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

How about a Bedelia replica with leaning suspension? It'd be light enough, and by introducing parallelogram articulation one could make the centre-pivot steering steer into the lean like a bicycle. But that would be another thread ...

 

1924 Automotive Standards Red Bug Electric Buckboard​

1924 Auto Red Bug The most basic of cyclecars became the delight of Palm Beach and magnificent country estates after Automotive Standard bought the manufacturing rights in 1924. They converted the diminutive woodie from the Briggs and Stratton 'fifth-wheel' gasoline engine to electric power. Keep the batteries charged and the little buckboard woodie was as simple to operate as flipping a switch. The electric Red Bug even found it's way to European luxory resorts. Production ceased by 1929.

Red Bug

Red Bugs are small, two passenger, wooden buckboard cyclecars that were produced from 1914 to about 1930. Early Red Bugs where powered by a fifth wheel with an integral motor. The Smith Motor Wheel and the Smith Flyer were first manufactured by the A.O. Smith Co. of Milwaukee in 1914. Five years later, Briggs and Stratton bought the manufacturing rights and produced the little woodie for several years.

The rights were sold to Majestic Engineering & Manufacturing Co., later known as Automotive Electric Service Company of North Bergen, New Jersey in 1924. Now called Red Bug or Auto Red Bug, production of the car continued. For a while, the Red Bug was powered by either the Motor Wheel or a Dodge 12 volt electric starter motor. The Motor Wheel was ultimately replaced with a five horsepower Cushman engine with chain drive to the rear wheels. The company was renamed Automotive Standards and in 1928, and an amusement park version featuring a wrap-around bumper was announced.

In March 1930, a news report indicated that the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, MA was to build the diminutive vehicle on a "cost plus" basis. Little is known of the Red Bug after this date. After all, it was the depression and a new Red Bug sold for more than a used Model T Ford.

Source: Motorbase

• Wheelbase - 62 inches
• Track - 30 inches
• Weight - 150-240 Pounds, varies with motor and batteries
• Chassis - Ash wood
• Top Speed - 12-25 MPH, Gasoline; 8-16 MPH, Electric
• Wheels - 20 x 2" clincher (early non-drive wheels 20 x 1-5/8")
• Price - About $150 in the late 1910's, $300 in 1928

 

Yes, not extinct, but how many can there be left?
From the Buffalo Transportation Museum



The "Automatic" Electric Pleasure Vehicle, built by the Automatic Transportation Company in Buffalo, NY, was announced to the public in 1921. At that time, it was marketed as the "practical electric automobile that would meet all requirements as a utility and pleasure car - and at a reasonable price."

 

Swi, what a cute little car, man. That's not a word I use very often, since it's NOT macho, and it may be insulting in this PC era!

Hey, since they had the bad luck to debut their passenger & delivery cars during an unexpected RECESSION year, I HAVE TO SAY I DOUBT VERY MANY SURVIVE AT ALL!!! I wonder what that REASONABLE price was.

Looks like YOU scored a NEAR-EXTINCT here, bro! AND still on the Buffalo theme, too!!! Good work AND a PIC!!! Great.

 

HJManiac, the RED BUG is also a KEEN little car. Heck, I wish they'd put these out as kits TODAY! Would be fun to put one of these together for the grandkids. I'LL BET THEY'D FEEL AS IF THEY WERE DRIVING A HOTROD!!! lol

 

Dawie, just WOW, man!!!

 

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1922 Templar A445 Roadster ​

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1922 Templar




edited by David Barth, 30 January 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Templar produced automobiles from 1918 to 1924. The name was based on the Knights Templar, and the company adopted the Maltese cross as its symbol. Although most components were suppled by other manufacturers, the engines were built and final assembly was done at the plant.

These automobiles were very peppy, attractive, and small. In 1920, a Templar set a new record for driving from New York to Chicago in twenty-six hours and ten minutes, six hours less than the old record. This car came with a compass and a Kodak camera as standard equipment.

