History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

My brother had a picture of a Moon, not sure how many were made. Also there was over 4000 car manufacturers in the US at one time or another.

 

I agree with SWI66 but I think it would not come close to this one.

Happy New Year!!!!

 

Founded in St. Louis by Ohio carriage-maker Joseph Moon, the Moon Motor Car Co. sold cars from 1905 through 1930. Using Rutenber and Continental engines during much of their long run, Moon automobiles were smart-looking, well-made assembled cars in a variety of body styles that enjoyed a high reputation for quality and reliability -- and at competitive prices for the time. (Almost an aside, Moons were also sold under the Hol-Tan marque in 1908.)

Helping boost Moon's reputation, the company welcomed innovation. Moon offered balloon tires (beginning 1923), Lockheed hydraulic brakes, and detachable wheels with dismountable rims. Moon was not, however, a large company and by the mid-'20s had trouble building enough cars to meet demand. In point of fact, Moon made little more than 10,000 units in its best-ever year, 1925. Dedication to quality also led to excessive man-hours invested and, sometimes, operating losses.

But, Moon introduced a new subsidiary make, the Diana, that same season, selling some 3,000. The lovely Diana suffered from production flaws and was discontinued after 1928, the last year before the Moon name was also dropped. All Moon-produced cars became Windsors for 1929 and 1930. The Windsor was an all-new straight-eight model.

In one of the more curious events of U.S. auto history, struggling Moon entered into an agreement in '29 to build a new luxury car, the Ruxton, for a New York business consortium, But in a classic, if bizzare, case of the tail wagging the dog, instead of just building cars for Ruxton, Moon was taken over by the new Ruxton regime, headed by crafty promoter Archie Andrews. Things went so far that Moon faithful actually barricaded themselves in the plant. But in a truly hostile takeover, Ruxton personnel broke in and ended the standoff -- and the Moon company.

Maybe in poetic justice, though, neither Windsor nor Ruxton survived 1930. And it took until 1950 to sort out the legal and financial fallout of the affair.

 

Sincere appreciation is expressed to Wikipedia, the online Encyclopedia
for this crisp photo of an exemplary Moon roadster.
Please support this free online informational resource!​

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Moon radiator emblem, Smithsonian Institution



From this wonderful shot by Eugene Taylor, about 1927,
one can certainly appreciate the profile and stance of Moon cars.
Radiators, though not copied from Rolls-Royce, were admittedly so influenced.
Much appreciation is expressed to the Missouri History Museum Photographs
and Prints Collections. (Block Brothers Studio Collection)
​

 

Originally posted on #586

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Diana - St. Louis, Missouri (1925-1928)

1925 Diana​

Diana Motors Company of St. Louis, Missouri was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Moon Motor Car Company. The company never dwelled on the fact their car was named after a Roman mythology goddess of the Moon. The radiator shell was a carbon copy of the Belgian Minerva car. In late May of 1925, the new car and company was announced by Steward Macdonald (the president of Moon and Diana). When the Diana car arrived June 25th it was very well received. The company referred to it as the "the easiest steering car in America," "the only car built entirely for balloon tires," and "a car for women drivers." The Moon Company had projected that they would sell 7,000 Diana in the first year of production. The car's engine was a 72hp Continental straight-eight, hydraulic four-wheel brakes, and as well as the Lancaster Vibration Damper, both progressive features of its time. It got about 15 to 18 miles per gallon, with a maximum speed of 70mph. The price was around $2,000.00, but had to pay extra for wire wheels and radiator in bronze, which was the fancy sports roadsters. A town car at $5,000.00 was another limited production model. With some early structural problems in the car itself, and unfortunately the public never did forget - the Diana just faded away. Though the 1928 models were announced, it never produced one and the Diana became a Moon Aerotype 8-80 model for 1928. The Diana still has one the loveliest radiator mascots on an American car.

From Old Car Manual Project

 

How about a Liberty? I saw a truck at the Pate Swap Meet years ago. Had to be early teens/1920's vintage. It was similar looking to a phonebooth TT as close as I can describe. I can't find anything about a brand of "Liberty". The radiator was a cast iron type with Liberty cast in the upper tank.

 

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 580px"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center>US Military Dictionary: Standard B "Liberty" truck </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > US Military Dictionary

A truck used extensively in World War I, designed by the Army Quartermaster Corps. Production of the truck began in 1917. More than 7500 of the trucks went overseas. The Liberty had a four-cylinder, 52 horsepower engine and a top speed of about fifteen mph.


Sound movie of WW1 Liberty Truck actually running!



[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]1917
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Clarence Spicer joins a group of engineers and industry leaders summoned to[/FONT] <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1LACE><ST1:CITY>[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Washington[/FONT]</ST1:CITY> <ST1:STATE>[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]D.C.[/FONT]</ST1:STATE></ST1LACE> [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]to design the Class B or &#8220;[/FONT]<ST1:CITY><ST1LACE>[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Liberty[/FONT]</ST1LACE></ST1:CITY>[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]&#8221; Truck. The Liberty Truck was a rugged, World War I military truck that used standardized, interchangeable components.[/FONT]

 

That's what I found too HJmaniac, but the way it reads its hard to tell if they mean the company brand was Liberty or if it was a model name. The one pictured definately predates the one I saw.

