Big dreams, crashing realities

The car he designed at age 17 was a flop “that never did run.” C W Kelsey soon found the fast last for another talent – in advertising and marketing.

 “Whether you need to break up a lawn or prepare a garden patch for sowing, Husqvarna has a tiller for you.”

The advertisement went on to say: “Our range comprises two different models - rear-tine and front-tine. The rear-tine models are designed for use on densely packed earth and lawns. The front-tine tillers are suitable for smaller landscaping work, such as preparing flowerbeds and garden patches.”

Throughout the world, for those with home gardens, the power garden tiller has become a tool as important as a shovel, rake, or hoe.

Few people, however, know that the man credited for transforming the powered tiller from cumbersome, heavy workhorse to home gardening mainstay has also been credited with the initial success of Maxwell, development of the filmed automobile commercial and the pioneering of corporate financing programme such as GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation).    

His name was not easily forgotten but for obvious reasons Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey used C.W. and preferred that he be called Carl. In an interview given in 1920, he reflected on the first automobile that he had built in 1897 at age 17.

“It was a 100 percent flop that never did run.” Completed the following year with assistance from a classmate at Haverford College, his Autotri, a three wheeled vehicle powered by a one-cylinder engine provided transportation for the duo until it was sold a few months after they put it on the street. The third endeavor had four wheels and two cylinders, was also a success, and was sold before it was completed.

After graduation he put aside tinkering and focused on making a living. But automobiles were in his blood and so he acquired a garage in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, his hometown, and began selling vehicles manufactured by Autocar. This endeavour enabled Kelsey to develop his greatest gift – sales and marketing. Within a year he was a leading automobile dealer in the area, had relocated to nearby Germantown and established a larger facility, and acquired the Locomobile franchise to accompany Autocar. Then he discovered Maxwell.

After purchasing a Maxwell and giving it a thorough real-world test, he sent a letter to the Maxwell-Briscoe headquarters in Tarrytown, New York and boldly requested exclusive rights to selling the company’s cars in Philadelphia. After a brief investigation, Benjamin Briscoe himself responded and offered the agency for $US5000. Kelsey paid the sum in cash, acquired a larger facility on Broad Street and built a stylish dealership with gas station.  

He quickly honed a natural skill of stunting for sales and harnessed new technologies for promotion. After contracting Lubin Film Studios, a pioneer cinematography company that specialized in producing films for nickelodeon’s, he hired drivers to pilot Maxwell’s up the steepest stairs at the poshest locations in the city as cameras rolled. The he launched a 1,000 mile, nonstop, drive up and down Broad Street in a car adorned with signage promoting his dealership. The films, the headlines, the stunts and even the occasional arrest of his drivers fueled sales at an exponential rate.

It would have been impossible for Benjamin Briscoe and Jonathan Maxwell to overlook Kelsey’s success. After all, his Philadelphia agency was selling more Maxwell’s than all the dealers in the United States combined! At age 25 in 1905, Kelsey was made sales manager for the Maxwell-Briscoe company, and given free reign with development of marketing. The Maxwell was a well-built automobile, and sales growth had been steady but now they soared. Soon cars were selling as fast as the company could produce them, and then, even with construction of a new factory that allowed for expanded production, the orders were pouring into the company faster than they could be produced.      

As Kelsey worked to coordinate the expansion of the dealer network, develop nationwide advertising and marketing campaigns, and establish the industry’s first nationally trained sales force, sales doubled in each successive year. And he also continued developing new stunts for sales techniques; 10,000 miles driven in 30 days on the streets of Boston, cars entered in the prestigious Glidden and Deming Tours, and a Mount Washington Hill Climb. And then in 1909, he launched his most ambitious stunt to date and the result was international headlines, a cross country trip made by Alice Huyler Ramsey. She was given a new car for her efforts, and the one that carried her across the country was sent on a nationwide tour to be displayed at dealerships.  

One can only speculate on the success of Maxwell if the company had stayed the course. But Benjamin Briscoe was dreaming big. His first attempt at creating a massive conglomerate of companies was still born but the concept had been brought to fruition by William Durant under the General Motors banner. Briscoe’s second attempt would be as a GM competitor and Maxwell-Briscoe would be the foundation. Kelsey openly voiced strong opposition to the creation of United States Motor Company, resigned form his position, and set out to develop a car of his own design.

Shortly before departing Maxwell, Kelsey had presented plans for an all new vehicle, but they were soundly rejected. This would survive as the foundation for what he envisioned as an all new automobile manufacturing company. He built a prototype and displayed it under the Spartan name as he solicited investors. As it turned out this would be the only car produced. The project had been made relevant by Henry Ford that was expanding production and cutting the sales price for his Model T.

In a daring display of bravado, Kelsey decided that the key to success was to build a vehicle that could be sold for a lower price than the Model T. He was going to take on Ford in a head to head battle with a revolutionary vehicle of his design named the Motorette that had a sales price of just $385, almost half the price of a Model T. 

There was nothing like the Motorette on the road. It had three wheels, two in the front and one in the rear. To keep the rear wheel at right angles to the road surface, he designed the first anti-sway bar. The diminutive car had a 74-inch wheelbase, a 56 ¾ inch front tread and weighed a mere 900 pounds. The engine that propelled power to the rear wheel via chain drive was a two-cylinder, ten horsepower wonder designed by Kelsey. A forged I-beam drop axle at the front and pressed steel frame ensured rugged durability. The two-speed transmission mimicked that used in Buick. The car used thermosyphon cooling and a tubular radiator mounted behind the body.    

