American & British Manufacturing Corporation

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American Machine & Ordnance Co.
1902-1905
American & British Manufacturing Corp.
1905-1925
legal form Corporation
founding 1902
resolution 1925
Reason for dissolution Merger with Franklin Machine Co.
Seat Bridgeport , Fairfield County , Connecticut , USA
management
  • JC Stanley
  • CM McKeever
Branch Armaments , avant trains , trucks , automobiles

The American & British Manufacturing Corporation (A & BMC) was an American defense and industrial company that manufactured guns for the US Navy , steam engines and motor vehicles. Trucks and Avant-Trains were as American & British or A & B sold. From 1919 to 1922, the Porter Model 45 and Porter Model 46 luxury cars were manufactured, which were among the most powerful and expensive on the US market.

The Porter-Knight was not a model of the American & British Manufacturing Corporation .

Company history

The company was founded on May 23, 1902 as "American Machine & Ordnance Co." in New York and renamed "American & British Manufacturing Co." on November 28. The activities of the company was the production of firearms , ammunition , steam engines , Glühkopfmotoren , automobile engines , marine engines and repairs of all kinds indicated. To the company owned the operations of listed Corliss Steam Engine Works in Providence ( Rhode Iceland ) and American Ordnance Works in Bridgeport . A major owner of the company was the International Power Co. The company's total assets in 1910 and 1912 were just under 12 million US dollars.

Corliss steam engine.

The Corliss Steam Engine Company was a well known manufacturer of Balancing - steam engines after by George Henry Corliss developed (1817-1888) principle.

Under the brand names American & British and, above all, A & B , two commercial vehicle series were created between 1914 and 1922 , one of which was an Avant-Train with a petrol-electric drive . These components were used to subsequently motorize existing horse-drawn vehicles. Such a conversion only made sense for very expensive vehicles. There was definitely a demand for Avant-Trains , also known as motor wheel or iron horse in English-speaking countries , from fire service organizations, for example. Motorized fire engines were very expensive to purchase and the retrofitting was a cost-effective alternative. The conversion of existing, newer horse-drawn steam sprayers increased their efficiency and operating time, while the organization was able to reduce other costs by eliminating the infrastructure for horse keeping. The market for these vehicles was naturally not large and specialized. As a result, there was less competitive pressure in this niche. However, it was not sustainable and could only foreseeably exist for a short time.

One source mentions the start of vehicle production as early as 1906.

Porter Model 45 Touring (1919)

During the First World War , A & BMC supplied ammunition to the American armed forces. With the end of the war, A & BMC lost their armaments orders and the company had to find a replacement for the resulting loss of production. That is probably the reason that they were interested in automobile production. In addition to machines and commercial vehicles, there was now automobile production. It is not known how the contact with FR Porter came about and what the conditions for the production were like. Porter was satisfied with his design work at Curtiss and no longer wanted to worry about an entire production. A & BMC produced and sold the luxury -class automobile called Porter . The starting point was the structure of the FRP . Although it was a few years old, it was still modern. The Porter was with its high-performance engine, depending on the source, 100 to 125 bhp still the most powerful engine on the market. The only sports cars that came close in terms of performance were the Argonne, Biddle, Meteor, ReVere and Roamer equipped with modified Duesenberg engines, which made up to 103 bhp (up to 106 bhp in the ReVere). A & BMC only adapted the vehicle concept in details and dispensed with short versions. The Porter was a very large car with an imposing 142 inch wheelbase. The fact that only 36 copies were made between 1919 and 1922 must have been a bitter disappointment. This was due to the complex production with many materials that are still difficult to find, a horribly high list price and a brief but severe recession that can be traced back to the farm crisis.

In 1925 the American & British Manufacturing Corporation and the Franklin Machine Company (no relation to HH Franklin Manufacturing Company ) were merged. This also brought the William A. Harris Steam Engine Company owned by Franklin Machine into the new group. Both Harris Steam Engine and Franklin Machine had built steam engines with Corliss rotary valve technology after their patent protection expired.

Motor vehicles

"A & B" commercial vehicles

A typical truck around 1913: Atterbury Beer truck for the Cold Springs Brewery

Under the brand names American & British and especially A & B also emerged from 1914 to 1922 commercial vehicles . A source mentions the start of vehicle production as early as 1906. Little information is available about these vehicles. Two trucks with a payload of 3 shillings are mentioned. tn. (2720 kg) or 5 sh. tn. (4530 kg), which was then classified in the middle or heavy class. Technical data are not available. The competition in the commercial vehicle sector was very fierce back then with dozens of suppliers.

Others entered the market to compensate for the sudden loss of arms contracts. Most of these manufacturers - and probably A & BMC - were " assembler " that their vehicles from components and standardized products together established that they found in a free market.

