Charles F. Caffrey Carriage Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Charles F. Caffrey Carriage Company was a bicycle - and Coachbuilder in Camden ( New Jersey ).

description

Little is known about the beginnings of the company; it must have been formed before 1876 because employees of the company formed a cornet formation to mark the founding anniversary of the United States that year .

The Charles F. Caffrey Carriage Co. came into contact with the automotive industry through the designers Pedro Salom and Henry Morris . With the Electrobat, they produced the first really usable electric car in the USA. Caffrey built the bodies of these test vehicles from 1894 to 1897 and then a number of electric taxis for the Electric Carriage & Wagon Company (EVWC). The design was also from Salom and Morris ; they founded the ECWC in 1896 . It went on in 1897 in the Electric Vehicle Company .

Caffrey Steam

In 1895, Caffrey built a single, technically interesting steam car for doctor Dr. FL Sweaney of Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ). The vehicle had four small steam engines with 3 HP each (according to the calculation method used at the time), each of which drove one wheel. Each could be controlled separately with a lever so that between 3 and 12 HP were available; the Caffrey Steam could also be driven with front or all-wheel drive .

An (apparently deliberate) very carriage- like appearance in the high-wheeler design typical of the time easily conceals the fact that the Caffrey Steam offered some innovative technical solutions. The boiler , upholstered in high-quality leather, was heated with oil. It was arranged in the bow at right angles to the direction of travel, where it also served as a splash guard. The fuel and water tanks were hidden under the floor. The open structure held six people. The driver and front passenger took place on the driver's seat and four more passengers in the rear. Their benches were arranged lengthways to the side, access was via a door in the rear ( wagonette or rear entrance tonneau ). The steam car had ellipticity - leaf springs all round and large, eisenbereifte wooden spoke wheels in the way of High Wheeler. It was braked by means of a pedal which, when pressed, also put out the fire for the burner . Caffrey even found a way to use steam power to make steering easier.

From 1898 the company also manufactured bicycles. For the 1917 model year, Caffrey supplied the factory bodies for the short-lived Biddle , a luxury car built in Philadelphia from 1915 to 1922.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 246.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f coachbuilt.com to the Charles F. Caffrey Carriage Co.
  3. ↑ Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels. 2005, p. 31.
  4. ↑ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1591.
  5. ↑ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 246 (fig.)