 

E.R. Thomas Motor Company

As with many of the earliest automobile makers, the Thomas marque began in the bicycle business. Erwin R. Thomas had built a good reputation for building light-weight, strong, and inexpensive bicycles. In 1896, Thomas began experimenting with engine building and designed a one-cylinder, air-cooled gas engine that could be fitted onto his quality bicycles, calling the complete unit an "Auto-Bi". Three years later, in 1899, he built his first one-cylinder, four-wheel motor carriage. Thomas erected a factory especially for automobile production in Buffalo, New York, and promoted his new automobiles with advertisements, sales catalogs, and sales manuals.

His later four-cylinder model, named the "Thomas Flyer", had proven to be very reliable so when it was decided to enter the 1908 New York to Paris (Round-The-World) Race, a new 1907 Thomas Flyer was removed from the showroom floor. Minor modifications, such as extra gas tanks and spare tires, were made and the car was driven into history by winning the race.

Because of the publicity accompanying the victory, Thomas sales increased for a time. In 1911, and early 1912, only six-cylinder models were produced, but by the end of 1912, the campany was in receivership. The company was purchased by C. A. Finnegan of the Empire Smelting Company and Thomas cars continued to be catalogued through 1916 and built on order as late as 1918 and possibly 1919.

 

What a sweet car! If you had to pick ONE to epitomize the Brass Lamp Era,
this would do, eh? I LOVE THE STYLIZED HORN!!!
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Well Al; You actually found more then I did on the net. If you can find a copy of the December 1982 issue of Special Interest Autos, it has an excellent article on this car. I can try and scan the article but not sure how readable I can get it. I'll type a little bit of the story here as how the car was found;

Every Car enthusiast dreams of finding an undiscovered relic stored away in some old garage. It's a forlorn hope these days. (Remember this was written in 1982..Jim) The high level of old car interest in the past ten years has undoubtedly helped unearth most of the few remaining surprises.

Back in 1949 though, it was a different story. In the infancy of the hobby, it was still possible to successfully search for buried treasure - and everyone from Austin Clark and James Melton on downward was busy picking up bargains in old barns.

William S. Locke, then a college student at Lehigh University frequently passed an old Elcar alongside a paint shop near Whippany New Jersey. The price was right, and after Locke acquired the car he began to enjoy his $60.00 bargain.

In nearby Dover, New Jersey, Bill and his father found a friendly garage owner, Nick Minarchi. Minarchis garage had been an Elcar dealership and the old showroom held a fascinating secret. Hidden away was a 1931 Mercer - in excellent original condition with only (4) miles on the odometer! At first, Locke thought the Mercer had been an unsold car taken right from the showroom and stored away. Later, he learned his discovery, and a companion display chassis, were the actual 1931 New York Automobile Exhibits. Indeed, after the initial showing they had been stored and never again moved.

But surely, Mercer, the legendary sports car from Trenton, New Jersey had perished like so many firms in the turbulent '20's. How had this 1931 revival managed to adopt the hallowed Mercer shield? What was the connection with Elcar? Few enthusiasts remembered. Bill Locke was determined to find the answers and to acquire the "Last Mercer".

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Locke did acquire both the "Last Mercer" Chassis along with the companion "display chassis" As far as I know he still owns both to this day.

In 1969, he bought our familys 1925 Elcar but that's another story for later.

Bill has also written a book on Elcar.

Elcar and Pratt – traces the legacy from 1873, through the mid 1930's

<center>
Elcar and Pratt Automobiles: The Complete History
William S. Locke

</center> Elcar and Pratt Automobiles: The Complete History offers an extensive look at the auto companies' key personalities, automobiles and the everyday laborers who built the cars. The legacy is traced from its beginnings in the buggy and carriage business in 1873, through the last Elcar assembled in 1932 and the custom taxi cab business in the mid 1930's. Author William S. Locke invested several decades researching the book from an extensive range of sources.

In reviewing American automotive history, Pratt and Elcar would serve as an excellent example of the typical firm that made the transition from a successful buggy builder to a respected manufacturer of quality assembled automobiles. Pratt introduced its first motorized buggy in 1908, after 25 years in the direct sale buggy and harness business. The story continues with Pratt, Pratt-Elkhart, and Elcars until automobile production was curtailed for World War I.

Elcar, like most other manufacturers, enjoyed the immediate post-war boom in 1919 with record production. Bust followed the boom. By the end of 1920, the company had reported its first loss during one of its greatest sales years. The company built its best cars from 1923 to 1929.

Industry and company events in the late 1920s and early 1930s proved to limit sales at Elcar and across the industry. Elcar's last model, the Model 140 offered the third most powerful standard American production car for 1930, after Cadillac's V-16 and the Duesenberg Straight 8. Elcar's offerings could match the quality-built American autos of the day, but quality-assembled automobiles were no match for cars built by mass producers. Manufacture of new autos was halted by the bankruptcy court in 1931. A few more cars and taxicabs were built from parts on-hand until late 1933.

This is the complete history of a currently little-known marque, that once ranked among the finest vehicles on American roads. Built to exacting standards, an Elcar could compete head-to-head on the basis of performance, quality, or price with the products of much larger manufacturers. The comprehensive history details every Elcar model and the Pratt vehicles that preceded them, as well as the personalities behind the cars. Chapters and appendices provide complete model specifications; a full corporate chronology; illustrations of all Elcars and Pratts known to exist today; a listing of company advertisements and brochures; photographs of company emblems, mascots and other memorabilia; biographical sketches of key personalities; and an abundance of other material. The story is about more than automobiles -- it is about the buggies, custom bodies, taxicabs, and motorboats made at the Beardsley Avenue plant.