Model: A-445
Body Style: Roadster
Original Factory Price: $1,985
Brake Horsepower: 50
Displacement: 196.8 cubic inches
Bore: 3 3/8 inches
Stroke: 5 1/2 inches
Cylinders: 4, in-line, cast together (en bloc)
Wheelbase: 118 inches
Manufacturer: Templar Motors Corporation
Location: Lakewood, Ohio (near Cleveland, Ohio), USA
Years of Production: 1917-1924

From the TRW Collection, formerly the Thompson Auto Album and Aviation Museum.


Templar Motors was formed by a group of Clevelend investors in 1916, with production starting the following year. Management took the name Templar from a military order founded in Jerusalem by the crusaders about 1118. It chose the Maltese cross as the car's emblem.

The corporation's main building, a three-story brick, concrete and steel structure with 300,000 square feet of floor space, still stands at 13000 Athens Ave. It now houses 16 tenants, the largest of which is Lake Erie Screw Products Co.

In 1917 a factory consisting of three frame buildings was erected at Halstead and Plover Streets, Lakewood at a cost of $2.5 million. Plant capacity was 5,000 cars a year, though production was never in excess of a third of that. Actually, total output during Templar's short span on the market was only 6,000 units.

The first car was completed and displayed in July 1917. A. M. Dean, chief engineer, announced in the trade press that the plant would soon be ready for quantity production. However, with the United States at war, the plant was given over almost entirely to war work, making 155 mm. shells. Nearly 1,000 persons were employed in the munitions operation. Meanwhile, with only token production of automobiles, the organizing of sales and other personnel moved ahead to be ready for full production when the war would end.

Save for its engine, the Templar was an assembled car; the engine being of original design and turned out in the company's own shops. It had four cylinders (3 3/8-inch bore, 5 1/2-inch stroke) with 197-cubic inch displacement and developed 43 horsepower at 2100 rpm. Its overhead valves led the engine to be called the "Templar Vitalic Top-Valve Motor." The valves were enclosed in an aluminum case. An article in Horseless Age said: "It was this remarkable motor that inspired the Templar ideals and enterprise."

The engine was said to be smooth running despite its having only the four cylinders and was held to be more efficient than the engines in most American cars of that day. The power was transmitted through open Hotchkiss drive, not through a torque tube as on most American cars. The wheelbase measured 118 inches. The springs were semi-elliptical. The rear axle was the semi-floating type.

The initial models included four- and five-passenger touring cars priced at $1,985, the four-passenger Victoria elite at $2,155, and a two-passenger roadster at $2,255&#8212;all built on the same chassis. The bodies were given twenty-seven coats of paint. Standard color options were Valentine red, Tiffany bronze, light wine and Allegheny blue, with fenders, chassis, and splashguards in black enamel. Wheels were natural finish woods. Striping and monograms or initials were extra. In addition to the standard body styles, the company announced it would furnish estimates on special enclosed bodies, built to individual specifications under Templar supervision in the shops of Cleveland specialists Lang or Rubay.

One of the features of the Templar was its array of equipment&#8212;a host of accessories, which, if available at all, were "extras" on most cars. Probably the most unique of these were a folding Kodak camera and a compass, which could be neatly tucked away in their own single compartment in the side of the Templar's body. With the five-passenger touring and the four-passenger sportette, additional standard equipment included an inspection light and cord (powered from the car's battery), an electric horn, a tire pump and hose which operated from the engine, a tire pressure gauge, a clinometer (grade indicator), a muffler cutout, a keyless rim-winding clock, a spotlight, a dash light, a lock on the ignition switch, a motometer, a windshield cleaner (oscillating wiper), a one-man Never-Leek top with side curtains that opened with the doors, and a plate-glass rear window, plus a complete tool kit with jacks. The car came with a spare wheel rim, but in spite of all the other equipment, without a fifth tire.

The new Templar was exhibited at the automobile shows in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland in early 1918. Later in the year the price for either of the above-described five-passenger touring and four-passenger sportette models was raised $100 to $2,085. For the two-passenger touring roadster, the price was increased $130 to $2,385.