Kelsey created a stylish display for the cars debut at the Grand Central Palace’s 1910 New Year’s Eve party in Manhattan. Surprisingly, the car attracted the attention of the wealthy as well as the working man. More importantly it attracted newspaper men. With receipt of fifty orders, with cash deposits, Kelsey considered the cars introduction a success.   

He had organized the C.W. Kelsey Manufacturing Company in New York, and established production facilities in Hartford, Connecticut. Production commenced immediately to fill orders, and simultaneously, a marketing campaign was launched with signature Kelsey touch. The focal point of his wild stunts was to assure the public that the revolutionary three-point suspension system assured a smooth ride, that the vehicle was stable, and that it was durable. To accomplish all of this in one masterful stroke, Kelsey orchestrated the sale of 75 units to the United States government for rural mail delivery.

In a publicity stunt with full media coverage, Kelsey had a Motorette tow a 5,700-pound Alco truck through the streets of Philadelphia. He pressed cars into service during a blizzard to deliver local newspapers. In another highly publicized stunt, he sent two drivers on a coast to coast run with only one incident, three days in the jail at Ludlow, California for driving on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad bed across the Mojave Desert.

Aside from durability, promotional materials focused heavily on the low sales price and the cost of operation as well as maintenance. “The Motorette sports two heavy duty motorcycle tires in front, and an automobile tire for the drive wheel. A whole set can be purchased for $47.50 American gold.” “The elimination of a four-gear transmission, a rear axle housing with five bearings, a drive shaft and u-joints reduces maintenance and repair costs.” “The two-cylinder, two-stroke, water cooled engine has but five moving parts. There are no valves to grind, no springs to get out of order, no push rods, no cams, no cam shaft, and no cam shaft gearing.” “The most primitive automobile skills are required to operate it and a healthy girl of ten can crank it.”

Kelsey transformed letters from satisfied customers into marketing. The Hillers Poultry Plant claimed that, “…in two months of service over the roughest rural byways, transporting 100 pounds of eggs on each trip, we had no breakage.” A buyer in New York noted he regularly drove his Motorette at 25-miles per hour and had yet to experience mechanical issues. Another owner claimed that his Motorette, a Stanley and a Napier were the only cars to crest Mount Washington in a hill climbing event.  

The demise of Kelsey’s Motorette came swiftly in December 1911. With business picking up steam, Kelsey turned his full attention to development, experimentation, and promotion. And he contracted with Lycoming for engine production just days before the company was struck by labor organizers. Completed cars minus engines piled up at the factory as dealers and buyers clamored for cars. Settlement of the strike did not end the labor problems.

With the shipment of engines Kelsey instituted a three-shift work schedule to fill orders. Then complaints began pouring into the factory, and soon the complaints became lawsuits. Engines were freezing up or exploding due to bearing failure. Kelsey ordered dealers to evaluate damaged engines as well as unsold cars. He also initiated inspection of all engines in stock. As Kelsey later noted, “In every blessed one of them about a half cup of fine sand was removed.” The engines had been sabotaged at Lycoming and the Motorette was finished.

Kelsey would later make one more attempt to manufacture a vehicle but only one prototype friction drive Kelsey was completed. Then he pioneered automobile financing programs, and in 1930 became the distributor for the imported Siemens tillers and established The Rototiller Company in New York City. In 1932 the Swiss Simar tiller was added to the Rototiller line of equipment. Though they were quality machines, they proved unsuitable for rocky American soils. So, Kelsey designed and patented a tine shock absorber to install on the imported tillers.

 By 1932, Kelsy registered the trademark Rototiller and began manufacturing the All-American Rototiller, a smaller, inexpensive, and easy to operate tiller, two years later. After WWII rotary tillers became a hot commodity with commercial growers and five American companies were established to build the large tillers. What was missing was a small tiller for the home garden. In 1946 Kelsey’s company converted manufacturing to exclusively produce a small home gardener model.  

Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey, a dreamer, a visionary, another forgotten automotive pioneer.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

Continental - an early industry powerhouse

The 1923 Auburn Beauty Six was one of many products powered by proprietary engines from Continental.

These pioneers reached for the sky.

IF YOU were asked to compose a list of the 10 men most responsible for the development of the American automobile industry, who would you include?

Henry Ford and David Buick? Perhaps Walter Chrysler, Ransom Olds, John Dodge, Benjamin Briscoe, Louis Chevrolet, and Charles Nash? Would that list include A.W. Tobin and Ross Judson?

In the 21st century Tobin and Judson may be less than an obscure footnote to automotive history but the business they created was the cornerstone for an astounding number of famous and forgotten automobile manufacturers. Their business also featured prominently in the development of the fledgling American aeronautical industry and during WWII played an important role in America’s defense industry.

The establishment of the Tobin and Judson automotive empire can be traced to 1901 when Ross Judson, a gifted mechanical engineering student, examined a Mercedes L-head four-cylinder engine and noticed a number of inherent flaws. Following on the heels of this discovery was the conviction that he could resolve these issues and vastly improve that engine.

