Autos on America History page 6
“”Graham-Paige Automobiles””
The Graham brothers first automotive venture was to build kits to convert model “T’ Fords into trucks . They then started building Dodge powered trucks which were sold through Dodge dealers . 1n 1925 the three Graham brothers sold their truck company to Dodge and went to work for Dodge . As Dodge when into receivership the Graham Brothers bought the Paige-Detroit Motor Company in 1927 and opened the Graham-Paige Motor company .
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Graham-Paige automobile were dependable and sold very well and also , some racing helped the sales too . In 1932 Graham-Paige brought out a new model with a new 8 cylinder engine . The engine was called a Blue Streak , but soon the public refered to the automobile it self as the Blue Streak . In 1934 they offered a supercharger on the 8 cylinder engines . In 1936 the 8 cylinder engine was discontinued and the 6 cylinder was made available with a supercharger . Due to a poorly designed body on the 1935 model , Graham-Paige bought Hayes Built bodies from Reo Motor Car , for the 1936 and 1937 models . In 1938 Graham-Paige came up with an award winning body design . Eventually the name “Shark Nose” was given to this new model . The shark nose did not sell very well and put a financial strain on Graham-Paige . An arrangement with made with Hupmobile to build a Hupp Skylark from Cord dies , in exchange for the use of those dies to build the Graham-Paige Hollywood
. The Hollywood did not sell and Graham-Paige closed in 1940 but then reopened to build military equipment during WWII . The company got back into the automobile business in 1946 . They built Frazer Automobiles for Kaiser as well as Rototiller farm equipment . In 1947 Graham-Paige ended and their assets were assumed by Kaiser-Frazer automobile company .
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“”Holley Automobiles””
The Holley Motor Company manufactured automobiles in Bradford Pennsylvania from 1900 to 1904 . The company was sold and renamed the Bradford Motor Works in 1904 and the Holley Brothers opened a company to make carburetors for Henry Ford . Henry Ford bought the Holley Brothers company in 1917 . The Holley Brothers did open a second company to design and manufacture carburetors and other auto parts .
. “”Hudson Automobiles””
The Hudson Motor Car Company began in 1909 when Joseph Hudson , of Hudson’s Department Stores supplied money and the right to his name , to a group of Detroit business men to start an automobile company . The Hudson Motor Company wanted to build low priced automobiles . Their first car the Hudson “Twenty’ was low priced and 4,000 were sold the first year . During the next few years Hudson introduced the first Dual Braking System as well as warning lights for engine oil Pressure and charging system . In 1916 the Hudson “super six” was the first automotive engine to be balanced . Balancing allows an engine to run smoothly and last longer while running at higher RPM’s and develop more power
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The “”Essex”” automobile line was brought on to the market in 1919 to be sold as a lower priced automobile and the Hudson was then offered to the mid-priced market . This combination worked well for Hudson and by 1925 Hudson was third over all in automotive sales and in 1929 sold 300,000 vehicles . In 1932 Hudson introduced the Essex Terraplane to replace the Essex line . In 1934 Essex was deleted and the line became just Terraplane . In 1938 Terraplane was renamed the Hudson 112 . In 1938 Hudson gave a contract to Canada Top and Body of Tilbury Ontario the build their cars in Canada . In 1942 Hudson offered “Drive Master” which was an automatic electric gear shift and clutch system ,to shift their manual transmissions . During WWII Hudson was involved in producing military needs .
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In the early 50s Hudson dominated NASCAR , winning championships in 1951-52-53 and 1954 . In 1954 Hudson joined with Nash-Kelvinator to form the American Motors Corporation which is now part of the Chrysler Corporation . All the American Motors line have been discontinued .
Continued on Autos of America History page 7