Templar adopted the slogan. "The Superfine Small Car." A 1918 ad for the two-passenger sport roadster said in part:

"Those men of affairs, who like to do their own driving, are extravagant in their praise of this superlatively high-grade car. It is as serviceable as its originality is distinctive. It gives that complete satisfaction formerly associated with the extravagantly priced, cumbersomely built big machines. And its small size makes it a car of much greater convenience. There is no previous standard of design, or agile, economical performance by which to compare it."

It was that model, the two-passenger roadster, which was considered the standout of the Templar line. Its standard equipment included the camera, the compass, and an aluminum step (in place of a running board) on either side. Also included were six wire wheels, all with tires and tubes, the two spares being stored in a rear deck well. Standard color options were the same as on the other models, plus khaki gray, and the fenders, chassis, and splashguards were painted the same color as the body. Upholstery options included red or black leather; the wire wheels were available in red, white, or black, the latter being furnished unless one of the others was specified. Added to the line was a five-passenger sedan with a price tag of $3,285 f.o.b. Cleveland. Production for 1918 totaled about 150 cars.

By late January 1919, steady production of automobiles was resumed, and by the end of that year some 1,800 units had been turned out. More manufacturing area was needed in addition to the nearly six acres of floor space already under roof. M. F. Bramley, Templar president, directed construction of five new buildings costing $1,000,000. Prices continued to increase: for the touring, sportette, and roadster, as of December 15, 1919, they rose to $2,685, for the sedan, to $3,585.

In early 1920 the company was reorganized as the Templar Motors Company, inc., with $10,000,000 authorized capitalization. A few weeks later it filed suit against the Standard Parts Company for $1,400,000 for alleged breach of contract in failing to deliver 10,000 axles. (One is reminded of difficulties of obtaining new cars and their parts in America in the first year or so after World War II, when cars were delivered to an impatient public minus bumpers, many without rear seats and numerous items of interior and exterior trim.)

The June 1920, financial statement of Templar showed total assets of more than $9,500,000 and liabilities of less than $750,000. The company paid quarterly dividends. There were 106 sales places and distributor centers in thirty-two states and fifteen foreign countries. Earl Martin, formerly with the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and later with the Rubay Company, was made Templar's manager. Charles E. Taylor, formerly with Royal Tourist, Peerless, Chalmers, and Hal Twelve automobile companies, was in charge of factory production.

In July 1919, the famous racing driver. E. G. "Cannonball" Baker set a New World's record driving from New York to Chicago in a Templar. His time of twenty-six hours and fifty minutes was six hours and ten minutes faster than the previous record and was accomplished through 230 miles of rain, 200 miles of fog and 110 miles of mud detours, a total of 992 miles at an average speed of 36.97 miles per hour.

A combination of the post-war depression and the difficulty in getting parts and supplies (and many of those contracted for at wartime prices) left business for Templar somewhat erratic. In late autumn, 1920, a stockholder filed court application for appointment of receiver for the company, alleging fraud, deceit, and mismanagement. After a hearing, the judge branded the application and the attack back of it just as serious a moral crime as causing a run on a bank. There had been stormy stockholders' meetings in Columbus and Cleveland denouncing the management, but ending, nevertheless, in a vote of confidence in the officers.

Templar's production for 1920 was some 1,850 units, which ranked sixth in Cleveland and fifteenth in the United States among automobile manufacturers outside the Detroit area. But the post-war depression was sorely felt. From September 1920, to March 1921, sales totaled 128 cars, Bramley told stockholders' meeting. The work force was down to 165 from a normal number of about 900.

Effective July 1, 1921, price cuts of $500 were announced on Templar&#8217;s open models and $600 on the closed. New prices thus were $2,385 for the two-, four-, and five-passenger touring cars, and $3,185 for the sedan coupe. Less than three months later they were lowered again, by an additional $400, to $1,985 and $2,785, respectively.