Locke does more than present the historical facts about. He tells the story with a personal touch to give the reader a feel about the people involved in the enterprise from company directors down to the factory floor. Readers meet many people during the life of the firm and get a feel for who they were and how they contributed. The author's depth of research and love for the subject results in an excellent account of the history as well as people involved with Elcar and Pratt automobiles.

Elcar and Pratt Automobiles: The Complete History, William S. Locke, Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Company, Inc., © 2000, ISBN: 0-7864-0956-8

 

The Elcar Automobile & The Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Co.

Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Company
1915-1931

In August 1915, William and George Pratt invited a number of individuals to invest in their company, The Elkhart Carriage and Harness Mfg. Co. The brothers wanted to generate additional cash to fund capital improvements. The corporate name was then changed to Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Company.

The Elkhart Carriage and Harness Mfg. Co. starting in 1873 built horse drawn carriages, a Motor Buggy in 1908 and a great American Automobile called the Pratt-Elkhart (1909-1915).

The Elkhart Carriage and Harness Mfg. Co. was a phenomenal success in the early 1900s and became one of Indiana's largest businesses by the turn of the century. The Pratt Motor Buggy reflected its roots. However, the Pratt Brothers realized in 1914 that the Pratt-Elkhart was priced too high at $2,000.00 for most people.

So in late 1915 they designed and produced the 1916 Elcar with a four cylinder engine A five passenger Elcar touring car and a two passenger "Clover Leaf" Elcar Roadster was produced for a low price of $795.00. A four passenger touring roadster was added to the 1917 line. All three models were listed at $845.00 in 1917 advertising.

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1916 Elcar Advertising

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1920 Elcar Advertising </center> </td></tr></tbody></table> When the country was gearing up for World War I, the company destroyed most of the horse drawn side of the business to make way for the building of ambulance bodies for the army in May, 1918.

<center> <table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> <center> </center> </td><td> At the end of World War I in 1919, automobile production resumed for The Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Company with a carry over of the 1918 models. Like most manufacturers, Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Company had an immediate post war boom period. 4,000 Elcar units were produced in 1919 in spite of material shortages from their suppliers. In 1920 production decreased to 2600 units due to a tightening of credit.

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<center> 1925 Elcar Roadster

</center>
In 1921 William B. Pratt and George B. Pratt decided to retire from the automobile business. Their company was sold to a number of former Auburn executives and the name changed to Elcar Motor Company. 1900 automobiles were sold that year and 1300 the following year. About 2000 automobiles were sold each year from 1923 to 1929. However, the "Great Depression" changed this company like many other automobile manufacturers. By the end of 1931, The Elcar Motor Company was bankrupt and only built a few Taxi cabs from 1931 to 1933, when they closed the doors for good.

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1921 Elcar Touring Car
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Thanks Sunroof! I think I read the story in Automobile Quarterly many years ago. I knew the car was assembled as a display at the NY autoshow and never saw the road. There are a bunch of guys on the Hamb that a real Mercer aficionados.

 

"Last Mercer" Mystery

Alsancle; Too bad they only built one.

Sunroof; I believe they only built one too plus the display chassis but some sources say they built three. if you look at the last picture in this post, it kind of looks like the '31 Mercer but there are some major differences. I really think it's another Dupont.

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</td> <td class="chart" valign="top" width="59%"> In 1919, J.B. Judkins received a large order from Mercer that consisted of mostly open bodies. As Judkins&#8217; plant was set up to build closed bodies and couldn&#8217;t fit in the 200+ order in their already busy production schedule, a decision was made to set up another plant across town to fulfill it. At that time, Stanley L. Judkins, was helping his father, Frederick, in the day-to-day management of the family&#8217;s body building business. It was decided that Stanley would run the new concern, and William Jeffrey, an experienced Amesbury body man, and John Marshall, a forty-two-year-old Scotsman who had settled in Merrimac in 1917, were hired to assist him in setting up the new plant. The former Jackson Hard Fibre Plant was outfitted for body production and the new firm officially entered into business in January of 1920. Close to 100 craftsmen were eventually employed at the new plant by the time production was in full swing.

Tragically, Stanley L. Judkins passed away after a short bought with the flu late in 1920, so day-to-day operation of the plant was entrusted to William Jeffrey while John Marshall handled all of the firm&#8217;s business and sales. Jeffrey left Merrimac in 1928 to go to work at the Walker Body Co. in Amesbury, and Marshall assumed complete control of the firm at that time. Although it was started by a member of the Judkins family, Merrimac was operated independently of their cross-town cousin which was run by Stanley&#8217;s older brother, John B. Judkins, who was enticed back to the family firm after Stanley&#8217;s untimely demise.

At the time of the order, Mercer was a well-established Trenton, New Jersey automaker that was formed in 1909 by the Roebling family, Trenton&#8217;s wealthy bridge-building dynasty. Their reputation was permanently established in 1911 when Mercers won six major motoring events, and their victories continued through 1916 when their legendary rivalry with Stutz commenced. However, personal tragedy haunted the Roeblings during the second decade of the 20th century, and the firm was sold to Emlen S. Hare, a former Packard executive who also controlled Simplex and Locomobile. Unfortunately Hare&#8217;s automotive empire collapsed in 1921, and Mercer went into receivership. As they soon found out, Mercer&#8217;s order, initially accepted by J.B. Judkins Co., was paid for on credit. Luckily for Merrimac, their parent company, J.B. Judkins was in good financial shape and absorbed the loss for the new bodybuilder, allowing Merrimac to continue in business. Ironically, Merrimac bodied one of the Elcar-derived Mercers that Harry W. Wahl exhibited at the Hotel Montclair during the January 1931 New York Auto Show.

