that it has been so successful during the past year makes the arguments of those V-motor enthusiasts all the more difficult to forget, namely, that within 2 years we will have V-motor cars at $1,000 in eight and twelve-cylinder models that in performance will exceed the performances of eight and twelve cylinder models listing at higher figures today.

Moore

Copied from the June, 1915, Motor Age Magazine

The Moore Motor Co. has begun preparations for the production of a new car called the Moore which will sell for $660 in five-passenger touring form. The Moore employs a
Pontine chassis, made by a new concern in Pontiac, Mich., which builds chassis only. The Pontiac was described in a recent issue. Bodies for Moore cars will be purchased
of the Wayne Works, Richmond, Ind., and equipment from well-known makers. The concern's schedule calls for 500 cars to be produced by January 1, starting actual
work this month. The Moore has a 106-inch wheelbase, 30 by 31/2 tires, and is fitted with a four-cylinder, 31/4 by 41/2block motor. The price given includes Disco cranking and lighting system, demountable rims and the othe regular equipment. The Moore is a standard car of 106 inches wheelbase and fitted.

1915 Moore Automobile

George Moore owned a Ford dealership in Minneapolis, MN who organized the Moore Motor Vehicle Company to build a four cylinder 30 hp-motor automobile to compete with the Model T Fords. The price tag was $595. It was a  a poorly financed operation that started assembling the car as its 1916 model. In 1918, the company moved to Danville, IL and was touted as "The Modern Motor Miracle". By now, the price tag was $1,000. Moore resigned as president along with his vice-president in 1919.  It was in receivership in 1921 and all of it officials, including Moore, were convicted for fraud  in the sale of stock.

1920 Moore Automobile Advertisement

1918 Moore automobile Advertisement

1919 Moore Automobile

On November 1920, the officers of the Moore Motor Company were indicted for mail fraud

St. Louis, June 10, 1921 A verdict of guilty of using the mail to defraud in the case of five former officers and a former stock salesman of the Moore Motor Vehicle Co., of Danville, has been returned. The case has been on trial for four weeks. The charge arose from their sales of stock in the company. The convicted men are George L. Moore, of Los Angeles; Edward G. Gallagher, of Minneapolis; Albert C. Leonard, of Denver; John F. Bichl, of Chicago;. James H. Vickers, of Harvard, 1ll., and J. W. Patt, of Salt Lake City. The latter was a stock salesman; the others were officers of the company at some time between 1916 and 1920. Attorneys for the defendents made a motion for a new trial.

Moore, Gallagher and Leonard conducted an automobile plant at Minneapolis from 1915 to 1917 when George Wilson, a promoter, suggested that they incorporate, sell stock and produce automobiles on a large scale. The Minneapolis company, known as the Moore Motor Co., was incorporated for $50,000. The Moore Motor Vehicle Co. was incorporated under the laws of South Dakota for $5,000,000 and the company purchased a plant at Danville, 111. Wilson obtained a contract whereby he had the exclusive sale of the stock. During the trial it was stated that the company received about $906,000 from the sale of stock. About $466,000 was accounted for on the company's books.

Fostoria

Copied from the August 9, 1915 Motor Age Magazine

A two-passenger roadster at $535 and a delivery wagon on the same chassis at $500 are ready for delivery by the Fostoria Light Car Co., Fostoria, O., according to information, from the newly-incorporated company. The passenger car is of light construction throughout and uses a four-cylinder motor with cone clutch and three-speed
gearset in unit. The wheelbase is 100 inches and the tires 30 by 3. The rear axle is a semi-floating. The equipment at the price mentioned includes storage battery, electric lights, top, electric horn, windshield, etc. The Fostoria company has recently incorporated for $100,000 and expects to build a touring car and coupe also.

1915 Fostoria Roadster Automobile

The four founders who incorporated the Fostoria Light Car Company, Fostoria, OH, in 1915, were J. H. Jones, Charles Ash, and A. O. George, who were businessmen in Fostoria. Their intentions were to build four different models of a low-priced four-cylinder assembled car. It was going to be known as th "Surprise of the Season" By September of 1916, 260 cars had been made but the company found themselves in deep trouble. The Sterling motors that they had bought were lemons. They instantly ordered new Le Roi engines. The car needed a new name and it was changed to Seneca. One of the original Fostoria stock holders, Ira Cadwallader, took over and put his son, Lester, in charge. The Seneca was a successful car until 1924, when it went out of business.