In 1902, after his graduation from the Armour Institute of Technology, Judson drafted a sales pitch and daring business plan that he presented to his brother in law, A.W. Tobin. Against the backdrop of a rapidly developing automobile industry his enthusiasm and their meeting ended with Tobin as an enthusiastic partner, a $2,000 investment of capital, and an agreement to lease a hayloft in Chicago and convert it into a machine shop. Their newly minted company was named Autocar. 

As per the business plan, Judson developed an engine that was tested extensively for durability. He then launched promotion with an eye-catching display at the1903 Chicago Automobile Show. Judson and Tobin were confident that the engine would sell but the resultant inundation of orders overwhelmed their small company. In an incredible display of brash bravado, the partners obtained loans, hired additional workers, added a second shift at the factory, and launched an expansion of production facilities. 

By 1904, the exponential increase in orders forced Judson and Tobin to find a location suitable for dramatic expansion. Eager to capitalize on the rapidly expanding automobile industry numerous communities and municipalities were offering prospective automotive manufactures a wide array of incentives. After evaluating several communities, a series of meetings to discuss incentives, and looking at prospective sites the partners decided to relocate all Autocar operations to Muskegon, Michigan. With completion of a state of the art 16,000 square foot factory in late 1905, the company launched an aggressive campaign to solicit business from automobile manufacturers throughout the Midwest.  

The following year was a tumultuous one for the company. A company in Ardmore, Pennsylvania that had used the Autocar name since 1899 sued for infringement. As a result, Tobin and Judson reorganized their company under the Continental name. Studebaker increased its order from 100 engines to 1,000. A line of stationary engines was developed and marketed which led to the establishment of a new division of the company and the hiring of 600 additional employees.

As an example of their visionary leadership, in 1910 a division was established for the development and production of aircraft engines. This division, as with the rest of the company, would evolve with the rapidly changing technological innovations of the era and in 1929 it would become a subsidiary, Continental Aircraft Engine with the A-70, a 170 horsepower radial engine, as the foundation.

In 1910, Continental received its largest order to date; 10,000 engines for a new automotive manufacturing concern, Hudson. This served as the catalyst for an ambitious expansion program that included additions to the Muskegon facility, construction of a factory in Detroit, and the outfitting of both factories with state-of-the-art equipment. Two years later Walter Frederick, a former engineer for the truck manufacturing concern Autocar in Pennsylvania, assumed Judson’s position as chief engineer. Harnessing his extensive experience and knowledge, the company expanded the engineering department and launched the development of an innovative programme that included catalogue sales of standardized engines to automobile manufacturers, companies in need of stationary industrial engines, aircraft firms, and tractor manufacturers. Additionally, the company offered various options for these engines. As a result, if a client requested engine specifications not listed in the catalog, staff engineers modified existing models accordingly.

The next two decades were a golden era for Continental. Automobiles manufactured by Apperson and Case, Crawford and Jordan, Ace and Vellie, Erskine, and dozens of other companies utilized engines by Continental. Numerous companies that manufactured trucks exclusively including Corbitt, Federal, Schacht, Selden, Sterling, and Reo (derived from the initials of the founder, Ransom E. Olds) used Continental engines as well.

It was also another pivotal period of transition for the company. Ross Judson retired, and W.R. Angell was appointed president of the company. One of Angell’s first projects was to finalize an agreement with William Durant, the founder of General Motors who was building a similar company, to supply engines for his new line of automobiles – Durant, Star, and Flint. He also initiated tentative merger negotiations between Continental and three manufacturers that utilized that company’s products: Peerless, Moon, and Jordan. This had the potential for making a tremendous impact on the American automobile industry, but negotiations collapsed in the initial stage of development largely resultant of the collapse of Jordan, and the financial insolvency of Moon.

The year 1930 was the dawn of a new decade at Continental. First the company expanded the diesel truck, aircraft, and agricultural engine divisions, a fortuitous move as it kept Continental afloat during the opening days of the Great Depression. The company was poised for growth when in 1932 the decision was made to initiate the launch of a Continental manufactured automobile, and to purchase the Divco truck manufacturing enterprise.

Together the short-lived Continental Beacon, Flyer, and Ace, and the acquisition of Divco resulted in the company’s first financial crisis. But the company proved resilient and the diverse legacy of Continental did not end with the Great Depression or the post war era of unprecedented optimism. Continental engines powered the grandfather of the Jeep, the Bantam Reconnaissance and Command Car prototype, and the iconic Checker taxi through early 1964. During WWII, under contract to Willys, the company produced engines for the Jeep. Even when the company was reorganized and engine production was discontinued, the contributions continued as innovation flowed from Ryan Aeronautical, and Teledyne Continental Motors, a fitting legacy of two forgotten pioneers, Tobin and Judson.

Find more from Jim Hinckley at jimhinckleysamerica.com

Chevrolet: The French revolution

The brand is world-renowned: What of the men behind the badge?

A QUICK way to get a reaction from fans of American automobiles is to make mention Stateside of the fact that Chevrolet is an ‘import’.

Once you have their attention you can clarify and explain that you were talking about the man, not the car.

Louis Chevrolet, above, was born the son of a maker of watches and clocks in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland on Christmas day 1878. He had six siblings including two brothers, Arthur and Gaston, who would follow Louis into auto racing.

From an early age Louis displayed a unique talent for developing mechanical solutions for problems. As an example, in his early teens while working for a wine merchant he designed and produced a wine-barrel pump that streamlined the process.