"A & B" Avant Trains

A typical avant train : Christie Front Drive of the NYFD from around 1915

A second series of the A & BMC consisted of an Avant-Train . This device, also known as a motor wheel or forecar, is used to give a wagon or a carriage its own propulsion at a later date. The Avant-Train typically consists of a short chassis with a driven and steerable front axle and the driver's cab and replaces the turntable with wheels and drawbar of the wagon. The motor vehicle resulting from the assembly is also often referred to as an avant train . Such vehicles were most widespread in the era of the emerging motor vehicle in the years between 1905 and 1920. Because of the complex drive technology, they were quite expensive; the renovation was therefore only worthwhile on valuable objects. A typical application for Avant-Trains was in fire fighting. Often there were expensive and long-lasting steam sprayers available. Retrofitting them increased the efficiency of the syringes and extended their service life; a savings effect resulted from the reduction in horse ownership. Naturally, the market was not large and it was foreseeable that it was not sustainable either. Retired, horse-drawn syringes were increasingly being replaced by suitably equipped trucks.

A special feature of the A&B Avant-Train was its gasoline-electric drive . A conventional internal combustion engine produces power that is passed on to an electricity generator. This in turn feeds an electric motor in each front wheel. The mechanism requires neither a gear nor a clutch. A similar concept applied the Bourne Magnetic Truck Company in Philadelphia on their otherwise conventional trucks with rear-wheel drive. The best-known car with this so-called Entz drive is the Owen Magnetic .

In the fire department, there were Christie Front Drive in Hoboken (New Jersey) , Couple-Gear in Grand Rapids (Michigan) , Cross in Newark (New Jersey) , Seagrave , then in Columbus (Ohio) and Robinson in St. Louis (Missouri) Competitor, the latter with steam drive. American LaFrance (ALF) in Elyria (New York) ran such a model from 1915 to 1929.

Porter automobiles

Finley Robertson Porter and the FRP

FRP Model 45 Series B Holbrook 7-pass. Touring (1915).


Finley Robertson Porter (1871-1964) from Lowell (Ohio) had made a name for himself as the designer of the Mercer Type 35 , from which he derived the successful Raceabout sports car . He then went into business for himself with the Finley Robertson Porter Company , which manufactured the FRP Model 45, the most powerful US automobile of that time. The First World War led to the government taking over the company and discontinuing the elaborately built Model 45 after a very small number of units. During the First World War was one FR Porter as a test engineer for the team in Dayton ( Ohio ) the Liberty engine developed.

After the end of the war, Porter was no longer interested in automobile construction and took the position of chief engineer at the Curtiss Engineering Company in Garden City (New York) . The Finley Robertson Porter Company was wound up in 1918.

Porter Model 45 and 46

Porter Model 45 Sedan (1919)

Porter commissioned American & British Manufacturing to exploit his automobile patents . She organized the production; The New York automobile dealer Morton W. Smith Company was won as a sales organization . Robert B. Porter , his son and from 1915 himself a designer for FRP , took over the technical management as chief engineer.

Technically, this vehicle was very similar to the FRP , and parts and components of the Finley Robertson Porter Company seem to have been used up. The power was given as 125 bhp (93.2 kW). Instead of the three chassis lengths with 110, 130 and 140 inches (2794, 3302 and 3556 mm) wheelbase , there was now only one with 142 inches (3607 mm). That was two inches more than the largest FRP had. The vehicle, the concept of which dates back to 1914, now visibly became obsolete and the Porter became an anachronism that also included sticking to the right-hand drive . Porter was the last US car brand to stick with it; even Pierce-Arrow , which was geared towards a particularly conservative clientele, was now a left-hand drive .

Despite the powerful engine - probably still the most powerful passenger car engine in the USA - the mighty chassis was not very suitable for customers interested in sport, but it was a very good basis for prestige cars. Superstructures from leading bodybuilders such as Brewster , Demarest or Fleetwood are known . As with the FRP, Holbrook provided factory bodies, including a Speedster. With 12 vehicles, however, the Blue Ribbon Body Company in Bridgeport built most of the porters . The design has been modernized and given stricter lines. The shape of the radiator was reminiscent of Rolls-Royce.

The Porter was manufactured from 1919 to 1922; depending on the source, only 34, 36 or 40 copies were made. Even the bare chassis cost US $ 6750, - which was about the equivalent of 12 complete Ford Model T. - With the bodywork, a Porter easily cost over US $ 10,000. The car could not withstand the enormous competitive pressure in this market segment and the economic crisis of 1922.

Porter Model 45 Touring (1919).

For the first copies of the Porter , components taken over from the FRP were used up. This may explain the type designation Model 45 . Accordingly, Model 46 would have been built from new components. In any case, technical differences are not known or are too minor to be explained in the existing sources. Therefore, unless otherwise stated, the technical data refer to the FRP Model 45 .