Madison

Copied from the May Motor Age Magazine

The first of the Madison cars to be made by the Madison Motors Co., Anderson, Ind., has been on exhibition this week at the Severin hotel. The new car is a six with a most attractive type of roadster body, and is to be known as the Dolly Madison. The company is scheduling a production of 600 sixes with the roadster and touring body
styles, and will begin deliveries in the near future.  It is intended to introduce a small four-cylinder car later in the year and this is to be turned out in much larger quantities
than the six.  The wheelbase is 120 inches, and the tire equipment consists of 34 by 4- inch Goodrich, nonskid rear.The touring car and the roadster are to sell for $1,375 each, but the latter has a set of five Houk wire wheels as standard equipment, while the touring car has wood wheels. With 120-inch wheelbase and 34 by 4 inch tires,

1915 Dolly Madison Automobile.

The Dolly Madison  roadster  is exceptionally comfortable as it is supplied with a high door on either side. This makes a clean line with the hood besides protecting the passengers. There is a very large gasoline tank and the spare wheel is carried at the rear on a false-hub or carrier to which it attaches precisely as on an axle.

1917 Madison Automobile Advertsement

In March, 1915, Henry Nyberg, whose previouly Nyberg automobile was unsuccessful, decided to give it anothet go. He and Cecil Gibson, who once was with the empire Automobile Company, got together to build a  new light-six model. and be called the Dolly Madison and the Motor Car Company was incorporated at $500,000. In 1916, they simply called it the Madison and was reorginized as Madison Motors Corporation with a non-funded  $2,000,000 capitalization. It never went any wheres and was taken over by the Bull Tractor Company. Madison was unable to get ample parts to succeed and by 1918, the company became automobile decorators.

Three articles copied from the Editorial Pages of 1915 Motor Age Magazines

The Incompetent Repairman

Within the last few months an agent for a prominent make of car in a city of over 25,000 in the Middle West lost the agency because his repair department was quite inadequate, so much so that repair jobs rarely gave satisfaction and the factory was charged with incompetency through this particular dealer.

All dealers have not good repair shops, some have, but unfortunately many garagemen and dealers are somewhat below par when measured by the yard stick of repair efficiency. One car owner paid over $70 to have a new water pump installed on his car, not fewer than two pumps being broken before one was attached properly and yet the owner had to pay the bill for the pumps that were broken.

Recently an owner with a missing cylinder had his motor taken apart and put together only to find that the trouble remained. A bill of over $50 was paid and the trouble not corrected. A competent repairman was able to correct the trouble and the bill was less than $2.

We have with us poor doctors, poor lawyers, poor ministers, and poor actors, but fortunately they are not so well paid as the good ones. In the repair field we pay for labor at 90 cents an hour in some cities, 75 cents in others and as low as 40 cents per hour  and yet we do not get what we pay for. We pay the bills and fail to get the desired results. If we take our watch to the jeweler we look for a new part being put in or a repair made, but we go further and demand that the watch keep better time or at least accurate time when it comes out of the jeweler's. We have a right to expect the same thing from a repairman. If he is to be paid his bill he should do the work and do it properly.

The public has been imposed upon to an amazing extent by,hopelessly inadequate motor car repairmen, garages in many cases having for repairmen adults not even familiar with all of the constructions of motor cars. There must be a remedy, otherwise reduced sales will surely follow. Our country is not so large but that we could issue qualification certificates for competency in garages. Garages could be scaled according to their quota of efficiency in help and workmanship. This was done in several countries in Europe. Those garages that did poor work lost their official positions. The owner will sooner or later demand such a condition in America. The car owner does not object to paying
his repair bill providing he gets good work done, but rightly objects when he finds his car running more poorly after the repair than before; or finds that some parts have not been put back into their proper place by the repairman.

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The Stutz Example

To the Stutz racing spirit of this year can truly be applied the historic epitome of determination, "I'll find a way or make it." After the Indianapolis speedway race of 1914 Harry
Stutz suddenly discovered that something more than the conventional stock design of motor was needed to win speedway races in 1915. Instead of buying racing machines—which he could not do, being a manufacturer—he set out to build them himself. The racing results of this year are the best monument to his achievements. The work of the Stutz team in winning first and second in the Sheepshead Bay race Saturday against the pick of the world is a credit that has only been surpassed once to our knowledge, namely, when Mercedes took first three places in the grand prix race a year ago in Europe. To this record must be added Minneapolis, Elgin, Chicago, Indianapolis and other events.