In the early 1890s as bicycle mania swept the world, he launched a bicycle repair and manufacturing business under the Frontenac name, and established a local reputation for his racing prowess. The bicycle business proved to be a short lived and costly venture. The name would resurface for another Chevrolet venture years later. And the penchant for losing money on business endeavors would dog Louis Chevrolet for the rest of his life.

During the last years of the 19th century he began learning the basics of the internal combustion engine as an apprentice in the workshops of French automakers Darracq and Mors. In 1900, Chevrolet accepted a position as a mechanic and chauffer in Montreal for a Swiss associate that owned an engineering company with offices in Canada and the United States. The following year he transferred to the company’s New York City office but within a few months was working for the Brooklyn branch of the French car manufacturer de Dion-Bouton. Then came the big break in early 1905, employment with Fiat and his first opportunity to drive in an automobile race, something that he excelled at.

On May 20, 1905, Louis drove a 90hp Fiat at the Hippodrome in Morris Park, N.Y. taking first prize. Before the year was out, he had bested the now legendary driver Barney Oldfield three times. In 1906, Chevrolet moved to Philadelphia to work with J. Walter Christie, a pioneer in the development of front wheel drive cars who had accepted a contract to build a race car for Autocar.

The racing successes and mechanical skills of the Chevrolet brothers caught the eye of William Crapo Durant who was looking to promote Buick through motor sports. This was the beginning of a tumultuous business relationship, and the first step toward the establishment of an American icon.

Arthur was hired as Durant’s personal chauffer, while Gaston and Louis became the face of the Buick racing team. After Durant’s launch of General Motors in 1908, Chevrolet continued to head the company’s race team, but he also established a machine shop on Grand River Boulevard in Detroit where he designed and built an overhead valve six-cylinder engine. This was but another manifestation of Louis Chevrolet’s increasing desire to launch a company for the manufacturing of high-performance cars.

William Durant was a swashbuckling and reckless entrepreneur. His unbridled expansion that included the acquisition of companies and aggressive initiatives to compete with Benjamin Briscoe and Jonathan Maxwell’s United States Motor Company soon put General Motors in a precarious financial position. To protect their investment, and under pressure from stockholders the corporation’s board of directors removed Durant from the company in 1911.

Durant was not intimidated by failure or loss, he had a reputation for making money that made it easy to attract investors and he had an ace up his sleeve, Louis Chevrolet. Chevrolet was a personality, a man with name recognition and a man eager to launch an auto company.

On November 3, 1911, Durant and Louis Chevrolet co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company with investors William Little, manufacturer of the Little automobile, Durant’s son in law, Dr. Edwin R. Campbell, and Samuel McLaughlin of the McLaughlin Car Company of Canada Ltd.

As Louis Chevrolet worked out the bugs on prototype models completed earlier in the year, Durant was building a company. Meanwhile Arthur and Gaston continued racing and building high performance cars. Arthur drove in the inaugural 1911 Indianapolis 500, but mechanical problems forced him out of the race, and he failed to finish.

The 1916 Indianapolis 500 was a repeat performance as mechanical issues prevented him from completing the race. Gaston competed in numerous races and in 1920 won the Indianapolis 500 driving a Monroe designed by his brothers. The following year he was killed in a racing accident.

While not as active as his brothers, Louis continued racing. In 1914 behind the wheel of a Chevrolet he competed in the last of the grueling Desert Classic races along the National Old Trails Road from Los Angeles to Ash Fork, Arizona, and then south to Phoenix. When an accident resulted in the mixing of gasoline and water occurred in Seligman, Arizona, Chevrolet was forced to quit. Louis also drove in the Indianapolis 500 four times, with a best finish of 7th place in 1919.

Resultant of serious disagreements over direction of the company, and Durant’s reckless financial practices Louis Chevrolet sold his stock in the namesake company in 1914. This and the loss of use of the Chevrolet name as Durant held the rights, was the first in a serious of calamitous decisions made by Louis Chevrolet.

In 1915, Louis Chevrolet and his brothers established a company for the manufacture of aircraft engines. Bankruptcy marked the end of the company before the end of the year. In 1916 with financial investment from Albert Champion they founded the Frontenac Motor Corporation to make racing parts for the Ford Model T. Even though the company enjoyed moderate success profit proved elusive.

 During the same period Louis Chevrolet also partnered with Howard E. Blood of Allegan, Michigan, to create the Cornelian racing car. Louis drove one of these cars to a 20th place finish in the 1915 Indianapolis 500. Also, in 1916, American Motors Corporation was formed in Newark, New Jersey, with Louis Chevrolet as vice president and chief engineer. By 1918 the company was producing cars in a plant at Plainfield, New Jersey but the post war recession crippled the endeavour.

In a hope of staving off complete collapse, there was a merger with the Bessemer Motor Truck Company of Pennsylvania and reorganization as Bessemer-American Motors Corporation in 1923. This merely exacerbated the financial woes and in 1924 there was another merger with the Winther and Northway companies and reorganization as Amalgamated Motors. By 1926, the entire operation collapsed.

The onset of the Great Depression marked the end of the brother’s corporate ventures, and age had brought their racing careers to a close. Financially devasted Louis returned to Detroit to work in General Motors Chevrolet division in a mechanical engineering capacity. A dramatic decline in his health, including atherosclerosis which led to a leg amputation in the late 1930s forced him to resign. On June 6, 1941 he died of massive coronary in Detroit. He was buried in the Holy Cross and Saint Joseph Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. His brother Arthur died by suicide five years later. Their deaths were the end of an era.