Beginning in 1919 the Templar Company published a promotional newssheet called Templar Topics; of full-size newspaper format, it consisted of four pages. An article in the December 1921, issue told of a novel plan that had been used by the company the previous summer to exhibit its new roadsters. In July, "Cannonball" Baker had embarked on a 7,300-mile trip convoying three roadsters to introduce them to dealers. Baker led the procession driving the "Recruiter," a Templar stock car that he had made famous in 1920 when he broke several transcontinental records while carrying U.S. Army messages between the Atlantic and the Pacific and from Mexico to Canada. The car had also featured in the aforementioned New York-Chicago trek in 1919. Accompanying Baker in the new roadsters were Arthur Halliday, "mechanician," and other company representatives. In addition to visiting every Templar dealer east of the Mississippi River, Baker challenged any comer to a contest of speed, economy, or durability with any stock, foreign, or American-built car. But he had no takers. The article continued:

"A few years ago Baker made a certain well known make of motorcycle famous by his own remarkable power of endurance and nerve, BUT HE HAS BEATEN EVERY ONE OF HIS OWN MOTORCYCLE RECORDS WITH THE TEMPLAR . . .."

On October 14, 1921, Baker, driving the "Recruiter", set a new record for a run from Akron to Cleveland&#8212;twenty-five minutes and twenty-six seconds, at times exceeding speeds of seventy-five miles an hour and averaging over a mile a minute. An article in Templar Topics recounting the feat said: "The route, via Brecksville and Independence, is very dangerous, including 63 hills and valleys, 45 turns, five railroad crossings, four bridges, two bad road breaks where it is necessary to straddle, taking part dirt and part paving, and through six towns." Two Cleveland newspaper reporters and two observers of the American Automobile Association witnessed the event. The starting and arriving times were checked by the AAA."

Besides its line of private passenger cars, Templar also produced some taxicabs. The Checker Taxi Company of Chicago had about 100 in use by late 1921, and the Waite Taxicab & Livery Company, Cleveland, added twelve Templar taxis to its feet. As year's end approached, the Templar&#8217;s economic recovery seemed assured, with some 850 units having been produced in the twelve-month period.

But then came a new blow to the manufacturing operation when fire swept a major section of the Templar plant on the night of December 13. 1921. The loss was estimated between $250,000 and $300,000. The original main plant, built in 1917 was destroyed, along with thirty automobiles and a stock of various parts and supplies. Though only the main, fireproof plant remained, manufacturing of automobiles was resumed a few days later.

Undaunted, the company continued production of cars&#8212;a complete line of open and closed-body, four-cylinder models. By April 1922, Templars were turned out at a rate of eight a day, though the plant's assembly line had a capacity of twenty-five a day, a potential of more than 5,000 a year.

A new four-passenger coupe selling for $2,650 was added to the Templar line in August. The coupe had a luggage compartment behind the cab, with a hinged deck lid. However, the controversy between a group of stockholders and the Templar management persisted, and the company was having trouble remaining solvent. On application of the U.S. Axle Company of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, which claimed its bill of $12,500 against Templar was overdue, a federal judge in Cleveland placed the automobile company in receivership in October, 1922. T L Hausmann, formerly an assistant to Templar's president Bramley was named receiver.

Nonetheless the company continued to make and ship new cars daily. Hausmann obtained several new contracts and again it appeared the Templar might succeed. Through early 1923, production was at a rate of about one car a day. By autumn, 1923, the company was reorganized as the Templar Motor Car Company with Hausmann the head. It continued the former line of four-cylinder models and added a new line of six-cylinder (3 3/8-inch bore. 5-inch stroke) Templars having four-wheel brakes. Horsepower was rated (by the older method) at 27.34 compared to the 18.23 of the four-cylinder models. Also, the wheelbase, at 122 inches was four inches longer, all of which took the larger Templar out of its original "small-car'' class, though the price of the Six ranging from $1,895 to $2,595 depending on body styles was not much higher than that for the smaller Templars.