Open cars were still popular and Merrimac received large orders from a number of manufacturers who included DuPont, Flint, Franklin, Locomobile, Mercer, and Rolls-Royce. They also did a lot of custom work for many of the same Boston luxury car dealers who also did business with Judkins.

According to William Jeffrey, Merrimac received and completed an order for 12 "deluxe" touring bodies from Puritan Motors, Boston&#8217;s Lincoln dealer in 1921, but only delivered one half of the order before Leland was bought out by Ford. Puritan&#8217;s president, Otis J. Funderburk, requested that Henry Ford (or possibly one of his representatives) stop at the Merrimac factory to take a look at the undelivered bodies. No hard evidence exists that Ford ever visited the plant, although he did own the Wayside Inn in nearby Sudbury, Massachusetts and made periodic visits to the state. However he might have, as Jeffrey stated that "the next day an order was received from the Ford Company for the six bodies."

Unfortunately, no additional orders from Lincoln were forthcoming although Merrimac built a few individual custom bodies for Puritan Motors, including one magnificent 7-passenger convertible sedan-limousine on a 1926-27 Lincoln Model L chassis. It was unusual in that it in addition to the customary division window, a third, folding windscreen was fitted for use by the rear seat passenger when the vehicle&#8217;s side windows were lowered.

New England&#8217;s Packard dealers provided Merrimac with some business during the twenties as well. A number of four-door sedans, coupes and limousines were built for Packard chassis as well as a roadsters, phaetons and landaulets. A number of Cadillacs were known to have been bodied as well as a handful of high-end European imports.

But Merrimac&#8217;s largest customer was the Springfield, Massachusetts automaker, Rolls-Royce of America &#8211; whose products are commonly known today as Springfield Rolls-Royces. At its inception, Merrimac became part of the firm&#8217;s Custom Coachwork Division and from 1923 to 1927, supplied them with over 420 bodies &#8220;in the white&#8221; (unpainted and untrimmed) - mostly open touring cars and roadsters, although a few coupes and town cars were built as well. Merrimac&#8217;s most popular Rolls-Royce body was the Pall Mall five-passenger touring car, with 200 examples. Next popular was the the "Oxford" seven-passenger touring with 77, followed by the "Mayfair" town car with 70 and the "Piccadilly" roadster with another 70. Well over 50 surviving Silver Ghosts and Phantom I&#8217;s still carry their original Merrimac-built bodies.

Fred Roe, author of Duesenberg: Pursuit of Perfection, had an unusual experience with a Merrimac-bodied Rolls-Royce he bought used in 1938 for $125. When he sold the car during the War, he removed the body plate as a memento. While attending the Heritage Plantation Museum in 1973, he noticed that a Rolls on display was missing its body plate. Further investigation revealed that it was the very same vehicle that he had sold back in 1943. Fred still had the plate for body #M492 and gave it to the museum, who gratefully re-affixed to the vehicle.

In 1923-24, Merrimac built a small number of fabric-covered bodies using the patents of Kenneth L. Childs. In 1923, Childs formed the Fabric Body Corporation in Detroit, hoping to sell licenses for bodies paneled in Meritas cloth, a product comparable to Zapon and Rexine and manufactured by Standard Textile, his former employer. Merrimac built two Meritas-covered four-door sedans on Peerless chassis for display at the 1924 New York Auto Salon, their first-ever display at the event. Outside of the same event, Childs displayed a Meritas-bodied Packard that had been driven twenty thousand miles during the previous 12 months, highlighting the durability of his product. At least one Meritas-bodied Lincoln is known to have been built, as well as a tiny roadster body built for Springfield, Massachusetts&#8217; Indian Motorcycle Company. In 1927 Indian briefly tinkered with the idea of introducing a small automobile, and hired Merrimac to build the bodies for two prototypes - the first, the Meritas-bodied roadster &#8211; the second a metal paneled delivery van that is still known to exist.

A handful of convertible sedan bodies were built for Rolls-Royce between 1928 and 1930 using the Childs patent. However, they weren&#8217;t destined for new Springfield chassis. In the late twenties Rolls-Royce did a considerable business selling refurbished Silver Ghost chassis whose older and worn-out limousine and town car bodies had been replaced with more saleable roadsters and sport coupes. They commissioned Merrimac to built a small series of convertible sedan bodies based on Brewster&#8217;s Newmarket, that was being currently outfitted on new Phantom I&#8217;s. At that time, the Weymann fabric body was gaining popularity in Great Britain, and by using a Merrimac-built Childs&#8217;s body, Rolls-Royce could offer their American customers a similarly-equipped vehicle at a fraction of the cost of a new Weymann. Records indicate that at least ten were built, but gaps in the number sequence suggest a larger number of from 15 to 20. Two of them are known to exist, both bearing a Merrimac Body Company name*plate on the doorsills. A few leftover non-fabric Merrimac roadster and touring car bodies were used in Rolls-Royce&#8217;s pre-enjoyed program as well.

Merrimac built a number of limousine and convertible coupe bodies for Locomobile Chassis in the mid-to-late twenties. The convertible coupes were built in a small series of about 25 for the Model 8-80&#8217;s custom body program and the limousine bodies were built in even small numbers for Locomobile&#8217;s last long-wheelbase senior chassis. After Durant moved his low-priced Flint Automobile&#8217;s assembly plant to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1926, Merrimac reportedly supplied them with touring car bodies as well.