This is a record unequaled by any other maker in America. This sweep of victory in itself is a mead that rarely comes to any manufacturer, but when the pick of foreign machines
has been defeated and when new world's records have been established in addition, the victory is doubly great. Stutz this year has set a mark that American makers will have to shoot at some time to equal. He has set a mark that it wiH be almost impossible to hope to duplicate another year, even with fate in the best of good humor. The work done this year is all the greater when it is remembered that all of his cars were new racing machines,—machines that have upset the tradition that a racing machine never comes into its own the first year, but only shows to advantage when thoroughly tried out after months or perhaps a year of sound testing.

Saturday's race has demonstrated that America can build as well as Europe, granting that Europe showed us how. The long looked for has happened and America can feel reas-
sured that we have makers who can take their place with the best in Europe in producing the new sixteen-valve motor with its speed possibilities far beyond that of the eight-valve design. What Stutz has done it is hoped other manufacturers will endeavor to do. We are now being sold stock cars with high-speed motors and, while we may never sell a stock car with a sixteen-valve motor, it remains a fact that the lessons to be learned from speedway racing not yet have all been learned and our industry will be better through the lessons high-speed racing on speedways has taught us this year.

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THE closing of speedway racing with Saturday's 350-mile contest on the new 2-mile board track at Sheepshead Bay,  New York, demonstrated that more racing cars and fewer speedways will'have to be major considerations in the 1916 program. Too many cars went out too early in New York Saturday; thesame happened at Minneapolis, and the same was true to an extent in Chicago and alio Indianapolis, this applying only to long-distance events.

WE have not had enough racing cars to meet the speedway requirements this season, although each speedway conducted but a single big event. With a shortage under such conditions, what can be expected next season with Indianapolis, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis and nearly all the others scheduling both spring and fall dates? There are today not enough cars to meet such requirements; in fact, successfully to carry out such a program, nearly twice as many cars will be needed as presented themselves in Saturday's race, when twenty started.

Speedway promoters must protect the public. The favorites who have been touted for months as the great speed kings of the century, and who have been advertised to stimulate the ticket sale, must be ready and fit for the fray on the morning of the race. The public will get tired of paying good prices for seats to see good drivers and then not seeing them. Nobody is more anxious than the good driver to be on hand for the race; no one is more anxious than the speedway owners to have them ready and with cars in the best condition, but if the schedule of events is too heavy for the number of available cars and the entry lists are to be depleted after tickets have been sold on the reputation of such drivers, then the speedway owners should at the start of the season cut down the schedule of events, proportioning them to the capacity of cars.

The present season has demonstrated that racing cars get tired just as men, just as children tire at play, just as baseball stars go stale, just as champion golf players go off their
game, just as blood horses must nofc be overworked. Our racing cars have been overworked this year. This overworking is not so serious where the owner has all the facilities of a factory at his back, but they are serious where the entries are made by private sportsmen, who are forced to rely on the driver to care for the machine and on local repair shops or obliging factories.

Few winning cars this year have been able to repeat; at least it has been the exception for them to repeat, particularly in 500-mile events. De Palma's Mercedes that won at Indianapolis has not come back since; Resta's Peugeot that won atmChicago has not come back; but, on the other hand, we have the amaxing example of the Stutz combination, which took first and second in Saturday's race against the best field that could be congregated in America, and against several of the best racing cars that have been produced in the world. Back of this organization is a factory versed in the minutest detail of racing car design and manned by a manager who has watched every performance of his, and other, cars in all the great racing events in this country for the last 3 years. The same applies to the Duesenberg machines, which, while of slower speed, have shown remarkable stamina in the entire speedway circuit this season. This team is also backed by a manager who not only built the cars, but watches and directs every race

Biddle

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

The Biddle car has made its debut in Philadelphia. Two types, a touring car aud runabout, are featured. The maker is the Biddle Motor Car Co., Inc. The large car sells for $1,880, and the smaller one for $1,700. A town car to sell for $3,000 is being worked out, and another fashioned with foreign lines, with a Duesenberg motor, to sell at the same price. Series D, by which the car is designated, is equipped with a unit type, three-point suspension power plant, being incorporated with a Buda motor. The cylinders are four in number with 1/2-inch bore and 1/2-inch stroke. Official rating gives 22 horsepower, while 48 is registered on the factory block test. The ignition, lighting and starting is
Westinghouse separate unit system. The car has a left drive, with the control levers in the center. The gasoline tank is in the rear and is operated in connection with a Stewart vacuum system. The wheelbase is 120 inches; Goodrich safety-tread tires, 32 by 4 inches, are used.