But success still eluded the Templar. In autumn, 1924 a Cleveland bank took over the company for default of payment of a loan. The Templar automobile was through. In all, some 6,000 cars were made between 1917 and 1924. More than $6,000,000 was lost by approximately 20,000 investors in the failure of the Templar motor car. And though production terminated, even more trouble stalked the Templar. The sale of uncertified securities, investigated by the Ohio Securities Commission in early 1925, led to indictments of a group of men charging them with violations of the Ohio blue sky laws. Two who had been fiscal agents of Templar were acquitted; nine salesmen whom they had employed pleaded guilty and were fined.

In 1920 it began hurting badly from the post-World War I depression, difficulty in obtaining parts and growing competition from other carmakers. Henry Ford, for example, at times sold his "Tin Lizzie" Model T for less than $300.

Then, on Dec. 13, 1921, a fire broke out, and only the main fireproof building that remains today withstood the blaze. Damage loss, estimated between $250,000 and $300,000, doesn't appear particularly great by today's standards but was crippling 67 years ago.

Although Templar rebounded and was producing at a rate of eight cars a day by April 1922, more problems surfaced. Severe financial losses as well as stockholder controversies soon beset the company.

Finally, in the fall of 1924, Templar defaulted on payment of a substantial loan and was taken over by a Cleveland bank.

Production halted and failure of the company caused about 20,000 investors to lose a total of $6 million, a sum that today, with the effects of inflation, would amount to more than $42 million.



History from Lake Erie Screw Company

 

[SIZE=+1]Car was fond memory for many[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=+2]U[/SIZE]nearthed, following a recent Lakewood Sun Post story about Lakewood's Templar Motors Corp., was a picture of a Templar model taken after the car had reached the Los Angeles finish line of a transcontinental auto race on Aug. 4, 1920.
The photograph, provided to us by Lakewoodite Glenn Flynn, shows race driver E.G. "Cannonball" Baker behind the wheel and next to him Templar mechanic Arthur Holliday, who was Flynn's uncle.
The car, a racing prototype, set a world record by traveling from New York City to Los Angeles, a distance of 3,424 miles, in six days, 17 hours and 16 minutes.
Shortly before the cross-country sprint over miles of roads that could only be described as atrocious, Holliday took his nephew Flynn, then just a child, for a spin around the block in the special Templar.
"It was a thrill I will never forget. I was the envy of all my boyhood friends in the neighborhood," said Flynn, now a retiree who with his wife, Vera, has lived on McKinley Avenue since 1948.
Mechanic Holliday, a Cleveland West Park resident for many years, was employed in the Templar plant's experimental department. He died in 1945. The picture is from a collection belonging to his daughter, Dolores Holliday of West Park.
Also heard from after the story was a 90-year old Lakewoodite, Ferdinand (Charley) Schaub. He has lived here for the past 79 years and was a test driver for Templar from the time the company started production in 1917 until it shut down in 1924.
Schaub, born in Austria, came to Cleveland with his parents in 1902 when he was 3 years old. Eight years later, the family moved to Lakewood's Winchester Avenue.
Schaub first worked in the office of an auto-frame manufacturing firm at Madison and West 106th that later became Midland Steel Co. After he was advised for health reasons to switch to an outside job, he joined Templar as an over-the-road car tester when he was 18.
"Test-driving was the best job I ever had and the healthiest," said Schaub, who has lived on Elbur Avenue since 1948.
"I random-tested 26 to 27 cars a month on public roads in the county in all kinds of weather. It made me a different person.
"When the company closed down, I became a truck driver and remained outdoors. I never had to take a pill or see a doctor until I was 89."
Schaub remembers a fire that broke out at the Templar plant's third-floor assembly line in 1921.
"Afterwards, company president M.F. Bramley, a good man, let me buy one of the partially burned cars for $1,100," he recalled. "I made repairs, kept the car for two years and then sold it for $1,500."
The model, a touring car, retailed for $2,685 new at the time, according to Schaub.
Templar rebounded from the fire but three years later was forced out of business because of financial difficulties. Its 300,000-square-foot plant still remains at 13000 Athens Ave. where it is now occupied by 16 business and industrial tenants.
<CENTER>
</CENTER><CENTER>This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post April 13, 1989.
</CENTER>

 

Wow, HJ, the Templar WAS a fine car, no doubt about it. Seems,
though, that the company -- always on the verge of big-time success
and growth -- was almost always hamstrung by timing/circumstances
beyond their control, capacity (tying directly to unit cost) AND the
quirky business laws & practices of the era! Failure was certainly NOT
due to a lack of quality, creature comforts OR the rather brilliantly de-
signed engines!!! PLUS, they were darn small-looking cars, and THAT
was a "biggie" with the buying public by the post WWI era!!!