Several hundred touring car and roadster (&#8220;Sport Runabout&#8221 bodies were supplied to Syracuse, New York&#8217;s Franklin Automobile Company during 1928 for their new Series 12-A chassis. Although they had a long-standing relationship with the Walker Body Company in nearby Amesbury, for reasons unknown &#8211; possibly the closing of Buffalo, New York&#8217;s American Body Co., an earlier supplier of touring car bodies &#8211; Franklin gave Merrimac the order. The Merrimac-bodied Sport Runabout came equipped with a rumble seat and an attractive boat-tail and is highly prized by collectors today. Merrimac built a handsome dual cowl phaeton for Franklin&#8217;s custom body program in 1931. Two exist, the first, a replica, is in Thomas Hibbard&#8217;s Arizona Franklin collection and the original resides in George Staley&#8217;s Norwich, New York&#8217;s Northeast Classic Car Museum.

Merrimac is best known today for their gorgeous bodywork that graced the DuPont automobile from 1927-1931. Designed by duPont&#8217;s G. Briggs Weaver, they built a number of different styles, most of which were open. The most famous duPonts, the &#8220;LeMans&#8221; style speedsters &#8211; both two- and four-seat versions - were all built in Merrimac&#8217;s shops. Over 120 bodies were produced for E. Paul duPont&#8217;s luxury car, making Merrimac their largest body supplier. At least 19 Merrimac-bodied duPonts are known to exist - most are open tourers and speedsters, but also included are a sports sedan and very rare DuPont town car.

Of the duPonts exhibited a the 1929 New York Auto Salon, Autobody reported:

&#8220;Other new exhibits at New York will include bodies built by Merrimac and Waterhouse on the duPont chassis, after designs of the duPont body department. Merrimac will present a four-passenger &#8216;speedster&#8217; of extremely sporting character finished completely in gray, except the wheels and bumpers, which will be in scarlet. The Waterhouse Co. will show a town car of interesting design, finished in sable, but with the wheels, bumpers and recessed door-belt panel in ivory which will also be used for the striping. The body sides are carried down to the running boards, and swept up to meet the cowl molding at the dash.&#8221; The speedster by Merrimac, incidentally, had red and ivory snake-grain leather upholstery. The speedsters only had doors on one side of the body, and the cycle fenders were easily removed for racing.

​

Although few if any new bodies were built by Merrimac after 1931, they kept busy painting and refurbishing existing bodies for their most loyal customers. A number of customers commissioned them to modernize their existing vehicles, and several older bodies were remounted on newer chassis. In their final years they mounted a Pierce-Arrow roadster body to a Rolls-Royce chassis and even converted a Rolls-Royce limousine into a roadster. Still under the control of John Marshall, after 23 years in business, Merrimac closed its doors in 1934. Luckily, over 90 Merrimac bodies exist today in the hands of their appreciative owners, and it&#8217;s not uncommon to see one at some of the larger Northeast auto shows during the summer.


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1925 Elcar

Back in 1965, Dad was reading the car ads in the local newspaper when he came across one for a 1925 Elcar. His response; What's an Elcar???? So, we went to find out. Turns out it was owned by an old childhood friend of Dads by the name of John Weller who now ran Weller Garbage Disposal (Don't believe they exist any longer---Gee, I was only 10 at the time--- LOL)
,
Anyways, $200.00 later the car was ours. It had a cracked head but that wasn't too hard as the car had a Lycoming motor. If memory serves me right (remember, I was only 10), I think Dad may have sent the head to Glenn Pray in Broken Arrow Oklahoma and had him weld it up. Dad did get the car running and we had it for about four years when he sold it to Bill Locke, the Elcar expert and collector so that he could buy the 1934 Ford 4 Door that we still have after 40 years.

As I recall, the interesting thing about the car was it was a 6 (model 6-65) Cylinder and that made it kind of rare as most of the Elcars that did survive were eights. Many years later, Dad discovered an identical car, another 6 cylinder in a a Garage in Mpls. Could still be there for all I know. I never saw the car and Dad isn't here to ask, so for now, that one remains a mystery.










Following is a nice memorial to my Dad by a good friend. It's only been nine and a half months, so it can still be tough at times.

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...6227&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&zw

 

Sunroof, are you talking about the dual cowl? It looks like a Nash or a Franklin to me?

 

Liberty Motor Car

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1919 Liberty Motor Car advertisement​

The Liberty Motor Car Company was a United States automobile maker in Detroit, Michigan from 1916 to 1924.
Only one model named Liberty Six was offered, propelled by a monobloc 3394 cc 6-cylinder engine. Late in 1923, the company was acquired by Columbia Motors.

 

I give you a tour of the 1916 Liberty Motor Car Company facilities on Lycaste.








DPL/NAHC

The Liberty Motor Car Company was a United States automobile maker in Detroit, Michigan from 1916 to 1924.

Only one model named Liberty Six was offered, propelled by a monobloc 3394cc 6-cylinder engine. Late in 1923, the company was acquired by Columbia Motors.