The engine was a marvel of lightweight construction and weighed only 580 lb (about 260 kg). It consisted mainly of aluminum alloys; The crankshaft , camshaft and even the valve lifters were also hollow. The engine has an overhead camshaft and one inlet and one outlet valve per cylinder ; There is a very high degree of probability that isolated statements relating to four-valve technology do not apply and are only mentioned in isolated sources. When closed, the valves form a hemispherical closure of the combustion chamber. The crankshaft had three bearings

The bore was 4.6 inches (approx. 117 mm) and the stroke 6¾ inches (171 mm). This resulted in a displacement of 448.7  ci (7353 cm³); the occasionally mentioned engine capacity of 454 ci is likely to be due to rounded starting dimensions.

One source repeatedly lists Herschell-Spillman as an engine supplier. A series engine from this well-known manufacturer is not noted in any other source. The company may have supplied engine blocks and other components based on FR Porter's specifications. At FRP it was still important to manufacture practically every component itself.

Porter used new steel alloys for the chassis. For customers who wanted an individual body, the bare chassis was also available, which was dressed by the bodybuilder of his choice.

literature

  • David Gooding: FRP - Ahead of its Time, Left behind by History. in: Automobile Quarterly , Volume XXXI, No. 4, 1993, ISSN  0005-1438 , pp. 4 ff. Automobile Quarterly, Inc., Kutztown PA
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. Dutton Press, New York, 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
  • GN Georgano (Ed.), G. Marshall Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI, 1979; ISBN 0-87341-024-6 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4 .
  • Fred Crismon: Fire Engines. Crestline series; MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI, 1997, ISBN 0-7603-0381-9 .
  • Albert Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. Krause Publications, Iola WI, 1996, ISBN 0-87341-368-7 .
  • "The Automobile," November 12, 1914: FRP 100-horsepower chassis, $ 5,000. ; online at The Old Motor, May 12, 2014: The FRP - Finley Robinson Porter's Masterpiece .
  • Dean Batchelor: Harrah's automobile collection: One man's tribute to the great automobiles of the world. Publisher: GP Pub, 1984; without ISBN. Does not exist.
  • 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 0-78647-136-0 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. SAE ( Society of Automotive Engineers ) Permissions, Warrendale PA, 2005; ISBN 0-7680-1431-X .
  • Walter MP McCall: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Iconografix, Inc., Hudson WI, 2009, ISBN 1-58388-252-9 .
  • Lucien Chanuc: Les Trains routiers - Des expériences interesting mais souvent éphémères. in: La Vie Du Rail Nord, September 6, 1984, pp. 48-50
  • Michael Sedgwick : Twenty-nine Tons and Twenty driven Wheels. in: Veteran and Vintage Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 9, May 1971, pp. 260, 276.

Web links

Commons : American & British Manufacturing Corporation  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities , Volume 2, Moody Publishing Company, 1913, page 5381 (accessed September 26, 2019)
  2. a b Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles . 1996, p. 6.
  3. a b Crismon: Fire Engines. 1997, p. 155.
  4. Benedict Crowell, America's Munitions 1917–1918 page 132 (accessed September 26, 2019)
  5. a b c d e f g Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, p. 1238 (Porter).
  6. scripophily.net: American & British Manufacturing Corporation stock certificate, c. 1910.
  7. Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. 1979, p. 22 (A & B).
  8. Crismon: Fire Engines. 1997, p. 20.
  9. a b c Crismon: Fire Engines. 1997, p. 24.
  10. Crismon: Fire Engines. 1997, p. 25.
  11. Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, p. 958 (Mercer).
  12. a b c Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, p. 619 (FRP)
  13. ^ A b Gooding: FRP - Ahead of its Time, Left Behind by History. Automobile Quarterly , Vol. XXXI, No. 4 (1993), p. 8.
  14. Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels. 2005, p. 427.
  15. a b c The Old Motor: The FRP - Finley Robinson Porter's Masterpiece .
  16. Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, p. 620 (FRP)
  17. ^ Coachbuilt: Brewster & Co.
  18. Coachbuilt: AT Demarest & Co.
  19. ^ Coachbuilt: Fleetwood Metal Body Co.
  20. Coachbuilt: Holbrook Co.
  21. Coachbuilt: Blue Ribbon Body Co.
  22. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , 1996, p. 582 (Ford T, 1919).
  23. ^ Carfolio: 1917 FRP 45 16 Valve technical specifications.
  24. a b Supercars: FRP Series B (1915).
  25. ^ A b "The Automobile," November 12, 1914: FRP 100-horsepower chassis, $ 5000.
  26. Classic Car Database: 1918 FRP 45B Series Standard Specifications.
  27. ^ Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era , 2013, p. 79 (FRP)
  28. Classic Car Database: 1919 Porter 46 Series, 142 in. Wheelbase; Herschell-Spillman.
  29. Classic Car Database: 1921 Porter 46, 142 in. Wheelbase; Herschell-Spillman.
  30. Classic Car Database: 1922 Porter 46, 142 in. Wheelbase; Herschell-Spillman.