GREAT STORY! So, I wonder HOW MANY Templars survive?

1922 Templar A445 Roadster​

 

BTW, the radiator shell of the Templar was quite delicately done! Too bad styling GRILLE-WORK had not become common yet! Imagine this shell encircling, say, a Minerva/Marquette-style herringbone grille !!!

 

Buffalo's Electric Automobiles c. 1905


A group of mostly female motorists gathered before the fountain at the Albright Art Gallery c. 1909. The photo appeared in the catalog of the
Babcock Automobile Company of Buffalo. They were sitting in a style called the "stanhope" (also manufactured by other
companies) which featured a single bench seat, folding cloth top, front buckboard, and tiller steering. A 1904 Buffalo stanhope
cost $1640 ($33, 864 in 2005 dollars). At this stage in automobile manufacturing, all vehicles were purchased by the wealthy.


A typical wealthy Buffalo couple might have two automobiles: an electric for the women in the family and a gasoline auto for the
men in the family. The electric automobile was quiet, easy to operate, and emission-free; it was also heavy, slow, unable to
climb hills, and in need of recharging after 20-50 miles. Such a vehicle was quickly marketed to women, doctors, delivery
businesses and others residing in an urban environment where electricity for recharging was available. The gasoline automobile
had already been adopted by men for its speed and "portability," i.e. it could "tour" in rural areas and be re-fueled at gasoline
stations that quickly sprang up around Western New York. The Buffalo Automobile Club was a touring club for
gasoline vehicles; its membership was male.



The Buffalo Electric Carriage Company garage at 240 W. Utica Street, lined with new Stanhopes c. 1905.
Although in 1900, equal numbers of electric-, gasoline- and steam-powered automobiles were produced
in the U.S., it quickly became apparent that electrics would not succeed in competition with gasoline
models (becoming more reliable each year) unless a revolution in the electric battery came about that
would result in a lighter battery that would produce more power for a longer run per charge. Thomas
Edison took on this challenge (see his optimism here) and did produce an early alkaline battery, but
it was not powerful enough to replace the lead-acid battery then used in electrics.
In 1908, there were 300 electric automobiles privately owned in Buffalo; more were used daily by
delivery companies. But Henry Ford had begun mass-production of gasoline vehicles in 1904, driving down
the price of owning an automobile. And in 1913, a battery-powered electric starter eliminated the
dangerous manual crank-starting of automobiles, opening the way for widespread ownership by women.
The Buffalo Electric Carriage Company (1900 - 1906), which became the Babcock Electric Carriage
Company (1906 - 1912), changed its ownership again in 1912. It became The Buffalo Electric Vehicle Company
and had a short life. It continued manufacturing at the 1911 complex at 1219-1247 Main Street in
Buffalo (at Northhampton St.) but by 1916, it was out of business, one of 30 automakers that came and went in
Buffalo in the twentieth century.
N.B. The Buffalo Electric Vehicle Company building still stands in 2006 and is being transformed
by Art Space into artists' residential and work space. ​

 

This is the Buffalo Electric Stanhope owned by the Buffalo Transportation Museum.
Museum Founder and Curator Jim Sandoro is behind the tiller..........




The 1902 Buffalo Electric Stanhope is a unique vehicle manufactured in Buffalo by the Buffalo Electric Carriage Company. It runs smoothly and quietly and is steered with a tiller instead of a wheel. A foot button activates a bell to alarm anyone in the way. It has wood wheels, hard rubber tires, wood reaches, ball bearings throughout and a Victoria top. It has eight speeds forward and three backward and runs about 17 mph and 50 miles on good roads on one charge

 

The 1894 Electrobat!