Just prior to World War I, it became clear that the vehicle business would boom in the United States. Several major problems had been solved. Boss Kettering had perfected the electric starter so it was no longer necessary for a driver to crank the engine&#8212;a task that required considerable strength and might result in a broken arm. Reasonably priced, enclosed, all-steel bodies proved feasible so vehicles could be used all year and in any weather. And the controversy about the Selden patent had been resolved, so any group of investors with sufficient capital could try to become wealthy in the vehicle business.
Percy Owens appeared to have the perfect background to establish a new and highly successful auto firm. He began selling Wintons before 1900, rose to be sales manager for that company and opened the first auto salesroom in New York City. European cars have always been imported for sale in the US. Owens was among the first to successfully do so when he began importing Bianchis from Italy. By 1908, he had affiliated himself with a major Detroit producer&#8212;Chalmers&#8212;and eventually became their sales manager.
Accurately foreseeing the coming auto boom, Owens organized the Liberty Motor Car Company in 1916. He secured sufficient capital to begin production in a plant on Lycaste Street that had been the home to the unsuccessful R.C. H. Auto firm. Owens' extensive experience in the vehicle industry allowed him to recruit engineers and administrators who had strong records of accomplishments in Detroit. His firm seemed destined for continued prosperity.

World War I slowed Liberty&#8217;s initial production schedule, but in 1919, they turned out 6,000 Libertys and obtained sufficient funds to build a new plant at Charlevoix and Avenue. For their office building, they selected the replication of Independence Hall that you see above&#8212;the first version of Independence Hall built in Detroit.
Owens claimed that Liberty was a success since his firm built and sold 21,000 cars in 1921, but there was trouble on the horizon. All producers depended heavily upon their parts suppliers. Compared to Ford, GM, Packard and Hudson, Liberty was a small producer. Apparently, they faced major challenges in securing the parts they needed and lacked the requisite capital to establish or buy parts suppliers. By 1923, Liberty went into receivership. The assets were purchased by the Columbia Motor Car Company at Mack and Beaufait. but no more of the appealing Liberties were ever produced.
The Budd Company&#8212;producers of auto bodies for many firms&#8212;used this Independence Hall office building for many years. Budd was acquired by Thyssen-Krupp Automobile AG in the 1980s. Thyssen-Krupp used this office building for about two decades, but in 2007, closed their nearby plant and ceased using this replica of Independence Hall.

 

1922 Liberty 10-C touring car Volo Auto Museum.



Most of this history I take from Szudarek's "How Detroit Became the Automobile Capital".

The Hupp brothers and their companies seem to have a complex history. After forming the Hupp Motor Car Company, maker of the Hupmobile, Robert C. Hupp teamed with R.T. Yeats to form the Hupp-Yeats Electric Car Company in 1910, to produce battery powered cars. Hupp had also invested in several supply industries in the Fairview area of the east side, and consolidated them along with Hupp-Yeats into the Hupp Corporation in 1911.

In August 1911, a new gasoline car was introduced by the Hupp Corporation in a plant on 115-185 Lycaste Street. It was named "R.C.H." to avoid any confusion with the Hupmobile manufactured by the Hupp Motor Car Company. However, the officers of the Hupp Motor Car Company sued, and in 1912 the company was forced to change their name to the R.C.H. Corporation (RobertCHupp).

By Novemeber 1913, R.C.H. was bankrupt but the VP led a group of investors to purchase its assets including a portion of the factory. They continued production until 1915. The assets of the Hupp-Yeats Electric Car Company were purchased by investors and production barely continued until 1919.

Now, the Liberty Motor Car Company is formed in February 1916. The former R.C.H. factory at 101 Lycaste was taken over and completely remodeled. Cement floors were laid throughout and equipment for progressive assembly was installed. The first year, 733 Liberty's were produced, and by 1921 production reached 11,000. A new factory waas built on a 12 acre site at Charlevoix & Connor's Lane. By 1923 the company was in receivership and in September, the assets were acquired by the Columbia Motor Car Company. Columbia, in business since 1916, had been producing cars at the former B.F. Everitt factory at Beaufait at Mack. Unfortunately, Columbia over extended itself and was liquidated in November 1924.<!--/Text-->

 

The Tangled Web of Byron F. "Barney" Everitt



In 1899 Everitt moved to Detroit where he opened the B.F. Everitt Co. at 63-65 Fort St. Their main

business was the building and repair of horse-drawn vehicles, but early a few bodies for built Ransom E.

Olds and Henry Ford. One of Everitt&#8217;s first employees was Frederic J. Fisher, the eldest son of Norwalk,

Ohio&#8217;s soon-to-be-famous Fisher Brothers. Fred left in 1904 to go to work for the C.R. Wilson Co. at

about the same time that Walter O. Briggs joined B.F. Everitt as an upholsterer.

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/e/everitt/everitt.htm

Interior shots of Everitt factory on Fort St.






DPL/NAHC

Some info on Everitt's other factories"

...the new Everitt-Metzger-Flanders Company represented a merger of the Wayne Automobile

Company and the Northern Motor Car Company, in which William Metzger quickly and conveniently

acquired a controlling interest. This provided E-M-F three ready-made plants, Wayne's and Northern's in

Detroit, and the latter's second plant in Port Huron. To provide a ready-made dealership organization,

E-M-F contacted the Studebaker brothers in Indiana.

http://dreamwater.org/emfauto/EMF_history_P1.html


The Rickenbacker Motor Company was incorporated in July of 1921 when Barney Everitt decided to

start up another car company. He asked Eddie Rickenbacker for the use of his name on the automobiles

and named Eddie vice-president & director of sales for the company. Everitt also asked long time friend

and businessman Walter Flanders to help get this car company off the ground. Everitt & Flanders worked

together before with William Metzger at the EMF car company from 1909-1912.

http://rickenbackermotors.com/hrm/hrm.html

Consequently they purchased the former Disteel Wheel factory on Michigan Ave. and produced a

handful of prototypes that would be displayed at the upcoming 1922 New York Auto Show. The car took

off and by the middle of 1922 was building 50 cars per day. Everitt enlisted famed Detroit architect

Albert Kahn to build them a new factory at 4815 Cabot Ave.