Benjamin Briscoe - part three

The amazing story of United Motors - and how a grand dream came apart.

the only surviving argo

BENJAMIN Briscoe had correctly assessed the state of the America auto industry in late 1907 when he formulated a plan to dominate the market through the merger of major manufacturers and the creation of a new corporation.

And the creation of the United States Motor Company with Maxwell-Briscoe as the cornerstone was an insightful move. Likewise, with William Durant and the creation of General Motors with Buick as the cornerstone. However, the ensuing battle between the conglomerates to acquire companies that manufactured automobiles and ancillary components was ill conceived.

  United States Motor Company was organised in December 1909 as a consortium of numerous independent automotive manufacturing companies.  Initially this consisted of Alden-Sampson Manufacturing Company, Brush Runabout Company, Columbia Motor Car Company, Dayton Motor Car Company, and the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company. The first year’s success was encouraging with the production of 15,000 Maxwells, 10,000 Brush Runabouts, and a combined production of 10,000 Stoddard-Dayton, Columbia, and Alden Sampson Trucks.

In late 1910, Briscoe diversified the company through creation of United Motors International, Ltd. to handle international sales of the vehicles manufactured under the United States Motor Company umbrella. The initial sales focus was on the British commonwealth. To entice investors a company prospectus in 1911 noted that United States Motor Company had eighteen manufacturing facilities with a combined floorspace of 49 acres, had 14,000 employees and was projecting production of 52,000 vehicles for 1912. A claim was also made that sales were up fifty-seven percent from the previous year.

and here it is … a Briscoe

The reality was not as rosy. The company was deeply in debt and seriously overextended.  As a result, in 1912, the company went into receivership and the banks appointed Walter Flanders as manager for the receivers committee to oversee reorganization. In 1913 the company was reborn as Maxwell Motor Company and operations were centralized at Highland Park, Michigan. As per the terms of the reorganization, all association with Benjamin Briscoe was severed.   

Durant’s vision and management style were different from Briscoe’s, but the result was the same. In its first two years, Durant used General Motors to knit together thirty companies including Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland, and numerous parts manufacturers. But, overextended and deeply in debt, in 1911 the board of directors forced Durant to quit the company.

The loss of the United States Motor Company marked Briscoe’s first defeat. It would not be his last. Within twelve months of his departure he had established Briscoe Freres with a manufacturing plant for production of the Ajax cyclecar in Billancourt, France to design and manufacture an automobile “built by American methods.” The company enjoyed moderate success put production ceased when the factory was converted to the manufacturing of artillery shells during WWI. By this time, however, Briscoe had limited his association with the company, returned to the United States and launched other enterprises.

The first endeavour was the Argo car, an American version of the Ajax manufactured in Jackson, Michigan. However, by the time he was ready to initiate serious production the cyclecar craze had evaporated. So, he established the Briscoe Motor Corporation, with a factory in Jackson, Michigan.

In October of 1915, just a year after the launching of the company, with the help of Tom Storey a director of the Brockville Atlas Automobile Company in Ontario, Canada, Briscoe launched a major expansion of Briscoe Motor Corporation to form the Canadian Briscoe Motor Company. This would prove to be a short-lived endeavor that hindered development of the stateside Briscoe automobile.

The 1915 Briscoe was promoted as “The First French Car at an American Price.” Except for a single headlamp faired into the radiator shell there was little in appearance to differentiate the Briscoe from dozens of other vehicles produced at the time. It was powered by a 33-horsepower four-cylinder engine and the Cloverleaf roadster model featured compressed, laminated papier-mache body panels over wood framing. The first-generation Briscoe sold for a relatively modest $750 but this did not include optional top or windshield or starter.

Rather than invest in innovative development Briscoe relied on catchy gimmicks and marketing. As an example, for 1916 he offered two engine options, a slightly improved four-cylinder engine or a Ferro manufactured V8. Brochures and advertisement noted, “Buy the Four. Use it a month. If then you decide you want the V8, simply pay the difference and a small charge for installation work. Later that year the V8 engine was dropped and, in its place, a four cylinder, 24-horsepower, air-cooled engine was offered as an option.

Sales were relatively anemic with only 8,100 vehicles built in 1916, the company’s best year, but Briscoe was a man with ideas. After WWI he returned to France and attempted to find investors for a company that would offer any community an opportunity to become a center of automobile manufacturing through the purchase of easy to assemble plans, Briscoe engines and Bellanger chassis. The idea was stillborn.

The final gasp for the Briscoe Motor Corporation came in 1920. Working with his chief engineer Jules Haltenberger, Briscoe devised a radical plan for simplifying the manufacturing process and thus reducing the cost. These plans included a reversable propeller shaft, a single design for all spring shackles, one size bolts to be used in all suspension components, identical clutch, and brake pedal castings, and one drill/bolt size for the chassis. Production was simplified but at the cost of durability.

In mid-1921, Briscoe sold the entire enterprise to Clarence A. Earl, a Jackson industrialist. Earl continued building cars with parts on hand through the end of 1922 and sold them under the Earl name.