1915 Biddle Automobiles

The Biddle Motor Car Company, Philadelphia, PA, was formed by A. Maris as president and Charkles Fry was the engineer and designer. It was designed and built for the upper crust clientel. To promote the car, it was named after A. Ralsto Biddle, a member of this group. It was well received by them for its looks and it was a handsome car. The company supplied the chassises that began at $1650 in 1916 and $2,000 by 1918. Purchasers could pick out a body style  that he wanted . Bodies ranged from $2,000 to $4,000. and they were superb. The Biddle car was pictured on a number of advertisements for component parts.

1915 Biddle Automobile Advertisement

1915 Biddle Automobile Model with a Victoria Top

1922 Biddle Sedan Automobile

The number of cars that were produced was 100 for 1915 and the same for 1916. No more than 500 for the next three years. The Biddle production almost came to a halt after the war and moving to a new factory did not help. It was sold to the Maibohm Motors in 1920 and forty carsere ordered. These were assembled except for some parts that would be sent when its ills were paid. There was no money to pay the companies and the Biddle was once again sold to a group that was headed by F. L. Crane. It was renamed   the Biddle-Crane and the company was reorganized as the Biddle-Crane Motor Car Company. The bills were paid for the parts and the forty cars were finished with bodies from Rausch & Lang and delivered. Only a very few were made before it closed down in 1922.

New Era

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

First model to be brought out by Joliet concern makes its debut among the companies to enter the field for the first time with a car for 1916  is the New Era Engineering Co., Joliet,Il.  Its product being the New Era passenger car to sell at $660. Included in the features of the chassis are simplicity, strength, proper distribution of weight and accessibility. Accuracy of manufacture has been the watchword of this company in designing its motor to develop a maximum of horsepower and at the same time reduce vibration and internal frictional losses. The power plant, which is a four-cylinder, 31/2 by 41/2 inches, is block-cast, the cylinders being integral with the upper half of the crankcase, while the lower half is a separate piece. The maker claims 24 horsepower for the New Era motor at a gear reduction of 41/2 to 1. Other features are thermo syphon cooling, Allis-Chalmers single-unit starting and lighting system, multiple disk clutch, four-speed transmission, three-quar-ter floating rear axle, semi-elliptic springs in front and elliptic in rear, and Atwater-Kent ignition. The wheelbase is 104 inches.

1915 New Era Automobile

The company was organized by Forrest Alvin, James Buckley, Winthrop Burdick, and W. J. Burdick. Alvin was the president and Buckley was the engineer. It lasted one year before going out of business.

Outdoor Dixie

Beginning with issue of November 25 Motor Age will commence its series of articles on Outdoor Dixie—what the motorist who goes into the southeast with his car during the winter can see. Since 1864, Dixie to many has been a land of yesterday, a land of cotton, of sugar plantations, but not a land breathing through every tissue of its structure the virile force that has made America what it is today. When the great tide of settlement moved west of the Mississippi instead of south of the Mason and
Dixon line, the south was the loser.

Today, the south is more in the national eye than it has been since the war, and Outdoor Dixie is more of a reality to the motorist than ever before. The Dixie highway conception should be a great force in linking the south to the north and central north. The conception is a national one, but it will remain in embryo unless the motorists, the good road advocates and the business men and business interests of the south get behind the conception and move it along into the realm of reality. Concepts are essential, but unless they become realities, there is little permanent profit.

With the hope of bringing the concept of the Dixie highway closer to the margin of reality and with the hope of interesting the hundreds of thousands of American motorists in Outdoor Dixie, Motor Age will publish a series of articles on a few of those high spots of outdoor life in the southeast in which every motorist is interested; so that instead of our people seeking the pleasure veins of other continents in times of peace, they will learn to love America more, and get better acquainted with her magic outdoor charms.