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/e/everitt/everitt.htm



In 1905, three brothers by the name of Trippensee took over the firm, reorganizing as the Trippensee

Manufacturing Co.... a new factory was built at 2679 East Grand Blvd. in 1908. However sales eventually

leveled off and the brothers began to look for additional products that could be manufactured using their

existing equipment....As luck would have it they were located in the heart of Detroit&#8217;s emerging

automobile industry and lots of potential customers for automobile bodies were within a stone&#8217;s throw of

their new factory. Amongst their first customers were Buick and the Ford Motor Co., for whom they built

bodies and subassemblies into the early twenties.

Everitt Company Factories:

Everitt, B.F.- (1899-1927) 63-65 Fort St. cb
Everitt, B.F.- (1909 or 11) Beaufait & Mack, later Columbia plant 1916
Everitt Bros. Mfg. (191?-2? )- ??? East Jefferson

EMF - (1907-12) Piquette (d) fire 2005
EMF - Clay & Dequindre
EMF- also used Wayne & Northern factories
EMF - 75 Clark & River Rd. ex-Blomstrom

Rickenbacker- (1922)- Disteel Wheel factory on Michigan Ave, prototypes?
Rickenbacker- (1922-27 ) 4815 Cabot (s) formed by E.M.F founders (Kahn bldg)

Trippensee Mfg.(1908-2?)- 2679 East Grand Blvd, cb, bought by Everitt<!--/Text-->

 

Carl Blomstrom was born in Grand Rapids and wound up in Marquette building gasoline marine engines in the late 1890s. He also designed and built cars on the side. He moved to Detroit in 1901 and built his first car here in 1902. In 1904, he started the C. H. Blomstrom Motor Car Company and relocated his factory from 62 Second Avenue to a 19 acre plot at 75 Clark Avenue, near River Road (W Jefferson).

By 1906 the company encountered legal difficulty and merged with the De Luxe Motor Car Co of Toledo, OH. The Blomstrom name was dropped and by 1909 the company went out of business. Its assets, including the factory, were sold to E-M-F, later Studebaker.

In the meantime, Blomstrom left the company and in 1906 started the Blomstrom Manufacturing Co at a factory at Leib & Wight Streets. There he continued to manufacture cars under his name until 1909. He continued to manufacture marine engines too, but kept his fingers in the automobile business by designing and being one of the principle stockholders of the Rex Motor Co, a car which was produced only in 1914, at two factories; the first somewhere on Junction, then later in the year at a plant on West Jefferson near the Rouge River.

After that venture he became involved with the Bateman Manufacturing Co in New Jersey, maker of the Frontmobile in 1917 - 1918. After the failure of the Frontmobile, he tried to build the car again with a new company, the Camden Motors Corp. I don't think they ever produced anything and the company was liquidated in 1922. Blomstrom died the next year.




Nameplate from Blomstrom engine:



And now, for something completely different:

A couple of old Queens!



1905 Queen model C ,made by C.H.Blomstrom Motors in Detroit Mich. The car is a horizontal 2 cylinder,16 H.P. engine,with planetary band transmission,chain drive to rear axle.



1906 Queen Model K 5P Touring

From and auction listing: Roi des Belges Coachwork with a 26/28HP engine. The Queen was manufactured by the C.H. Blomstrom Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan from 1904 to 1906. While Blomstrom himself was involved in a number of automotive ventures from 1902 to 1918, none of his other vehicles achieved the success attained by the Queen, which was produced in 1, 2, and 4 cylinder models. Total production is estimated to have been 1500 cars. There are 3 1906 Queen's known to exist and a chassis sitting in Tombstone, AZ.

Painted in forest green and black with a vermillion pinstripe. Lighting equipment with &#8220;Queen&#8221; branded brass headlamps, cowl lamps, tail lamp and acetylene gas generator are all manufactured by the Atwood Lamp Co. It has an &#8220;Autocoil&#8221; ignition unit on the dash and a brass speedometer is mounted near gearshift lever. 100" wheelbase and 31&#8221; wheels with whitewall tires.Fully restored in the early 90&#8217;s, showing minimal wear.

Price: $115,000.00
Year: 1906
Make: Queen
<!--/Text-->

 

The Tangled Web of Byron F. "Barney" Everitt



The Rickenbacker Motor Company was incorporated in July of 1921 when Barney Everitt decided to start up another car company. He asked Eddie Rickenbacker for the use of his name on the automobiles and named Eddie vice-president & director of sales for the company. Everitt also asked long time friend and businessman Walter Flanders to help get this car company off the ground. Everitt & Flanders worked together before with William Metzger at the EMF car company from 1909-1912.

A plant on Michigan Avenue in Detroit was purchased where 200 cars a day could be manufactured. (Later a newer plant was built at 4815 Cabot Avenue) The general public had yet to see the Rickenbacker prototype, but anything associated with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was bound to be something extraordinary. The emblem for the car was taken from Rickenbacker's flying squadron insignia the "Hat in the Ring."

