Old Motor Car Company

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Old Motor Car Company
legal form Company
founding 1914
resolution 1917
Reason for dissolution Closure after bankruptcy
Seat Grand Haven , Michigan , USA
management
  • Guy Hamilton
  • CA age
  • RA Skinner
Branch Automobile manufacturer , commercial vehicle manufacturer

The Alter Motor Car Company was a short-lived American automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer . The brand name was Alter as well as AC in 1917 .

prehistory

The company was founded in Cincinnati ( Ohio ) in early 1912 as the Cincinnati Motor Manufacturing Company , and possibly started producing light commercial vehicles of the Alter brand there from 1914 .

Old Motor Car Company

The company, capitalized with only US $ 10,000 and domiciled outside of the major suppliers, underwent a radical reorganization in April 1914. This included a new name, a new board of directors, a new location, an expansion of the range and a massive capital injection. Responsible were Guy Hamilton as President, CA Alter as Vice President and likely main financier, and RA Skinner as Secretary and Managing Director . The share capital was increased to US $ 75,000. Hamilton ran the Gaylord Motor Car Company in Gaylord ( Michigan ) from 1911 to 1913, which had manufactured passenger cars and commercial vehicles from 1911 to 1913.

In Plymouth ( Michigan ), a two-story new building was erected, which was already occupied in 1915. Passenger cars were also built here. They were conventionally designed mid-range vehicles that were initially available in two series as a four-cylinder model C (initially also called 4-27) and a six-cylinder model F (6-40). Like the commercial vehicles, they were also assembled vehicles . that is, they were assembled from components that were freely available on the market. Production started in 1915. The customer had the choice between a roadster and a touring with a four-cylinder engine at US $ 600 each and a six-cylinder touring at US $ 850.

From model year 1916, only touring models were offered. Model C now cost US $ 685. There were considerations to introduce a model with a V8 engine , such as that made by Northway for Cadillac or Herschell-Spillman for Oakland or Daniels . Appropriate plans remained. There was also a move to a probably cheaper, one-story building in Grand Haven (Michigan). A third series was announced for the 1917 model year. This was not a new top model, but a smaller one below the Model C. Model E cost US $ 675. At around the same time, Ford reduced the price of the more powerful T Touring from US $ 440 to US $ 360.

Unfortunately, the company's primary field of activity, manufacturing commercial vehicles, is not that well documented. It is unclear which old trucks were already manufactured by the predecessor company.

Passenger cars

market

Ford Model T Touring (1916)

The automobile market was increasingly dominated by the Ford Model T , which was offered in 1915 for US $ 440 as a roadster and US $ 490 as a touring . The four-cylinder was robust and very reliable.

In the years prior to 1930, automobile manufacturers operating more regionally were not uncommon; Many of the small producers lacked the financial means to set up and maintain a national or even international sales organization. These included the Alter Motor Car Co., which, with its annual output in the three-digit range, is also likely to have produced just under profitability. Such manufacturers could not withstand the price pressure that Ford was building up with its simultaneously improved and cheaper Model T. There was hardly any official export, which also explains that the brand has remained practically unknown in Europe.

In particular, the small age models C and E were thrown into a market segment in which they had no chance. Ford claimed the lion's share, followed by established brands such as Chevrolet , Essex and Studebaker . The F model , with its constant price of US $ 850, was not much better off because there was strong competition in this price range too. It is all the more incomprehensible that Hamilton tried again in 1917 with a virtually unchanged successor to the Model C. The Hamilton A-14 cost US $ 745.00 and had already disappeared from the market a few months after its introduction.

Shortly thereafter, Hamilton organized a new company, the Hamilton Motors Company , which only sold the Hamilton passenger car (a slightly modified old model C ) in 1917, and the Panhard truck from 1917 to 1918 (this had nothing to do with French automobiles and commercial vehicles of this name do) and built the Apex truck from 1919 to 1921 . There is also no connection to the car maker Apex Motor Corporation or any other Apex motor vehicle.

A total of around 1000 passenger cars and an unknown, rather larger number of commercial vehicles were built.

technology

The engines were bought from various suppliers. While it is unclear where the four-cylinder Model C comes from, the manufacturer of the smaller four-cylinder Model E is the LeRoi Company . There are different data for the six-cylinder; Bore and stroke are given in 1915 by a source as 3⅛ × 4½ inches, resulting in a displacement of 207.1 cubic inches (3394 cc) results. For 1917 a bore of 3 inches and a stroke of 4¼ inches are specified, which results in a displacement of 180,325 ci (2955 cm³). If we assume that both sources provide correct information, then a different engine than 1915 must have been used in 1917. The 1917 engine is identified as the Falls by the same source . For 1916, the information from 1915 was adopted; It is also conceivable that the Falls engine was already used in this model year.