Farmack

This city again is breaking into the passenger car field with the announcement of the Farmack car, made by the Farmack Motor Car Corp., Chicago, IL. While actual production not yet has been begun, it is proposed to build three models using the same chassis. The price of the touring car will be about $750, including an electric starting and
lighting system. A cabriolet, and three-passenger roadster model also will be marketed. The cars will have a106-inch wheelbase, four-cylinder, valve-in-the-head motor, 31/2 by 5, cone clutch, three-speed gearset, floating axle, and 32 by 31/2 tires. It is proposed to purchase the parts of standard parts makers, the axles from the Salisbury company, frames from Parish & Bingham, steering gears from Lavigne, etc. The Bijur two-unit-starting and lighting system, and Splitdorf magneto will be used. The concern states that between August 1, 1915, and August 1, 1916, 5,000 cars will be shipped, and that parts now are being received from contracts given to the parts makers.

This newly formed corporation has its head, A. J. Farmer, who was last connected with the Farmer Mfg. Co., Detroit, Mich., as vice-president, George H. McKenney, a
Chicago physician, and secretary-treasurer, M. M. Mclntyre. The officers make it plain that no deposits will be accepted until production is under way. The old Staver plant is to be used as the factory, temporarily at least.

1915 Farmack Roadster Automobile

1915 Farmack Touring Automobile

1915 Farmack Cabriolet Automobile

Albert Farmack was probably on of the most learned men in he industry with his experiences with Smith-Mabley, superintendent with the Ranier Company and designer of engines at Northway that made engine moslty for General Motors. He designed a four-cylinder engine with an overhead camshaft that he built for himself and was of interest to a group in Chicago. The Farmack Motor Car Company was incorporated in Chicago in 1915.  It just so happened there were other business men who wanted to invest in the company, but didn't like the name. The company was reorganized and the Farmack became the Drexel.

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1916 Drexel Four Passenger Roadster

Alber Farmack needed money more than he needed his name on the car, and he readily agreed to the name change. THe same engine was used in the five-seat touring car that was priced at $885. He was concentrating on his new seven-passenger with a 63-horsepower engine with a double overhead camshaft with four valvesper cylinder and priced at a remarketale low cost of $1,650. His one fault was his business experience. He was asked to resign in 1917 for poor business practices. However, thje owners forgot that Farmack held the patent rights on their prized 16-valve engine. All was forgiven, All of this was mute when the two Chicago Banks that held the loans failed and Drexel was bankrupt. Farmack left the company. Plans were made to revive the companty, but were not carried through. Very few, if any Drexels had been built.

Harvard

The history of the Harvard car has to be one of the most convulated that any automobile could have. To simplify it as much as possible, Not long after Charles Herreshoff had sold his automobile, he was anxious to build a light car for production that he had designed. He organized his Herreshoff Light Car Company in Troy, NY. to build his car. It just so happen to be another Herreshoff Light Car Company in Troythat was owned by Northrup Holmes. It was a sales agency for the previously built Herreshoff cars. He had known Holmes from his dealings with the previous Herreshoff automobiles and he suggested that Holmes that his car to be built in Troy and target New Zeland for its market.

1915 Harvard Coupe
Pioneer Motor Car Co. Troy, NY

Before anything was started, Herreshoff took off for South America, taking his prototype with him. Holmes still had all of the desings in his safe. Holmes asked Theodore Litchfield, a mechinic, living in Troy and a local agent for the Herff-Brooks, to join him to build the car. Litchfield promptly completed the chassis and Holmes named it the Harvard. and the compans name to be Harvard-Pioneer Motor Car Company. Harvard sales were never rgreat, but it was able to get through the war. In 1921, it became a victim of the post war depression.

Copied from the 1915 Motor Age Magazine

The Harvard is a four-cylinder car with 3 by 4 by 4-inch block motor, unit gearbox and Detroit axle. It lists as a roadster at $750 and has a 100-inch wheel-base and 28 by 3 tires. The body seat is supplied with deep upholstery and the Pantasote top fits snugly on the windshield when erected. On the same chassis a coupe body is also fitted and sells for a very moderate price. The car is geared rather higher than the average car is geared and adjustable foot pedals as found on the Haynes.The Briscoe clutch and control pedals are adjustable should be capable of a fair speed on the road, a feature which will be appreciated by owners.

Bell

The Bell Motor Car Co., recently organized, is the latest addition to the motor car industry in this city. The new concern will engage in the manufacture of a low-priced car, selling at between $700 and $800, and will be incorporated at $50,000. Operations will be started July 1 in the large three-story factory building,  now occupied by the Bailey Manufacturing Co., engaged in the manufacture of commercial car bodies.The Bell car will be manufactured in two models, a roadster and a five-passenger touring car. The cars will be fully equipped. Ernest T. Gilliard, former chief engineer and designer for the Sphinx Motor Car Co., this city, will act ias president for the new company. The body
design for the new car is now being worked out and the 1916 model will contain a number of distinctive features.