In January of 1922 the first Rickenbacker touring cars, sedans, and coupes made their debut at the New York Auto show. The engine was a three-main- bearing six cylinder, 218 cubic inches, 58 hp with a speed of 60 mph. The cars were vibration less with two flywheels at either end of the crankshaft. This was an idea Rickenbacker had come up with while flying over Germany. He had been amazed at the German planes maneuverability and on inspection of several engines, found a flywheel at the end of the crankshaft. Also new on the Rickenbacker was an experimental chassis with four-wheel brakes. Few people paid much attention to this feature.

By March of 1922, the factory was making 10 Rickenbackers a day. By May, the numbers had increased to 50. Rickenbacker announced on June 27th , 1923 that all Rickenbackers built from now on would have four-wheel brakes. Packard had made the same statement 16 days earlier, but only offered it on their eight-cylinder models. The Rickenbacker was the first medium priced American car with four-wheel brakes. Duesenberg had been the first to offer the option, but Duesenbergs were far from meduim-priced. Buick, Oakland, Cadillac, Marmon, Chalmers, Elgin, Paige and Locomobile were next to jump on four-wheel brake bandwagon. Few people seemed to remember that Rickenbacker had been making cars with four-wheel brakes since 1922, although few models came with the option in 1922.

Car makers who did not offer a four-wheel brake model claimed that four-wheel brakes were dangerous. This campaign hurt Rickenbacker sales slightly, even though there was nothing unsafe about the design. Two companies leading these negative ads were the Ford Motor Company & Studebaker. The main reason for these ads really had nothing to do with the safety of the brakes. Ford & Studebaker had thousands of chassis in stock with two wheel brakes and nothing on the engineering table to start building a car with four wheel brakes. The negative campaign was to slow down the selling of four wheel braking auto's until their stock piles to two wheel chassis were used up.

In 1923, the death of Walter Flanders (automobile accident) who had been instrumental in the design of the Rickenbacker, had a negative impact on the company. By the end of 1923, production numbers were just under 6,000 models which was less than expected.

In 1924, Rickenbacker introduced the Vertical 8 Super-fine. This was indeed a fine automobile with a carbureted nine bearing L-head 268 cubic inch engine, dual ignition, dual muffler and the dual flywheel system. The price started at $2,195. Unfortunately, the Vertical 8 Super-fine was also costly to produce. By the end of 1924 the net profit for the company was dropping.

Everett was still determined to keep the company going and beefed up the horsepower on the six and eight cylinder models slightly. However, in July 1925, Everett made a costly mistake. He dropped the price tag on the Vertical 8. This startled many dealers and stock holders in the company.

At the 1926 New York Auto Show the Rickenbacker Motor Company deputed it's new Super Sport Boattail Coupe for $5000. They claimed it was the fastest production car to carry 4 people at just under 100 mph. Duesenberg, Stutz, Packard, and the likes had cars that could go faster, BUT they could only haul 2 people!! It's believed less than 20 of these cars were ever produced.

In September of 1926, Eddie Rickenbacker resigned from the company due to constant bickering and other problems. This would prove to be the downfall of the car that bore his name. Hearing of Captain Eddie's departure, other influential people in the company began to leave as well. Everett was now pretty much on his own.

Everitt made a last valiant attempt to keep the company going and announced that there would be 500 new cars available for 1927. In February, he was forced to give up. A total of 517 cars were made in 1927.

 

Franklin....YES! Nash...NO!

When I saved the picture, there was a caption that said Fra-Merr, so I would say that it IS a Franklin.

 

1932 Series 16 Special Phaeton​

 

The O-We-Go was an American cyclecar manufactured in 1914. The tandem-seat automobile sold for $385; it was built in Owego, New York. At least one car is still known to survive. The following video has to be one of the best I've seen of a single car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlGNb50Kiok&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW0zY8c8cgk&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zFYgPQb5mM&feature=related

 

Outstanding!!!!

 

QUOTE: Two companies leading these negative ads were the Ford Motor Company & Studebaker. The main reason for these ads really had nothing to do with the safety of the brakes. Ford & Studebaker had thousands of chassis in stock with two wheel brakes and nothing on the engineering table to start building a car with four wheel brakes. The negative campaign was to slow down the selling of four wheel braking auto's until their stock piles to two wheel chassis were used up.

Jimi: This kind of stuff always gripes my rearend, and it's always gone on in the auto industry. Though not ILLEGAL, it is and was unethical -- and pervasive. The doubt the ads implanted in the public mind were sufficient to do the intended harm. And I believe the dealer networks were a huge mouthpiece for this kind of jazz. Whispering campaigns are awfully hard to fight.

It is a real and unfortunate BUMMER for Rickenbacker, since they were one of the most progressively engineered makes of their time!!! I remember Capt. Eddie was really disappointed, since he knew the quality of his cars and he was used to success. As a former race driver, he put safety high on the Rickenbacker list -- in a time when most companies didn't push for that much at all. I think Everitt and Rickenbacker got a raw deal. PERIOD!



You just HAVE to love the cycle fenders!!!

 

Hey, HJ & SunRoof, look what's hanging on the front end of the 1922 Liberty! Best pic of a Biflex Bumper I've seen on this thread.

 

SunRoof, THANKS for the thorough material on Pratt-Elkhart and Elcar. One of the BIG things I've enjoyed about this thread is: Guys have tried to do MORE than just show that a make existed and when. They seem ALWAYS to try and put the SIGNIFICANCE of the make into a sort of comparative PERSPECTIVE for their respective eras!!! Good job, guys!