This would be the end of Benjamin Briscoe’s automotive endeavors. However, it was not the end of his ambitions or dreams. Before his death he would  launch a Canadian company that refined crude oil with a process that he had invented, and fund gold mines in Colorado before retiring to an estate in Florida where he experimented with development of hybrid fruit trees.

Even though not all his endeavors were successful, Benjamin Briscoe was truly an automotive pioneer. In light of the fact that he can be credited with playing a pivotal role in the launch of Buick and General Motors, and Chrysler as that company was built on the foundation of Maxwell-Briscoe, his obscurity today is rather surprising.     

Benjamin Briscoe – the story continues

Part two of the intriguing story of the forgotten ‘father’ of the American automobile industry.

FOR astute businessmen like Benjamin Briscoe the fledgling automobile industry represented unprecedented opportunity in the opening years of the 20th century.

Briscoe’s automotive ventures started with the manufacture of components for Ransom E. Olds, a project that led to a fortuitous meeting with Jonathan Maxwell, a talented mechanical engineer. This endeavor ignited a desire to own an automobile manufacturing company.

In the meantime, David Buick again turned to Briscoe as he had exhausted the funds derived from the sale of his plumbing supply company. Briscoe agreed to lend an additional $1500 provided the company would be reorganized with debts secured by the issuance of stock, backed by David Buick’s intellectual property. As per the agreement, if Briscoe were not paid back in 12 months, or bought out, he would become the sole owner of the Buick Motor Company.

Concerned about his investment Briscoe asked Jonathan Maxell to evaluate Buick’s innovative “valve-in-head” stationary engine that was being modified for automotive use. That engine would eventually become the cornerstone of the company’s success, but after Maxwell’s evaluation Briscoe decided to divest himself of association with Buick. As it was a sellers’ market for automotive companies Briscoe quickly negotiated the sale of his interest in the Buick Motor Company to the owners of Flint Wagon Works. One of those men was William Durant. 

By the summer of 1903 Briscoe had fully committed to development of Maxwell’s automotive project. In the closing months of the year Maxwell-Briscoe Company was organised with a major investment from financier J. P. Morgan. The company was launched in Tarrytown, New York after the lease for the moribund Mobile Steamer factory was successfully negotiated.

By 1904 the company was prepared to begin the manufacture and marketing of Maxwell’s car that featured a two-cylinder water cooled engine mounted in front under a hood, a honeycomb radiator, a two-speed planetary gear set, shaft drive and right hand steering. At $750 for the two-passenger “tourabout” the car was well received.

Ten cars were produced and sold in 1904. The following year 825 cars rolled from the factory. With the introduction of a four-cylinder model in 1906, as well as a Dr. Maxwell runabout designed to meet the grueling needs of country doctors and a five-passenger touring car, sales soared. In 1907 nearly 4000 cars were manufactured, and soon production was nearing 10,000 cars annually.

As Briscoe focused on expansion that included establishment of additional manufacturing facilities in Indiana and Rhode Island, and the creation of a dealer network as well an export department, Maxwell concentrated on development. A weak link in the company’s development and growth was marketing. That problem was resolved in a rather spectacular way when Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey joined the company.

Kelsey was an ambitious and talented young man. At age 17 in 1897, he built a car. It never ran but it reflected his interests and skills. His second endeavor built the following year was driven to classes at Harvard. The third endeavor was more conventional in that it had four wheels rather than three. In 1902, with money provided by his father, he established an Autocar dealership and garage. Within six months he had also secured rights for the sale of Locomobile. Then in 1906 he wrote a letter to Maxwell-Briscoe requesting approval as the Maxwell dealer in Philadelphia.

The franchise was negotiated directly with Briscoe and after paying the $5000 fee, Kelsey established a showroom and garage on Broad Street. Then he began marketing. He contracted with Lubin Film Studios to film stunts such as driving up the courthouse steps. These were shown in area Nickelodeon’s and the filmed auto commercial was born.

His stunts, and the occasional arrest of drivers, made headlines that Kelsey deftly transformed into sales. Briscoe and Maxwell soon took notice as Kelsey was selling more cars in Philadelphia that all the dealers in the United States combined. And so, they hired him as the Maxwell-Briscoe company sales manager, and by 1909 Maxwell was the third largest automobile manufacturer in the country.

Briscoe dreamed big. To counter dilution of the market that resulted from hundreds of manufacturers selling automobiles he initiated meetings to create a combine that could provide a vehicle for every market and every budget. In early 1908, Briscoe headed a conference at which he presented a detailed plan for the merger of Maxwell-Briscoe, Buick, Reo and Ford, the four largest US automakers, under the International Motor Car Company name. The ambitious project was stillborn when Henry Ford and Ransom E. Olds withdrew.

William Durant, however, recognized the merits of the proposal and with Buick as the cornerstone established a new corporation, General Motors. The company was incorporated on September 16, 1908. Within two weeks of the founding he had issued $12 million in stock and purchased Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland.

Undaunted Briscoe used Maxwell-Briscoe as the hinge pin for a new corporation, United States Motor Company. Immediately after incorporation he purchased Columbia, Alden-Sampson, the Dayton Motor Car Company, the Gray Motor Company, and Brush Runabout, which was owned in part by Frank Briscoe. The bidding war between Briscoe and Durant for the purchase of manufacturers and ancillary companies that produced auto parts would prove to be calamitous for both companies.