1920 Bell Advertisement

The Bell Company was organized in 1915 in York, PA, and was developed by the Bedll Motor Car Company that was owned Ernest P. Gilliard. He had been involved with the Pullman and Sphinx cars that had been made in York. Gilliard designed the Bell Automobile in 1915 for the 1916 season. The initial price was $775.00 but by 1921, the price had risen to $1,595.00. During that time, sales were adaquate, but not great. The company moved into the former Pullman when that company went out of business. Also, there had been two presidentss of the company. Charles Riess made the third one when he took over in 1921.and was going to make the Bell into his Riess Royal. It didn't happen and in 1922, the Bell became a victom of the times

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is the name given to the new car put out by the Randall company. It is made in four-passenger touring and two-passenger runabout bodies on the same chassis. The wheelbase is 110 inches and although this length is as great as in some of the larger cars, everything about this new product has been made along light lines. The four-cylinder power plant has its 2.75 by 4.5 cylinders cast in a single block with the valves in the head. Cooling is thermo-syphon through a tubular radiator. A Berling magneto is the sole source of current for ignition and for starting a mechanical device is relied upon. A multiple-disk clutch transmits the drive through a three-speed selective sliding gearset. Control is in the center and the steering wheel on the left. The springs are floating cantilevers and the brakes, as regards the service set mounted on the propeller shaft with the emergency brakes on the rear wheel.

1915 Peter Pan Automobile

Peter Pan was made at the Wollaston Foundry Company in Quincy MA. and L. W. Newell was its general manager. The water-cooled  engine was made at the factory and built by Wollaston. Its $400 price tag was very attractive for a car of this quality. However, it did not survive 1915.

Jan. 6, 1916, MOTOR AGE Magazine

Brakes Not Applied During 1915 by Motor Industry---Statistics Show that American Makers Traveled Prosperity Route with Throttle Wide Open

Like the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Alfred Reeves, general manager of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, is endowed with the gift of prophecy. For a crystal globe, the proverbial aid of the seers, he has substituted several volumes of trade records, through which he has peered and from which he has made many interesting deductions. Not only has he looked into the future, but he has pierced the veil of the past and the resultant statistics are a poignant commentary on the prosperity of the motor car industry and a promise of even greater prosperity during the coming 12 months.

Reeves' prophecy for 1916 is that the production of cars will exceed 1,200,000, a world's record, and an increase of 308,000 over the 1915 output. Even this great supply will not satisfy the heavy demand that he prophesies, as he figures that there is a market for 5,000,000 cars provided every person with an income of $1,200 or more has a desire to join the ranks of the gasoline buyers. According to Reeves' statistics, 892,618 motor vehicles, the retail value of which was $691,778,950, were sold during the year just past. The passenger cars sold totaled 842,249 and their purchasers spent $565,856,450 for them. The 1915 output of motor trucks was 50,369, bringing in the retail market the sum of $125,922,500. This phenomenal increase in the sale of American motor vehicles was partially due to the growth of our export trade, an increase of 250 per cent over 1914.

During 1915 we have shipped cars to eighty different countries. The value of these exports exceeds $100,000,000, as compared to $28,507,464 in 1914. Reeves estimates the value of 1915 motor truck exports, which showed an increase of 600 per cent over the shipments of last year, at $63,000,000, and that of 1915 passenger car shipments, which increased 90 per cent, at $37,000,000. John Bull was Uncle Sam's best customer, spending $21,000,000 for 8,321 passenger cars and 5,306 commercial vehicles during the fiscal year ending June30, 1915. The 892,618 motor vehicles sold during 1915 came from the factories of 448 manufacturers, 257 of which are builders of trucks. Thirty-four of the forty-five statescan boast of having a hand in this enormous production as only nine commonwealths have no motor car plants. To realize the advances made by the industry,
one only has to look back to 1899, when 3,700 cars, valued at $4,750,000, were produced and to 1903, when the output was 11,000 machines and the value $12,650,000.
Quantity production started in 1910, when the companies standardized the most important parts of their product and turned out 187,000 cars. The 5-year period following the 1910 renaissance resulted in the keenest kind of competition, a survival of the fittest fight that swept more than 400 companies into the bankruptcycourts during the half decade of record-breaking advancement.

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