 

I'd like to mention International Harvester, in particular the 1907
IH Auto Buggy. ANYBODY KNOW IF ANY SURVIVE? Inter-
national isn't generally perceived as ever having been an "auto"
builder. But in fact, when IH (successor to the original McCormick
Reaper operation from the 1840s) decided to branch out from
making only tractors, harvesters, etc., they tested the market
waters carefully!
The 1907 Auto Buggy was, at first, a personal automobile. As
with many bodies/chasses in early motordom, IH modified the
Auto Buggy into other body styles -- notably the Auto Wagon
-- what would later be called a "pickup" truck. It was Spartan
pickups that would be one of International's signature products,
literally for decades. But, IH passenger vehicles STARTED with
1907!
Below is a sweet 1911 International Harvester wagon, as
shown on the IH write-up on WIKIPEDIA, "The Online Ency-
clopedia." Check out the cool brass lamps, bulb horn and
solid-rubber tires! Obviously, this wagon is RARE, not EXTINCT.

 

666Irish, I did not realize that the Electrobat went back THAT early, man! If so, electrics would SEEM to have been running neck&neck with gas-engined early cars in the race for tech and public favor!

Irish, any IDEA if an 1894 Electrobat SURVIVES anyplace today? And, where did you come up with this 115-year-old photo? Great!

 

Just started with a simple search for Electrobat, then kept modifying the search from there. I did enought looking that it should now be in the first page or two of Goole images.

In all of my looking, I didn't see a single reference to a surviving Electrobat.

The info from under the image:

Electric Car That Inspires America&#8217;s First Electric Car Company

Designed and built in 1894 the Electrobat was a small version of a battery streetcar, it was a slow, heavy, impractical vehicle with steel tires to support the immense weight of its large lead battery. But it did lead to the Morris & Salom Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, the first electric car company in America.

 

And by the way, Steam has both of them beat...

The 1770 Fardier de Cugnot:



Found here:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/France/North/Ile-de-France/Paris/photo408229.htm

 

From the Lemay Museum The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum has one as well.

<TABLE width=465><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>1912 International Canopy Express Model MW

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><META name=ProgId content=Word.Document><META name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11"><META name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 11"><LINK rel=File-List href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CRetail2%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><OBJECT id=ieooui classid=clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D></OBJECT><STYLE>st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }</STYLE><STYLE><!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;}--></STYLE>This high-wheeler was intended for use in rural areas. The large wheels provided sufficient ground clearance to drive deeply rutted roads. This specific vehicle from the LeMay Collection is the “Canopy Express Model MW” truck. It has a 2 cylinder 20 hp engine, and two speed manual “friction” transmission, chain drive. The steering wheel is on the right side as opposed to our now North American standard left-side steering.
Motoring was still in its infancy when this International Auto Buggy was manufactured in 1910 by the <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION u1:st="on"><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on">US</ST1:COUNTRY-REGION></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION> farm machinery manufacturer International Harvester Company (I.H.C.) of America Incorporated., at <ST1LACE u1:st="on"><ST1:CITY u1:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Akron</ST1:CITY></ST1LACE>, <ST1:STATE u1:st="on"><ST1:STATE w:st="on">Ohio</ST1:STATE></ST1:STATE></ST1:CITY></ST1LACE>. The most striking thing about this car is its tall wheels fitted with solid rubber tires, which gave this type of vehicle the name "high wheeler". Essentially, the car is a standard horse-drawn buggy modified and equipped with a simple motor and transmission. At the time, eighteen manufacturers in <ST1LACE u1:st="on"><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION u1:st="on"><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on">America</ST1LACE></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION></ST1LACE> were making similar high wheeler auto buggies including Schacht, Holsman, Fuller, McIntyre, Haines & Grut, and Galloway.
After 1911, the automobile department at International Harvester was shut down and only trucks were produced thereafter, though "Sunday-go-to-meetin' seats" were available for the back of the high-wheeler truck models.
</TD><TD vAlign=top width=133>Year: 1912
Make: International
Model: Canopy Express Model MW
Style: Truck

Serial No: 3629W
Odometer: Unknown
Engine Cyl: 2
Engine Size:
Engine HP: 20
Trans: 2 Speed Manual

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

I knew the first automobile was the Cugnot.
I actually mentioned it earlier as not only being the first automobile, but the first automobile involved in an accident when it ran into a wall.
Who would have dreamed a vehicle over 200 years old would still exist!