The tax horsepower according to NACC is:

  • Model C (1915-1917): 22.5 hp
  • Model F (1915-1916): 23.45 hp
  • Model F (1917): 21.6 hp
  • Model E (1917): 14.4 hp

The Model C's wheelbase grew from 106 inches (2692 mm) to 108 inches (2743 mm) in 1916. The short wheelbase reappeared with the Model E ; it cannot be ruled out that the manufacturer used up the chassis that was still available.

The roadster had two seats, all touring variants had five seats.

Overview of passenger cars

model Construction year engine
Cubic capacity c.i./cm³
PS NACC		 Power
bhp / kW		 Wheelbase in / mm body List price
US $
Model C
4-27		 1915 R4 sv 187.8 / 3077
22.5		 22 / 16.4 106/2692 Roadster 600.-
Model C
4-27		 1915 R4 sv 187.8 / 3077
22.5		 22 / 16.4 106/2692 Touring 600.-
Model F
6-40		 1915 R6 sv 207.1 / 3394
23.45		 28 / 20.9 114/2896 Touring 850.-
Model C
4-27		 1916 R4 sv 187.8 / 3077
22.5		 22 / 16.4 108/2743 Touring 685.-
Model F
6-40		 1916 R6 sv 207.1 / 3394
23.45		 28 / 20.9 114/2896 Touring 850.-
Model E
4-30		 1917 R4 sv
LeRoi 		138.2 / 2264
14.4		 18 / 13.4 106/2692 Touring 675.-
Model c 1917 R4 sv 187.8 / 3077
22.5		 22 / 16.4 108/2743 Touring 735.-
Model F 1917 R6 sv
Falls 		180.3 / 2955
21.6		 28 / 20.9 114/2896 Touring 850.-

commercial vehicles

For 1915 there are three light commercial vehicles with payloads between 0.5 tn. sh. and 1800 lb (approximately 450 to 800 kg). This suggests that chassis similar to those used for the passenger cars were used.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Predecessor formula for SAE-PS. NACC ( National Automobile Chamber of Commerce ) was an association of the automobile industry founded in 1913 and the successor to the ALAM ( Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers ), which introduced the first standards in US automobile manufacture in 1903. The method was also used by the RAC in Great Britain.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996), ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 ISBN 0-87341-428-4
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present ; Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
  • Robert D. Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era: Essential Specifications of 4,000+ Gasoline Powered Passenger Cars, 1906-1915, with a Statistical and Historical Overview. Mcfarland & Co Inc. publishers, Jefferson NC (2013); ISBN 978-078647-136-2 .
  • GN Georgano (Editor), G. Marshall Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI 1979, ISBN 0-87341-024-6 .
  • Albert Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-368-7 .
  • Albert Mroz: American Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles of World War I: Illustrated Histories of 224 Manufacturers. Mcfarland & Company Publishers, Jefferson NC, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3967-6 .
  • National Automobile Chamber of Commerce : Handbook of Automobiles 1915–1916. Dover Publications, 1970.
  • Walter MP McCall: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Iconografix, Hudson WI 2009, ISBN 978-1-58388-252-8 .
  • Murray Fahnestock: Remember the CINO, Cincinnati built Car? In: The Post & Times Star. Cincinnati, Ohio, December 20, 1961. Mentioned Acorn, Armleder Trucks, Auto Buggy, Buggycar, Cincinnati Steam (1903), Cino, Crane & Breed Ambulances (and Undertakers), C. & B., Enger, Ohio, Powercar, Sayers & Scovill, Schacht, US Truck

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Kimes / Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942 (1996), p. 29 (Alter Pkw)
  2. ↑ Kimes / Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), p. 632 (Gaylord)
  3. ↑ a b c Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era (2013), p. 55 (age)
  4. ↑ a b carfolio.com: Alter F-6-40, specifications (1917)
  5. ^ Kimes / Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942 (1996), p. 355 (Cincinnati Motor Mfg)
  6. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), p. 581 (Ford T Touring, end of 1916)
  7. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), p. 580 (Ford T Roadster 1915)
  8. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), p. 580 (Ford T Touring 1915)
  9. ^ A b Kimes / Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), p. 671 (Hamilton)
  10. ↑ a b Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles (1996), p. 12 (Alter Lkw)
  11. ↑ carfolio.com: Alter E-4-30, specifications (1917)
  12. ^ A b National Automobile Chamber of Commerce: Handbook of Automobiles 1915 , p. 12
  13. ↑ a b c National Automobile Chamber of Commerce: Handbook of Automobiles 1916 , p. 212