To be continued …

The forgotten father of the US car business

If one person can be said to have started the domestic American automobile industry, a strong case could be made for Benjamin Briscoe.

ON June 28, 1945, the Detroit Free Press, New York Times and other leading newspapers throughout the world noted the death of Benjamin Briscoe.

“BENJAMIN BRISCOE, President of First Maxwell Company, Financier That Launched David Buick’s Automotive Endeavours and Founder of United States Motor Company Dies.” 

So, who was Benjamin Briscoe, “the founder of the domestic American automobile industry” and the man behind numerous pioneering automobile manufacturers? 

Briscoe was born in 1867 to a family of successful entrepreneurs and inventors. His grandfather was a railroad mechanic that was attributed with numerous innovations, and his father was the founder of Michigan Nut and Bolt, a company that produced an array of products using machines of his design.

At age 18, Benjamin Briscoe using his own money established Benjamin Briscoe & Company that used metal stamping to manufacture buckets, barrels, a variety of cans and even bathtubs. And that led to an association with David Dunbar Buick that would later prove pivotal to the development of a pioneering automotive endeavor.

Buick was an innovative manufacturer of plumbing fixtures with more than a dozen patents to his credit, but profit remained elusive until Briscoe began supplying a wide array of related stamped metal supplies on credit. And then Buick perfected and patented a successful process for affixing porcelain to metal, expanded his endeavors, and began manufacturing toilets, sinks, bathtubs and related goods. Success was imminent.

Shortly after entering into the arrangement with Buick, Briscoe sold his business for a tidy profit and established the Detroit Galvanizing and Sheet Metal Works, and using a machine of his invention, began manufacturing corrugated pipe as well as sheet metal components for stoves, ranges and furnaces.

In 1900, Briscoe’s brother Frank joined the company that was then reorganized as the Briscoe Manufacturing Company, and the product line was expanded to include cast iron radiators and copper units used to facilitate the cooling of industrial engines. It was the later which led to a project for Ransom E. Olds.

First, however, Briscoe had to overcome a major hurdle. The Detroit bank used by Briscoe had failed which in turn left Briscoe’s company facing bankruptcy. Undaunted by this potential disaster Briscoe brazenly, without introduction or endorsement, traveled to New York City, and talked his way into a meeting with financiers at J.P. Morgan and Company that included J.P. Morgan himself. Briscoe returned to Detroit with a commitment of a $100,000 investment in his company.

The arrangement with Olds was rooted in disaster. R.E. Olds chief engineer Jonathan Maxwell had perfected an improved cooling system for the Oldsmobile. However, a devastating factory fire in 1901 had decimated the company forcing Olds to seek an outside supplier for a radiator and so he approached Briscoe to negotiate the purchase of 4,500 radiators. Briscoe quickly closed the deal but, in the process, had negotiated for the manufacture of gas tanks as well.

In 1899, David Buick answered the Siren’s call that was the infant auto industry, sold the plumbing supply company and turned his attentions to the development of a valve in head engine, the first step in what he envisioned would become an automobile manufacturing company.

By late 1902, Buick had exhausted his funds and yet his prototype being built in partnership with Walter Marr was not ready for display. As a result, there was little hope of attracting investors. Fortuitously Buick turned to Briscoe who agreed to forgive an outstanding loan, to pay off Buick’s other outstanding debts, and to provide the funds needed to finish the prototype. As per their agreement, Briscoe would become the owner of the completed vehicle, but Buick would use it to solicit for investors to initiate manufacturing.

Briscoe would eventually loan Buick an additional $1500.  To protect his investment this arrangement included the stipulation that if the loan were not repaid within twelve months, Briscoe would become the sole owner of Buick Motor Company.

As Buick focused on development of the fledgling automobile company, Briscoe met with Jonathan Maxwell, the former Olds engineer that was now planning to launch a company of his own, and asked that he evaluate Buick’s project. Sensing an opportunity Maxwell noted the various flaws in the Buick design and presented Briscoe with a business plan for the establishment of a company to manufacture Maxwell’s automobile.

This partnership would lead to the building of two automotive empires, one of which would become the foundation for Chrysler. It would also lead to the establishment of two companies that forever transformed the international auto industry, the founding of an automobile company with a quirky claim to fame, and Briscoe’s diversification into an array of endeavors that would underpin many aspects of the infant auto industry.

Eccentric visionary bucked every trend

Today the remarkable tale of Julian Brown, a well-heeled dreamer who delivered something different to motoring: A radial-engined car.

The infancy of the auto industry was an era of swashbuckling entrepreneurs, dreamers and swindlers. It was a period of unprecedented societal evolution and technological advancement. And it was an almost magical opportunity for eccentrics and visionaries to craft their vision of transportations future.

Alexander T. Brown made a fortune as an inventor, an industrialist and as an investor in a diverse array of automotive endeavours including Brown-Lipe Gear Company and H.H. Franklin, a leading manufacturer of air-cooled automobiles. His son Julian benefitted greatly from his father’s wealth and enjoyed the best automobiles available. And, in spite of time invested in development of a reputation for being a leading New York playboy, he also obtained a first-class education with a focus on mechanical engineering.

In 1911, with backing from his father and his father’s friends as investors he launched the Julian Motor Company. There are scant details about the six-cylinder engine that he developed for use in trucks, automobiles and boats but it was billed as the most expensive engine in America. Needless to say, this was not a suitable basis for the launching of a successful marketing campaign and within one year the company had closed its doors.

