Autos Of America History Page 1

In the early years of the automobile there were many more automobile companies that either made or attempted to make automobiles that the average person would even dream . The number is in the hundreds . Some built prototypes but never got to the production stage . Some companies produced a few automobiles and then went out of business . Many companies only lasted one or two years . Many automobile companies were consumed by other companies . The pages of this article will give some idea of what went on in the automotive industry in its early years and how , many companies were entangles with other automobile companies . Some people of the early automotive world , were involved with multi companies . Some of the people involved in the early development actually designed parts and systems and even automobiles that are being re-introduced to the world of the automobile again today . To bad we did not have some of those people like , Henry Ford , William Durant , John and Horace Dodge or Walter Chrysler around today , to straighten out the mess the world is in today .

“”American Bantam”” .

The American Austin Car Company began in Butler Pennsylvania in 1929 in cooperation with Austin Motor Company of England , to build and market small cars in the United States . In 1934 American Austin went bankrupt after selling about 20.000 , automobiles . A new owner bought the company and re-opened it under the name American Bantam in 1937 . American Bantam built and sold cars until 1941 . Only about 6,000 Bantam automobiles were sold in total .

American Bantam designed the (BRC) Bantam Reconnaissance Car , and built about 2,600 of them . The US army adopted the design and eventually Willys and Ford were given the contracts to build these vehicles which became known as Jeeps

“”American Underslung””

The American Motor Car Company was founded by Harry Strutz in 1906 , in Indianapolis Indiana . Strutz left the company in 1906 and a Fred Tone took over . It was Tone who designed the “Underslung” idea . That is the frame is mounted below the axles and the suspension above , to allow the car to ride closer to the ground .

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In 1911 the company was re-named the American Motor Company (no connection with American Motors Corporation) after financial problems were encountered . In 1912 the name of the company became , American Underslung . During the total time of production and three name changes the company sold about 42,000 automobiles before going bankrupt in 1913 .

“”Aluminium Automobile””

Aluminum Manufacturing Company of Cleveland built six touring automobiles from 1920 to 1922 to prove that automobiles could be built of Aluminium .

“”Ames Automobiles””

The Ames Motor Car Company was founded in Owensboro Kentucky by Fredrick Ames in 1910 . About 500 automobile were built by the company each year until 1915 .

Apple Automobile Company

The Apple Automobile Company manufactured automobiles in Dayton Ohio in 1917 and 1918 . They did not sell .

“”Auburn Automobile””

The Auburn Automobile Company began in Auburn Indiana in 1900 . Morris and Frank Eckhart began their automotive experiments at their fathers Eckhart Carriage Company prior to that time . The first Auburn automobiles had a ten horsepower , one cylinder engine mounted in the center of the auto , and used a chain drive system to drive the wheels . They were very expensive to build and were not competitive with the other automobiles on the market at that time .They did not sell very well .

In 1903 the Eckhart brothers redesigned their automobile still with a one cylinder engine at first but soon moved to a 2 cylinder and then a 4 cylinder engine . By 1912 a 6 cylinder engine was available . The Eckhart brothers sold the Auburn Automobile Company to an investment group . This group was unable to sell the cars due in part to the recession of the early 1920s . In 1924 Erret Cord was approached to take the job of manager of Auburn but instead Cord made a deal that would give him ownership of the Auburn Automobile Company by 1926 . In 1924, Cord had to sell the 600 plus unsold autos in the companies yard . As the cars were dull in appearance , Cord had them all repainted with bright more appealing colours and they all were sold within a very short time . In 1926 Cord made a partnership deal with the Duesenberg brothers to build performance luxury automobiles . One of these automobiles was the Cord L-29 , the first Front Wheel Drive automobile . Auburn Cord and Duesenberg were all very expensive and only the rich could afford to buy them , but they became a symbol of wealth and statis . These cars did sell well to the wealthy , through out the world . During the Great Depression sales of these overly expensive automobiles fell of and the Auburn automobile ended production in 1936 . Cord stopped production in 1937 .

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The Black Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis Indiana built a automobiles beginning in 1896 and ending in 1900

“”Briggs-Detroiter Automobile””

The Briggs-Detroiter Motor Car Company built automobiles in Detroit Michigan from 1912 to 1917 . The Detroiter model was a big seller for a time !

Continued on Autos of America History page 2