 

There was the mention of the IHC automobile.
They were not the only farm equipment manufacturer to build a car.
Case did as well. Not extinct though, I see one in Lockport NY regularly at a cruise night.
But pretty rare all the same!

 

Everyone thinks of the Davis 3 Wheeler made by Gary Davis when a Davis car is mentioned. There was another Davis car made in the teens and '20s by a George Davis in Richmond, Indiana. The History Museum in Richmond has two Davis cars and a Davis airplane. They focus on cars built in Richmond.

Another fellow in New York is A Davis car collector who owned three of them and now owns four with the 1925 Davis car I just sold to him.

 

I don't know how many survive but a friend of mine has an unrestored 1922 Roadster just like the one pictured in his collection. He also has a Pan Motor Car built in St. Cloud Minnesota by Samuel Pandolfo and a Harding (one of one in his collection). And a Merz cyclecar, believe it's a 1914 without looking it up. I'm not thru the whole thread but haven't yet seen the name Lozier mentioned. None of these are extinct though.

 

My wifes Grandfather was born in 1905 and used to talk about there Elmore all the time. Some where I have pictures of the car. There was also one recently pictured in the Horseless Carriage Club Of America Gazette

 

Guys, I have enjoyed the RARITY/EXTINCTION bit a TON. Let's try and remember, though, to talk HOW these automakers were seeking horsepower, even in the early days. As other threads have evidenced, people started COMPETING with their neighbors, just as SOOn as TWO people (usally, not always, men) bought automobiles. I don't think we want to turn the HAMB thread into an antique-car forum, only. Elst, we may not BE here having fun. HORSEPOWER & engineering advancement (as WELL as rarity and near-extinction. I'm saying this, lest a HAMB editor come along and do it. HOW were these carmakers trying to distinguish themselves from the crowd of blacksmith shops & buggy-makers in those early days? That's all my two pennies'-worth.

 

I don't think the thread police will shut this one down. There are over 18,000 looks on it. I'd rather say it is a what you would say popular.

Guys check this thread too: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=419716

 

How about the Buffum and the Hewitt?

What is the oldest American automotive OHV V8?


See: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=419716

 

I just received this email from the Society of Automotive Historians mailist. Does anyone have info/pix of this one?


Our 1898 Hay & Hotchkiss is about to arrive in Fairbanks. During my research
on this unusual car, I was told that it was found in a barn (sans motor)
near Cheshire, CT in the 1940s. I believe Ralph Powers found it. He
displayed it in the Powers Museum but I don't know when. Does anyone know if
any records from the Powers Museum were archived in a CT library or
university?

The car's history is a blank until Bill and Doug Magee (CT) acquired it in
the 1980s. The car changed hands many times after that, probably because its
owners gave up trying to get it running (a replica engine was built
according to the patent, but the design was incredibly flawed).Any early
information folks have on this car would be appreciated. Thank you.

Nancy DeWitt, Project Director
Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum
1501 Queens Way
Fairbanks, AK 99701
(907) 458-6112
projects@fdifairbanks.com
www.fountainheadhotels.com/auto

 

When you think about it.
All the automotive pioneers in their own right were "hot rodders".
Many started with a carriage and added a motor to it!
And going from one "horse" pulled, to a multiple horsepower motor is the very basis of hot rodding!
And, it's great to remember these early pioneers of the industry.
Too many don't care about the history at all.

 

2 BARREL

High Performance 4 BARREL

 

Here is one that is not really extinct as evidenced by this picture. But I wonder how many drivers of these became extinct. This was the Scott Sociable. This car was designed without a right front wheel!
Social Darwinism at its best!