In 1918, Julian launched a new endeavour, a company organised to manufacture “an exciting and revolutionary automobile.” It was truly a manifestation of his eccentricity. First, there was the engine, a “Twin Three” that he had designed. This V6 was set in a specially designed chassis that allowed for a 21-inch ground clearance, not overly practical in an era of deeply rutted roads. Incredibly the entire car weighed a mere 300-pounds (136 kilograms). 

The Julian Motor Car Company had been organised with the goal being manufacture of the radical vehicle. However, the project never progressed beyond construction of one prototype and this company also closed within one year. This did not deter Julian Brown. He had money and he was a dreamer, an eccentric visionary.

In 1925 he unveiled another vehicle and launched the Julian Brown Development Company. This car was unlike anything else on the road and the June 4, 1925 issue of The Automobile / Automotive Industries devoted several pages to the vehicle.

After extensive study of radial aeronautical engines, and the Adams-Farwell automobile that had been produced with a radial engine around 1905, he developed an engine of his own design.

“The engine is a six-cylinder fixed radial air-cooled type mounted at the rear of the chassis; it drives through a combination sliding pinion and planetary type of transmission giving four forward and two reverse speeds.

“Each of the rear axle shafts is connected through a universal joint to one of the side gears of the differential. The wheel bearings are mounted on tubes which terminate in a ball joint over the universal joint, which is fastened to the housing of the powerplant and differential.” Another unusual feature was four-wheel brakes that could be adjusted with thumb screws on the brake pedal.

Styling was somewhat antiquated. Fleetwood developed the custom body designed by Brown using aluminum panels over wood framing. The interior also was a reflection of his eccentricity. The drivers’ seat was centered in front and immediately behind was a bench for two passengers. Additionally, there were two folding seats on the sides behind the driver.

This venture proved to be far more successful than previous endeavors in that six vehicles were hand-built and sold before the company declared bankruptcy. As with previous enterprises the last of Julian Brown’s attempt to build an automobile ended with extensive, costly and lengthy lawsuits.

To learn more about Julian Brown take a listen to the exclusive MotoringNZ podcast from Jim Hinckley’s America (jimhinckleysamerica.com).  

Pomeroy – treading lightly in the 1920s

Aluminium has become a common material in modern cars. But who was first to put this lightweight material on the road? The answer might surprise.

Exactly why the Aluminum Company of America decided to diversify and initiate plans for the development of an automobile is a mystery.

The timing is equally curious as in late 1919 the world was gripped by an intense post war economic recession. Another fascinating aspect of the project is the fact that the company retained the services of Laurence H. Pomeroy to oversee development.

Born in London, England, Pomeroy had apprenticed as an engineer with the North London Railway Company. In 1905 he accepted a position with Vauxhall Ironworks Company and in late 1907 was tasked with a project to redesign one of the company’s engines to allow for Vauxhall to compete in the 1908 RAC 2000-mile trial run.

The cars modified by Pomeroy won several classes and as a result he was promoted to the post of Works Manager. In 1910 he modified a 20hp Vauxhall that reached speeds of 100 miles per hour at Brooklands.

This was also the year that he designed a car to participate in the German Prince Henry Tours that were held from 1905 to 1911. This would become the basis for the now legendary Vauxhall “Prince Henry” models manufactured by Vauxhall from 1911 to 1914.

These limited production models were internationally acclaimed for speed as well as durability. In 1914, H. Massac Buist, a leading automotive journalist noted that, "Of the three Vauxhalls which ran in the Prince Henry Tour, two got full marks for reliability, and all did about 65 miles an hour in the speed trial, which was really quite good for that engine with a four-seated body and a full complement of passengers.

“So many people desired cars of this special type that in 1911 it was made a regular product of the Vauxhall works, and, during the last year or so a new style has sprung up. In this the engine dimensions are 95 by 140 mm., the old bore-stroke ratio having penalised the car under many hill-climbing formulae. All such formulae which do not involve the cubic capacity of the engine are by common acceptance considered advantageous to engines with small bore and long stroke. The chassis follows the lines of the original Prince Henry but has rather a longer wheelbase."

Pomeroy was also an early proponent for the use of aluminum in automobiles. However, in this he was not alone. Numerous automobile manufacturing companies, most notably Franklin of Syracuse, New York, were pioneering the use of the lightweight metal to enhance the performance of their durable air-cooled vehicles. Still, the car envisioned by the Aluminum Company of America, was to be a true industry leader.

The Pomeroy, as the car was named, was to utilize aluminum in eighty-five percent of its construction including body panels, crankcase, transmission case and dashboard.

Purportedly several hundred thousand dollars was spent on the top-secret project before six cars were completed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1921. The four-cylinder cars were vigorously tested before their introduction to the public the following year.

Then arrangement was made with the luxury automobile manufacturer Pierce-Arrow to develop an extended wheelbase, 133-inches versus 126-inches, model powered by a 75-horsepower, aluminum six-cylinder engine. It was a logical partnership as Pierce-Arrow was another early proponent of aluminum having made extensive use of the metal in the 1916 Model 66.

A few Pomeroy’s were completed and tested before the entire project was unceremoniously dropped. Today the Pomeroy automobile is largely a forgotten chapter in the history of the American auto industry. It is also but one of many interesting chapters in the history